CarPlay extremely buggy

[technologiq]

Spotify on CarPlay is buggy bordering on unusable.   If I try to play my starred playlist, I just get a 'empty' looking playlist.  Sometimes it will start playing something after 30 or so seconds but most of the time it does nothing.

Spotify will also randomly force close.  Music cuts, screen goes back to the main carplay menu.  

Sometimes it will startup normally but then I get no sound.

This is Spotify running on iOS 8.0.2 via iPhone 6+ on a Pioneer AVH-4000NEX head unit.

Please, please work on CarPlay. 

Edit 1-5-2015: Spotify 2.2.0.2464 on iOS 8.1.2 (12B440) on iPhone 6+ and the issues are still there.

Edit: 6-11-2015: Spotify 3.2.0.1554 on iOS 8.3 (12F70) on iPhone 6+: Recently I've had better luck with Spotify loading correctly and playing correctly. Occassionally I'll have audio break up (not sure if that's the iPhone 6+, Spotify or the head unit).     It should be noted that I like Spotify and don't care for other products out there (for some reason another product was marked as the solution to this thread).  I'm glad to see some positive movement for Spotify and CarPlay.

6-11-15 Update 2:   2 things happen frequently:  Songs play at 2x (skipping every few seconds).  Spotify stops responding for 4-5 seconds.

[aware]

I am having the same issues.  I am afraid I have to classify spotify on Carplay (iPhone 6+ and 4000NEX) as completely unusable.

[spottydev]

Same here. Not really usable - huge lags when I do anything (Pioneer AVH-X8600BT).

[kingsapo]

Add me too. Running iOS 8.0.2 on an iPhone 6 with an AVIC 8000NEX. One weird issue is that when I try to bring up a playlist or my songs list, it constantly tries to re-load the album art, it's like it downloads album art, deletes it, and re-downloads it, all several times per second. This results in the list becoming unresponsive most of the time, likely because it's constantly updating its contents. If I ever am able to select a song, it just goes to a blank screen with nothing but playback controls.

[MattSuda]

Update: Thanks to technologiq for the clarification

[Spankey00]

Having the exact same problem. Album are constantly reloading and blank screen when I choose my music. I got the app to work once for 15 minutes then it continued to crash.

Opening the app before loading Carplay, defeats the whole purpose of Carplay. Right now Spotify is just not usable.

[technologiq]

Matt,

CarPlay is a set of API's, published by Apple.  If a receiver or a vehicle has CarPlay - it's been 'signed off' by Apple.     It doesn't matter what receiver or car you are using - Spotify on CarPlay appears to be in an alpha status at best.  The experience is so bad that I do wonder why Spotify chose to implement it in this release other than to coincide with Pioneers release.

There aren't different versions of CarPlay to be implemented by third party companies.  Someone with a Ferrari FF is going to have the same experience as myself or anyone else with a CarPlay compatible head unit.  You may be thinking of things like MirrorLink, AppRadio, etc that are different manufacturers implementations of 'apps in your dash.    CarPlay is Apples 'standard' for using an iOS device in your vehicle.

[MattSuda]

Thanks for the clarification. I don't know much about CarPlay which is sad because you could call me an "Apple fanboy". With the lack of CarPlay availability I haven't really looked into it much.

[Craig81]

I have the same issues, running IOS8 on the IPHONE 6, connected to an AVH-X8600bt

[technologiq]

Matt,

I recommend you use this opporunity as an excuse to get a CarPlay compatible receiver 🙂

[MattSuda]

One day when I can justify spending so much haha 😉

[user-removed]

I just got the Pioneer 4000NEX this week, and I'm seeing exactly the same issues. In addition, sometimes it just starts playing from iTunes and it won't "let go." I go to Spotify in the interface, click a playlist, then a song, but it resumes playing the song from iTunes. I even downloaded my playlist so it would be available offline and turned off celluar data to try to limit the scope of the test, but it still failed. 

I fully concur with the "unusable" assessment, and I'll look forward to improvements to come.

[technologiq]

I  have discovered, at least, that spotify is more usable if I start it from my phone while it's hooked up to my head unit.  If I start it from my phone and choose a playlist like my starred music, it will be able to access and play all those songs (300+)

If I deciede to play a playlist, completely from the headunit, Spotify gives me access to about 10 songs before it just repeats them all.

I patiently wait for a new version of Spotify to be released. 🙂

[fanboy130]

Please, please fix the app. It is barely usable in its current state. I am using a Pioneer F960DAB headunit.

[MexShrek]

I'm having the same issues on my AVH-4000NEX

[fiesta]

Same here - iPhone 5S @ iOS 8.0.2 with a Pioneer AVIC-F60DAB headunit. Always getting empty playlists. In this state, it's completly useless and I feel that they released it just to offer the "feature" - but to be honest: this is an insult on every customer who has bought a carplay compatible head unit because of the Spotify integration - as a monthly paying customer I expect the software I pay 10 bucks a month to work - at least the basic functions!!

So PLEASE dear Spotify team, work on this and try to fix at least the major bugs in near-term!

[happyarthur1979]

Hey, I'm having the exact same problem. Spotify is pretty much useless with CarPlay right now.
I have brought this to the Spotify teams attention via @SpotifyCares on Twitter so they know about it.
Can you all drop them a tweet to let them know the issue is more than just me? Hopefully the more people complain about it the sooner it gets sorted!
I'm using a jailbroken iPhone 5s (7.1.2) with a Pioneer AVH-X8600BT head unit and Spotify Premium.

Cheers.

[Twist0105]

Very buggy. Not sure if links from new posters are allowed, but here's a brief video of my experience (recoreded this for the rav forums.)

Kind of unhappy I upgraded my radio - this is borderline unusable, and MUCH more frustrating/distracting to use in car than when I used to just select a playlist on iphone...

http://youtu.be/RBpifFUhsd8

[user-removed]

Hey, Folks.

So after a few days, I've realized a couple of things I wanted to pass along. First, pay attention to your data usage. I've tested this with both iTunes and Spotify - CarPlay does not seem to recognize offline playlists by default. I was chewing through data until I realized what was happening. I changed my settings so iTunes and Spotify do NOT use cellular data. 

But here's the catch, and point number 2. On the phone, when Spotify launches (either via CarPlay or on the phone), Spotify presents a message box notifying you you're not using cellular data and you cannot Browse. You must dismiss this message for CarPlay to work. When I tap "Okay" on my phone, CarPlay and Spotify seem to do alright. It's still a little buggy, but it's much better. And I think iTunes is the same way, although I haven't tested it much. 

You need to dismiss message boxes from the apps on your phone before CarPlay can engage, since it doesn't appear to be designed to manage those.

Make sense?

Good luck!

[Craig81]

Pioneer released a software update yesterday on the UK site for 'minor bug fixes' I haven't downloaded it yet though.