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.

[fiesta]

Same here. Spotify is next to unuseable.

iPhone 5S @ iOS 8.1

Headunit: Pioneer AVIC F60DAB

I hope for an update asap... its starting to get more than annoying!

[meahtenoha]

Hey everyone, this should be sorted with the iOS update out today (1.9.0). Please update your app and give that a try for us!

[PJRM68]

If anyone can test out the app, please post here to let us know if it's functioning or not. I'll be at work all day and won't be able to try it out until much later. Thanks!

[aware]

Meredith,

I installed today's Spotify update before my morning commute.  Here are my specs and results:

iPhone 6+ with iOS 8.1

Spotify(with today's 10-30-2014 update)

Pioneer AVH-4000NEX

When I touched the Spotify App on my carplay unit, everything populated just as it should.  I could see "my music", "radio", etc.  I hit my music, then playlists, then selected a playlist and hit shuffle play.  It ALL worked perfectly up until the point when it should start to play music...then NOTHING.  It would not play ANY music not matter what was selected.

Austin

[technologiq]

I only had a chance to use it for a few minutes but it worked great during that time.

[PJRM68]

Just had a chance to use it on the drive home. Worked like a charm! I'm so happy to have Spotify back.

[aware]

The update seems to be working for some, unlike my experiences this morning.  I am going to delete the app and reinstall to see if that has any effect on the drive home tonight.

[user-removed]

Very happy tp report that normal service has been resumed....I press the icon, album artwork appears, i press the track and then music is hitting my ears.. Perfect, welcome back Spotify

[aml90]

I also have the blank menus, crashes and generally poor success rate with spotify/carplay Please fix it asap!

iPhone 6 sw iOS 8.1 

Pioneer AVIC-F960DAB sw 1.07

Spotify sw 1.9.0

[aware]

No luck for me.  I deleted the Spotify app then reinstalled.  Everything appears to be working properly until it comes time to play music.  Then I just get a blank screen with a big play button in the middle.  Note: pressing the play button does nothing.

I tested RDio and iHeart Radio, they both worked fine so it doesn't appear to be an issue with my phone or my system.

[Twist0105]

Well... Updated to 1.9.02something. Playlist at first updated immediately, without flashing track icons, but selecting a song left me at big play button, no track info, and play button didn't work. Had to start track on phone. Improvement, but not what I expected yet. Also, when I flipped back out and then in again, the "your music/playlists/radio" menu (I think that's what it had) froze for about 45 seconds. Again, starting in phone was only way to play teaks. Also, after started from phone, the time position thing froze, was three mins behind current track position.

[happyarthur1979]

Much much better for me.
Works fine 90% of the time - only a few random crashes back to CarPlay home screen.
I think there's still an issue with the artwork tho. I can see there's something behind the text but it's too dark to be able to make it out. Is this something others are having issues with?
Could someone post a picture of there screen with Spotify playing so I can see how the artwork should look please.
Thanks.

[fiesta]

As for many others here, the situation has improved for me as well. Still far away from a good integrated solution, but at least basics seem to work 80% of the time.

One problem I figured out was, that songs I choose from the playlist wont start to play as long as the iPhone's display is switched off. I see the play screen but the song just doesnt start until i press the Home- or Standby button on my iPhone. After I do this, the song starts instantly and I can control the music from the HU without problems.

The UI in common is not planned well in my opinion... there are no animations for button which give feedback whether you hit the button or not. Also some improvments in scrolling must be done. If you have playlists wth 150 songs and more, it's really a pain in the neck to scroll through the list, for example if you want to get to the newest songs (at the bottom of the list) it takes like 10-15 seconds to get there - obviously not very good if you do this while driving. But altogether at least the basics are working now - please keep updating the app!

[aware]

Just an FYI.  The spotify app DOES appear to work better with Firmware 1.08 installed on the AVH-4000NEX rather than 1.06.  Hopefully that helps some of you.

[technologiq]

It's really not much better.  I press the Spotify icon and it opens Spotify, I can hit My Music, go to playlists, go to my chosen playlist (Starred in this case) and hit Shuffle - or a specific song and one of two things happens:

1. Black screen

2. It shows the song and the controls but pressing play does nothing.

There was absolutely no change in behavior between the Pioneer firmware 1.06 and 1.08 (nor would I expect one since that update had nothing to do with CarPlay)

[user-removed]

Some more issues have appeared. First start up and press spotify app and it just goes to a screen that says spotify at the top and should list playlists etc
2) come out and go back in and it asks for you to sign in
3) come out and go back in again and all is there
4) select track and press play all works fine.
5) come out of a 3G area and it struggles to get going again once you are back in a 3G area. You have to restart a few times.

This needs addressing again. Thanks

[happyarthur1979]

Oh dear... I've updated to iOS 8.1 and Spotify has stopped working!
Works ok when selecting songs / playlists from the phone but fails completely when operating from the head unit.
This really is very very poor.

[sensonic67]

iOS 8.1   Spotify 1.9.0   Pioneer 1.07

If iPhone is conneted to WiFi when starting Carplay via the Pioneer, Spotify works nice. Swapping between Spotify and music on the iPone (iTunes) also works great. If I loose WiFi and go to 4G, it seems to continue working but I only tried for a minute.

If iPhone is not connected to WiFi, only 4G, at startup then I have all the same problems as described above. Typically, when trying to play a song on Spotify it instead starts playing one on iTunes. A bit interesting is that if I look on the iPhon screen it is obvious that both iTunes and Spotify is playing a song simultanously but iTunes obviously is dominating.

So, WiFi seem to be the key here. Some setting somewhere that should be changed?

[sensonic67]

Also, when on cellular, if I first start a Podcast and then switch to Spotify it seems to work pretty often. Sometimes I need to activate the iPhone screen and toggle play pause on Spotify there to get it running but from that on it seem to ork also in Carplay.

Does Spotify share something with Podcast? They have the same menues.

[Djchad72]

Using Pioneer NEX4000 FW1.08, latest Spotify update, iOS8.1.

I get the blinking album art in My Music playlists, if I try to play a song (if the playlist songs even display) looks like it's going to play but buttons are no responsive. If it does start to play, it will typically stop halfway through and crash to home screen.

I am a premium user using music that is locally saved. I get the same player experience when I try radio. Nothing plays but song shows in player. I am on a free trail from Sprint but it expired and am paying now. Same experience. Not really thinking it's worth to keep paying if it doesn't work in the car, which is about the only time of day I have to listen to music. 😞