Opening Spotify shuts down audio from other apps

[jordinrae]

Plan

Premium

Country

Canada

Device

iPhone 15

Operating System

iOS 18.3.2

My Question or Issue

I listen to podcasts on external apps and when I open Spotify, without playing anything, the audio from the other apps immediately shuts off. This wasn't an issue on android. I got this iPhone today and just downloaded Spotify, so I know this shouldn't have anything to do with being outdated. Please help.

[Amay]

Hey @jordinrae, welcome to the Spotify Community! 🎵

I was able to reproduce this issue. I think it stems from the fact that there are now more video elements in-app. If you notice, every album, playlist, or artist page, for example, should have these small video tiles that you can click to go through the list quickly.

What happens is when you open the app, the live previews start in the background (if they are on the page that is currently in focus), which stops the background player (the podcast app in your case). One way to disable these is to enable the data saver mode, but that will affect audio quality too.

Presently, there is no way to disable the autoplay of these tiles in the background. You are welcome to suggest a relevant idea on the ideas board (check the ideas guidelines here).

Please let me know if you need help with anything else. 🙂

[jordinrae]

Hi Amay, turning on data saver mode did not work for me. Did it work for you? Again, this wasn't an issue on Android so I don't know why this would be a problem on an iPhone. This isn't a feature, it's a bug. 

I don't think it was the video tiles causing it either - I just opened spotify onto the Settings page, which is entirely text, and my other audio stopped.

[Amay]

Thanks for the reply @jordinrae. It looks like this issue has already been reported in this thread. It is also being checked by the relevant team.

Meanwhile, make sure your phone and the Spotify app are up-to-date and you can find more details in the thread.

If you need help with anything else, don't hesitate to reach out. 🙂