iOS App sending wrong Playing state and Elapsed position (animated artwork)

[Sylvain_De]

When an iAP2 session is started over the Apple device and an accessory (such as a car infotainment system supporting iAP2), we've found a particular edge case where the iOS Spotify App ends up sending wrong information in the iAP2 messages.
- Start playing a song with an animated artwork (details below)
- Check that the song is the correct state (Playing) with elapsed time increasing on both the Apple device and the accessory
- Pause the song from the Spotify app on the Apple device
- Check that the song is the correct state (Pause) and elapsed time does not change on both the Apple device and the accessory
- After a few seconds, iAP2 messages are sent with a wrong state (Playing) and increasing elapsed positions (song paused on app).

[Sylvain_De]

Here are additional details about the issue as I was limited in number of characters.
This is a bug report and I do not expect/want any workarounds.
If needed, I can provide ATS traces with the full iAP2 messages but I'd rather not post it here as it contains "private" information.

Animated artwork:

In order to reproduce the issue, our understanding is that having an animated artwork is a key part. In order to do so, one:
- must disable "Low data mode" on the iPhone
- can use a song such as: Mayakkama Kalakkama (From "Thiruchitrambalam")

Additional details about the Apple device configuration:
- Hardware: iPhone Xs Max
- OS: iOS 15.6.1 (19G82)
- Spotify version: 8.7.88 & 8.8.15

[Lyubka]

Hey @Sylvain_De,

Thank you for reaching out here in the Community 

We appreciate you taking the time to report this and share your feedback with us.

We'll make sure to pass it onto the right team and we'll work on improving the functionality together with Apple, as Spotify constantly strives to refine the user experience.

Hopefully you'll see if it gets improved, however, we can't guarantee when or if this will be taken into consideration. In the meantime, we'd recommend always keeping your Spotify app up to date to ensure you're on the latest version, so you don't miss any important fixes or features.

If you have any questions or need anything in the future, the Community is here for you 🙂 

[allenGUO]

Hello, if  need to switch songs, what message send via IAP2?

[allenGUO]

after mfi identification accepted via iap2, we can send app launch message, and after this, what message can we send for playing songs or switch songs, thank you!

[allenGUO]

after app send start external accessory protocol session(EA00)message, what should i do next? thanks！

[Sylvain_De]

Hello,
Thanks for your interest. I'm currently away from my full setup so here is
what I can remember from it. (I'll give you the full details on next
Monday):
- External accessory protocol (EAP) is NOT used, only the media and HID
features are used
- Instead, the application can be laughed directly from the iPhone and
then, now playing metadata (title, elapsed time, playing state, etc) are
reflected in the UI of the accessory's media player

[allenGUO]

Thank you very much, i know app launch/discovery and other messages via iap2,   customer provides us  a mfi speaker,and it can auto start spotify via send app launch message, and then it can also send some data after spotify app send start ea message via iap2, this can play music first, and then speak send this data again ,and app can play next songs, i don't know what is this mean, this is not hid.  

[Sylvain_De]

Here are additional information:

• the issue is reproduced with iOS 16.3.1 (20D67)
• I now have a full ATS trace containing the relevant iAP2 messages as well as comments. I'd rather not publish it on a public place as it contains "private" information but I can provide it to Spotify people via any relevant way

The content goes like this:

• Authentication
• Identification
• Accessory sends StartNowPlayingUpdates
• When user launches Mayakkama Kalakkama (From "Thiruchitrambalam") from the Spotify app on the device, NowPlayingUpdate messages from the device are sent with expected content (title, duration, etc)
• When user pauses the song from the Spotify app on the device, NowPlayingUpdate message from the device is sent with expected content: PlaybackStatus=Paused
• After 4 seconds without interactions on the device or the accessory, the device sends a NowPlayingUpdate with UNEXPECTED content: PlaybackStatus=Playing and from that point, it sends NowPlayingUpdate with increasing values of PlaybackElapsedTimeInMilliseconds (as if the song was playing which is not the case in the Spotify app on the device)

Please note that:

• EAP is not used, only the Media related features
• the accessory does not send any kind of message once the iAP2 session is properly started, all the interactions are performed directly on the Spotify app, the accessory only receives the notifications

[Sylvain_De]

Hello @allenGUO and @Lyubka , do you need additional information ?