iPhone App: Do not play album in shuffle mode by default.

[acwatkins2]

In the iPhone app, when you select an album to play, it is played back in shuffle mode by default. This means that if you're not paying attention, you'll inadvertently listen to the tracks of an album order. I don't see anyone good reason why the default should not be to play the songs on an album in the order that the artist intended. This is particularly problematic for albums in which the order is crucial to enjoyment (standup comedy, audiobooks, radio dramas, musicals, concept albums, etc.). Please, out of respect for artists and consideration for listeners, make the default to play albums in their intended sequence.

Thank you.

[Adam]

@Subdebutante -- looks like you resubscribed to Premium and everything's back to normal. Looking good at your end?

[Sabsmax]

Ac's point isn't that the app is malfunctioning, it's that the User Interface is bonk - and I strongly agree. When on the play screen (album or playlist), the gigantic "shuffle play" button is presumably the ONLY option. Tapping the track to initiate ordered play is NOT intuitive - at all. In fact, I am a web and app UI designer, and I had to google it to figure it out. Simple solution idea 1: make two bottoms of equal size for PLAY and SHUFFLE. Knowing how to turn off shuffle once you've started your playlist or album isn't the issue here - it's playing tracks in order from the start. The option to do so should be more obvious.

[Sabsmax]

*buttons

[jensph]

I came to this thread to figure out how to play an album in order - I was going crazy only seeing a big green Shuffle Play button.  Couldn't agree with you more, the UI unnecessarily obscures functionality.

[mcanado]

Sorry I have the same problem. I'm using spotify premium on my iphone5 and there is no way I can play a whole list in the order I have it. Could you please tell me how to do it? I'm paying for the premium version. Thanks. 

[Sabsmax]

@mcanado just tap the first track in the list and it will begin playing in order. Really easy to do, really difficult to figure out HOW.

[kasperwithk]

@sabsmax - I don't think you understand. If we tap the first song it also starts to shuffle. I can't believe that this problem hasn't been fixed. I've had the problem on IOS for quite a while and uninstall etc doesn't seem to do it.

[Peter__]

Just testing this on my device, the shuffle option is saved for me anyways. So when I disable shuffle on the now playing screen, anytime I tap a track anywhere I can see the queue is not shuffled (using Spotify Connect on my android phone).

Wondering is there a small bug triggering something weird to happen for some people.

[jonjenkins73]

I'm using an iphone 4S, and after a bit of Googling I have been able to play an album without it "shuffling". After all these comments over quite a long period of time, why on earth isn't there another button on the screen? i.e. one that says "Play", as well as one that says "Shuffle Play",

cheers,

JJ.

[Joe]

Sheesh man, isn't one big green button on the screen enough! I want them to get rid of it, not add another so that I can only see the first two tracks 🙂

[alagemo]

I'm having the same issue here. It's worth clarifying that there are two issues:

1 - there's a bug in the app which causes it to ONLY playback in shuffle mode. This seems to be caused by using the honking great green shuffle play button anywhere in the app. I'm experiencing this on iOS (iPhone 6)

2 the UI is flawed - it works on the web/desktop as you have a hover state to indicate potential interaction. This obviously isn't available on mobile.

[alagemo]

SOLUTION:

Tap the bar along the bottom with the track name. In the bottom left there's a shuffle icon. Deselect this to go back to sequential play

[jeremywanamaker]

Please add a button to play in order or replace the shuffle play button with a play button. This is such an annoyance in the mobile app. I really miss MOG. The mobile app was so much more intuitive than Spotify. The only reason I'm with Spotify is because MOG sold to Beats and Beats is terrible.

[jgarcia-78]

Just want to echo other users bafflement/frustration that the iOS app defaults to shuffle mode, and that there is no basic "Play" button.

I upgraded to premium and downloaded the app a few days ago.  When I tried to play an album, I was a bit puzzled that only icon offered to me was "Shuffle Play."  So i tried to sidestep it by clicking directly on the first track of the album, figuring (logically) that the rest of the tracks would follow in order.  Instead they played in a random jumble.

I finally discovered how to turn off shuffle play, but it was so non-intuitive it required a google search to figure out.  If it requires internet research to do something as basic as play the tracks of an album in order, that is a major fail from a user-interface standpoint.

Agree w/ previous poster re: MOG. Of all the streaming apps, it had the best designed and most intuitive UI, but the Beats remake is a complete disaster...  Which is why I'm back to Spotify.

[noahbxx]

I agree with all the above posters; I have an iphone 5 and it is annoying to have to turn shuffle off every time I switch to a new album

[Haleymarie423]

Same for me and I can't turn it off on my phone. I hate it! Started with the new iOS update a few months back

[amperrymd]

Don't make shuffle the default. Put on a play button.

[livy]

I can't get my playlists on my phone to stop shuffling. Ive tried everything. I use it for my yoga classes so it's extremely frustrating to have my songs playing out of order. How do I fix this? I've resorted to using Pandora, which I hate, and need to fix this ASAP!

[amperrymd · Accepted solution]

I found if you open a song that is playing (touch the banner on the bottom
of the screen) on the bottom left is a little shuffle icon. If it's lit up
you're shuffling. Touch it off and the shuffling stops. For me it seemed to
shut off shuffling as the general default.

[tourbillon]

dare I say it...fixed!?

If you close the app or switch off your phone and the last thing you were playing was a shuffle playlist, when you open it again it will be set on shuffle, no matter what you are playing, albums or playlists.

The fix is to disable shuffle before you check out.

Tested several times on iOS.

Enjoy 🙂