Spotify users on Samsung phones have been reporting a few issues with the app controls for almost a month now. Users say the Spotify lockscreen controls like skip or pause don’t work from their phone’s lockscreen.
Issues reported with Spotify lockscreen controls
Affected users have taken to social media platforms and the official Spotify community to complain about the issue with the Spotify app controls. Users say they now have to unlock their phone to access the controls.
Most of the complaints are from Galaxy S10, S9, S8, S7 and Note 9 users. In most of the complaints, users say they started facing the issue after an update in March, according to tech site PiunikaWeb.
“I play music through Spotify, then lock my phone to keep it playing then if I want to change the song I usually just double tap the screen then change the song from the lock screen but I’ve found that on the s10+ so far that the controls respond to my touch but they don’t do anything. Furthermore, if I lock my screen, after 10-20 seconds, my music stops playing altogether and I need to unlock my phone, go into Spotify and press play again for it to resume,” one affected user said.
Users say the controls are visible on the lock screen, but they are not responding. Many users have reported the same issue. Moreover, affected users say they have tried every typical trick, such as clearing the cache, factory resetting and more, but nothing seems to be working.
Other details about the issue
Additionally, users say that they are experiencing the same issue when they use Spotify via a device connected to the phone, such as in a car.
“Since the last Spotify update, the lock screen buttons on my phone to pause or skip do not work. Neither do the Bluetooth connected steering wheel buttons in my car…… The lack of this function in the car means unwanted tracks cannot be skipped as it is illegal to touch a mobile phone while drivin – the new in car view is therefore useless,” one user said.
Based on the user reports, the issues with the Spotify lockscreen controls began with app version 8.5.0. Although the majority of the issues have been reported by the Samsung phone users, some complaints have been raised by users of other smartphone as well, including the Huawei P20 Pro, Oppo R9 and Huawei Mate 10 Pro.
Spotify also seems to be aware of the issue with the lockscreen controls. When replying to an affected user last month, the company said it was investigating the issue. However, there have been no updates since then.
Meanwhile, the number of users reporting the issues with the Spotify lockscreen controls is increasing. According to PiunikaWeb, one thread on Spotify’s Community forum has almost 1,000 votes.
Try these tricks to fix the issue
As of now, there is no surefire workaround available. However, some users have figured out some tricks to address the issue.
The first trick that seems to have worked for many users is disabling battery optimization for Spotify. To do this, go to Settings and search for “Optimize battery usage.” Once you find it, tap it and then select”Apps not optimized” and choose “All.” Now search for Spotify and disable battery optimization. Hopefully, this should address the issue.
One user who said the battery optimization trick didn’t work for him was able to fix the issue by uninstalling Google Play.
“The lock screen settings only refers [sic] to Music generically. I uninstalled Google Play and Spotify vontrols [sic] on lock screen now works. Conflict between Google Play snd [sic] Spotify??” the user said.
Another possible way to fix the issue is to talk with customer care and get a new account. One user said the customer care representative made him get a new account and transferred everything to the new account.
Let us know if the above tricks worked for you or not. If none of them work, one surefire workaround that should work for all is downgrading to an earlier version of the Spotify app. Hopefully Spotify will come up with a permanent fix for the issue with the Spotify lockscreen controls soon.
