Android Auto's Spotify bug has no real solution, and users are fed up

An Android Auto bug is making Spotify close-to impossible to use, according to a number of disgruntled users.

The bug causes Spotify to display an error message, which means it won't work unless the user updates their Android Auto. The probkem, of course, is that many are finding they're on the latest version of Android Auto already.

Spotify won't work, and the usual workarounds aren't helping

Android Auto has a lot of uses, but in general, it's used for two things: Navigation, and listening to audio. The first one is generally more important than the second, but that doesn't mean it's not annoying when it refuses to work.

According to a number of users on Google's Support Forums, Spotify on Android Auto is currently refusing to play ball. On starting up the car, the Spotify app will show up in the split-screen Coolwalk interface, but it won't work.

Instead, it shows an error message asking users to update to a newer version of Android Auto. That would be fine, there's a simple fix for this: Update your Android Auto. But the kicker is, as you'd expect, there is no newer version of Android Auto to update to.

This bug seems to be fairly widespread, with a number of people complaining of the same issue. The problem also stems back to at least the end of April, but users still report the bug being present in their Android Auto setup.

Apparently it will work if it resumes a song that's already playing on your phone. But this is far from a good workaround, as, after the song is finished, it supposedly throws the error message up again.

Unfortunately, this pattern seems to have become a trend, as few of the usual Android Auto bug workarounds fix it. Clearing the Spotify app's cache and data seems to help for a time, but most users then claim the problem comes roaring back soon afterward.

The problem may well be to do with a bad Spotify update, as some have claimed they had no problems before a specific Spotify update landed. If that's the case, then it's on Spotify to fix the problem, rather than Android Auto. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any instances of this bug being reported on Spotify's Community forum, so this bug could continue on for now. Google is aware of the problem, and hopefully will be able to fix it from its end, or poke Spotify into doing so.