Latest Spotify update breaks lockscreen controls for many, adds terrible adaptive icon

Ben Schoon | Apr 29 2019 - 7:23 am PT

Spotify is one of the biggest music services on the planet, and a whole lot of people are actively paying for it. Despite that, though, it seems like an update doesn’t go by without some weird bug in the Android app. In the latest Spotify update, the app has added what is probably the worst possible adaptive icon, as well as breaking lockscreen controls for some users.

Spotify for Android’s new adaptive icon

Firstly, let’s talk about the new adaptive icon Spotify added earlier this month. This new icon is supposed to blend better into your homescreen layout by also adjusting based on the icon shape you’ve picked in settings. However, the developers behind this Android app have bizarrely decided to put a black border around the circular Spotify logo, regardless of what shape the icon itself is.

It’s a really weird move, and it has some unintended consequences too. This adaptive icon for Spotify when in a circle makes the icon itself smaller than most on your display. The change is even more obvious if you have a dark or completely black wallpaper. It’s a shame too, as one would think Spotify’s logo would be very easy to give a proper adaptive icon.

Broken lockscreen controls in Spotify

Further, this latest update seems to have broken lockscreen controls for many users. As PiunikaWeb highlights, user reports have come out en masse over the past few weeks stating that lockscreen music controls are simply broken. This seems to be especially true for Samsung users, with Galaxy S8 and S10 owners leaving reports of issues. One case was also found on Spotify’s forums regarding a Huawei device.

This seems to be an issue relating directly back to the latest Spotify update. The company has said that it is looking into fixing this issue, but for the time being, downgrading the app version seems to be the only fix. One user does suggest downloading Samsung Music and turning on lockscreen controls in that app to fix the problem.