Spotify Suddenly Can't Stop Crashing On Android, Here's What You Can Do
Several Android users who installed the latest Spotify beta (version 8.9.2.169) report that the app keeps crashing on their devices. One only need look on X (formerly Twitter) to see a rash of complaints related to the issue, the timing of which coincides with the calendar flipping over to 2024. Hopefully the crashes are not a harbinger of things to come.
To be fair, these types of issues are inherent risks with fiddling with beta software. Users throw a bit of caution to the wind and in return, gain access to features and functionality before they're rolled out to the general public en masse. Spotting and resolving these kinds of issues beforehand are the pretty much the point of beta testing, though repeated crashes are still a buzzkill (and something that might be more expected with a alpha build).
Spotted by the folks at 9To5Google, the crashing issue makes the app unusable in this state. Affected users say the app crashes within a couple of seconds after trying to open it up. Some users also report having tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Spotify beta to no avail.
In the above exchange on X/Twitter, user @mrgnz went on to say they tried the same steps, including force stopping the app, clearing cache, rebooting their device, clearing data, and uninstalling and reinstalling the app. None of it worked, instead they were met with a "black screen and then system notice that the app does not work."
We imagine Spotify will get around to addressing the crashing issue, though with today being a holiday, it might not come until later this week. In the meantime, there are a couple of workarounds. The more involved one is try sideloading a previous working version of the beta app, if you're dead set on sticking with the beta until this gets resolved.
The better option, however, is to uninstall Spotify in beta form, leave the beta program, then install the stable release from Google's Play Store. That's exactly what @jjjeeerrryyyppp from the above X/Twitter exchange did, who reports that it worked. Just be aware that any downloaded music and podcasts for offline listening will go by the wayside when going this route.
