Buffering...

[pjranderson]

Hi All!
I've got a MY19 V90 but didn't get the CarPlay option as it was £300 where most other manufacturers it comes as standard.

I connect my phone using bluetooth and use the Spotify app a lot. I've found that although connected to the phone the Spotify app is doing a real time stream of media rather than using the songs / albums that I've actually downloaded to the device. This means when I'm in a bad signal area the media always buffers to the point you can't listen to it any more.

Is there any way to get around this - it does the same when connected via USB so doesn't seem to be something that I can fix easily? It's extremely frustrating!

Thanks

[sk546]

If you are playing Spotify from the App on your phone and connected via bluetooth to audio stream to the car then is should be able to play the downloaded music on your phone with no buffering.
If you are using the Bluetooth connection to supply data to the car and using the Spotify App on the cars Sensus system (linked to your own Spotify account) then this is completely separate to anything stored on your phone and will only real time stream.

[pjranderson]

Originally Posted by sk546

If you are playing Spotify from the App on your phone and connected via bluetooth to audio stream to the car then is should be able to play the downloaded music on your phone with no buffering.
If you are using the Bluetooth connection to supply data to the car and using the Spotify App on the cars Sensus system (linked to your own Spotify account) then this is completely separate to anything stored on your phone and will only real time stream.

Thanks - I'm doing the latter as I can navigate using the Sensus system, select what I'm listening to etc but sounds like I need to use the app on the phone itself which I expect will mean I need to navigate using the phone. I'll have a look at it over the weekend. It's only been an issue since I moved out to the countryside, may need to invest in CarPlay.

[sk546]

Originally Posted by pjranderson

Thanks - I'm doing the latter as I can navigate using the Sensus system, select what I'm listening to etc but sounds like I need to use the app on the phone itself which I expect will mean I need to navigate using the phone. I'll have a look at it over the weekend. It's only been an issue since I moved out to the countryside, may need to invest in CarPlay.

The other option is to fit a data sim in the car (one that has decent signal in your area) that will supply data to the car without having to link your phone to data share.
I put a 3 data sim in mine once the Volvo issued Vodafone data sim expired and it works a treat enabling you to keep navigating Spotify on the cars infotainment screen rather than on your phone.
Not sure if its the same with Carplay but Android Auto is only allowed to use the lower half of the Sensus screen rather than the full screen meaning it can be somewhat annoying to navigate at times in comparison to the inbuilt car apps.

[Milliner]

Yes, Spotify on Sensus goes via the Volvo servers it seems, even though it downloads or 'caches' played tracks to save data. I've posted elswhere it took a while to iron out the issues. It was barely useable to begin with.

How about using the voice assistant on your phone to control Spotify (and connect to the car using Bluetooth)? I personally use Siri to choose Apple Music tracks, but sure the same can be done for Spotify.

Much easier than jabbing the car's screen to find and play tracks too.

[familymangreg]

Just to add to this. I've been quite a fan of the Spotify app in the car for a few years now. In the early days, it truly was unusable, buffering way too much even in areas with very strong mobile coverage. Now, I get very little buffering.

Things have improved since I put a SIM in the car (I didn't do this with my previous XC90 as it was the early MY17 build just before they switched from a 3G to a 4G modem) and use that rather than my phones internet connection over bluetooth. I can only put this down to the car's antenna picking up the mobile network even better than my phone from within the car.

Also, a slight aside, but I don't know if people realise this: You can use the Spotify app on your phone to find music and then play it, selecting your Volvo 'as the speaker' from within the phone's Spotify app, and then have it played via the native app in the car. Very good for the passenger choosing music.

:wq