Ford Sync and Spotify

[Banana Co]

So... After sucsesfully getting my Fiesta updated to Sync 1.1 I enjoyed many months of using Spotify in my car. Then Spotify it seems decided to stop supporting Ford Sync 1.1 and removed it from future Spotify updates.

 

As annoying as this was I found an old version of the app and continued to use it for quite a while. That is until last week when I went to listen to some music only to be greeted by 'Spotify not authorized'

 

I tried a master reset, logging out and in on the app and a whole host of other things and nothing worked. Interesting after the master reset it worked for about 30 seconds before the message re-appeared.

 

Has anyone overcome this issue at all?

[Jonson]

Found exactly the same thing on sync 3 - I guess the old spotify version stops allowing connection if it's not been updated for a certain length of time.

Try removing and reinstalling the old version of spotify? ?

[Banana Co]

Yeah did think that might be the only option left. I can't see why they just couldn't leave the code in the app.

[Jonson]

I know, it's really annoying - this feature was a key selling point of the car for me.

[z07713]

i have the exact same problem... 😕

[Smartd00d]

Use Spotify with Apple CarPlay. Works fantastically and a million times better than the old Ford Sync implementation.

[Tiexen]

18 hours ago, Smartd00d said:

Use Spotify with Apple CarPlay. Works fantastically and a million times better than the old Ford Sync implementation.

Except the OP would have to buy a new car - which would be an expensive fix.

[Xlasis]

I don't even care about Spotify! I got 58 plate titanium even i can't stream any song by bluetooth and couldn't find the solution

[Smartd00d]

Just sayin’. Tech doesn’t stand still and unfortunately car manufacturers have an awful habit of not keeping up so that you start to look at buying the next model. Expensive fix indeed.

The only alternative with Sync is to use the phone app (hand free of course).

[ThaiFiesta]

12 hours ago, Xlasis said:

I don't even care about Spotify! I got 58 plate titanium even i can't stream any song by Bluetooth and couldn't find the solution

You should be able to upgrade your system to a more modern bluetooth Sync system

[Xlasis]

6 hours ago, ThaiFiesta said:

You should be able to upgrade your system to a more modern Bluetooth Sync system

Yep if you pay £50 £60 for bluetooth module you can get on eBay. 

[ThaiFiesta]

17 hours ago, Xlasis said:

Yep if you pay £50 £60 for Bluetooth module you can get on ebay. 

Often cheaper. I think mine was £20 plus postage. 

[Xlasis]

1 hour ago, ThaiFiesta said:

Often cheaper. I think mine was £20 plus postage. 

Could you give me a link from eBay on that range price which is able to stream music

[ThaiFiesta]

Just search eBay for Fiesta Sync module. Set yourself up a permanent search selection for that term. And wait until a cheap one comes along (they go quickly). You want anything D1BT or later. 

[Banana Co]

the problem is that spotify generally worked well with sync. i could mostly get a playlist playing without touching my phone, if I'm halfway down the motorway and suddenly decide i'd like to listed to something on my phone I won't be able to using the bluetooth connection. I was quite happy to run an older version of spotify but even that work around has now been taken away.

[auldreekie]

I don't use Spotify, I have Deezer which works fine on my 7.5 and never had a problem with it. I tried the wife's spotify and couldn't get it to work. Personally I like Deezer better anyway.

[Banana Co]

is that sync 1.1?

[Adam-]

So I've been searching on the internet for a fix for this and struggled to find an answer. As such today I used what I could find to try and resolve it.

I'm running Spotify version 8.4.36.321 on my phone. I performed a master reset on sync and then reconnected my phone. Key thing here is I left my phone unconnected from the internet by both WiFi and mobile data. Doing this kept Spotify working on ford sync for a good half hour drive however I know this isn't ideal. My next step is to try use my IT professional skills to work out how to block just the ford sync on the car from using the internet on my phone to update it's catalogue while the phone is connected to the car. Ford sync requests updates from the ford servers using your phone to work out what apps are "authorized". This is probably why your car was working for 30 seconds after a reset then stopped again.

 

I hope to post back soon with a fully functional "fix" as most of us use mobile data for satnavs and things like Shell petrol payment app.

[Banana Co]

Adam, any luck with getting this working?

[Jeipii]

You don't need the Spotify Sync app to use Spotify with your cars bluetooth. I had the same fate as you and I just started using the normal bluetooth connection. I don't think it's a big deal that you can't use the sync apps laggy controls to change playlists etc.. You can change them in your phone and then use the steering wheel buttons to change songs and control volume. Shouldn't that be enough anyway?

Just connect your phone and turn on Spotify. Then just click aux button a couple of times and you'll get the music from Spotify.

[Banana Co]

I quite liked having the option to change playlists, plus for some reason the car has an issue with the way I say 'play' when connecting to bluetooth, seems I have to say it in a certain way. Also spotify seemed to work well if you were half way into a journey and suddenly wanted to listed to something. With the bluetooth audio you can't open the spotify app so if you're already driving you'd have to pull over and open it up.