What's going on here?
I have Spotify installed as a "progressive web app" (PWA) instead of a full iPadOS application. This is because Spotify's PWA lets you do more things on a free plan. You can:
- loop songs/playlists;
- skip as many songs as you want;
- add songs to queue;
- play whatever song you want on an album or a playlist.
On top of that, choosing PWAs over traditional apps whenever possible means your App Store automatic update queue is less cluttered, so the apps you actually need to have as apps will update sooner rather than later. I hate it when I open an app to do something fast, but it's blocked with a non-dismissable popup that forces me to update it first before I can continue using it.
Spotify's PWA is basically the same as their browser version, except you run it separately, it has a separate application window, and your login session is independent from what's going on in your browser. That is, if you clear your browser cookies, you won't be logged out from Spotify PWA.
More on what PWAs are and how to install them:
- https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps/Guides/Installing
- https://cdc.gov/niosh/mining/tools/installpwa.html
Possible issue: songs stop playing
This is most likely because your screen went off and iOS shut down the app for 'inactivity'. This could be a PWA-specific limitation, as traditional apps are able to continue playing even with the screen off. I do not think this is a free plan limitation
Possible issue: Play button does not work
Log out and back in two times in a row. This supposedly forces the app to reload internally. Found this advice in an unrelated forum post at https://community.spotify.com/t5/iOS-iPhone-iPad/%C4%B0pad-canvas-wont-working/td-p/5836877