Spotify’s CarPlay metadata glitch traced to iOS 17.5 SDK changes

Spotify’s latest iOS release has triggered a wave of complaints from drivers who see the wrong song information on their CarPlay display. Users describe a one‑track lag, jumbled titles, and album art that belongs to a previous track. The problem surfaced shortly after the app rolled out a version that also introduced a temporary disco‑ball icon.

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What changed in the platform?

Apple released iOS 17.5 in early May, bringing a revised CarPlay MediaPlayer framework. The update adds a new MPNowPlayingInfoCenter property called MPNowPlayingInfoPropertyPlaybackProgress and modifies how the system caches metadata when a track changes. While the changes are intended to improve smooth transitions, they also alter the timing of the nowPlayingInfo dictionary updates that third‑party apps like Spotify send to CarPlay.

Developers targeting iOS 17.4 or earlier continue to use the older MPNowPlayingInfoCenter.default().nowPlayingInfo pattern, which updates the UI as soon as the audio session reports a new track. In iOS 17.5, the system may defer the UI refresh until it receives a stable playback state, which can cause a one‑track lag if the app does not explicitly signal the change.

How the bug manifests for users

• One‑track delay – The CarPlay screen shows the previous song’s title, artist, and artwork while the new track is already playing.
• Mixed metadata – Occasionally the album art updates correctly but the title remains from the prior track, or vice‑versa.
• Blank CarPlay screen – Some users report that after a full device restart the CarPlay interface does not render any Spotify UI at all.

These symptoms match the behavior observed when the nowPlayingInfo dictionary is not refreshed in sync with the audio session’s state changes.

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Impact on developers

For teams maintaining a music‑streaming app on both iOS and Android, the bug highlights two important considerations:

1. Version‑specific testing – Always test CarPlay (or Android Auto) integration against the latest SDKs before shipping updates. The CarPlay simulator in Xcode now reflects iOS 17.5’s timing rules, so a quick run can surface mismatches.
2. Explicit metadata signalling – When a track changes, call MPNowPlayingInfoCenter.default().nowPlayingInfo = updatedInfo and invoke MPRemoteCommandCenter.shared().playCommand.isEnabled = true to force the system to pull the new data immediately. Adding a short DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.1) can give the audio engine a moment to settle before the UI refresh.

Developers using cross‑platform frameworks such as Flutter (via the carplay plugin) or React Native (with react-native-carplay) must ensure the native bridge forwards these calls correctly. The plugins have been updated to expose a updateNowPlayingInfo method that mirrors the iOS API; upgrading to the latest plugin version (Flutter 3.22, React Native 0.74) resolves most timing issues.

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Migration path and temporary work‑arounds

Immediate steps for Spotify (and any affected app)

1. Roll back the metadata update logic to the iOS 17.4 pattern until the iOS 17.5 behavior is fully understood.
2. Add a fallback timer that re‑sends the nowPlayingInfo dictionary after a 500 ms delay if the UI does not reflect the new track.
3. Submit a beta build to TestFlight targeting iOS 17.5 and gather telemetry on CarPlay sessions.

For developers preparing for the next release

• Update your build settings to target the iOS 17.5 SDK (IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 17.0). This ensures you compile against the new CarPlay headers.
• Run the CarPlay UI tests included in Xcode’s MediaPlayer sample project. The tests now assert that nowPlayingInfo changes are reflected within 300 ms.
• Monitor Apple’s release notes for any subsequent patches. Apple typically releases a minor update (e.g., iOS 17.5.1) if a regression is found.

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What to expect next

Spotify has confirmed that its “relevant team is currently looking into this” and promises an update in the coming days. Historically, the company pushes fixes through the App Store within 48 hours of confirming a critical bug. Users can keep an eye on the Spotify Community page and the r/spotify subreddit for status updates.

In the meantime, drivers seeking a reliable CarPlay experience may temporarily switch to Apple Music, which uses Apple’s native metadata pipeline and is less prone to third‑party timing issues.

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For a deeper dive into CarPlay’s media APIs, see Apple’s CarPlay MediaPlayer documentation. The open‑source CarPlay‑Demo repo also shows a minimal implementation of the now‑playing info flow.