I’m developing a Spotify app and facing some challenges with navigation. I have three tabs (let’s say Tab A, Tab B, and Tab C) that operate smoothly using the native navigation buttons when switching among them.
The problem arises when I select Tab A; it presents a list of items. After selecting one of these items, detailed content is displayed, but I remain on the same tab. Unfortunately, I can’t return to the original list since Tab A remains active, and re-clicking it doesn’t trigger any action.
Currently, I have this event listener for managing tab changes:
What is the most effective way to implement back navigation? Should I be watching a different event, or is there a more efficient method to organize the navigation flow? I want to ensure users can return to the list view without needing to switch tabs.
same issue here! i used the browser history api with spotify’s events. just push a new state when you enter detail view and listen for popstate to handle the back button. window.addEventListener('popstate', goBackToList) - much easier than custom stacks.
I encountered a similar issue in my Spotify app where staying within the same tab prevented effective back navigation to a list after a detail view was selected. The argumentsChanged event only triggers when switching tabs, not when navigating within. As a solution, I implemented a custom navigation stack for each tab using a simple array to manage view states. By pushing views onto the stack when a list item is clicked and allowing a back action to pop the current view, users are able to return seamlessly to the original list. This approach makes it easy to maintain the navigation context within the app.
Had this exact problem last year building my first Spotify app. argumentsChanged only fires for tab switches, not internal navigation within tabs. I fixed it by creating a view manager that tracks each tab’s current state separately. When someone clicks an item in Tab A, I store the detail view data and replace the tab content dynamically. Then I added a simple back handler that checks if there’s a previous state stored for that tab. The trick is treating each tab like its own mini-app with its own navigation history. This way when users click Tab A again while already on it, you can detect they want to go back to the root state. Works way better than fighting Spotify’s navigation system.
Spotify’s tab system breaks when you try to navigate between views - it doesn’t track internal states properly. Here’s what worked for me: I built my own simple state tracker that remembers where each tab is. When someone clicks a list item, I save the current state and show the detail view in the same container. For going back, I just added a custom back button that restores the previous state and shows the list again. This approach is solid because it doesn’t rely on browser history or Spotify’s wonky event handling. The trick is managing your own navigation instead of trusting Spotify’s built-in stuff.