Astell&Kern A&ultima SP3000T

[slumberman]

Haha, there’s def some quirks with this player but for my ears the tonality and imaging depth are worth it.

No question about it!

 

[aaf evo]

Ummm I’m getting this pop up on my Spotify app installed directly through the player and not a side load.

What is this?

I restarted the DAP and I cannot get this message to go away.



If I click update this happens…

 

[aaf evo]

I deleted and reinstalled the app, same issues. I tried updating it with several APK files from APKPure and other websites and they keep giving me a parsing error. I cannot play music as of right now thanks to that message that keeps popping up on what appears to be a modded Spotify APK app pulled directly from the SP3000T itself.

I am not sure how I feel about this, I will be changing my passwords in hope my data has not been compromised. I'm incredibly disappointed.

 

[JasonNYC]

Ummm I’m getting this pop up on my Spotify app installed directly through the player and not a side load.

What is this?

I restarted the DAP and I cannot get this message to go away.



If I click update this happens…

Thank you for pointing this out. I left a few emails and messages for team members to look into this ASAP when they are back in the office Monday morning.

 

[aaf evo]

Thank you for pointing this out. I left a few emails and messages for team members to look into this ASAP when they are back in the office Monday morning.

Yes hopefully they sort it ASAP because right now I can't use the player at all for Spotify. It doesn't let me dismiss that message and I can't update the app through side loaded APKs.

 

[tomfox]

I play FLAC files from a Samsung SSD T5. Accessing them via Folders. But there is never info about bit-rate and resolution. Artist is displayed but always followed by "Unknown album". Everything is working fine but I suspect there is an omission in reading data?

 

[AnthonyLuk]

Ummm I’m getting this pop up on my Spotify app installed directly through the player and not a side load.

What is this?

I restarted the DAP and I cannot get this message to go away.



If I click update this happens…

1. delete your Spotify App inside your DAP first
2. on your computer visit apkpure.com to download Spotify (8.9.46.426) APK file
3. connect DAP to your computer with the given type C cable
4. move the APK app file into the DAP > OpenService folder (*Note that the OpenService folder is automatically generated on the player. The process will not work if the app file is placed outside of this folder)
5. safely disconnect DAP from your computer
6. go to DAP Service menu where you can find the updated Spotify version is ready to use
Hope this is useful.

 

[aaf evo]

1. delete your Spotify App inside your DAP first
2. on your computer visit apkpure.com to download Spotify (8.9.46.426) APK file
3. connect DAP to your computer with the given type C cable
4. move the APK app file into the DAP > OpenService folder (*Note that the OpenService folder is automatically generated on the player. The process will not work if the app file is placed outside of this folder)
5. safely disconnect DAP from your computer
6. go to DAP Service menu where you can find the updated Spotify version is ready to use
Hope this is useful.

Yeah I’ve tried all this with no luck. I get parsing errors when using the APK from APK pure.

Edit: never mind, I was not deleting my app entirely first which is what made this work, thanks.

 

[aaf evo]

Looks like others are having this issue too. It’s something on AKs end, I still find this really concerning.

 

[aaf evo]

Current solution as posted from @AnthonyLuk above: completely delete Spotify off of the DAP first (this will make you lose all your downloads, yay) and then reinstall it from here. This worked for me and I can listen again now, I will likely keep upgrading the app myself at this point.

 

[nioh]

Ummm I’m getting this pop up on my Spotify app installed directly through the player and not a side load.

What is this?

I restarted the DAP and I cannot get this message to go away.



If I click update this happens…

This is really concerning to be honest and raises a lot of questions.

This tells us that A&K sources their APKs (at least Spotify) from LiteApks. LiteApks use modded versions to inject their own code into the original apks. One of the code they inject is this forced update prompt with ads.

What guarantee do we have that our account information is not leaked/stolen ?

Jason says A&K tests their apks before releasing (for several months even). What kind of tests are these ? Obviously they don't have the source code for these modded apks so all they can test is that it works on A&K DAPs.

This is exactly why I said it would be a lot better and safer for the users if A&K provided a regular Android with Google Play or even Apkpure/Apkmirror which provide original apps without any modification.

I own the Kann Ultra and honestly I don't know how to feel about this. I use Apple Music with my main Apple account which has a lot of other stuff like payment wallets and so on. Apple has it's own security measures, thank God. But this still concerns me a lot. If it wasn't for the excellent sound quality of the Kann Ultra, I would be putting it up in classifieds today after seeing this !

 

[aaf evo]

This is really concerning to be honest and raises a lot of questions.

This tells us that A&K sources their APKs (at least Spotify) from LiteApks. LiteApks use modded versions to inject their own code into the original apks. One of the code they inject is this forced update prompt with ads.

What guarantee do we have that our account information is not leaked/stolen ?

Jason says A&K tests their apks before releasing (for several months even). What kind of tests are these ? Obviously they don't have the source code for these modded apks so all they can test is that it works on A&K DAPs.

This is exactly why I said it would be a lot better and safer for the users if A&K provided a regular Android with Google Play or even Apkpure/Apkmirror which provide original apps without any modification.

I own the Kann Ultra and honestly I don't know how to feel about this. I use Apple Music with my main Apple account which has a lot of other stuff like payment wallets and so on. Apple has it's own security measures, thank God. But this still concerns me a lot. If it wasn't for the excellent sound quality of the Kann Ultra, I would be putting it up in classifieds today after seeing this !

Yep, I fully agree and thats why I immediately posted about this and have continued to post as I figure it out. How a modded/cracked APK got approved and made it into their app list is beyond me.

I feel the same as you, this makes me want to sell my SP3000T and not use any more AK products as I have no clue what apps I am installing that they have “verified” but I love the sound and I will just source the APK myself. It is very disappointing the say the least. I’ve always considered AK to be the “Apple” of Android DAPs in providing a very clean and user friendly experience without any bloat or headache, but this doesn’t make me feel so great.

 

[sk57rus]

This is exactly why I said it would be a lot better and safer for the users if A&K provided a regular Android with Google Play or even Apkpure/Apkmirror which provide original apps without any modification.

It seems that there are no problems with installing streaming from Apkpure/Apkmirror

 

[paracelsius]

Yesterday I listened to music on my SP3000T. The battery dropped to 4% and, without turning off the music, connected it to power. Charging began, but I continued to listen and there was no change in the sound, absolutely no interference. The player played in tube amp and the battery was charging, and I listened practically in desktop mode. Does this somehow affect the life of the battery, what do you guys think? Is it even possible to leave the player connected to the power supply and listen to music when fully charged without harming the battery, or is it better not to? Astell and Kern technical support says that once the battery is fully charged, charging automatically stops. But the player runs on battery power, not mains power. Then the battery will be constantly recharged, that is, connected and disconnected from the power supply. Isn't it?

 

[WDitters]

Yesterday I listened to music on my SP3000T. The battery dropped to 4% and, without turning off the music, connected it to power. Charging began, but I continued to listen and there was no change in the sound, absolutely no interference. The player played in tube amp and the battery was charging, and I listened practically in desktop mode. Does this somehow affect the life of the battery, what do you guys think? Is it even possible to leave the player connected to the power supply and listen to music when fully charged without harming the battery, or is it better not to? Astell and Kern technical support says that once the battery is fully charged, charging automatically stops. But the player runs on battery power, not mains power. Then the battery will be constantly recharged, that is, connected and disconnected from the power supply. Isn't it?

Correct .. which in the end is not advisable for the battery ... Charging and playing both generate heat. Done simultaneously generates more heat than necessary which is detrimental to the battery's health and life expectancy. I would recommend you simply play between 80% and 20% battery and charge only when needed. That way you optimize the battery health the most.