Choose between Google Cast and Spotify Connect

[misio1]

Plan

Premium

Country

Poland

Device

Pixel 7 Pro / Samsung S22

Operating System

Android 16

My Question or Issue

I've been using spotify to stream to my NAD C338 via spotify connect for couple of years now.

Recently it stopped working - only google cast option is currently available on the newest spotify app.

As a part of troubleshooting I downloaded older spotify APKs and installed on my android phone to see if it helps - it did! The latest version of spotify app which shows spotify connect option to my NAD is 9.0.78.1116, starting from version 9.0.82.1008 the spotify connect is not available, just google cast.

Can the app be fixed so that I have spotify connect option back available on my NAD C338 please?

[MusicIsMyGirlfriend]

Interestingly enough, this Spotify Connect issue has pushed me further into
the Apple Ecosystem. Which has been a slow burn since switching from
Android to iPhone 14PM, but my GF (music) definitely drives many of my tech
decisions, so I’m focused on getting wired lossless to my vintage stereo /
headphones currently. Then I’ll be keeping an eye on the Apple HomePod
releases over the next year to eventually integrate “wireless” lossless
into my various speakers around the house. Yes I’m aware AirPlay is not
often lossless despite being capable (sound familiar when compared to
GoogleCast? especially to Chromecast Audio), thus my initial focus on wired.

If I was still all on on Android / Google, I would probably have spent the
time to split my network too. I have done it smaller scale before just to
keep intranet / local access only devices from stealing WiFi bandwidth from
main router / internet, but seems like a lot of work when plugging in a
dedicated audio device (old phone with quality DAC built in) takes moments
since the phone is in my hand already to play music (so far the Spotify
feature I miss most is ability to control stream from any device).

[dagiles]

As reverting to previous versions of the Android app had been mentioned I thought I'd have a look through the APKs. This isn't a dive through the code, just a simple check through the strings.xml for the text 'Choose how to connect' (which is the option now missing in the Android app). Looks like the connect_device_choose_connection string was removed between 9.0.94 and 9.0.96. Some differences in strings.xml between the two versions:

david@mac01 APK % diff 9.0.94.173_base/resources/res/values/strings.xml 9.0.96.437_base/resources/res/values/strings.xml
...
1165d1164
< <string name="connect_device_choose_connection">Choose how to connect</string>
1168d1166
< <string name="connect_device_connection_updated">Connection Updated</string>
...
< <string name="martini_card_disclaimer">This content was generated using AI.</string>
3609a3616
> <string name="martini_card_third_party_sources_disclaimer">Summarized from 3rd-party sources</string>
...
5463c5471,5472
< <string name="settings_item_audio_stream_quality_very_high_quality_not_available">Very High music quality not available on this plan</string>
---
> <string name="settings_item_audio_stream_quality_lossless_quality_not_available">Lossless quality not available on this plan</string>
> <string name="settings_item_audio_stream_quality_very_high_quality_not_available">Very High quality not available on this plan</string>
5510a5520
> <string name="settings_item_download_quality_lossless_quality_not_available">Lossless download quality not available on this plan</string>

[beto_player]

Hello! I have a problem that is part of those Spotify bugs. I'm on a Samsung A56 Android 16 and when using it on the JBL Boombox 3 Wifi speaker, Google Cast doesn't work, only Spotify Connect. I prefer using Google Cast, which is already integrated into this JBL speaker model. Before, I could choose which device I wanted to connect using the arrow in the Spotify app, that is, I could choose between Spotify Connect or Google Cast (Chromecast).

I downgraded to Spotify version 9.0.76.1115 and the problem went away. In other words, I found the APK on the uptodown.com website. I have an open support ticket with Spotify, I sent screenshots and everything, but so far nothing has been done to solve this simple functionality problem. There was an update in December, but nothing has solved it, we've been waiting for a long time, since November 20th. I'm disappointed with this. I'm a new subscriber, I used YouTube Music before. Please Spotify, fix this soon, we just want the functionalities to return to normal in the current versions of the app. Thank you!

[picht]

Yep. They don't gonna fix it any time soon

Why they claim it is working good is a mystery to me.

Why on earth is the behavior described below is intented?

If you have only one device which capable of spotifyconnect and chromecast. You dont have the option for googlecast. 

If you have more then one spotify connect and chromecast capable device then googlecast is the only thing you can select.

Very logical.....

[ahabaz]

 Same issue 

Device: Samsung Galaxy s23 ultra 

Soundbar: LG SC9S 

Only Google Cast option appears 

Spotify Connect works fine from Laptop Windows 11

[user-removed]

Same issue on my side. I've an iPhone and a Samsung A53. It works perfectly on iPhone, but my Android only offers Cast. I can select the song to listen to on my smartphone and then switch to Spotify connect on my speaker (playing in lossless), but as soon I open the Spotify app again, it forces my speaker back to Google cast (on high quality instead of lossless)... It's feels like it getting worse every Spotify app update 😞

[jefftravilla]

Same issue with WiiM Pro and Spotify on iOS 18.7.1

[getthecool]

Same issue - Android 16 + Pixel 9 Pro + KEF LSX II 

[FolkeB]

Same issue - Pixel 10 pro and WiiM amp ultra

[Vonschiller666]

Turn off chromecast in settings on wiim ultra and Spotify connect will appear. 😀 

[JC-bougi]

This is exactly what we DO NOT want. These devices are handling multiple protocols at the same time. The app should enable the highest quality. While I still need to use Chromecast for other applications (google home  home assistant, etc. )

Spotify is not the only music service in the world 

[Michitsch]

Same issue here.

On my friend's iPhone (connected to the same WiFi as I am on my Android), she gets lossless options for both my devices.

I only get High Quality max and only see my devices as Google Cast devices, no Spotify Connect.

Tried reinstalling Spotify, deleted the devices, deleted Google Home.

Also interesting: On iPhone, there are three dots next to each device for device settings. Nothing like that on Android. I can't force Spotify to forget the devices etc.

Phone is a Pixel 6 Pro. Please fix the Android app asap.

[clalaster]

Completely agree with you

[dagiles]

As mentioned (though it's a page or so back now), I've created an Idea to have the endpoint selection menu (the ellipsis menu) restored on Android:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Make-Android-endpoint-selection-the-same-as-the-iOS-vers...

The removal of the text for selecting between Google Cast Audio and Spotify Connect from the strings.xml suggests that it isn't a bug - it's not stopped working, it's been removed by Spotify.

[pieterv1]

Dang, what kind of BS is this... until now Spotify managed to keep the user experience between iOS & Android pretty much the same. Why remove this functionality for absolutely no reason... and only on Android phones? 

[Dessi]

Hey folks,

Thanks you for your patience here, we have some updates to share.

Looking through the thread we see that some of you have already spotted why this change is occurring. When you as a user have more than one Cast-enabled device on Android, the system sets Google's Cast as the only option in order to enable a new feature called dynamic grouping. This feature allows you to add or remove speakers from a live session without needing to create a pre-set group. This means you can group any supporting cast speaker devices together on the fly to enjoy multi-room listening.

With this on the other hand it's not possible for Cast devices to play in our highest Lossless quality, but we are working on improving this so stay tuned for more information.

We see that the user @picht tried to have just one Connect-capable speaker online at a time and was able to listen in Lossless as a workaround so you can give that a try if you want.

Also spotted an idea about changing the way devices appear in the Connect picker for Android, you can check it out and leave a vote and comment if you support it.

Hope this sheds some light on the situation. We'll be monitoring this thread and the idea for you questions and feedback.

Cheers!

[misio1]

Why don't you revert the functionality of previous versions where user could choose whether to use Google Cast or Spotify connect for each device (if the device supported both)? In this way anyone who wants to use new feature can do it, and anyone who wants to use Spotify connect regardless can also do it. 

[Luca_vs]

The main issue is when you home theater supports both Spotify Connect and Chromecast but has some issue with Spotify Connect (see https://community.spotify.com/t5/Other-Podcasts-Partners-etc/Spotify-Connect-not-working-on-certain-...) and you cannot switch to Chromecast because the App choose you have to use Spotify Connect...

At the moment I had to download an old Spotify app version from "untrusted" site in order to be able to use my Home Theatre via Chromecast.

[clalaster]

@Dessi Thanks for explaining, but I still find this illogical.

Older Spotify versions on Android let you pick between Google Cast and Spotify Connect. My WiiM Ultra supports both protocols, so why on earth should I have to toggle Cast on and off just to get Connect to work?

This feels like a step backward, not an upgrade. I hope you'll go back to the previous system and let users decide for themselves.

Thank you

[beto_player]

I completely agree with you.

This is exactly the same issue I’m experiencing. Older versions of Spotify allowed us to choose explicitly between Spotify Connect and Google Cast, which makes total sense — especially for devices that support both protocols natively.

Forcing users to toggle Google Cast on and off just to make Spotify Connect work (or vice versa) is illogical and clearly a regression, not an improvement. Downgrading the app should never be the workaround for a basic, previously functional feature.

Many of us invested in speakers like the JBL Boombox 3 WiFi precisely because Google Cast is built-in, stable, and works independently from the phone once playback starts. Removing or breaking this choice severely impacts the user experience.

Spotify, please acknowledge this as a real issue and restore the ability for users to choose the connection method, as it worked before. We’re not asking for new features — just for existing functionality to work properly again.