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]

@luborj @slivain Are there other 3rd party apps/streaming you can play on your smart speaker/device at “losslees / hi res” quality? Maybe “Hey Google, play Tidal / Qbuz”.

[JanPl1]

Hi, you are right and it makes no sense. Tried to do the same again but could not see any devices while not on wifi. Strangely, it did work the way I described yesterday...

In any case no Spotify Connect available on Android devices. Only Google cast.

Hope an app update will solve the problem.

[Mits1]

I find it works if you have the device selection list open and then turn off WiFi from the task bar and then give it a second to refresh the list

[JanPl1]

Hi,
Thank. This worked for me yesterday, unfortunately not anymore today. If I turn the wifi off, all devices (except for the TV) dissapear from the list. When I turn the wifi on, again only Google Cast to my CA CXNv2 is available. However, from a Windows PC it still works fine. And when I start casting from the PC, then I can see Spotify Conne t also on the Android app and it stays connected in the losless mode...
Best
Jan

[Hoopster1990]

@JanPl1, I just tried this and it worked for me only if the Local Devices option is toggled off in the Spotify app's Apps & Devices settings. With this option off, pull up the device selection list, then turn off Wi-Fi and the list will only show Connect capable devices. Tap the one you want and a Connect session will be established. Re-enable Wi-Fi and continue to use the app as normal for that listening session. Thanks to @Mits1 for opening my eyes to this workaround method!

[slivain]

I also have Tidal, but only Spotify can be controlled by the smart speaker

[MusicIsMyGirlfriend]

That workaround doesn’t seem to apply to my iPhone, toggling off the “local devices” then Wifi (with device list up) only shows me another device at a friend’s house I have saved. Which is exactly how I would expect it to act, because HOW is it seeing devices “on this network” when you’re NOT connected to any network?! Must be an Android / Windows difference than the Apple versions of Spotify?

@slivian in an ideal world, sure every company would focus on making their products work together seemlessly. But in the competitive marketplace of our reality, companies tend to save their best features for their OWN products, in an attempt to keeping you buying more of their products. So I understand why Google and Apple wouldn’t let Spotify or Tidal or Amazon Music work as well as YouTube/Apple music, it would be giving away money. (Although I don’t think YT is lossless yet)

So 3rd party apps IE Spotify, have to create their own streaming protocols and along comes Spotify Connect that they can control and work with smart speaker manufacturers beyond just Apple/Google/Amazon. 

Hang on to that dream and continue manifesting and someday you may surprise me! In the meantime I’d just like access to a feature that IS advertised as part of my paid subscription and working for some.

Cause at this point, Spotify is YEARS behind on this specific feature, and since I went to the dark side 3 years ago after a decade plus of Android,,,maybe its just time to switch to Apple Music! Plus then I would get Spatial Audio via Carplay, as I have yet to ascertain if Spotify Connect works with CarPlay.

[MusicIsMyGirlfriend]

I just came across this in-depth article about Spotify Lossless and comparisons to other Lossless offerings out there, and it contained a very important (if true) caveat! In order for a speaker/device with built in Spotify Connect to be able to play lossless, it apparently needs a firmware update. I"m not saying that explains everyone here's situation, because we don't even seem to HAVE Spotify Connect as an option, but even if we did have it, it may not be capable of lossless anyway.

I think this just ADDS complication, cause it doesn't fix anyone's issue necessarily, and may offer false hope if 'Spotify Connect' shows back up in the device list, but without the option to stream lossless. But I am certainly going to check out the Polk homepage to see if I can find any firmware updates for my sound bar, so that I don't get excited over nothing when this initial issue gets fixed.

Can anyone from Spotify monitoring this thread tell me if this assertion in the article is correct, and my Polk device will only support lossless via its built-in Spotify Connect with a firmware update? 

https://ts2.tech/en/spotifys-hi%E2%80%91res-lossless-streaming-is-finally-here-how-it-compares-to-ap...

[tcugma]

Here's another workaround if you have more than one WiiM-Device: Create a WiiM-Group without having a Chromecast / Google-Cast group with the same name. (Before, same name was possible, Spotify-connect was the default option, but changing to Google-Cast was possible. Which it isn't anymore.) Selecting that WiiM-Group results in play over Spotify-Connect instead of Google Cast.

[Hoopster1990]

Of my Connect-capable devices, my Naim Uniti Atom supported lossless from the start because Naim had already updated the firmware, my older no-longer-supported Klipsch Cinema 800 soundbar didn't and probably never will unless Klipsch sends an update. This is all separate from the core issue in this thread: that the Connect option is missing from the phone app.

I still want Connect for the soundbar even without lossless because that's the only way (besides Bluetooth) to have gapless playback on it. Google Cast always introduces a brief pause between songs.

[DeeKay76]

Any news from the tech team? It shouldn't be too difficult to run a diff between Android Spotify version 9.0.80.1320 and latest.
Here the issue is also on Android and also started after upgrade. 

Shouldn't be too difficult to fix unless it was introduced on purpose to limit the usage of lossless.

[jtvogt]

Got the same problem for Bang&Olufsen devices like Beosound A9 5th gen,  Beosound Emerge:
Within the windows app, I can select either Spotify connect or Chromecast.
With the Android app 9.0.88.1405 only chromecast is available from the list

[prithvikg]

Hi .. I have the same problem as well. I have 3 smart speakers in my house all of which have spotify connect. ( 1 bose smart speaker, 1 bose smart sound bar 900 and a Cambridge audio streamer cxn 100 )

The funny thing is that they dont show up (as spotify connect) only on my android device. (Samsung Galaxy s24 ultra) On every other device in my house, (Windows PC, MacOS, IpadOS and IOS ) they show up just fine. Also, they used to show up fine on my galaxy device fine until sometime earlier this year. 

I have tried all the steps -- it doesnt help.. 

Performed a clean reinstall. - NOPE didnt work

Signed out everywhere and removed all the apps you've connected to your account from here. - NOPE didnt work

Restarted your router and test with another Wi-Fi network or mobile data (if it's possible). -NOPE

Toggled on Local device visibility. - NOPE didnt work

Interstingly though, the devices do become visible when i switch to mobile data. 

When that happens the spotify connect for the devices shows up. After i connect to the device, it shows up again, and when i connect to wifi next (the same home wifi that my speakers are on).. ( the music keeps playing and shows the same device)

However if i then switch to my phone ( as the device playing the song ) it then refuses to show the same device it just played on . It just disappears, and instead all 3 speakers show.. but only the google cast option. The spotify connect option goes away.

Also note, if i initiate a playback from my windows PC using spoitfy connect, my galaxy phone will show the device in spotify connect as well... the issue seems to be that the android device is unable to see the spotify connect option for the spearker by itself. 

Device - Sansung Galaxy s24 ultra Android 16 .. spotify has been updated to the latest

[DeeKay76]

Hello, it is already confirmed in multiple replys and now I also confirm after test on my Ipad that the issue of NOT having the choice to select Spotify Connect is a Android ONLY problem. On IOS, it presents both Spotify Connect and Google Cast options.
Can you please have your tech team look into it and provide an ETA in this forum on when this will be fixed in Android ?
Cheers,

David

[MusicIsMyGirlfriend]

Neither my iPad mini 6, which is on iPadOS26, nor my iPhone 17 Pro on iOS26, nor my MacBook Pro on Tahoe 26, have the ability to choose Spotify Connect, so for me anyway it is certainly NOT confirmed that I have the choice on any Apple OS. Not that the hardware/software supports it necessarily, but I also don't have the option for Spotify Connect on my ancient MacBook I recently turned into a Chromebook via Spotify Website.

This is hardly an Android only issue at this point, for me anyway. Although my older LG V30 surprisingly got the Spotify App update to allow for Lossless, so at least I no longer have to leave my laptop tethered to my Vintage HiFi to get a decent enough DAC out via headphone -> RCA cables.

[Eanorville]

Currently if a speaker is compatible with both, only one option appears. There should be a menu allowing us to choose between either.

[MusicIsMyGirlfriend]

More info on the LG V30 DAC,,,,and BUMP TO TOP to keep this top of mind if anyone from Spotify actually monitors these community forums.

LG V30 has 32bit ESS Sabre ES9218P DAC! This DAC is only enabled when you plug into the headphone jack, but at the time it was widely regarded/reviewed (by both cell phone sites and the likes of WhatHiFi / Stereophile / Vinyl Engine / etc) as maybe the best cell phone DAC available at the time. Link to the stereophile review and measurements below, including this quote from May 2018:

"LG's implementation of its Hi-Fi Quad DAC is a work of genius," he wrote, concluding that "If ever there were a device that could bring the experience of high-end sound to millions of music lovers, the hi-rez V30 with MQA is it. It's more than a game-changer." JVS added that the V30's combination of audiophile sound quality and smartphone portability "may prove unbeatable." -> https://www.stereophile.com/content/lg-v30-hi-res-smartphone-mqa-measurements

[kieranhightower]

Same issue here!  I spent a day on online chat with Spotify working out a resolution.  For some reason creating a new account made it work, so I closed my old account and opened a new one, with all the faff and re-setting up of all my artists etc.  It worked for about 2 weeks.  Last night, back to only offering me Google Cast from my Android App (to a Lyngdorf amp).  

Spotify Connect is still available from either the web client in a browser, or using the ios app on my macbook.

Just a problem on the Android app, seemingly with some accounts and not others.

Other strange discovery - if I unplug all Google Home devices (in my case just a Google Home mini) in my house, it again offers me Spotify Connect from my Android App.  Plug it in again, Chromecast no longer selectable.  Grrrrr.

[milescr]

Same here, problem is with the Wiim Amp. From my laptop, spotify connect is shown as an option alongside Google Cast. On Android, only Google Cast is available. This is particularly annoying, because I need to use Spotify Connect for lossless streaming.

Screenshot of Desktop:

Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon)
1.2.72.438.g8c88c31c

Screenshot of Android:

Android client version 9.0.90.1229

 

[Mits1]

I think with wiim equipment you can disable Google cast from the wiim app and therefore wiim equipment can avoid the issues impacting the people in this thread.

Ive disabled google cast on my wiim amp and lossless works fine