cant control iphone from computer

[IanDaBest]

Plan

Free

Country

Australia

Device

Lenovo Thinkpad L390 and iPhone SE

Operating System

Windows 11, iOS 15

My Question or Issue

when I try to control my phone from my computer it says unavailable to control but it works fine when I control my computer from my phone

[Yordan · Accepted solution]

Hi @IanDaBest.

Welcome to the Community and thanks for reaching out!

What's causing this is the fact that the mobile app doesn't support on demand listening for Free users. This, however, is possible in the Desktop app, so in order to maintain a balance between the two, Spotify Connect allows Free users to control the music from their phone while listening on their desktop, but not the other way around.

Hope this clears things up. The Community is always here if there's anything else you need assistance with.

Cheers!

[airmuseum]

Seems to be the same for premium users. As in, when I select iPhone from the desktop app I can select music in the desktop app to play, which does play through the iPhone. However, I cannot use the playback controls in the desktop app as they are grayed out and unresponsive.

[OscarDC]

Hey @airmuseum,

Thank you for joining the conversation.

If you're a Premium user, this issue could be related to some damaged cache stored on your devices. In this case, we'd first recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app by following the steps in this article on both devices. This is often an overlooked step, but it's more thorough than a quick one and can be helpful in getting rid of any cache that might be causing trouble.

If the issue persists, include in your next response the make, model and OS version of both devices, along with the Spotify version you're currently running to continue investigating the case.

We'll be on the lookout.

[n1ck43]

Hello I have also been having this problem and I am a premium user. It became noticeable yesterday to me. The device switching is not seamless to pc (I use an up to date windows 10  and Spotify version 1.2.3.115.gd61a8f5c fresh install) from my phone (s10 Spotify version 8.8.3.434 also a fresh install) but I cannot seamlessly switch between my laptop (windows 11 and Spotify version 1.2.3.115.gd61a8f5c fresh install).more often than not and seemingly randomly it allows my to switch without reselecting a sound.(windows 11 and Spotify version 1.2.3.115.gd61a8f5c fresh install). For the pc I'm always able to control volume however from my phone or laptop but I cannot control my phone from anywhere else. I think it has something to do with a recent update. Every time I tried installing it on the laptop and pc it would restart Spotify and not actually update it. This led to me fresh installing and then I noticed that this problem persisted although I'm sure I'm on a different build now.

[Alex]

Hey there @n1ck43,

Thanks for the post and details you've shared.

Is there any chance that your laptop is a work machine or you're using a work VPN on it? Sometimes network administrators or VPNs might block certain networking protocols, which in turn causes the Spotify app not to sync with other devices you're logged into. If you are using a VPN on the laptop, try switching that off and see if it has any impact.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[n1ck43]

No all devices are personal use devices on home networks. Additionally I can control my echo dot spotify just fine from all devices mentioned both on the same network as it and on networks on the other side of my country when I'm there. The only thing I can think of is if there is something to do with my phone's android version as I am on an s10 and therefore cannot have android 13. Is there any way you can prove or disprove that theory? If that's not the problem then I really don't know what else the problem can be.

[Lyubka]

Hey @n1ck43,

Thanks for getting back to us.

We've reported this issue to the right folks, who'll be looking into it. However, we cannot provide a timeframe for a fix - we hope it is as soon as possible. 

In the meantime please make sure to keep your app up to date so you don't miss any important fixes or features.
 

Hope this helps. 

Cheers!