[Connect] Show Chromecast on Desktop's Device List

[WHOAMI]

The idea is simple. Why create new features and options for connecting to a new device when its already developed?

Spotify can currently change the device playing music within a LAN in a way that is so seamless I jumped the first time when there were no delay. Why not use this already impressively implemented feature for chromecast? If chromecast was available as a device then it would make it a lot easier for us to use on the computer too, which is the main music player when anyone's home.

My guess is that a chromecast can't truly act as a device, but there should be a way to do this through some back-end trickery. Especially if there are unlicensed 3rd party programs that can cast (popcorntime for example).

[stibe]

Not right now is a huge disappointment.

[tyeth]

This is a joke, how many millions do you rake in from Premium? Sort it out!

The workaround is to start the app on your phone, start playing with chromecast as a speaker then the windows 10 desktop player recognises that the phone is playing on the chromecast and you can skip/change track etc.

Volume did work in web player and desktop.

If you select to play on the pc instead of the chromecast then it will disappear and you'll need to use mobile to reconnect. 

Chromecast Audio (latest + beta signup).

-Side note: my chromecast audio rarely shows up in Chrome either on same pc. It's a fantastic device when it works, and a POS otherwise (~20 reboots last year).

[jhusn]

Spent a couple of hours with Chat Support before we realized that this feature is limited to Web Player and Mobile.  The Chat Agent took the feedback to relay to team and sent me here to submit idea for voting.  Looks like others are having the same problems.  Please add this feature.

[adaam2]

You would think that this is a core part of the basic casting functionality within any Spotify client but nope

I have also had a read through the many many other great ideas from users now marked by Spotify with "Not right now" and I feel sad 

What are Spotify working on? Probably growth levers rather than retaining existing customers!

[henq]

It would be great to get a brief technical explanation why this is so difficult after five years of waiting for us.

Seems fair?

We all know the Chromecast Audios shows up in the desktop client after we cast from a mobile so something is already working...

[j0112358]

Disappointment this still isn't implemented.  This is a daily annoyance to me.  I have been starting spotify on my phone, casting to my Google Nest Display w/ Bluetooth speakers, then opening Spotify on my desktop to control it from there.  If the "session" ends on the Nest Display I have to restart the process.

There are definitely worse things to worry about in the world, but this is something that is just a constant irritation for a lot of users for years that isn't getting attention.

[pseclen]

5 years later. any update?

[joepmeindertsma]

I'm assuming the issue is the lack of a desktop API for Cast - Google only has iOS, Android and Chrome APIs (see docs).

That **bleep**ing sucks. Why would Google do something like this? Why not offer a simple, open desktop (or system-agnostic) API? Well... Google uses this to make people dependent on Chome - a platform where Google can control things like user tracking and advertisements, which is their main revenue model. It makes sense, but in my opinion it deserves a huge anti-competition fine.

So all of this is not Spotify's fault, it's Google. The one thing Spotify should do, is expose Google's strategy, instead of just saying this is a 'low priority feature'. 

[rbellman]

If the API issue is the case, that would mean that each device polls for devices visible to it (on the same network, etc) to be able to "cast" to using the available casting protocols on that device. Since the google devices don't exactly run a traditional spotify app and therefore cannot advertise directly to another spotify client app, it must only advertise in the traditional chromecast protocols, which are available on mobile devices through the chromecast API, but not windows. The same protocol likely needs to be used to initiate the spotify 'app' on the chromecast device. There are certainly other ways to implement this on Spotify's end without forcing google to develop an API for a windows or mac host. The connect list on mobile appears to be instantaneously available, as it doesn't 'scan' and add devices after you open it. Thus, the periodic scans likely happen in the background. This list could be shared to the desktop device on the same network as the phone through a spotify-controlled protocol, just like is already used, and then the desktop app could see those 'slave' devices and start music on them by using the 'master' phone as a proxy. If you have a dedicated android device in your home (android TV, docked tablet, etc.) with spotify installed and logged in, then it wouldn't even need a phone to be present.

[kerr1ck]

If it works on web player and ios, and works when you start streaming to a chromecast on any one of those and move to the desktop app, "not right now" is a garbage response