Starting Spotify playback from Google Home makes volume uncontrollable

[M25]

When I say "Hey Google, play Spotify on <Chromecast name here>" to my Google Home, it starts Spotify on the Chromecast in a different mode than if I were to start it from either my Android or iOS device, and this results in the inability to control the volume from the Spotify phone apps.  Let me walk through the successful use-cases, and then describe exactly what happens when it fails.

If I cast to the Chromecast connected to my TV (for example) from Spotify on my Android or iOS device, I can then control the volume of the music on the TV from within the Spotify app. This is true regardless of which device started the cast; both devices have volume control no matter which one initiated the cast.  This is all fine and good.

If I cast to that same TV from my Google Home, by saying "Hey Google, play Spotify on TV", Spotify does indeed start playing on the TV, and it even picks up where I was in my current song.  It also lets me use the play/pause/skip buttons on any of my devices, and respects the play queue.  This is lovely.  However, for some reason, it does NOT let me control the volume from the Spotify app on Android or iOS.  The volume slider simply doesn't show up in the Devices menu.  The volume buttons also do not control Spotify's volume on the TV, instead they stay controlling the volume on the Android or iOS device itself.  It also does a weird thing where it shows that I am casting to the TV (by saying "Listening on TV" in green letters in the devices menu), but it also has a second TV entry, that says I can cast again to the TV.  If I tap on that entry, the TV goes black, the Spotify app on the Chromecast appears to restart, and then everything works as normal.  This does interrupt the music, of course.

This issue happens every time, on Android or iOS devices, when I'm casting from the Google Home to any Chromecast audio, Chromecast video, Chromecast Ultra, group of Chromecast audio devices, or even the Google Home itself.  It's both puzzling and obnoxious.  I'm not sure what the Google Home is doing when it's launching the Spotify app on the Chromecasts that's different from how it's launched when you do it from Android or iOS, but it's pretty clearly an unintended bug.

[MonicaM_Bogota]

Hi, @M25!

Welcome to the Spotify Community.

Could you let us know what devices, operating system and Spotify version you're using? Do you remember if this started happening after a specific update or event? Also, can you try the steps here for us? They should help with this.

Keep us posted. 

[M25]

This issue has been present for at least 2 weeks, since I bought my Google Home.  I've reinstalled Spotify on both the iOS and Android devices, and the problem continues.  Here are the make, model, os, and app versions of all the devices involved:

Google Home:

system firmware version: 99351

cast firmware version: 1.28.99351

Chromecast Ultra: 
system firmware version: 96538

cast firmware version: 1.27.96538

Android:

Phone: Motorola Droid Turbo 64GB black

Android OS version: 6.0.1

System version: 24.91.5.quark_verizon.verizon.en.US

Build number: MCG24.251-5-5

Spotify app version: 8.4.23.784 armV7

iOS:

Model: iPod Touch 6th generation, 16GB, MKH62LL/A

iOS version: 11.0.2

Spotify app version: 8.4.22.515

Let me know if you want any more info.

[M25]

Update: I've discovered that you can say "play Spotify on TV" to the Google Assistant app on my Android phone, and it demonstrates the exact same issue: no volume control ability, two "TV" devices in the cast menu, fixable by casting to the other "TV" device.  This means the bug has something to do with Google Assistant as a cloud platform, rather than the specific Google Home device I own.

[JulianA_Bogota]

Thanks for sending all that info over, @M25!

We'd like to gather as much info as possible on this. It's not ideal, but could you check if the same happens with a different internet connection, like another WiFi network or with mobile data (via tethering)? This could help us get closer to the bottom of what's going on.

We'll keep an eye open for your reply 🙂

[M25]

Yes, I tethered my Android phone to create a wifi hotspot, and then connected the iPod, the Google Home, and the Chromecast Audio to it.  It still displayed the same issue of a duplicated Chromecast device with no volume control.

One additional data point: if you start spotify from the iPod (or Android) and then disconnect the iPod from the Chromecast, and *then* tell Google Home (or the Google Assistant) to play on that Chromecast, while the Spotify app is still running on that Chromecast, it works just fine.  The bug only happens when the Spotify app on the Chromecast is initially started by Google Home (or the Google Assistant), not when you use Google Home to switch to an already-started Spotify app on a Chromecast.

Let me know if you want me to do any more debugging, I'm a professional software developer so I'm familiar with tools such as Wireshark, Javascript debuggers, and such.

[FabianS_Bogota]

Thanks for the extra info @M25!

There's a recent update for the app, so make sure you have it up to date. Also a clean reinstall following these steps could help. Let us know if it makes any difference, we'll see what else to suggest.

Keep us posted.

[M25]

I just updated the app on my Android phone, as well as restarting both the Chromecast and the Google Home to ensure that they have the latest Spotify Chromecast app.  The problem still persists as before.  I already did a reinstall earlier in this thread per those instructions.

[Mara_F]

Thanks for trying @M25! 

We'd like to go back to your first post on this thread. When you say "for some reason, it does NOT let me control the volume from the Spotify app on Android or iOS" This is expected since your device is not connected to the TV directly, but it is from your Google Home. To change the volume on your TV, just head to the Home app on your Android device (where you should be able to see all of your connected devices like Chromecast, TV, speakers, etc.) After this, you should pick your TV under the Devices list on Home and then control the volume from that window. Just keep in mind it won't work if you're anywhere else on your phone since it has to be directly from the Home app. This is because you're casting to a device (Chromecast TV) from another device (Google Home) connected to your phone, and not directly from your phone to your TV. Also, when you say “The volume slider simply doesn't show up in the Devices menu”, do you mean the menu on Spotify or the menu on the Google Home app? Any screenshots would be super helpful.

As for “it also does a weird thing where it shows that I am casting to the TV (by saying "Listening on TV" in green letters in the devices menu)" This happens only if you're casting directly from your phone to your TV. If you're casting from your phone to your Google Home, and then from your Google Home to your TV, then Spotify Connect (the green letters) should show as “Listening on This phone” since it's being controlled by the Google Home directly.

However, when you say “if I tap on that entry, the TV goes black, the Spotify app on the Chromecast appears to restart, and then everything works as normal. This does interrupt the music, of course.” We tested this and we can reproduce that Spotify restarts when you try to switch the cast directly from your Android device to your TV. This is also normal, but it shouldn't be normal that when you're casting to your TV through your Google Home, it shows under Connect on the Spotify app that you're listening on your TV. It should say that you're Listening on This phone, and then there should be another entry under connect that says “TV (your TV name)”. 

Let us know how it goes by trying to control the volume using the Home app on your Android. If you have any questions, we'll be here to help you out 🙂

[M25]

You are correct, I can control the volume from the Google Home app inside my Android or iOS device.  You're also right about the volume keys not being able to work in that case.  The reason I think this is an issue, is that the volume keys on my Android *do* work when I start the cast from my iOS device, instead of my Google Home.  When I said the volume slider doesn't show up on my phone, I meant in the Spotify app. 

I'm not sure what you mean by "casting from your phone to your Google Home, and then from your Google Home to your TV", because when I cast from my phone to my Google Home itself (by using the cast button in the Spotify app) it works just fine, it's when I start the cast with my voice (either on the Google Home's speaker itself, or on my TV from the Google Home) that I can't adjust the volume.  Can you clarify what you meant by that phrase?

I went to take screenshots for the cases you described, and found something even more interesting.  If I'm on the Devices screen in the Spotify app on my Android before I say "Ok Google, play Spotify on TV", I do (for the first time) see the functionality you're describing, where it says it's still playing on my phone, and it gives me a volume slider.  That slider does get adjusted by the system volume keys, in fact, the system volume popup shows up at the top of the screen and stays in sync with it.  However, it does not do anything to the volume of the music playing on the TV.  If I close out of the Devices screen at that point (using the X in the top left corner) then re-open the Devices screen, I see again the same issue I've been describing all along: no volume slider, 2 TV entries, and unusable volume keys.  I've attached a screenshot of this state for you:
And here is a shot of that same screen after I tap on the white TV entry below the green one, which restarts the cast and makes everything work properly:


When I start the cast from my iOS device, I see the 2nd screen on my Android, and everything works great.  When I start the cast by using my voice (from the Google Home appliance, or the Google Assistant on my phone), I see the first one, and the volume keys don't work.  I'm not sure why using my voice causes the Spotify app on the Chromecast to launch with a different configuration than when I use my iPod to do the same thing, but I'd like you to update things so that it's no longer different.

[Quentin007]

 I do not think reinstalling SPorify would help.

Is there any plan to correct those bugs?

Thanks.