Solved Chromecast problems -- got Echo

[luthersnow]

I don't mean to be snarky.  But really I was amazed at how problems playing Spotify were solved when I ditched Chromecast/Google Home and put in an Amazon Echo instead.

I want to run Spotify on my home, whole-house stereo, which I also use to play the radio or even cds and lps, anytime or all the time on any day.  Chromecast (now Google Home) isn't really meant to do that.  It wants to receive a "cast" signal from another device, and only for a certain time.  If you remove or close that device, Cast/Home goes into a weird kind of limbo state that may keep playing Spotify for a while but locks out control.  Even if you leave a dedicated device like a phone in place, it still times out and locks up.  I've had it crash like this several times a day, in the middle of a song.  The only solution is to close both Spotify and Home completely from the device and start over.

But the Echo isn't receiving a cast, it is casting itself.  It is always on.  It always appears in my list of Spotify devices.  I can always engage it from any device using Spotify Connect.  It doesn't turn off after a certain time.  And it doesn't crash.

Also, the Google Cast/Home crashes when I use my microwave.  Echo Dot doesn't do that.

Echo Dots do not coordinate.  So if you want to control you whole house system from a place where you can't speak to Alexa, you have to use an app on a phone or other device (Spotify, Alexa, and/or your stereo's app).  Or you can buy a Voice Remote for the Echo, which is apparently bluetooth but works over ridiculous distance.

In short, the Echo Dot works with Spotify and my home stereo like I thought Google Home would do but doesn't.  It costs about the same and it saves me a ton of headaches.  It makes Spotify really great in my home.

[kungfustu]

I'm discovering the same thing here. I'd just like to know what the difference is between the protocols and why Amazon's appears to be so much better/more reliable? Oh and Amazon Echo's can now be grouped together so you can have multiroom music. My questions is will the Chromecast issues ever be fixed?