Apple Watch Can’t Control Spotify Connect Device’s Volume

[alferz]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Watch series 6

Operating System

watchos 7

My Question or Issue

When listening to music through a device being controlled by spotify connect, my apple watch can pause, play, skip and select a different album. But when i turn the crown to control volume, the watch doesnt control the connected device’s volume. 

This occurs when my watch is separated from the iPhone. When iPhone is near, the watch appears to control iphone volume, which (assuming it is attached to the active listening stream) will in turn control the Spotify connect device’s volume. But when the watch is out on its own, turning the volume knob shows the volume increasing and decreasing on the watchface, yet does not actually control the connect device’s volume.

[CarlosE]

Hi there @alferz,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

It's expected that the watch doesn't control the volume of another device other than your iPhone through Connect, and it only happens when the watch is in range and connected to the iPhone.

However, we appreciate your feedback on this matter and we'll make sure to pass it on the teams in charge, as we always strive to improve the app and the overall experience.

Hope this clears things up. If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you.

Have a good one.

[alferz]

Hey Carlos, thanks very much for the explanation, and good to note that this is intended design. Just to clarify from a user experience perspective, its a little perplexing that it would be designed this way. Because at the end of the day, when you are using your watch on its own with no iPhone, the watch does control a Connect device in terms of play/pause/skip/music selection. Its just the volume that doesnt work. So its sort of halfway acting as a Connect Remote, but one of the most important functions of being able to control the volume is missing.

I get that the watch was always originally intended to be a companion device for iPhone. But I think as time has gone on Apple is definitely signaling their support to decouple the device from the iPhone, especially with cellular, so that more and more people like me will want to use it standalone and leave the iPhone behind (at least sometimes). It would be super if the Watch could be fully functional as a Spotify Connect remote in this case.

I also submitted this as an idea since it appears to not be a bug. Thanks again!