Casting Spotify from Windows PC - madness!

[Andy_P]

I've been trying to work out why the Spotify Windows app cannot see my Chromecast Audio, but CAN see my Android tablet and phone.

Eventually I found a mention in one of the Helpfiles that says:

"It’s currently not possible to discover a Chromecast device from the desktop app. Use a mobile/tablet to discover and launch Spotify on Chromecast. Once running, Spotify Connect can be used to control playback from any device, including desktop."

This is daft! What if my phone is not available? Please implement straightforward casting from any device (which you tend to imply is simple) as soon as possible.

If I DO start casting from my phone, I might as well continue from there... but if I DO try connecting the Windows app to the phone and then control the playback from there, it just gets so confusing, plus the phone battery is being used up quickly, and there is STILL NO WAY to control the volume. The hardware buttons and the Windows mixer sliders have no effect at all.

We are paying a subscription for Spotify (for some reason you do not support Chromecast Audio unless we are paying for Premium) and it still feels like an only half-developed system.

[magnusholmqvist]

Hey,

Sadly there is no Cast SDK for native Windows applications so our hands are tied. I.e. the Spotify Windows app cannot discover and launch Spotify on Chromecast devices, or control volume.

However, Free subscription is supported on Chromecast Audio since mid-August.

[Andy_P]

I agree it is madness, but I also think we can squarely lay the blame on Google for pretending Chromecast and Chromecast Audio are a "one stop" solution, when they clearly are not. They are indended to STREAM web content only, playing anything local either is very awkward to achieve or doesn't work at all (eg Audio).

When I asked Google Support about it, the best they could suggest was to upload all my music library to Google Play Music (i.e. the cloud) and play it from there!

HOWEVER, I do have a workround for you. It's a bit messy but it's working for me.

1. Download and install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package. If you are on Windows 10, you will have to install this.

2. Download "Chromecast Audio Stream" from Github

Don't worry about the file list at the top, just use the "Download release file:" link at the bottom.

3. Unzip the download and then run "audio-cast.exe". This should install a cast icon in your system tray next to the clock (it may be in the "hidden list" but you can move it out by dragging).

You'll need to run this every time, I've pinned it to the Start menu to make that easier.

4. Right click the tray icon and select your Chromecast device. You should hear the "connected" sound.

ANYTHING you play on the PC/laptop should now cast OK. (with a bit of delay) You'll not have any hardware volume control, but the volume slider in Spotify itself works.

There is mention on the Github page at the top on implementing some keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl-Alt U, D, M) to adjust the volume up, down, or mute. But I think you need to replace some files you previously installed and I haven't been brave enough to try it yet.

Hope it works for you!