Chromecast YouTube Music works Spotify DOES NOT

[ChicagoScott]

I just set up my new Chromecast. The HDMI out is connected to an HDMI input on my Yamaha TSR-7790 receiver. When I use voice control on the remote, the Chromecast response audio comes out clearly through the speakers. When I ask the device to play ARTIST on YouTube Music (or anything else on YouTube Music) it works just fine. Comes through the speakers properly, saying "Next" brings up the next song, and so on. 

When I say "Play ARTIST on Spotify", the device audio comes through the speaker and says "Playing ARTIST on Spotify" but no sound comes out. The same happens whether I ask for a specific song or anything else on Spotify. I appreciate the Chromecast's affable nature but it's not actually doing what is says it's doing, and the disingenuousness is increasingly frustrating. Not to mention, something is clearly wrong here. 

Note -  if I cast to the device from the Spotify app itself (Windows or iOS), it will cast fine. AND once it is casting and album, voice control for Next and Previous works. BUT is still wonky if you then ask it to play a different artist or song. 

Is this a known issue? Is there a resolution? I bought the Chromecast for this singular purpose, so if it doesn't work I'll need to return it. 

[ella83]

Hello. I have this same exact issue on 2 different chromecast devices, one of them is being used with a Sony TV and Bose Sound Bar and the other is being used with a Samsung TV and Samsung sound bar, one is just a regular chromecast and the other is a chromecast with google tv, and it is happening with Spotify when trying to use the voice assistant button on both of the 2 different remote controls.

The voice assistant button on the remotes has been working for me just fine for years with Spotify just until about 2 weeks or so now all be it with frustrating glitches once in a every blue moon.

The messed up part like you said is that it works just fine with all of the other streaming services like Net Flix and You Tube and allows for full functionality with the voice assistant including pausing, rewinding, etc.

It is a glitch having to do with something about the way in which Google is communicating with Spotify and the common thread in all of this seems to be google.

It's almost like google does it intentionally because they want you to use these products with you tube instead of spotify.

It's extremely frustrating especially as someone who is blind and relies on this kind of functionality but it shouldn't be happening regardless, it's unacceptable, and potentially grounds for an unfair business practices lawsuit if it is determined that this is being done intentionally.

Google get your act together. 

[Kimy]

Hi folks,,

Thanks for posting here in the Google Nest Community. Since all other apps are working, this must be isolated to the Spotify app. This seems to be similar to this thread. Kindly check the related threads here in the Spotify Community or contact them directly. Let me know if you have other questions.

Thanks,

Kimy

[ella83]

It's been nearly 1 month now and this issue still has not been resolved.

Never seen this kind of thing happen before  except but for a day or so whenever it did.

After reaching out to the folks at Spotify, it is apparent that this is a result of recent firmware updates involving both Google as well as Spotify.

It is extremely frustrating and simply unfair for reps from both Google as well as Spotify to have customers going back and forth playing games between the two with reps on both sides deflecting blame and saying that it is the fault of the other.

As paying customers, it is simply not our job to ensure that 3rd-party software applications like Spotify which is used by hundred's of millions of people around the world is properly working on Google devices such as Chromecast.

This is what Google engineering teams get paid billions of dollars to do.

It is not our job to spend countless time and effort to try and figure out what's going on like the specially-trained Geek Squad technicians from Best Buy that I had to have come to my residence to confirm to me that this is a software bug issue and all because the teams at Google are not doing their jobs by properly communicating and collaborating at all times with software developers such as Spotify to ensure that Google services & products are working properly across all platforms.

Blind and visually-impaired customers like myself rely on services and features    offered by Google such as remote control voice assistant on Chromecast to make our lives easier and simpler everyday as do millions of non-blind &visually-impaired people do and as of now we are all being robbed of this functionality  and user experience which only reflects negatively on companies like Google in the long run and drives customers away through word of mouth eventually costing millions of dollars as a result of tech users moving to more reliable products and services offered by market competitors that work as advertised.

An issue like this may seem negligible on it's own but the cumulative effect of this along with other problems and bugs experienced by users of Google products collectively begin to add up and give Google a less reliable reputation over time as did happen  with Microsoft following the 1990's until they turned things around and changed the way they operate in the years after which has coincidentally resulted in increasing profits and market share.

On behalf of other Google Chromecast users, I ask that responsible employees escalate this documented problem to the appropriate teams at Google   and hope that Google will work with Spotify to fully address the issue and ensure that Chromecast remains a reliable product for its' users.

Please do not respond to this thread by instructing users to follow all the proper troubleshooting steps because we have and it is simply belittling or otherwise users would not have taken the time to post in the Google community or seek the services and expertise of skilled technicians like those from vendors such as Best Buy Geek Squad who have documented and confirmed that this is a Google/Spotify issue.

Thank you for your time and attention.

[Kimy]

Hi ella83,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and we’re sorry for the trouble. This is not the experience that we wanted you to have. There’s an ongoing update that will be rolled out in the coming days. It includes patch fixes for most of the recognized bugs. Once you have the update available, make sure to install it. If it's not available yet, give it a few more days. Don’t forget to update the Spotify app or reinstall it if needed once you have received and installed the system update. Let us know if you have other concerns.

Regards,

Kimy

[ella83]

The fix that was supposed to be rolling out in a few days that was promised to us 2 weeks ago is apparently still not here or has not fixed the problem if it has already rolled out.

Is there anywhere online where this patch is referenced for us to see?

Thank you.

[Kimy]

Hello ella83,

I understand, and I’m sorry for the trouble. You may need to give it a few more days since the estimated completion time of the updates is until the last week of October. Although this is not one of the recognized bugs, the versions STTE.230615.004 and STTE.230615.004.1 include patch fixes for most of the recognized bugs. We appreciate your patience and understanding on this matter.

Regards,

Kimy

[ella83]

It's now been 2 MONTHS since Google Voice Assistant button feature stopped working with Spotify on Chromecast and Google still can't fix this???

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

I think I speak for all Google users when I say that we don't give a flying hoot about new updates that are just cosmetic or offer improvements like fancier menus that look nicer on the screen.

Just get the d*** thing to start working again please like it always used to until Google thought it was a good idea to release an update that rendered Chromecast Voice Assistant useless or offer everyone who bought Chromecast with a Google remote a refund.

Google's GPS just recently got someone killed because it failed to warn the driver of an overpass that took the driver off a cliff even though this issue had been reported to Google many times before which is why there's been an ongoing lawsuit against Google because it's GPS consistently fails to warn drivers of  hazardous road construction conditions, it's devices are not blind and visually-impaired friendly unlike Apple and Serie not to mention that it's still getting drastically outcompeted by Apple in the cell-phone market, and one of the only things it still has going for it is the search bar which is because of unfair trade practices.

So let's see: the Ways Navigation Ap is better because it does what it's supposed to, Apple's cell phones are superiorly  better by any objective standard, Lenovo and Microsoft make far better computing devices along with most of Google's other competitors, Google is trying to do it's own AI but still lags behind, it's Nest and home devices still call me Jose even though that's not my name and still cannot respond to many basic voice commands and simple questions and will start randomly playing music in the middle of the night just because I asked what time it is or something completely unrelated not to mention that the actual sound quality when playing music through these devices is garbage unlike other competitors like Amazon Echo,    You Tube Music, which is Google's native music service, still can't put out any audio quality higher than 256KBPS in the year 2023 never mind basic lossless, when Title, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, have all had  hi-res lossless audio and 360 spacial audio for years now, and on top of all of that, Google still can't even make sure that the voice assistant button on it's Chromecast remotes works with Spotify!!!

 What on earth is this company doing?

[Kimy]

Hi ella83,

We hear you. Since this is still happening, we'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this form with all the needed information and let me know once it’s done.

Best,

Kimy

[Kimy]

Hi there,

I'm just checking in to make sure that you saw our responses. Please let us know if you still need our help, as we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Regards,

Kimy

[AlexWeb416]

I'm really disappointed Google hasn't made it a priority to fix this. It looks like I'll have to pick up a Roku. I've been using Chromecast forever. 

[ella83]

Hello there to all fellow users of Chromecast with Spotify who have responded to this post.

I am happy to report, at least for myself that is, that this issue has now finally been resolved, at least that was the case when I checked on my remotes for both of my Google Chromecast devices, both Chromecast as well as Chromecast with Google TV, as of just a few days ago this past weekend.

I hope that this continues to remain the case going forward.

Many thanks. 

[AlexWeb416]

Wow, it appears to be working for me again too! I was using my super old Chromecast and that was working, but now the newer, white one with the remote has audio again. 

[Kimy]

Hi folks,

That’s awesome! I’m glad that this has finally been sorted out. Feel free to create a new thread if you have questions or concerns in the future.

Cheers,

Kimy