Chromecast Audio is not visible after WiFi re-connect (Samsung S6 Android 6)

[wgillis-be]

When my Samsung S6 (Android 6) reconnect to the Chromecast WiFi SSID (same SSID between Smartphone and Chromecast), the available casting devices do not show anymore.  I need to reboot the phone for making the device available again.

What can be done to avoid this ???   It works fine for all other casting apps like "TineIn Radio"; only not for Spotify Premium !!

Test :  reboot the smartphone and both Chromecast and SmartPhone are on same SSID WiFi network.  Spority Premium and all other casting apps work fine.   But when I move for example out of the house or come back later, the Spotify app doesn't see any casting devices anymore where all other are still working fine !

Anyone an idea what is causing this and what setting can be done to avoid that I need to reboot the smartphone each time I want to stream to my chromecast ?

Happy Spotify Premium user for the rest... 

[Vvvvvvvvv]

I'm having the same totally unacceptable problem, and I'm about to cancel my subscription because of this and rather use one of the alternatives that actually work. Having the same phone.

[prooq]

Chromecast support is very unreliable on Android recently:

especially when I also use Spotify on Windows to control the music, the mobile version does not discover the Chromecast devices anymore. This is no Chromecast problem, e.g. the Soundcloud app works fine.

Sometimes even the desktop Spotify isn't discovered in the devices menu.

Force stopping the Spotify app seems to do the trick.

[hegerber]

I have the exact same problem on a Galaxy S7. There is no device list on my phone although both the (three) chromecasts and my Mac Desktop client is active. I can also play different songs on the Mac and the phone at the same time (neither in offline mode). And I have the bug where my phone suddenly starts playing for no particular reason.

[user-removed]

Same here. When I want to stream music from my Android phone (Galaxy S7 Edge with Android 7.0) to my Chromecast Audio, I often need to reboot my phone for Spotify to detect it. It doesn't always do this, but it's VERY annoying and yes, I am also thinking of cancelling my subscription.

[lab]

I have this problem too, on both my Android phones, but it is working fine on iPhone! I had mobile network disabled while testing this.

This is what happpens on my Huawei P10 Plus:

Android version: 7.0. Spotify version: 8.4.9.271 armV7 (latest version). Google Home version: 1.24.36.5 (latest version). 

1. Wifi is on, mobile network is off (the latter doesn't really matter).
2. I open Spotify, find music I want to listen to and click on "Available devices". All my Chomecast devices (1 Chromecast 1st generation and 3 Chromecast Audio) are showing in the "Connect to device" list.
3. I disable wifi on my phone for a few seconds and enable it again,
4. Now I can't see any of my 4 Chromecast devices  in the "Connect to device" list in Spotify. Other apps like TuneIn Radio and Google Play Music don't have the same problem. The difference between these apps and Spotify is that the other apps have their own Chomecast icon which disappears when disconnecting from wifi and re-appears when connecting again.
5. I force the Spotify app to close and start it again. Now all Chromecast devices show as they should! I can do this 100 times and the result will always be the same.

The exact same thing happens on my Samsung Galaxy S5.

Android version: 6.0.1. Spotify version: 8.4.9.271 armV7 (same version as my Huawei). Google Home version: 1.24.36.5 (same version as my Huawei).

Another problem with both Android phones, is switching between two Chromecast devices. I usually pause the music in the Spotify app before I try connecting to another device, but in the "Connect to device" list, it just says "Connecting..." and I have to try 2-3 times more before it is working. Probably a similar issue as the first.

[lab]

(Edit: Also read my post below the one you are reading now!)

I contacted Spotify yesterday, and they helped me fix the issue! 

As I mentioned I had two Android phones with this problem. On my Huawei P10 Plus I followed their instruction to delete cache and saved data in the Spotify app (see attachment below). That didn't change anything, but then I logged on to Spotify (on my phone) with a test user they gave me, and I could immediately see all Chromecast devices, even after disabling/enabling the wifi. So I just logged on again with my own user, and the problem was solved!

On my second phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5, I decided to take a shortcut, skipping the part with deleting cache and data: I just logged off from Spotify and then logged on again with my own user. Problem solved on this phone too!

I hope this helps other people having the same problem. If you want to try deleting cache and saved data, here is the procedure (please note that this will delete all your offline music and preferences, and you will have to log in again). This part was not necessary for me to do:

[lab]

(Edit: Please read my post below as well. This solution doesn't work.)

My suggested solution above took a new twist. When I tested switching wifi on and off I had mobile network turned off, to keep that out of the equation. 

I was able to re-create my problem when I turned on mobile network again. I did the same thing as before: I turned off wifi and turned it on again and the result was that I couldn't see my Chromecast devices anymore.

I noticed that I had guest mode enabled on all my Chromecast deviced, so I disabled guest mode on all devices, using the Home app on my phone. Then I logged out of Spotify, and logged in again. Eureka! Now I could see all my devices again, and it didn't matter if mobile network was enabled or not.

Everything is now working fine when guest mode is turned off in Google Home. I can turn wifi on and off, and Spotify displays all my Chromecast devices as soon as I turn on wifi. My conclusion is that Spotify has a bug with the Chromecast guest mode...

[user-removed]

Sadly I have this problem with Guest Mode off... 😞

[lab]

@hellbdl: And you have also tried deleting cache and saved data in the Spotify app (or just logging out and in again)? If so, I'm sorry this didn't help you 😞

[lab]

Eehm... I'm sorry to say that my problem re-occured after a few hours. I'm still in contact with Spotify support. They've also asked me about firmware version of my Chromecast devices, but they are all on the latest version, 1.25.90308. I will keep this thread informed as I get more information. As long as this problem only happens in Spotify, I think it is due to how they have implemented Chromecast support as part of their Spotify Connect solution.

[user-removed]

Thanks for keeping us updated. It is very much appreciated.

[lab]

I have been in contact with Spotify Support again today, and they are not able to help. I have told them that I think this is a bug that they need to fix, so hopefully they will communicate the problem to their programmers.

I got a lot of suggestions that did not help (delete cache and saved data in the Spotify app, re-install the app, make sure you have the latest version of the Spotify app (and the Google Home app), make sure you have the latest firmware on your Chromecast devices), but none of this helps.

My hope is that they realise that this is a bug that needs to be fixed and the best way to do that is for everyone with the same problem to contact Spotify Support and let them give you all the suggestions they have, and finally respond to them that none of it helps. The more people contact them, the higher the chance that they will actually do something with it.

You can contact Spotify Support on this link. Choose Technical issues >> Other >> Click on the "I still need help" button >> Fill in the problem and send the question. They will get back to you with questions, so make sure you have installed the latest Spotify version, the latest Google Home version and let them know which Android version you have (can be found in Settings >> About the phone). If you need help ansering their questions, please don't hesitate to post it here and I will try to help.

[user-removed]

Here's their answer:

Hey there, 

Thanks for reaching out. Sorry to hear you’re having trouble playing Spotify from your Google Home device to your Chromecast. 

Our technical team are aware of the issue and working hard alongside Google to get this resolved. We’re afraid we don’t have an exact time frame, but a fix should be available soon. Be sure to keep your devices’ firmware up to date.