Spotify connect failing to play things from Android phone to Roku app

[Ferchrissakes]

Recently, I began experiencing a bug in which, when I go to Spotify Connect from my Android phone to the Spotify app on Roku, the track, playlist, podcast, whatever briefly appears on the screen of the Roku device but then immediately disappears and the track will not play. If I manually go into the Roku app interface, after this having failed once or twice... the app controlled manually won't work the first few tries (same issue, playing now screen comes up, then disappears quickly)... but then it will suddenly work on the 3rd or 4th attempt when manually controlled through the Roku. However, repeatedly trying to play something from my Android phone will never cause it to play successfully.

[Eni]

Hey there @Ferchrissakes,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community. 

Could you check if the firmware of your Roku TV is up to date?

On another note, is this only happening with Spotify or with other apps as well?

We'll be on the lookout.

[Ferchrissakes]

Yes. I always check to see if my Roku is up to date before posting anything... and no, this is only (AFAIK) happening with Spotify Connect, when or after I am or have tried to control the Roku App over my Android phone's Spotify app. Basically, the usual process to replicate is...

1. Make sure Roku is on
2. Open Android Spotify app
3. Choose a playlist
4. Select device to play on as Roku Ultra
5. Spotify app on Roku will launch (90% of the time, sometimes it won't launch and I will have to manually launch the Roku Spotify app)
6. Once connected to the Roku, hit play...
7. The playlist or track being played will immediately disappear and you will land on the home screen for the Roku Spotify app
8. Can try over and over from phone and it will never work... but sometimes when trying over and over directly from the Spotify app, it will actually play properly, but that seems to be a **bleep** shoot

[MihailY]

Hey @Ferchrissakes,

Thanks for getting back to us.

As a next step, can you please try setting up a hotspot on your phone and connecting your Roku device? This will help us narrow down the possible cause of the issue.

Let us know how it goes.

[Ferchrissakes]

I have no idea how to set up a hotspot on my phone. I just connect via wifi through my network. By the way, this issue has gotten even worse now, causing major playback issues, rendering the Spotify app useless/inoperable. An error message pops up periodically that just says "an error occurred" and the error message cannot be dismissed... and the error even persisted through me removing the app and reinstalling it. There is something seriously broken about using Spotify Connect to control your Spotify App on Roku!

[AlejaR]

Hey @Ferchrissakes,

Thanks for your reply and for all the info shared.

In this case, we'd suggest reinstalling the app on both devices: your mobile phone and your Roku TV. We understand you've already tried reinstalling the app on the Roku TV, but try once more by uninstalling Spotify, soft resetting your Roku TV (turning it off and then on the TV), and reinstalling again. You can follow the steps in this article to cleanly reinstall the app on your phone as well.

If the above doesn't do the trick, would you mind sending us the make/model and OS of your Android device along with the Spotify version you're running there? 

Just to clarify, a hotspot lets you share the cellular data connection of your phone as a WiFi connection with other devices. The ways to create it might vary by device, but usually you can find the option in your mobile phone's settings. This will help us check if perhaps this is happening with a different internet connection. If possible, give it a try and let us know how it goes.

Lastly, just to confirm, did you notice if this started to happen after a specific event, such as an OS update from your Roku device or your phone? If yes, please send us the details.
 

Keep us in the loop!