Videos do not play when connected to Bluetooth

[MartinNZ]

Plan

Premium

Country

 New Zeland

Device

Samsung Galaxy S8+

Operating System

Android Oreo

My Question or Issue

Playlist videos work fine when I have my headphones plugged into my device or I'm listening via the devices inbuilt speaker. However when I am connected to my car stereo via Bluetooth the videos do not display. Sound works fine but no video just a progress bar right at bottom of screen. Rest of screen is blank. If I disconnect from Bluetooth the video will play fine. 

[MartinNZ]

Workaround: I found that, on my phone, switching off the connection options for the Bluetooth device and then switching them on again solved this. It seems permanent after phone restart. 

[Aimee_T]

Hi @MartinNZ! Welcome to our Spotify Community.

Right now, is not possible to watch the videos in the Spotify app while you're connected through Bluetooth. Here you can check everything you can do with the videos: https://support.spotify.com/article/videos/. Let us know if you have more questions.

Have a nice day 🙂

[MartinNZ]

Thats good to know, but why. Bluetooth only supports audio so there should be a way to view video on the device doing the streaming. Seems a bit silly to not support it.

When will this be addressed.

[1226721531]

That needs to be changed immediately. Many Spotify subscribers utilize blue tooth devices to enhance audio quality. Not supporting video while connected to audio devices limits users in ways that I find to be unacceptable. I'm aware of the safety feature while driving, but for users who aren't driving this feature should be available.

[Peter]

Hey there @1226721531,

Thank you for your post and for your feedback.

We're always testing things to make Spotify better overall. We’re sorry that this means you’re not able to use Spotify on your Apple Watch like you wish to do at the moment.

We're always aiming to improve our features so we hope you’ll continue using it and find it gets better in the future. 

In the meantime, you can create an idea and so that people can vote on your idea.

Thanks for the feedback, we appreciate it. Let us know if we can help with anything else. We're always one reply away.

Cheers!

[ajt2014]

This is ridiculous. I can't even watch podcast with my Bluetooth headphones??

[Ver]

Hey @ajt2014,

Thanks for reaching out to us 🙂

You should be able to listen and watch the podcasts while using Bluetooth headphones. If there is an issue with a video not playing, we'd suggest you restart your phone and then to log out and log back in again. You can also give these steps a go. 

If the issue persists, you can try with another device. Does the issue persist?

Let us know how it goes. If you have questions, you know where to find us. 

[Kurtismoore]

Why??

[Kurtismoore]

This is unacceptable..
You paid an INSANE amount of money to have exlusive rights to JRE and youre ruining the experience for countless fans

[Onitenchu]

2021 and this is still a thing... I exclusively use bluetooth headphones when listening to anything on my phone video or not. Get it together spotify. At least get the basics taken care of, wireless bluetooth is the standard now. 100% Which makes your app sub standard, by definition. First I had to jump through hoops to log into my account I had not used in years, after finally getting through that process, video would not work, so i do the clean reinstall, yet again video won't work. Then I personally end up realizing that it's just a bad video app that isn't compatible with modern bluetooth technology. I realized this when I put my headphones on their charger so I could start researching what else I could do to troubleshoot. I guarantee you my experience is not a rare one. Nothing against your support staff, they are great, the engineers made a great looking app. The decision to not include this function however, was a very bad decision. It's a bit silly to shell out so many millions to get Joe Rogan, but not a few to get your app up to date with, relatively old technology. Bluetooth has been around for a while now guys, you may want to catch up. Pop up adds on pirate sites work with bluetooth just fine, just saying...

[Blingblaow]

They do have it it's called chromecast via app mirror but android oreo is far to outdated you need to bump up to android 11  your device is way to old to handle modern technology that's all 

[pkates]

Well I have a Samsung S20 running Android 11.

Videos work on 1 pair of Bluetooth headphones but not on another . . . seems strange, but true!!!! This is only true for Spotify app . . nothing else I can find.

[HoosierDad]

I got a new phone. Samsung S21 Ultra, and new bluetooth headphones. Tozo T12. Still can't watch JRE while listening through ear buds. WHY IS THIS STILL A THING

[HoosierDad]

Why is this not fixed yet? Literally ruins JRE

[Mihail]

Hey @HoosierDad,

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the Community.

   
As @Ver mentioned, using Bluetooth ear buds shouldn't have an impact on podcast videos. You've tried this with a brand new phone and new headphones, correct? If that is the case and the issue continues, could you ask a friend or family member to log in on your device and see if the issue comes up there as well? That way we can test if the root cause of the behavior lies with your account.

Also - does it make a difference if the podcast is downloaded or not? Are other shows also affected or is it only JRE?

Keep us posted.

[themindseye]

BOOO. Dislike. Please fix. And allow roku casting for video.

[binaryzero99]

Yeah...glad I canceled my subscription. Because this now happeneds to me with my Bluetooth headphones but not my other ones. What YOU need to do is STOP being lazy and allow it to connect to ALL Bluetooth devices so this stops. I refuse to pay till it is fixed.

[EvilAaron]

With Android 11 I cannot watch a video on any podcasts that are downloaded if I'm using a Bluetooth audio device for the audio track the only way I can watch a video podcast is listen to it through my phone speakers this is ridiculous makes YouTube seem so Superior I like Spotify I am surprised at the shortcoming as I try to enjoy more of your video podcasts it's really ruins the experience.

This and the occasional glitch from getting Spotify ads playing on my premium account when I watch podcasts no not the embedded ones in the podcast but Spotify ads I'm starting to become pretty fed up.

Depending on which way you guys go and how you handle lossless audio on your premium plans could be the straw that breaks the camel's back I've already had a price bump on my family plan and I'm not getting lossless audio and I'm paying more of the competitors that do have it you really making a lot of compounding issues that make long time premium subscribers start questioning whether we should be supporting you.

Spotify not having a hardware ecosystem or a horse in the race I like to support because you're just about providing music and podcasts but you guys got to get your s*** together.

[tinpin]

You guys have got to be kidding me!  Why on earth is video disabled when using bluetooth?!  I BT to my car stereo when I'm eating on my lunch break at work and watch videos for the duration only to find out I can't *watch* JRE on this service.

Please provide even ONE good reason this functionality is disabled because I sure can't think of one.

[h93d-g9jp_epw]

A Bluetooth connection prevents video from playing right now. That has not always been the case. Is Spotify actively trying to fix this problem?