[Desktop][Social] Enable Group Session on Desktop

[brooks29]

Group Session was recently added to Spotify and it seems like a wonderful feature so far. Unfortunately, it is only available on mobile and tablet so those of us who primarily use the desktop app cannot use it. Please include desktop users in the party!

I greatly prefer the experience and UI on the desktop app and I believe it is better suited for adding songs to a queue (as you do in group session).

 

[Katerina]

Updated on 2020-05-13

Hello and thanks for bringing your feedback to the Idea Exchange. We've marked this as a new idea.

Spotify Staff will look into this idea once it reaches the necessary amount of votes. More information about how the Spotify Idea Exchange works can be found here.

[MattSuda]

While you cannot currently start the Group Session from the desktop app, you can switch the playback to the desktop app after starting the session in the mobile app. Read below for more info

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Good news!

The new Group Session (beta) feature allows groups of 2-5 people to listen together simultaneously in the mobile app all online no matter where everyone is located. 💚 🏘️ 🌎 🔊

For more info on this new feature and how to use it read the news article and the support article

You and your friends/family can now each listen to the same content at the same time on your own devices (as well as control playback). You can start a group session by sharing a “join” link via messaging apps or social media with each other. Group sessions currently support 2-5 people in the same session.

With this feature you can also control the playback of the music when everyone is in the same room like a party mode. Listen on one device and control it from multiple devices in the same room.

This feature is still rolling out, so make sure your Spotify app is up to date.

Click or tap the Connect menu in the bottom-left corner of the play screen and scroll down to "Start a group session." Then, share the invite link with your guests or have them scan the Spotify code to join the session.

Note: Group Session is in Beta, which means it’s being tested and features could change.

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I tested the new Group Sessions (remotely) and I found the answer to what will be the most asked question.

Does it work over Connect (Devices Available) so I can do a video chat at the same time?

It does work over Connect! YES! I just tested it. Playback via Spotify desktop app while controlling the session from the mobile app works. You can also play to your sound system or any Connect speaker in house while controlling in the Spotify mobile app. It will be kinda awkward just listening so you can also chat with them in a third party messenger app at the same time. Or you can have the session playing on another device / sound system using Connect and then video calling them over FaceTime or another app (make sure to mute both your mics) right from your phone (or even a desktop computer that has a camera). Or you can do a muted video call and a third party chat app at the same time. Only the playback is built in, but you can make this really awesome by chatting in an app or doing a muted video call. There are a few glitches still but I am surprised by how well it works doing the Spotify session and the video call at the same time on a good WiFi network.

[brooks29]

Thanks for the comment @MattSuda! I'm so glad they added the ability to use Group Session remotely. Admittedly, that's how I originally thought it worked and I was disappointed to find out it had to be in person.

Glad to hear there is a work-around to use it on desktop as well, but I will still hold out hope that they make it possible to start the session on desktop. That seems even more useful now that sessions work remotely.

[Schooner]

I have found that I can join a session on my mobile phone and then play it on my PC.  After joining on my phone, I open Spotify on my PC and the Group Session is playing.  Then I just change it to play on the PC speakers.  But I have absolutely no ability to add to the queue or control playback.  I agree the ability to Group Session on a PC would be awesome.  I mostly listen to Spotify while doing work at my PC.

[AdamDamon]

I think this is a great idea! Some Spotify users don’t have a mobile device, so it would be great if they could join Group Sessions via the desktop app.

[dodtskip]

Very good idea, please implement this on Desktop as well.

With the workaround you cant queue songs on Desktop.

[pythonPete]

would be nice to listen with friends with links shared through discord etc

[6gk_p5vpm-ut3]

yess **bleep** i really need it for desktop because most of my friends are on discord and it would be so much easier

[kaffeboy]

*Shia LaBeouf comes in*

DO IT!

[Drakken]

Grateful for this feature, but yeah, as one of the millions of users who primarily use Spotify while at their desk during the day, being able to initiate and control group sessions from desktop rather than having to rely on a mobile device would seem to make a lot of sense and would be a substantial improvement to the user experience.