Alexa needs a connected accessories to play spotify on this device

[111212]

I have iphone 11 and I am trying to connect Alexa to spotify, but Alexa tells me I needs a connected accessories to play spotify on this device. I can see that I have successfully added spotify to Alexa and the skill is enabled. any advise ?

[Mihail]

Hey @111212,

Thanks for getting in touch!

Such connectivity issues are usually caused by the Spotify app integrity getting damaged. An easy way to remedy this would be to follow the steps here and perform a clean reinstall. If that doesn't fix things you can also try the following:

1. Unlink your Spotify account from the Alexa app.

2. Perform a clean reinstall also of the Alexa app.

3. Link both accounts anew. This Support page can help.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted on how it goes.  

[walkingtragedy]

i tried this and it didnt work. still says i need a connected accessory.

[MafeG]

Hi @walkingtragedy,

Thank you for reaching out on this thread. 

To start, we'd like to make sure you've logged into a Premium subscription, since Alexa's full integration isn't available with a free account.

If the subscription is in order, could you make sure your Echo doesn't have any pending firmware updates?

Keep us posted.

[MickyBee1066]

Hi huys Im new to this.

I have alexa's round the house.  All work seamlessly with spotify I can play all my spotify playlist no problem.  Unfortunately it just does not work on Alexa on the iPhone.  Even though Iphone is linked to Spotify (premium) and spotify is the default in the music settings.  Asking it to play my spotify playlist I get either (cannot find playlist xxx on Amazon Music) or (you need a connected accessory to play spotify).  Ive uninstalled, re-installed, dont the usual stuff, connected, disconnected the Spotify skill.  Any it works find on the amazon echo but doesn't on iPhone is a complete mystery.  Any help greatly appreciated.

[Eni]

Hey there @MickyBee1066, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this here in the Community. 

Just to confirm, if you give your Alexa devices a voice command to play Spotify, they play it just fine? Is the issue happening when you try to play something on the Alexa devices from your iPhone while using Connect? 

If so, try restarting your router by unplugging it from power for a few seconds and check if that makes the difference. 

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[MickyBee1066]

Hi Eni,  

Yes, we have 2 echo dots in the house and I can ask Alexa to play my spotify playlists.  All work fine.  

The problem is the iPhone.  It is NOT connected to the house wifi so not sure why booting the home router would help.  I had a go though and no difference.

Ive tried the following on the iphone and none of these makes any difference:

1. Uninstalled Alexa on the iphone, rebooted then re-installed. 

2.  Disabled the Spotify skill, rebooted and re-enabled. 

3. Revoked alexa via spotify account on web and re-enabled.

Looking at my iphone now,  I have Spotify enabled.  Spotify is the default music player.  I ask Iphone alexa to play my playlist and it still says 'I couldnt find that on Amazon Music' even though it should not be looking there.

By the way, I do have a playlist on Amazon music, if I ask Alexa for that, it does play it.

Also,  if I ask Alexa (on Iphone) to play Spotify, it tells me you need a connected accessory to play spotify on this device.

[Eni]

Hi @MickyBee1066, 

Thanks for your reply.

Just to clarify, the issue is happening when you try to play Spotify through the Alexa app using voice commands on your iPhone directly and not through the Echo dots, right?

If so, would you mind checking if the same happens if you use the Siri voice commands instead of Alexa's?

Also, you mentioned that you've already reinstalled the Spotify app on your iPhone, but would you mind going through the steps of a clean reinstall, as it's more thorough than a normal one?

Let us know how it goes.

[MickyBee1066]

Hi Eni,

"Just to clarify, the issue is happening when you try to play Spotify through the Alexa app using voice commands on your iPhone directly and not through the Echo dots, right?"

     Yes

"If so, would you mind checking if the same happens if you use the Siri voice commands instead of Alexa's?" -

     I tried that, it says 'something went wrong, please try again'

"Also, you mentioned that you've already reinstalled the Spotify app on your iPhone, but would you mind going through the steps of a clean reinstall, as it's more thorough than a normal one?" -

     I am already doing this way to delete apps (it's the only way to do it I believe).

[Vasil]

Hey @MickyBee1066,

Your phone needs to be on the same network as your speakers, otherwise the setup won't work.
Let us know if the issue persists when you change the network on your mobile phone to Wi-Fi.
Many thanks!

[MickyBee1066]

Ha OK, many thanks Vasil.  I installed Spotify on Alexa so I could listen to my playlists when outside the house.  I assumed it would play through the phone speaker, and not require external speakers.

Thanks for letting me know,  I will stop trying to get it to work now

[Hudsonlayner]

You ever get this figured out???

[pinkestpearls]

yes, on the spotify app there should be this little pod looking icon on the bottom left corner (iphone). its easier to find if u press on a song to play. after u press on it it should give u the option to allow connection with ur echo dot

[Ketley2aug]

Yes I’m also facing same issue.

To play music on my Echo Dot by asking alexa on echo dot “play songs from spotify” - this works fine. Music starts playing on my echo dot speaker using my spotify account.

To play songs on my iphone speaker by asking my alexa app on iphone “play songs from spotify” - this doesnt work. It says “you need a connected accessory to play spotify on this device”.

its the same issue whether I’m connected to my home wifi or mobile data. I want to be able to listen to my spotify songs hands free on my iphone speaker when I’m away from echo dot (example - if I’m driving). I can play songs by opening spotify app. But when i ask alexa on my iphone to play songs - it starts playing some playlist from amazon music. When i ask alexa on my iphone to play songs from spotify - it says “need a connected accessory” which i dont understand. 
if I ask siri to play songs on spotify - it wont play because apple music and spotify are not connected. The spotify app has not added support for siri. But spotify app has added support for alexa.

i wonder why it will only work when i ask alexa on my echo dot to play songs. And doesnt work when i ask alexa on my iphone. Both echo dot and alexa app on my iphone are logged in to same amazon account.

anyone found the solution.???

[kkramme]

Let's be honest.  Is it an issue of the competition between Apple and Amazon?  Come on -- please answer this!

[Amitabist]

it’s been two years and the problem of Alexa and spotify demanding connection of accessory is still unsorted . No solution in this IT era? What’s shame?

[LuciaArkwright]

Having the same issue. I just want to use Alexa to control spotify on my iPhone and play the music either from the speakers or from the headphones connected to the iPhone (they support Alexa). Otherwise things work well, but when trying to play either Spotify or Audible, Alexa says it needs a connected / supported device. I have no intention of getting any alexa device or speaker, I just like using it to control my iPhone. 

I have Alexa linked and set as default and I see the spotify playlists there, but unlike with radio stations, I do not see the option to play on this device. Is this a bug or some contract restriction? 

Gonna try updating the headphone firmware and try once again. But shame if it really requires some alexa-approved speakers to function and just using alexa to control spotify on iPhone is somehow hampered. 

Did any of you get this working?