Connecting to Chromecast with Google TV takes a long time

[muurain]

Plan

Premium

Country

Finland

Device

iPhone 13 mini

Chromecast with Google TV

Operating System

iOS 16.2

My Question or Issue

I've had a lot of connection issues after switching from Chromecast Ultra to Chromecast with Google TV (UHD).

If Google TV's Spotify app is installed, casting Spotify from iPhone stops working competely.

If I remove the Spotify app from Google TV I'm able to cast Spotify, but both discovering the Chromecast on WiFi and connecting to it takes minutes.

The old Chromecast Ultra had pretty much instant discovery and connection from Spotify.

Other apps like YouTube, Netflix and HBOMax also seem to make the connection way faster regardless of their Google TV apps being installed or not.

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

You could open the Spotify app on your Google TV and then use Spotify Connect to play your music there, instead of using Chromecast.

[muurain]

I dont think not using Chromecast is really a great advice on Chromecast related issue.

Chromecast support is after all advertised and Spotify Connect does not enable the same functionality on Google TV.

Installing Spotify app on Google TV will effectively break all remote wake functionality.
This is bit of a bummer, since the functionality works fine on older Chromecasts and other apps handle this just fine on the new Chromecast too.

[AlejaR]

Hey @muurain,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared.

We really appreciate the time you took to report this to us. We cannot guarantee a timeframe for a fix; however, we recommend that you keep the Spotify app on your phone and the firmware of your Chromecast with Google TV device up to date. 

Keep in mind that for third-party devices such as Chromecast, smart speakers, etc., we only provide the API, which can behave differently depending on the device. That's why we suggest keeping the app and firmware up-to-date for now.

We really appreciate your comments on this matter, we know you want to make the best out of your listening experience.

Hope this clears things up. If you have any questions or need a hand with anything else, we're always a post away.

[muurain]

Thanks for your reply. I'll make sure to keep my devices up to date.

Is there actually some indication that this issue has been noticed?

The problem with the Google TV / Android TV app seems to have been around for some time now.

I found another community post from two years back and it was just marked "Solved" without actually addressing the issue:
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Other-Podcasts-Partners-etc/Casting-to-Chromecast-with-Google-TV-do...

I don't quite understand what you mean by Spotify only providing the API to Chromecast.
I get this with actual 3rd party speakers with embedded Spotify Connect etc..
However both the Spotify app in iOS App Store and the app in Google Play (for Google/Android TV) are published by Spotify AB.

Also Chromecast apps need to be published by app developer and Spotify AB is literally listed in official Chromecast partner pages.

Are you saying that the apps published by Spotify are not guaranteed to work?