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Spotify switching to bluetooth earbuds after away from then back near phone

  • August 25, 2023
  • 6 replies
  • 531 views
Y

I’m encountering a weird user experience when using Spotify connect through phone

  • I am using a hearing aid that is bluetooth connected to my phone
  • I start a song on Spotify on my phone, then send it to my Sonos to play
  • I often leave the room, and thus my bluetooth connection would be interrupted. This is not the issue, as the song will keep playing on my Sonos
  • But when I came back to my room, and my hearing aids got connected again, Spotify will then switch back to my hearing aid, and thus the song will stop playing on my Sonos.

Not sure if this is a Spotify issue or Sonos issue? 

Best answer by Corry P

Hi @yonan32 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

If you can leave the room with your phone and Sonos is not affected, then you are probably not using Bluetooth to play to Sonos. Therefore, it sounds like the issue you are having has more to do with the operating system on your phone deciding to automatically connect to a previously active Bluetooth device (the hearing aid) than it has to do with either Sonos or Spotify. I recommend you disable Bluetooth on your phone until it is wanted in order to prevent this from happening. Spotify Connect works over WiFi, so this should not be a problem for playback on Sonos. As far as I can see it, however, as long as you take both your phone and your hearing aid with you, and you are not using Bluetooth to connect to Sonos, you really shouldn’t have this issue.

Alternatively, always use the Sonos app to play Spotify on Sonos and it will not matter what Bluetooth device your phone connects to - I presume this will be handy for phone calls.

I admit I am a bit confused, though - you state that you leave the room, and I presume you take your hearing aid with you, so how is the connection between your phone and hearing aid being remade? If you are not taking your phone with you, that would make sense, but it goes against what you said about the speaker not being affected when you remove the phone from the room.

I hope this helps.

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6 replies

buzz
  • buzz
  • August 25, 2023

I don’t think that anyone will want to “own” this issue. Are you keeping the phone stationary, rather than carrying the phone with you? Perhaps you could carry the phone with you in order to avoid the hearing aid disconnect.

Y
  • yonan32
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • August 25, 2023

I don’t think that anyone will want to “own” this issue. Are you keeping the phone stationary, rather than carrying the phone with you? Perhaps you could carry the phone with you in order to avoid the hearing aid disconnect.

yeah but that’s a workaround, not a solution!

Ken_Griffiths

Sounds more like an issue with Spotify, as usually the Spotify service only allows one stream to devices at any one time when using their individual plan. It seems the Spotify service is perhaps seeing it as a new streaming session when you return to the room.

You may have more success ‘perhaps’ with their ‘family plan’ service and to use a different family members Spotify account credentials in the Sonos App for ‘direct control’ playback over their Connect API. I’m guessing then the music will carry on playing on your Sonos speakers and the hearing aid will use a separate stream belonging to a different family member. I would though first discuss the issue with Spotify and see if they are able to assist. Their support staff can be contacted via this link or through your online Spotify account:

https://support.spotify.com/sg-en/article/contact-us/

ratty
  • ratty
  • August 25, 2023

@yonan32 Under normal circumstances are you saying that Spotify keeps playing through the Bluetooth hearing aid after you’ve cast it to Sonos? This would (a) be contrary to normal phone audio behaviour and (b) probably sound awful due to different delays through BT and Sonos. 

Assuming the stream switches entirely from BT to Sonos then it would be pretty standard behaviour for it to automatically switch back when the BT reconnects. You may be able to tweak the phone settings to prevent this. What phone is it? 

Corry P
Forum|alt.badge.img+19
  • Corry P
  • Sonos Staff
  • Answer
  • August 28, 2023

Hi @yonan32 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

If you can leave the room with your phone and Sonos is not affected, then you are probably not using Bluetooth to play to Sonos. Therefore, it sounds like the issue you are having has more to do with the operating system on your phone deciding to automatically connect to a previously active Bluetooth device (the hearing aid) than it has to do with either Sonos or Spotify. I recommend you disable Bluetooth on your phone until it is wanted in order to prevent this from happening. Spotify Connect works over WiFi, so this should not be a problem for playback on Sonos. As far as I can see it, however, as long as you take both your phone and your hearing aid with you, and you are not using Bluetooth to connect to Sonos, you really shouldn’t have this issue.

Alternatively, always use the Sonos app to play Spotify on Sonos and it will not matter what Bluetooth device your phone connects to - I presume this will be handy for phone calls.

I admit I am a bit confused, though - you state that you leave the room, and I presume you take your hearing aid with you, so how is the connection between your phone and hearing aid being remade? If you are not taking your phone with you, that would make sense, but it goes against what you said about the speaker not being affected when you remove the phone from the room.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Y
Y
  • yonan32
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • August 29, 2023

Hi @yonan32 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

If you can leave the room with your phone and Sonos is not affected, then you are probably not using Bluetooth to play to Sonos. Therefore, it sounds like the issue you are having has more to do with the operating system on your phone deciding to automatically connect to a previously active Bluetooth device (the hearing aid) than it has to do with either Sonos or Spotify. I recommend you disable Bluetooth on your phone until it is wanted in order to prevent this from happening. Spotify Connect works over WiFi, so this should not be a problem for playback on Sonos. As far as I can see it, however, as long as you take both your phone and your hearing aid with you, and you are not using Bluetooth to connect to Sonos, you really shouldn’t have this issue.

Alternatively, always use the Sonos app to play Spotify on Sonos and it will not matter what Bluetooth device your phone connects to - I presume this will be handy for phone calls.

I admit I am a bit confused, though - you state that you leave the room, and I presume you take your hearing aid with you, so how is the connection between your phone and hearing aid being remade? If you are not taking your phone with you, that would make sense, but it goes against what you said about the speaker not being affected when you remove the phone from the room.

I hope this helps.

 

Hi Corry, clarifying that I DID NOT bring my phone with me. The phone was left in the room, and I left the room hence the bluetooth connection between my phone and hearing aid was interrupted, and reconnected when I got back in the room.

Noted on using the Sonos app to play music, this might be the best workaround yet.

Corry P
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