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Spotify Connect Playback Control Issue

V

So, I've searched this forum and have found a number of people touch on it but never answered definitively: does everyone's Spotify Connect "forget" it's playing through Sonos and lose you controls on your lock screen?

Frequently I'll connect to my speakers via Spotify Connect and start playing some music. I can use my device to control playback (pause, skip track) for at least a couple of songs, but if leave it unattended for 10+ minutes, the control goes away (Spotify usually still shows on the lock screen). When I try to hit the "next track" button the connection to my speakers is lost, immediately stops playing on Sonos, and starts playing Spotify on the local device.

I have an Android phone (Pixel 3XL) and an iPad Mini 4 and the issues seems to occur on both, regardless of platform. My living room Play:5s are both connected via ethernet to my router/modem and the app shows on I'm Sonosnet (WM:0) for all speakers in the apartment.

Airplay controls seems to be more reliable with my iPad, though some have said the sound quality is slightly diminished and it doesn't solve the issue when my phone is the more convenient device.

Is there a definitive take or solution for this?

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Best answer by very.dumb 28 May 2020, 17:36

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6 replies

V

I should clarify - this is a lock screen control issue.  If I unlock the device, open the Spotify app, and wait for it to catch up/sync up with the speakers (~5sec) then I can control it again, but that's a waste of time and effort - especially if the lock screen controls are still there - albeit not functional.

A

Hi @very.dumb. Thanks for posting.

The connection issue you are describing sounds like it can be caused by either a disconnection of the phone’s communication to the casting of the speaker, or the lock-screen controls (which are shared with Airplay on iOS) is seeing a service with more priority than Spotty. Does the service work fine with the Sonos app and through the lock-screen when audio is streaming through the Sonos app?

V

Yes.  If I play from the Sonos app, the Sonos lockscreen controls seem to maintain connectivity indefinitely. I wish Spotify Connect worked as seamlessly as I’d prefer to use that (and allow friends to control the music more easily thru Spotify rather than asking them to download the Sonos app for use at my place).

Any thoughts on how to increase reliability using Spotify Connect lockscreen controls?

A

Totally understand. Because the Spottily connect feature is not facilitated by Sonos and it seems the Sonos system is working properly. This call out may be better suited for Spotify’s support team. You can try rebooting the controller or the Spotify service, but this issue may just be how Spotify interacts when it’s not running in the background. Perhaps there are other Community members that may have discovered a workaround for this issue.

V

Posting for others:

After much crying and gnashing of teeth (and some more searching), I found the solution to be more of an Android issue that a Sonos or Spotify one:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Search for "Optimise battery usage".
  3. Click on "Apps not optimised" and select "All".
  4. Search for Spotify and disable battery optimization. 

This seems to keep the lock screen controls working indefinitely - at least on my Android phone. Still checking on a similar iOS solution.  

A

Thanks for the update. I am happy to hear that you have discovered what was going on. Please let us know if there was anything more we can help out with.

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