Just can't get Spotify Connect to 'see' my Ultra (Pro+ is OK)

[guy48065]

I'm puzzled by my failure to get Spotify to connect to my WiiM Ultra. Spotify sees my phone & my Pro+ and I've checked that everything is connected to the same wifi network. (The Pro & Ultra are in different locations, on different networks. Is the app able to keep track of this difference?)
I think I had a similar bump in the road when setting up my Pro last spring, but the fix must have been easy bc I've forgotten what I did.

The Ultra immediately connected to Amazon Music, Radio Paradise but I realize Spotify handles the connection differently. Can someone please point me in the right direction?

 

[Wiimer]

I'm puzzled by my failure to get Spotify to connect to my WiiM Ultra. Spotify sees my phone & my Pro+ and I've checked that everything is connected to the same wifi network. (The Pro & Ultra are in different locations, on different networks. Is the app able to keep track of this difference?)
I think I had a similar bump in the road when setting up my Pro last spring, but the fix must have been easy bc I've forgotten what I did.

The Ultra immediately connected to Amazon Music, Radio Paradise but I realize Spotify handles the connection differently. Can someone please point me in the right direction?

I tested Spotify connect by switching my phone to mobile communications. The first few times I was able to connect to Ultra in the Wi-Fi network, but then all the WiiM devices disappeared from the connect list.

Therefore, I think you need to connect your phone to the same network as Ultra.

I think Spotify connect used to be able to connect on different networks, but my memory is a bit fuzzy.

 

[Burnside]

Try using the remote mic for the Ultra and ask “Alexa, Spotify Connect” (you may need to link to your Alexa account in the WiiM app first if you haven’t already) and make sure the Spotify app “show local devices only” setting under your settings/devices is set to off.

 

[henninggodske]

I'm puzzled by my failure to get Spotify to connect to my WiiM Ultra. Spotify sees my phone & my Pro+ and I've checked that everything is connected to the same wifi network. (The Pro & Ultra are in different locations, on different networks. Is the app able to keep track of this difference?)
I think I had a similar bump in the road when setting up my Pro last spring, but the fix must have been easy bc I've forgotten what I did.

The Ultra immediately connected to Amazon Music, Radio Paradise but I realize Spotify handles the connection differently. Can someone please point me in the right direction?

Your Spotify app and the WiiM Ultra must be on same logical network.

Did you remember to enable Casting on the Ultra?

 

[guy48065]

Try using the remote mic for the Ultra and ask “Alexa, Spotify Connect” (you may need to link to your Alexa account in the WiiM app first if you haven’t already) and make sure the Spotify app “show local devices only” setting under your settings/devices is set to off.

I skipped Alexa support during setup. I hadn't planned to use it.

I verified "local devices" is OFF.

 

[guy48065]

Your Spotify app and the WiiM Ultra must be on same logical network.

Did you remember to enable Casting on the Ultra?

I did verify they were on the same network at this location.

I don't recall seeing a "Casting" choice during setup. Wouldn't it also affect my other apps? They all connected flawlessly.
I'll have to wait till the weekend to check or change anything. The Ultra is at my cottage.

 

[henninggodske]

 

[harkpabst]

I did verify they were on the same network at this location.

I don't recall seeing a "Casting" choice during setup. Wouldn't it also affect my other apps? They all connected flawlessly.
I'll have to wait till the weekend to check or change anything. The Ultra is at my cottage.

Alexa Cast and Google Cast are the only casting options that need to be explicitly enabled, if you want to use them.

Spotify Connect has nothing to do with either one.

As has been pointed out before, the device running the Spotify app and the WiiM Ultra must be on the same network and that's it. In other words: I don't have any explanation why it didn't work for you from the beginning. Just give it another try.

 

[wiimamp user]

Force close the Spotify app.
Clear cache.
Open the Spotify app.
Click on the connect button within the Spotify app.
You should see the ultra there i assume.

 

[Burnside]

Alexa Cast and Google Cast are the only casting options that need to be explicitly enabled, if you want to use them.

Spotify Connect has nothing to do with either one.

As has been pointed out before, the device running the Spotify app and the WiiM Ultra must be on the same network and that's it. In other words: I don't have any explanation why it didn't work for you from the beginning. Just give it another try.

The reason I suggested the above alexa voice command is because that advice often works when echo devices don't show in the Spotidy app, and given WiiM devices ability to appear as pseudo echo devices thru its Alexa integration, I though that 'back door' suggestion might help

 

[harkpabst]

The reason I suggested the above alexa voice command is because that advice often works when echo devices don't show in the Spotidy app, and given WiiM devices ability to appear as pseudo echo devices thru its Alexa integration, I though that 'back door' suggestion might help

Understood, if trying that trick, Alexa integration is required, of course.

I just meant to make sure that Spotify Connect itself should be working right out of the box with no dependency on any third party streaming protocol.

 

[guy48065]

Force close the Spotify app.
Clear cache.
Open the Spotify app.
Click on the connect button within the Spotify app.
You should see the ultra there i assume.

I did try that. Nada.
The only thing I haven't tried yet is to reboot the Ultra. It'll have to wait until Friday but I'll give that a try.

 

[guy48065]

Should Chromecast support be enabled even tho I don't have an actual Chromecast dongle? Do any other music apps emulate Chromecast?

 

[WiiM Support]

Should Chromecast support be enabled even tho I don't have an actual Chromecast dongle? Do any other music apps emulate Chromecast?

Hi guy48065,

Using Spotify Connect on the WiiM device does not require enabling Chromecast support. We recommend using Spotify Connect for a better user experience.

 

[guy48065]

Hi guy48065,

Using Spotify Connect on the WiiM device does not require enabling Chromecast support. We recommend using Spotify Connect for a better user experience.

A better user experience would be assured if my Spotify Connect could find my Ultra.

 

[WiiM Support]

Hi guy48065,

Please send us a feedback ticket, and we'll resolve it promptly. Thank you for your assistance.

 

[Wiimer]

A better user experience would be assured if my Spotify Connect could find my Ultra.

You are correct, only Ultra does not show up in the Spotify connections list if the phone is connected to a different network. However, in my case, rebooting Ultra seems to have solved the problem.

--[ Edit ]--
If the phone and WiiM are on different networks, playback via Spotify connect is still possible, but the device will disappear from the device list each time the connection is disconnected. Therefore, a reboot of WiiM is required each time you disconnect. This is not limited to Ultra.
------------------------------------------

My test results.

If all devices (phone included) are connected to the same Wi-Fi, 4 WiiMs show up in the list and can connect to Spotify.


However, when I turn off Wi-Fi on the other phone and switch to SIM communication, only Ultra disappears from the list. (I also cleared the app cache during this time.)



Also, I was able to connect to the WiiM amp and play music even when the phone was connected to only 5G communications. Therefore, I believe Spotify connect will work even if the phone and WiiM are on different networks.

Here I rebooted Ultra. Then Ultra showed up in Spotify on the phone connected to 5G. And Spotify connect is working fine on Ultra.




@WiiM Support, @WiiM Team
Spotify connect seems to be unstable on my Ultra. I already sent a ticket about this (sometimes the music stops or disconnects on its own).

Also, sometimes there is no sound from Ultra on Spotify connect after running RC.
Please investigate.

 

[harkpabst]

There seems to be more to Spotify Connect than meets the eye ...

The open question to me is what's officially supported and what's not. Spotify did introduce the feature of "remote sessions" (or whatever they call it now) some time ago. The intent was something like a virtual party with friends in different locations. This required a shared "virtual queue", but not direct access to a Spotify Connect target in a differen physical location.

To this day I've never been able to connect to a Spotify Connect target in a different home with a different WiFi network (I have access to). Talking about Android here. I'll have to investigate some more.

Having the phone and the Ultra on the same network is still a sensible first approach, I think.

 

[wiimamp user]

Maybe reboot the modem.
Set up wifi connection again with you're phone and ultra.
Try connecting with a wired connection( Ultra).
I assume it would work then..
Start from the beginning...

 

[Burnside]

To this day I've never been able to connect to a Spotify Connect target in a different home with a different WiFi network (I have access to). Talking about Android here. I'll have to investigate some more.

Isn’t the ability to do that the cause of many people complaining that their speaker randomly plays Spotify tracks without being prompted because previously a guest has connected to that speaker on its network, but still saw that speaker as a target even if they later use their phone on their different home network? Some complain about that being insecure given that someone no longer on your network can still access a device on it.
This issue used to crop up with great regularity on the Alexa group I admin’d and the usual crowd were quick to blame Alexa when in fact it’s a Spotify issue/feature that occurs on non Alexe/echo devices too - just google “Spotify plays randomly”…