Spotify Connect: what is it, which devices are compatible?

Spotify Connect for wireless streaming

Spotify is the world’s most popular streaming music service. You can listen via your iPhone, iPad and Mac, but also via your ‘connected’ speakers. For this you use Spotify Connect, so that you can listen to the same music wirelessly throughout your house, in a way that is somewhat comparable to AirPlay and Google Cast. Of course, your speakers must be suitable for this. You can read how this works in this guide.

Good to know: there is currently an issue that makes the iPhone volume buttons unusable on Spotify Connect. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

What is Spotify Connect?

Spotify Connect is an AirPlay-like service that lets you wirelessly connect to speakers, wearables, game consoles, and other devices that are on the same Wi-Fi network. Spotify Connect automatically detects which devices are compatible and connects to them wirelessly. This is especially useful for parties, although you should try to prevent your guests from messing with the music. The great thing about Spotify Connect is that your iPhone remembers the connection. Once you stream music to a particular speaker, it works straight away.

With Spotify Connect, you use the Wi-Fi network and control everything via your iPhone, iPad or Mac. So no special remote control is needed. The music is streamed in a quality of 320 kbps.

Which speakers work with Spotify Connect?

Spotify Connect works with speakers from various brands, but unfortunately not with the Apple HomePod. Here are some examples of speakers that are compatible:

• Sonos: Era 100, Era 300, Move 2
• Google: Nest Mini, Nest Audio, Nest Hub 2nd generation
• Amazon: Echo Speakers
• Bose: Portable Home Speaker
• Denon: Home 150, 250 and 350
• Lowe: Klang MR1, MR5
• Xiaomi: Smart Speaker

It also works with various televisions, such as Sony Bravia OLED Smart TVs.

Spotify Connect: How does it work?

Similar to Apple’s AirPlay, Spotify Connect works via your wireless network (Wi-Fi). It detects compatible devices that are on the same Wi-Fi network and connects to them wirelessly. Spotify Connect is especially useful if you use a Sonos system. Previously, you had to launch the Sonos app to play Spotify music, but now it all works directly from the Spotify app.

You need three things to use Spotify Connect:

• Spotify Premium (this may also be a paid Family or Student account)
• A suitable playback device, such as a Sonos speaker or Sony television.
• An iPhone, iPad or Mac with Spotify app to control the system.

Don’t have a suitable speaker? You can also use your iPhone or iPad as a playback device.

Initially, there were more than 300 speakers from more than 80 manufacturers that were compatible with Spotify Connect, but since 2018 that has changed considerably. Due to changes at server level, some speakers no longer work with Spotify Connect. If you have such a speaker, you are better off using another way to stream wirelessly, such as AirPlay or a Chromecast.

Set up Spotify Connect

Once you have all the ingredients, you can set up Spotify Connect. It will only work if you have given Spotify access to your local network.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Settings app and go to Spotify settings.
2. Turn on the switch next to Local Network.
3. Make sure your device and the speaker are connected to the same WiFi network.
4. Open the Spotify app on your device and choose a song to play.
5. At the bottom of the screen you will see a speaker icon. Tap on it.
6. You will now see the available devices on which you can play the music. Make a selection.

If you want to control Spotify Connect from another iPhone, iPad or computer, you must ensure that this device is also logged into the same Wi-Fi network and that you are using the same Spotify account.

On Mac, click the green icon with devices at the bottom of the screen. Then choose the devices you want to play the music on.

Streaming with Spotify Connect

When you use Spotify Connect, the music tracks are streamed directly from Spotify to your speaker, so it doesn’t go through your iPhone. So you can continue to use your iPhone to make phone calls, for example, without having to pause the music. This is an advantage over streaming via Bluetooth, which can conflict with Bluetooth earphones.

While listening, you can add extra speakers or switch to another speaker at any time. For example, there are built-in receivers for BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Tesla, Volvo and Mini Cooper that support Spotify Connect, so you can continue listening as soon as you get in the car. If you don’t have a suitable system, you can also purchase built-in systems from Kenwood, Pioneer or JVC that support Spotify Connect.

Benefits of Spotify Connect

Here are some of the benefits of Spotify Connect:

• You can play music throughout the house, without the need for (expensive) speakers from Sonos, for example.
• You can easily adjust the volume, skip to another song and more from your iPhone. No special remote is needed.
• Guests can’t just mess with your music collection or playlist.
• You can effortlessly switch between speakers, while the music continues to play.
• Unlike Bluetooth connections, you can continue listening to music while you are on a call or watching a video. The music will continue to play even if you go out of range of the Wi-Fi network.
• The music is played in the highest possible Spotify audio quality, namely 320 kbps.

Disadvantages of Spotify Connect

There are also a few drawbacks to Spotify Connect:

• You must be a Spotify Premium member (on some devices) to use this feature.
• You can only play music through devices that support Connect.
• You cannot control devices from the web app.

You can find more information about supported devices at connect.spotify.com.

We have many more tips about Spotify:

• Spotify sleep timer: how to fall asleep with music
• Use Apple Music or Spotify as an alarm clock: wake up with music
• Here’s how to listen to Spotify in much better sound quality