Spotify & Google Home: 8 Common Questions (Answered)

Spotify is great for streaming on the go from your favorite devices, but wouldn’t you love to be able to fill your entire home with music on a whim?

With the combination of a Spotify subscription and some Google Home devices, you can do this. 

If you want to know more about Spotify and Google Home’s compatibility, keep reading, because that’s exactly what we intend to discover today.

Is Google Home Compatible with Spotify?

Google Home supports integration with a number of popular streaming apps, and Spotify is definitely one of them.

In theory, Google Home can play anything your phone or other mobile devices can, using BlueTooth.

Because there is official support, you’ll be able to link your accounts and effortlessly stream Spotify through your Google Home setup with voice commands.

How Do You Play Spotify via Google Home?

In order to link your Spotify account to your Google Home setup, you’ll need three things:

•  A mobile device with the Spotify app and Google Home app both installed
• A valid Spotify account (have your username and password ready)
• One or more Google Home devices.

So download either or both apps if you haven’t yet, gather your devices, and let’s begin!

1. First, you’ll need to follow the prompts on your Google Home app to connect your new device(s).
2. Once that’s done, you can start the process of linking your Spotify account.
3. In the Google Home app, go to ‘settings’ and then ‘music’
4. On the right-hand side, you should see several compatible music streaming services displayed as icons; find the Spotify one and tap it.
5. You will now be prompted to link your Google and Spotify accounts; follow the on-screen prompts and enter your Spotify username and password when so prompted.

That’s it! Your accounts should now be linked, and your Google Home device(s) should be ready to stream Spotify at your command!

To test it out, try saying “OK Google, play [your genre, artist, or song of choice goes here] on Spotify.”

Do People Generally Have Trouble Using Google Home with Spotify?

It’s difficult to say for certain how likely any user is to encounter problems linking their Spotify and Google accounts and devices since every situation is unique.

However, we can say that it doesn’t seem like there are any major pitfalls you’re likely to encounter, and the linking process is pretty user-friendly.

Additionally, we didn’t find tons of users complaining about problems between Spotify and Google Home – but problems are not unheard of.

Does Spotify Work with Older Google Home Devices?

In theory, the software should be more important than the hardware here.

That is to say, it shouldn’t matter if you have an older Google Home device, as long as you have the latest version of the Google Home app running things.

Regardless, the bottom line is to just make sure everything is up-to-date on the software side, and it should all work smoothly.

If you’re having issues with your Google device, it is worth noting that Google announced in mid-2021 that,

We issue critical bug fixes and patched for at least five years after launch.

[Source: Blog.Google.com]

This means that Google provides automatic updates that will improve software and security for 5 years after the launch of the device. 

How Hard Is it to Use Google Home with Spotify?

It’s as simple as using the steps outlined in the second heading of this article to link your accounts and then using voice commands to control playback.

You can get your Google Home setup’s attention by saying “OK Google,” and then the command of your choice.

For instance, try saying “OK Google,” followed by one of the following:

• To play a specific song OR start playing a specific album, the command is “play [song/album] by [artist].”
• To play a random song from an artist, try “play something by [artist].”
• To play a random song in a specific genre, try “play [genre] music.” For example, “play hip-hop music” or “play rock ‘n’ roll music.”
• To control playback, you can use the commands “pause,” “play,” “skip forward 20 seconds,” and so on.
• You can get info on what’s playing by using commands like “what’s playing?” or “what’s this album?”
• You can even say “like this song” to, well, like the song.

Can Spotify Be Downloaded on Google Home Equipment?

Spotify functions on Google Home by linking your Spotify and Google accounts, not by downloading additional software to your Google Home device(s).

That is to say, the Spotify app cannot and does not need to be downloaded to or installed on any Google Home device.

Your Google Home device(s) already come with the software they need to, in conjunction with the Google Home app on your mobile device, set up and play Spotify.

All you need to do is link your accounts as we’ve described above, and Google Home takes care of the rest.

However, on the subject of downloads, it’s also worth mentioning that you cannot download music to Google Home for offline listening.

You can get around this by simply downloading songs for offline listening on your mobile device.

Then, if you’re experiencing an outage but still want to listen to music on Google Home, just play the downloaded songs from your mobile device via BlueTooth.

Does Google Home Play Spotify Lossless?

Lossless is an audio format that does not exist on Spotify.

This means that Google Home cannot play any tracks from Spotify in lossless format. Apple Music, however, does offer lossless audio, and therefore, Google Home will play Apple Music tracks in lossless format. 

A couple of years ago, Spotify announced plans for “Spotify HiFi,” which promises to bring lossless audio options to Spotify.

However, it still hasn’t been released, and nobody’s sure exactly when it will be.

If and when it does, though, there’s no reason it shouldn’t work just fine on Google Home devices.

You just can’t use it yet, because it doesn’t exist yet.

Does Spotify Work with Google Home Mini?

Google Home Mini used to be “Nest,” an independent, smart home device company that Google has since acquired.

Since they’ve integrated what used to be Nest into the Google Home family, all functionality should now be universal across all Google Home devices.

This means that setting up and using Google Home Mini will be exactly like setting up and using any other Google Home device.

So if you have Google Home Mini, just use the same advice we’ve given in the rest of the article, and you should be good to go!

Can Spotify be Down on Google Home Equipment

You may find that, at times, even though you have correctly paired your device and apps, playback from Spotify to your Google Home device is sometimes intermittent. 

This can be the result of Spotify’s servers being down. The good news is that if the servers are down, you’re not alone, as users around the world will be affected. 

Spotify has hundreds of millions of users worldwide and so you can be sure their technicians and engineers will be working round the clock to get Spotify up and running again. 

Essentially, Spotify would not be down on Google Home Equipment only. If the servers are down, you won’t be able to play your music on any device.

Other issues that could cause Spotify to stop playing on your Google home equipment could be:

• An error occurred during the linking process 
• There is a Bluetooth or internet connection issue
• The device on which Spotify is playing is running extremely low on battery

We recommend downloading your favorite tracks to keep the music going at all times – bear in mind, only Spotify Premium members can download music. 

Sources

How to Set Up Spotify on Your Google Home

Spotify HiFi Release Date: When Is it Coming?