Home Assistant is a fantastic platform for smart home automation, but casting Spotify playlists or songs to devices like Google Home, Alexa, and AirPlay speakers still feels like a chore. Selecting Playlist to play at random and other tasks.
Currently, third-party integrations like Spotcast and Alexa Media Player provide the functionality needed to make this work, but they require additional setup and configuration, which isn’t beginner-friendly. These tools are practically essential for anyone who wants to cast Spotify via Home Assistant, so why aren’t they default features?
Making Spotcast, Alexa Media Player, and similar integrations default would eliminate a lot of the manual setup and frustration, creating a better out-of-the-box experience. These integrations already exist and are widely used—why not elevate them to a standard feature?
If Home Assistant aims to make smart home automation accessible to everyone, this feels like a logical next step.
Spotify is used by 9% of users and I assume most are power users.