How to start a playlist with random shuffle?

[milnivlek]

What's the best way to start playing a playlist at a random song, and continue in shuffle mode?

I think I managed to get it working by writing a script that does these steps:

• Call spotifyplus.get_playlists to get the playlist length in tracks.total
• Call spotifyplus.player_media_play_context with offset_position set to a random value between 0 and (tracks.total - 1)
• Call media_player.shuffle_set to enable shuffle on the player entity

Am I missing something? Is there a simpler and/or more robust way to achieve this?

[thlucas1]

You could just set shuffle to on, then start the playlist.

Here's a script you could use: (just change the entity_id and media_content_id values):

alias: Spotify Playlist with Shuffle On
sequence:
  - service: media_player.shuffle_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.spotifyplus_todd_l
      shuffle: true
  - service: media_player.play_media
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.spotifyplus_todd_l
      media_content_id: spotify:playlist:5v5ETK9WFXAnGQ3MRubKuE
      media_content_type: playlist
mode: single
icon: mdi:music

[thlucas1]

As this is the second request I have had for a shuffle-enabled playlist for SpotifyPlus, I thought I would create a BluePrint for the above script if you want to use it.

Check out the SpotifyPlus Play Playlist with Shuffle blueprint documentation for more information.

Hope it helps!

[milnivlek]

Thanks thlucas1 for responding! I actually already tried something similar, but I can't get it working. If I try to call media_player.shuffle_set before the playback has started, I always get this error:

Error: Player command failed: No active device found

One thing I neglected to mention earlier: I'm starting the playback on a Spotify Connect device which is typically idle before calling my script. So I always have to call spotifyplus.player_resolve_device_id first. But if I just call shuffle_set right after that, I get the error above. Instead, I need to do player_media_play_context to get the playback going first, before I can do shuffle_set. The same seems to apply to repeat_set.

Am I doing something wrong, perhaps?

[thlucas1]

@milnivlek
No, you are not doing anything wrong. I simply forgot to add the shuffle (and repeat) services to the list of integration custom services. I did not account for someone wanting to set shuffle on a specific device id. I assumed (incorrectly) that users would be calling the standard HA media player set_shuffle service to set the shuffle mode, forgetting that it does not support the device_id parameter.

I will get those 2 services added today, as well as update the blueprint. Will keep you posted.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

[thlucas1]

@milnivlek
FYI - just released a new version of the SpotifyPlus integration

[ 1.0.43 ] - 2024/07/23

• Updated service player_media_play_context to correctly default the position_ms and offset_position argument values. This was causing the playlist to always start at the first track if the offset_position argument value was not supplied. This manifested itself when shuffle was enabled, as the playlist should have started at a random track and was not doing so.
• Updated service player_media_play_tracks to correctly default the position_ms argument value.

[ 1.0.42 ] - 2024/07/23

• Added service player_set_repeat_mode that sets repeat mode for the specified Spotify Connect device.
• Added service player_set_shuffle_mode that sets shuffle mode for the specified Spotify Connect device.
• Added service player_set_volume_level that sets volume level for the specified Spotify Connect device.

This should fix you up - just be sure to upgrade to the 1.0.43 version first.

If you are into blueprints, use the new SpotifyPlus Play Context With Shuffle blueprint if you want support for device ID's (without calling spotifyplus.player_resolve_device_id). It also supports multiple context types (e.g. album, artist, or playlist).

Otherwise, use the following script (just change the entity_id, media_content_id, and device_id values):

alias: Spotify Playlist with Shuffle On
sequence:
  - service: spotifyplus.player_set_shuffle_mode
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.spotifyplus_todd_l
      device_id: Bose-ST10-1
      state: true
  - service: spotifyplus.player_media_play_context
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.spotifyplus_todd_l
      device_id: Bose-ST10-1
      context_uri: spotify:playlist:6M8n0Sp9895BXEE0MbGPde
mode: single
icon: mdi:music

[milnivlek]

Amazing! Thank you thlucas1! I will try this out tonight and report back how it goes.

[milnivlek]

Update: I just tried it out. Unfortunately it still doesn't work for me.

The good news is that I don't see the "No active device found" error any more. But the bad news is that for some reason, the player_media_play_context call seems to unset the repeat and shuffle modes, and the playback just starts from the beginning of the playlist in the original order.

If I keep my Spotify mobile app client open, I can actually see the playlist shuffle momentarily in the UI, but then it resets back to the original order. Not sure if you're able to reproduce the same behavior.

In case it helps, all I'm doing is a simple sequence:

  - service: spotifyplus.player_set_shuffle_mode
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.my_spotifyplus
      device_id: "{{ spotify_device_id }}"
      state: true
  - service: spotifyplus.player_set_repeat_mode
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.my_spotifyplus
      device_id: "{{ spotify_device_id }}"
      state: context
  - service: spotifyplus.player_media_play_context
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.my_spotifyplus
      device_id: "{{ spotify_device_id }}"
      context_uri: "{{ spotify_context_uri }}"

[thlucas1]

Did you upgrade to the 1.0.43 version? Make sure you restart HA after the upgrade.

And what kind of Spotify Connect device are you referencing?

I tested extensively with my Bose Soundtouch gear.

[thlucas1]

@milnivlek

What kind of Spotify Connect device are you referencing? e.g. Sonos Symfonisk? Bose SoundTouch? Just wondering what the device is you are controlling with the integration.

If it's a Sonos device, then there might still be issues. I had to tweak some logic in the shuffle, repeat, and volume set methods. Give the new v1.0.44 release a try and let me know.

Thanks - Todd

FYI - just released a new version of the SpotifyPlus integration.

[ 1.0.44 ] - 2024/07/24

• Updated service player_set_shuffle_mode to correctly set shuffle mode for Sonos devices.
• Updated service player_set_repeat_mode to correctly set repeat mode for Sonos devices.
• Updated service player_set_volume_level to correctly set volume level for Sonos devices.

[milnivlek]

Thanks Todd for continuing to follow up here. Much appreciated.

I am casting to a Snapcast server which in turn plays simultaneously to multiple speakers. Not sure if Snapcast behaves inherently differently from other devices. I don't notice any behavior differences from the Spotify mobile app UI when playing directly to my phone vs. playing to Snapcast.

And yes I did update to 1.0.43 yesterday and restarted HA. Is there anything I can do to help debug more?

[milnivlek]

Just wanted to report that I updated to 1.0.44 and tried again, but I'm still seeing the same behavior. That's not surprising since my device isn't Sonos. But just wanted to let you know anyway.

It seems that spotifyplus.player_media_play_context always disables the repeat and shuffle modes, even if I'd set them before. Just to confirm, I watched the Spotify mobile app UI when I ran the script to call spotifyplus.player_media_play_context--and I see that the UI indicates that both shuffle and repeat get turned off once that service call happens.

Not sure if this helps, but here's the response when I call your ZeroConf GetInformation service (spotifyplus.zeroconf_device_getinfo) on my Spotify Connect device:

result:
  SpotifyError: 0
  Status: 101
  StatusString: ERROR-OK
  ResponseSource: null
  AccountReq: PREMIUM
  ActiveUser: ""
  Aliases: []
  Availability: ""
  BrandDisplayName: librespot
  ClientId: null
  DeviceId: 26195de030cfc972b3435a8c25026022988eb5e3
  DeviceType: Speaker
  GroupStatus: NONE
  LibraryVersion: 0.4.2
  ModelDisplayName: librespot
  ProductId: null
  PublicKey: << REDACTED >>
  RemoteName: 1st Floor Speakers
  ResolverVersion: "0"
  Scope: null
  SupportedCapabilities: null
  SupportedDrmMediaFormats: []
  TokenType: null
  Version: 2.7.1

[thlucas1]

@milnivlek
FYI - just released a new version of the SpotifyPlus integration .

[ 1.0.45 ] - 2024/07/30

• Updated service player_transfer_playback to support Sonos devices with some limitations; see the Sonos Limitations wiki documentation for further details.
• Updated service player_media_play_context and player_media_play_tracks to support Sonos devices with some limitations; see the Sonos Limitations wiki documentation for further details.
• Fixed a bug in the player_transfer_playback service that was not transferring control to offline Spotify Connect devices.

The spotifyplus.player_media_play_context service does not make any calls to reset the shuffle or repeat settings; those are done by the player_set_shuffle_mode and player_set_repeat_mode services.

The Spotify Web API also does not reset the shuffle or repeat state for the Start / Resume Playback endpoint.

We may need to turn on a SmartInspect trace in order to figure this one out.

But let's give the new release a try first, and let me know how it goes.
Thanks