Spotify added support for video podcasts back in the summer but they don’t work on Linux, not out of the box like the do on Windows and macOS.
But there is a fix.
Spotify says video podcasts are available in every market where their traditional audio podcasts are. Their video content is designed to compliment audio podcasts rather than replace them, so you don’t need to keep your eyeballs fastened on the app to know what’s going on and they can play in the background, just like regular Spotify audio.
But if you try to watch a Spotify video podcast in the Spotify app for Linux you will get an error that reads: “Spotify can’t play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it.”
Not the most helpful error message, is it? You’re trying to stream a video file from the Spotify servers, so you don’t have the file. And the message gives no pointers on why it can’t play.
But there is fix (courtesy of a reddit user) and it’s surprisingly simple. Better yet it works regardless of how you install Spotify on Ubuntu or your preferred Linux distro.
You just need to install the following missing dependency:
sudo apt install libatk-adaptor:i386
When you install this package a slew of other dependencies are pulled in, and you’ll be asked to okay them. If Spotify is running while all of the packages are installed you will need to quit the app reopen it.
But, once installed, you’re good to go: you can finally watch Spotify video podcasts on Linux — hurrah!