Help and Troubleshooting
Quick tips
Welcome to the Tuneshine help page! You can start here with a few of the most common questions people have. Be sure to check these as they can often resolve your issue.
- Wi-Fi and network issues: In some rare cases, you may need to make some tweaks to help your Tuneshine get a solid connection to the network. See Wi-Fi connectivity tips.
- Firmware updates: Sometimes Wi–Fi issues can be solved by a firmware update. If there is an update available for your Tuneshine, you will be prompted in the app after setting it up. If your Tuneshine seems to be taking a long time to update, don’t worry—if you leave it near your Wi–Fi router the update will usually go through. If not, you can reset your device to cancel the update.
- Bluetooth issues: Typically, Bluetooth issues can be resolved by resetting your Tuneshine and “forgetting” it from your phone. See Bluetooth troubleshooting tips.
- Album art not displaying: If your network connection seems solid, but you’re not seeing album art, this is most commonly fixed by ensuring that you have connected the same account to your Tuneshine that you’re using to listen to music. To resolve this, see tips for Spotify, Apple Music, or Sonos.
- Returns, damage, and repairs: It’s rare but things happen! Email [email protected] for assistance. If you think you need a replacement, please confirm the shipping address in your message. If your Tuneshine has suffered accidental damage, you can order a screen replacement.
Wi-Fi connectivity
Tuneshine uses a chip with a 2.4GHz Wi‑Fi antenna. If you’re having trouble with Wi‑Fi stability (flashing gear icon on the Tuneshine display or “Not connected to server” in the app), try the steps below for a more stable connection.
Firmware update
If you’re on a version of the Tuneshine firmware prior to 2.2.0, update to 2.2.0 or higher. These versions include Wi‑Fi updates from the chip manufacturer and more mesh network options. From the Tuneshine app home screen, tap the name of your device—if there’s an available firmware update you’ll see a prompt to update.
Mesh networks
On certain mesh networks (especially NETGEAR Orbi and eero), users report better results when Tuneshine connects only to the mesh node with the strongest signal and rejects weaker connections.
To enable this behavior:
- If your Tuneshine is connected, reset the Wi‑Fi settings by going to the device settings, scrolling to the bottom, and selecting “Disconnect or change Wi‑Fi network.” You’ll then be prompted to reselect the Wi‑Fi network via the Bluetooth setup process.
If you’re not able to get Tuneshine connected at all, plug it in and press the reset button on the back with a pen or paper clip for 6–8 seconds. You will then be able to set it up again through the app via Bluetooth. - During Bluetooth setup, when you arrive at the Wi‑Fi password screen, press “More options” and select “Strict AP Selection,” then complete the setup.
More tips
If the above doesn’t help—or if you’re on a non‑mesh network—try the following (easiest to most involved):
- If you’re on a mesh network, move closer to a mesh node; if you’re on a non‑mesh network, move closer to your main router.
- If you’re on a mesh network, see if you can disable roaming for the Tuneshine. This is a feature designed for devices that move around a home, and can cause problems with stationary 2.4GHz devices.
- Manually select the 2.4GHz channel used by your router and try setting it to another value.
- If available in your router config, use a 20 MHz channel width for the 2.4 GHz network.
- If your router has “airtime fairness” or similar load‑redistribution features, disable them for the whole network or just the 2.4 GHz network.
- Set your network to use 802.11 b/g instead of 802.11 b/g/n.
- Separate your 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks and connect Tuneshine to the 2.4 GHz network.
Bluetooth connectivity
The only times you should connect to your Tuneshine with Bluetooth is during initial setup or if there is an issue that prevents it from connecting to the internet, such as Wi-Fi going down, your Wi-FI password changing, or if it hasn’t been started up in a while and it needs new credentials.
During normal operation, you do not need to connect to Tuneshine with Bluetooth to use it. Tuneshine uses its Wi-Fi connection to access information about the music you play.
If you are having Bluetooth issues during setup, try the following:
- Make sure you are staying close to the device during setup.
- Reset the Tuneshine by holding down the recessed button next to the power button down with a pen for 6-8 seconds.
- Go to your phone’s Bluetooth settings and “forget” the Tuneshine.
Spotify
Confirming the correct Spotify account is connected
If you’ve connected a Spotify account but you‘re not seeing any album art, it’s possible that the account you‘re using to play music is different than the one connected to Tuneshine. To resolve this, follow these steps.
- Open the Spotify app on your phone.
- Tap your profile picture in the upper left corner.
- Tap “Settings and privacy.”
- Tap “Account.”
Your username and the email address associated with your Spotify account will be shown at the top of the screen.
To make sure that this is the account used with your Tuneshine, do the following:
- Open the Tuneshine app.
- Tap the name of your device on the app home screen.
- Tap “Add more music.”
- Tap “Add a Spotify account.” Ignore the warning about connecting multiple Spotify accounts by tapping “Continue anyway.”
- Under the text “Allow Spotify to connect to: Tuneshine” you will see a name and profile picture. Tap “Not you?” to log out of Spotify.
- Log in to Spotify using the email address that you saw in the Spotify app to connect this account to Tuneshine.
Apple Music
While it generally works great, Apple Music usage with Tuneshine has some quirks due to the way the Apple Music integration functions.
Rather than being able to simply check what song a user is playing, Tuneshine needs to check the recently played tracks for a user and update when the list changes. As a result, it is normal for the artwork for a song to display for some time after it stops playing.
For Tuneshine to work with Apple Music on your Apple devices, you’ll need to make sure “Listening History” is enabled.
On an iPhone or iPad: Open the Settings app and go to Apps > Apple Music. Make sure that the “Listening History” toggle is turned on.
On a Mac: Open the Music app and go to the Music menu > Settings > General. Make sure the “Listening History” box is checked.
Confirming the correct Apple Music account is connected
If you’ve connected an Apple Music account but you‘re not seeing any album art, it’s possible that the account you‘re using to play music is different than the one connected to Tuneshine. To resolve this, follow these steps.
- Open the Music app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
- Tap your profile photo—it’s in the upper right corner on iOS, and lower left on Mac.
- Tap or click on the profile icon in the upper right corner.
- Look for “Account Settings” at the bottom—you may need to scroll down to see it.
- Note the Apple ID email address listed on the Account Settings page.
- Open the Tuneshine app and tap the name of your device.
- Tap “Switch Sources” or “Connect more music.”
- Tap “Continue with Apple.” Ignore the warning about connecting multiple accounts.
- Tap the Sign In button when prompted.
- When prompted to sign in with Apple Music, make sure you are signing in using the account shown in your Music app.
- Complete the sign in process.
If you’re still having issues, ensure listening history is enabled for your device.
Apple Music not updating due to listening history
Prior to MacOS Tahoe (released in 2025), some versions of Apple Music for MacOS have inconsistencies related to the way it updates your playback history, which is essential for how Tuneshine functions.
If you have not updated to MacOS Tahoe, it’s recommended to do so for the best Tuneshine functionality.
If you’re unable to upgrade or are still having issues, there are a couple of workarounds that can work for this issue:
Using an iOS device: If you play your music on an iOS device, you can AirPlay the music to your Mac, allowing you to listen on your Mac's speakers while still updating the playback history so that Tuneshine can use it. When playing music from your iOS device to your Mac via AirPlay, you can still control it on your Mac using the media controls on your keyboard as well as in the Control Center.
Using last.fm: you could install the last.fm desktop app, connect to a last.fm account, and then connect the same account to your Tuneshine. This will allow any songs you listen to on your computer to be sync’d to Tuneshine.
Apple Music and local files
At the moment, Apple doesn’t report listening history for locally downloaded files, so if you use the Apple Music integration with Tuneshine, it won’t show artwork files you have downloaded to your computer (rather than streaming from the Apple Music library).
However, if you’re listening on your computer you could install the last.fm desktop app, connect to a last.fm account, and then connect the same account to your Tuneshine. This will allow any songs you listen to on your computer to be sync’d to Tuneshine.
More info on last.fm here: last.fm desktop app for Mac
Using Tuneshine with a HomePod
If Tuneshine is not showing artwork when you are playing music on your HomePod, make sure to adjust the following settings in your Home app:
Set the primary user for Apple Music on your HomePod
- Open the Home app
- Tap your HomePod from the home screen
- Tap the gear icon in the lower right corner
- Scroll down to "Music & Podcasts" > "Primary User"
- Make sure the listed Primary User matches the account you are using with Tuneshine.
Ensure that listening history is updated for your HomePod
- Open the Home app
- Tap the three dots icon in the upper right corner and select “Home Settings”
- Tap the user that is connected to your Tuneshine
- Scroll down to “Music & Podcasts” and select “Update Listening History.” If you are unable to select it, try opening the Home app from an iPhone or iPad.
- Ensure that “Update Listening History” is selected for all the HomePods you wish to use with Apple Music.
This should now allow you to see music played on your HomePod on your Tuneshine.
Sonos
Artwork not displaying when using Sonos
If artwork is not displaying when using Sonos, try the following steps.
Artwork does not display in app or on Tuneshine
- Ensure your phone and Tuneshine are on the same Wi-Fi network as your Sonos system
- Check the music source you are using with Sonos. Internet radio stations such as iHeartRadio and SiriusXM sometimes are unreliable when using Sonos to retrieve artwork. There is also a bug with SoundCloud that prevents the artwork from loading.
- Sometimes Sonos can create a duplicate of your household and speakers in its system. Try tapping “Switch sources“ on your Tuneshine and tapping “Connect a SONOS account,” ignoring any warnings that display. You may see a duplicate of your household listed. See if you can get it to display by selecting one of the two duplicate households.
- Some Sonos content sources, such as SoundCloud, may have issues with artwork retrieval. This seems to be a Sonos bug and I’m in contact with them about a fix.
Artwork displays in app but not on Tuneshine
- Make sure the Tuneshine is on the same Wi-Fi network as your Sonos system.
- If problem persists, email [email protected] for assistance. Be sure to note the music service you are using to listen to music on your Sonos system.
Resetting or gifting a Tuneshine device
To remove your account from a Tuneshine (say if you are gifting or selling it), there are two ways to reset it.
Reset using the app (recommended)
- From the home screen of the Tuneshine app, tap the name of your device.
- Tap the settings icon in the upper right corner.
- Scroll to the bottom and select “Reset this device”
- This will remove the Tuneshine from your account and remove all user configuration from the device.
Reset on the device
- Hold down the recessed button next to the power button with a pen for 6-8 seconds.
- This will remove all user configuration from the device, but it will not remove it from your account. You will need to separately remove it from the app.
If you forget to reset your device, the recipient will still be able to set it up—they will just have an extra step when they first connect to it.
Damage and defects
Damage in transit
It’s rare, but it can happen: if your Tuneshine arrives damaged, please email [email protected] with your order number and a return label and replacement device will be provided to you.
Other accidental damage
If the screen suffers a fall, it might lose some of its pixels. If this happens and you would like to have your Tuneshine replaced with a new unit, you can order a replacement screen using the password DEADPIXELS. A return shipping label will be provided for the damaged Tuneshine and its parts will be recycled.
Returns and repairs
If you are having issues and would like to inquire about a return or repair, please email [email protected] to inquire about a return.