When browsing songs in the Spark app, you may see a YouTube message asking you to "sign in to confirm you're not a bot". This is a YouTube security check triggered by your network environment — not a Spark app or account issue.
Why this happens
The Spark app uses YouTube as its song / music browsing engine. YouTube automatically treats traffic from VPNs, proxies, some antivirus or firewall products, and certain shared / carrier-NAT IP ranges as potentially bot-like, so it requires an interactive login to continue. Signing in from inside the Spark app is not supported by YouTube's flow, so the fix is to remove the trigger.
Try these steps in order
- Turn off any VPN or proxy service. VPN / proxy (including those built into some browsers or security suites) is the most common cause. This includes system-wide VPNs, per-app VPNs, and DNS-level proxies.
- Disable or whitelist your antivirus / firewall. Some security products (Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, Malwarebytes with Web Protection, etc.) route traffic through their own scanning proxy. Temporarily disable it, or add the Spark app to the whitelist.
- Restart your modem and router. If your ISP-assigned IP has been flagged by YouTube, a restart often assigns a fresh IP.
- Switch to a different Wi-Fi network. Try a different home or friend's Wi-Fi to isolate the network issue.
- Use your phone's mobile data or hotspot. Mobile carrier IPs rarely trigger the bot check.
Still seeing the message?
If none of the steps above resolve the issue, contact Support with the following details:
- Screenshot of the error message
- Your ISP name
- Whether you are on Wi-Fi or mobile data
- Any VPN / proxy / antivirus / firewall software you have installed