Auralic Lightning DS App

Regarding Spotify you could play it via a computer connected to the USB input.
Regarding Lightning DS control of the Vega inputs:  
Select: Settings->Lightning Device-><your device>->Additional Operations->DAC Setup->Input Channel
You can also setup the Vega to respond to whatever IR remote control you have on hand.

Well, I just bought the Auralic Aries G2 - my priority was sound quality. I’m still auditioning it but can now comment on the app.  I own an Aurender N100H, Bluesound Node 2 and previously auditioned a Lumin U1 mini.  I haven’t used Roon but am thinking if I keep the Auralic, I’ll need Roon.  I’d personally rank them as follows:
1 -  Aurender Conductor -  is easily the best of the ones I have used.  It’s the most intuitive and organized.
2 - Bluesound
3 - Lumin - some things I like, but the interface seems less polished.
4 - Auralic Lighting DS. 

Lighting Deficiencies:
A) No easy ability to adjust settings on the unit (for instance, I can’t turn on/off digital outputs.  I’d need to do a complete reset of the unit and start over on these outputs.  Really?
B) Adding a music library from a NAS is clunky in comparison too.  Bluesound was as well, but still better than Auralic.
C) Search functions (whether in Tidal or library) is not intuitive in comparison.  Aurender conductor is terrific.
D) Lack of Spotify as a streaming service. It’s possible this is device specific but it isn’t supported on the G2.  I stream Tidal primarily but also have a Spotify premium account as there is more content there.  Not available on my G2 as far as I can tell.

As I also have an Aurender - let me throw a few criticisms their way too.  Aurender doesn’t support Roon. As I’ve said, their Conductor app is the best I’ve used, so this is less problematic - except that Conductor also can only be operated from an iPad.  If Roon was supported, that wouldn’t be problematic as Roon can run on multiple devices.  I have a system in a remote location where our adult children use it. As i don’t want to dedicate an iPad to control the unit, this is a severe limitation. 

In that regard, Bluesound might be the best of all.  It supports Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, etc. and is a Roon endpoint. Bluesound can be driven on an iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.  Lumin is similarly flexible.

My $.02
mgrif
 

I just pulled the trigger on a LUMIN T2 and it arrives on Monday

I have owned the Auralic Aires Mini and Aires G2.  I sold them both as I found I much prefer the Lumin app, features, and sound.  Having said that I now use Roon since I have a Sonos amp, NAD - M10, Cary Audio DMS-500, and a Lumin U1.  Roon works best with multiple streamers

I'm another former Roon user and LDS checks all the boxes for me.  I have the Auralic G2/GX stack and it functions and sounds fantastic.

The lightning app is about the best app to control an Auralic product with although I do dislike IOS software in general.

You can also control it with Bubbleupnp from android devices if you do not like Apple devices.

Not quite as intuitive but still gets the job done. 

I used both for an Aries Mini until I sold and went with a super integrated and had no need of a separate streaming unit any longer.

One point to bear in mind the Lightning app will NOT work on anything below ios11. So this rules out all older ipads, iPods and iPhones.

I had to buy an ipad mini2 just to run the darn app!

Actually no surprise at all as when Apple rolled out ios11 and declared a huge number of devices would not be capable of updating to it, they made them near obsolete overnight.

I have been using an Auralic Aries for quite some time and continue to use the Lightning DS app. I have tried other apps as well including Linn Kinsky which isn't bad at all and Roon which was just too much of a bother as I didn't like how it catalogued my music library.

I have Vega G1 and like the Lightning DS app. In fact I did a short trial using Roon with the Vega G1 and dropped Roon because I liked the free Lightning DS app better, at least for my purposes.

I've had an Aries Mini for a few years now and love the Lightning DS app. I find it very intuitive and easy to use. Make sure to sign on as a Beta user that way you get all the updates automatically.