topic Re: [LOCAL FILES] Disabling "Show Local Files" does NOT prevent Spotify from accessing sou in Desktop (Windows)

[LOCAL FILES] Disabling "Show Local Files" does NOT prevent Spotify from accessing sources

user-removed — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 12:01:55 GMT

If the sub-options for local file sources are NOT disabled, the Spotify desktop app will still attempt to access local files present.

To wit, I had some FLACs from Bandcamp in my Downloads folder. "Show Local Files" unchecked. Went to rewrite the tags and move the files with a separate program (Picard Musicbrainz) only for the process to complain that some other process (*cough* Spotify) was hogging those file handles.

Only after briefly ENABLING "Show Local Files" and explicitly DISABLING the sources and once again DISABLING the parent toggle was I able to interact with my files that should be 100% outside the purview of Spotify's processes.

If "Show Local Files" is disabled, the application should assume the sources are also disabled and all relevant logic paths should be accounted for. Otherwise, this is extremely unexpected behavior.

Re: [LOCAL FILES] Disabling "Show Local Files" does NOT prevent Spotify from accessing sources

Eni — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:22:42 GMT

Hi @user-removed,

Thanks for getting in touch about this here in the Community.

Currently, it's expected that the file is marked as in use when the app is open and it's set to monitor the Downloads folder. This is because the app is adding the file to the cache, so it's ready for playback. If it was suddenly moved, this would cause difficulties, so it's somehow reserving it.

That's why the file can be modified when the setting to monitor this folder is turned off. The refresh however occurs after a restart of the app, hence why turning it off while the app is open doesn't free up this reservation.

In this case, if you've already disabled all sources below the Show local files option, the app shouldn't keep accessing the sources.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to let us know.

Re: [LOCAL FILES] Disabling "Show Local Files" does NOT prevent Spotify from accessing sou

user-removed — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:25:33 GMT

Groovy-- yeah that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

Re: [LOCAL FILES] Disabling "Show Local Files" does NOT prevent Spotify from accessing sou

Eni — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:52:44 GMT

Hey @user-removed,

You're welcome! If you ever need anything else, we're just a post away.

Have a great day 🙂