Odd Download vs Streaming Issue

Craigski — Mon, 16 May 2016 02:55:54 GMT

I've noticed some odd behaviour where streaming an offline playlist, that has not yet downloaded, will result in streaming settings being ignored.

I have the following settings for streaming quality.

Stream Quality : Normal

Download Quality: Extreme

Download using Cellular: Off

If I'm on cellular, and I mark a playlist to be available offline, I get the 'Waiting for WiFi' message.

If I then stream the playlist, as each track plays it will get the downloaded icon next to it. As well, the next one or two songs will also get the downloaded icon. So it looks like it is downloading the current song, plus buffering/downloading a few songs ahead.

If the entire playlist finishes, the 'Waiting for WiFi' message will disappear. If I connect to WiFi, nothing happens because the playlist has already been downloaded.

Here is the problem. My settings are for streaming to be Normal, but downloads are supposed to be Extreme. The idea is I normally download my favourite playlists when I'm on my home wifi so I get the better quality.

If my stream AND download were set to Normal, then I wouldn't be surprised that streaming a 'to be downloaded later track' would result in it being downloaded now. That makes sense.

But my settings are different for streaming and downloading. I played a two hour playlist this way, and it used up around 110 MB. Which is about standard for what I normally see for two hours of streaming.

So it appears that the tracks have been downloaded at Normal Quality. And it looks like the only way I can get them redownload at Extreme Quality is to turn off 'Available Offline', and then turn it back on with my WiFi connected.

So is this how it is supposed to work? Or am I mistaking normal behaviour?

Re: Odd Download vs Streaming Issue

sdbaker2 — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 20:22:45 GMT

I have noticed this behavior too, but I wasn't sure if it was downloading at the low or high quality. Thanks for summarizing!

topic Re: Odd Download vs Streaming Issue in iOS (iPhone, iPad)

Odd Download vs Streaming Issue

Re: Odd Download vs Streaming Issue