Downloaded Podcasts Still Consume Data

[jdtemple]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

Pixel 3XL

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

I was on a road trip yesterday, and had downloaded several podcast episodes in advance. I noticed that when I'd drive out of my cellular coverage area, the podcast playback would stop (but downloaded music playback worked just fine).

Lo and behold, I checked my data usage and Spotify was eating up my data, even though I always ensure I'm only playing downloaded content. See attached.

Not  cool, Spotify.

I have resorted to going back to Google Podcasts, which sucks because sooner or later Joe Rogan's podcast (the only podcast I listen to) will be a Spotify exclusive.

[Alex · Accepted solution]

Hi there @jdtemple,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

Downloaded content shouldn't consume mobile data when played. Try switching on Offline mode On from the settings in the app. This way you'll only be able to play the songs/podcasts you've downloaded beforehand. 

You can also have a look at this support article for more info on how to reduce data usage.

Hope you find this info useful. Don't hesitate to reach out again if you have more questions.

[jdtemple]

I'll give that a shot next time I'm out and about (which is rare in this lockdown).

I noticed that setting expires after 29 days. Is there a reason there's no "only stream while on wi-fi" setting that's permanent?

[Alex]

Hi there @jdtemple,

Thanks for getting back to us.

So the reason for the 30 day expiry on the Offline option is that this is only a feature available on Premium accounts. Users pay for a minimum of 1 month of Premium at a time, so you need to get back online every 30 days so that the system can verify that your account is still running on Premium in order to keep your downloads.

Hope this clears things up. 

Let us know if the downloads work normally when you have Offline mode switched on when you get the chance to test it 🙂

If you have other questions, we're always a click away.

[gladop96]

So you are telling me that if I have downloaded a song/podcast and play it while online, my data is being used as if I haven't downloaded it, right? Going to offline mode doesn't solve this problem because I can only play downloaded things.

Lets 's say I'm listening to a downloaded  podcast and after a while I get bored and want to switch back to music, I have to keep going back and forth in the settings everytime in order to do so. That's bad...

[Eni]

Hey @gladop96, 

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

That's right, despite having downloaded your content, if you didn't enable the Offline mode and you have access to a network, the app will use some data.

On another note, could you let us know why you're only able to play your downloads? Are you experiencing some issues while streaming?

We'll be on the lookout. 

[UniversalRytm]

This is super nerve wrecking and surely bad user experience! This is a serious consideration to switch to another streaming service for me. I will share this negative insight with my friends. Let me know, if this issue still isn‘t fixed.

Best,

Alexander

[sunrisah]

I paid for Spotify Premium, and I encountered this same issue today while playing a downloaded podcast while having my data turned on for Google Maps. Ridiculous how this is still an issue. 

[spcrep]

This is still an issue in November 24. This is terrible user experience. I cannot believe the spotify solution is to turn on offline mode.

Surely someone with a pinch of common sense can see this among the spotify developers?  

Let me say this again for those spotify developers still in 2020.

Telling users to change to Offline mode to stop using data on DOWNLOADED items is absolutely ridiculous, to not use a worse word. You cannot seriously recommend a workaround for an issue they COSTS users money.

[jdtemple]

Yeah, calling this "solved" is laughable. I haven't been doing much streaming on the road lately, but according to other folks here, this is still a thing.