Apple Watch offline is broken

[Plufz]

Hi!

I have been using an Apple watch (series 7 non cellular) since january. Since start I've had trouble with Spotify. About one out of three times, it will not play my already downloaded songs (nothing happens when you press play). Restarting/reinstalling app or rebooting watch does not work. The only thing that works is going home to my iphone and playing something from the phone to the watch. After that offline works again.

I've also had trouble transferring songs, it either wont start or is very slow. Downloaded playlists can't be updated with new content, etc. Since these bugs haven't been fixed for a long time and I need to be able to listen on my watch I'm looking more and more on Apple Music. It seems silly having to switch app over what seems like small bugs.

Why has this not been fixed? From what I can see on the internet a lot of people are having trouble using spotify on apple watches. Is there a ticket for this? What is the ETA on fixing this?

[Aejw]

Hi!

Just wanted to fill in with Plufz since I’m also experiencing the these problems. The ”funny” thing for me though is that it usual works for me after some hassle similar to @Plufz (using Apple Watch 7 non cellular), but not at all for my girlsfriend who has a Apple Watch SE. And I’ve tried all sorts of troubleshooting there is, eg. ensure the latest update on app/watch, reinstalling the app on phone/watch, repair the watch with the phone, making sure the watch is close to the phone when downloading, tried use just wifi on watch when downloading, resetted the network settings on phone etc. Nothing seems to work. The main problem my girlfriend experience is that the download get stuck on the first track which appears to have been a problem since the offline mode rolled out on Apple Watch. 

Considering the above, I also would like to know if you have a ticket for these problems and what the ETA for a solution is? Or is it better to look elsewhere (Apple Music)?

[dak1918]

Agreed, offline music doesn't work at all for me with my Apple Watch. What's the point of having offline mode if you need to bring your phone with you? Extremely frustrating.

[RG67]

This has started happening to me after months of no issues too. I’m forced to switch to Apple Music!

[Matzpxl]

I've been experiecing this exact issue. 

When this will be solved? It's just baffling at this point.

[skelley123]

Same issues for me - I have the apple watch SE. Theres a new issue too, the pending downloads are disappearing from the downloads section on the watch, only reappearing when i try to download an additional song/podcast. As always, downloads taking forever

[pacecar3]

My offline function ist also broken.

I can download songs to the watch without any issues, but when I try to play that downloaded songs in Offline mode nothings happens and sometimes the watch app closes automatically.

[numgis]

I’m able to download songs to the watch but trying to play them offline when there is no cell service, the watch app just closes as soon as I open it. It worked for a few minutes but then I switched to another Watch app and the music stopped, then could not start it again, the watch app just closes right away. Once I have internet connection again it starts to work. Perhaps Apple keeps sabotaging Spotify to make us switch 😞

[pacecar3]

@numgis i have exactly the same issue. 

[BulliedBySpotifi]

Is this the self help group for Spotify users who don't get support?
No one from Spotify has ever stopped by or written anything here, have they?

Hey Spotify, it's not a streaming fault you can blame on Apple. Your app is just bad. Downloading songs, albums or playlists to the Watch just doesn't work, and it doesn't do anything.
Just fix**bleep**.
Oh, and the fact that you don't have any support that can be found on the website is absolutely outrageous.

[zfsagoff]

Shame on you Spotify, we’re spending our hard earned cash to subscribe and you can’t provide a basic service. “Offline music” has been around for decades. You need to get**bleep** together. 

[m_pire]

Exactly the same issue here on iPhone 14 Pro & Apple Watch Ultra. @Spotify?

[m_pire]

Hey Folks!

Indeed it was the internet connection! Altough I could download the songs without any problem, I wasnt able to play them. The Apple Watch App suddenly closed by pressing Play.

Reinstalling the app on booth iPhone and Apple Watch and trying another Internet Connection solved the Problem! So I used another WIFI on the Watch directly rather than trouht Bluetooth while connected to the iPhone.

Done on Watch Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro, after contacting Spotify by Mail and got an answer within 2 hours (**bleep**).

[Jwetter]

Offline playlist has never worked on my iPhone 12 mini and AW7 (without cellular).

I have tried:
- Reinstall spotify on both devices.

- Uninstall on both devices, un-pair AW and re-pair it, then install Spotify.

I do prefer Spotify over Apple Music but this start to make me very frustrated.

[Slyman66]

Glad it’s just not me as this has been driving me mad. Series 8 iPhone 12pro

[Artiztik]

Same issue here. Fix your app Spotify.

[user123101]

I have the same issue too. I'm switching to Apple Music.

[RexM17]

Same issue on my Ultra running watchOS 9.2 (meanwhile), but the hassle started before the update. Without my phone in reach, the app will ask for selecting the watch as a streaming device and once I did, the app crashed with an error message. Restarted app and phone multiple times, without effect. Sometimes the app was in the cache, but most times it just opened for a split second and then perfectly closed without a warning. Very frustrating when you come from an outdated Galaxy S3 watch which works fine. Second scenario is the app opens and will not let you select random play in the side screen to the left. OK, you switch to the one on the right and hit the same button there, still Spotify plays the list title by title as saved. Skipping titles two or three times in the row sometimes freezes the app for a moment. Then you can go back to the library to select your downloaded playlist again and if you are lucky, this does the trick. If not, you can go back to the locker to grab the phone you did not leave at home (why would you do such a stupid thing) and start the offline music while connected to the iPhone, before you sneak out of reach again. Yes, it is indeed a maximum level of frustration when two giants like Apple and Spotify do not provide the user experience we all deserve on a thousand dollar watch, so you have to bring your phone or use an ancient watch that is based on a different OS. Also I wonder where to find the option to get artwork from the album cover in the background of the main screen while playing music. Without, this awesome watch display is also useless. Again: The Galaxy S3 Watch supports this feature. I am not an Apple fanboy, though using phone and watch, so my intention is not switching to Apple Music instead. Not yet… @Spotify: Get with California and make this work as expected, please. I am not on this earth to read across the net for six different troubleshooting approaches that do not work at all.

[brıan]

Hello @BulliedBySpotifi,

I understand everybody's level of fustration and anger, but ther are a few things to note first.

Spotify Community is not directly affiliated with Spotify. This site is a place where Spotify experts work together to troubleshoot and help solve issues. The final step after this is contacting Spotify themselves. If you feel unsatisfied with this service, feel free to let them know here. 

To answer everyone's question, as of now, Apple Watch Series 8 will play music via your phone. As far as I know, in this case, using Series 8 and iPhone 14; when you press play on your Watch (any kind of media, whether downloaded or not from Spotify) it will play via your phone. Spotify is also not working at its peak as such a big software with so many requirements is put into a Watch that doesn't even run on a quarter the speed of iPhone 14. So that makes it an exception that Spotify is slow on Apple Watch and that not all features or widgets are available. 

For people who question Apple Music or Spotify, Apple Music was built with Apple's internal engineers who have the ability to just test trial Apple Music on Apple Watch anytime want. However, Spotify has no such relation like that or anything that enables them to do tests or tial runs on Apple Watch, other than beta tests. As Spotify is constantly updating, there are bound to have bugs, issues, and things that require fixes. Apple Music can directly build an Apple Watch version, making it much more compatible for all Apple Products, however Spotify wasn't built solely for the purpose of letting users use the software on their Watch, but only for conveniency. Spotify has to run hundreds of files to enable you to listen to music that is downloaded offline. 

As of now, it is recommended that Spotify is listened by your iPhone and use Apple Watch as your control center to choose what songs to play.

Once again, if you are not satisfied with my answer, let Spotify Customer Support know about your issue.

Cheers. 🥂 

"If you think this is useful, consider accepting it as a solution or liking it! Thanks...!" 😊  - Tec-04 (⌧ʙɹıʌи)

I have no affiliation with Spotify (as an employee). Follow my Spotify?  (I can help in English, 简体中文，繁體中文）

[Raikidd]

@Tec-04 , Spotify is not some small indie company, them and Apple are both massive companies and I expect a high level of quality for a service/product I'm paying money for. If they can't make this feature work maybe they should stop advertising it and lower the price of the subscription or I don't know, stop investing time and money into AI features until the core product works.