Stop the sync between devices

[emrecetinel]

I want to prevent Spotify synchronizing between the devices I use. When I'm in the office of in the car I like to listen to certain songs, but while I'm at home on my desktop I want to listen to different sort of music.

Please do not suggest use playlists, because that is not a solution, but merely a workaround. There is no way I will remember at what song I stopped listening on my PC the day before, I just want to resume from where I left off without thinking about it. Thanks in advance

[datsunlaurel]

Okay, I had a nice chat with customer service, and just in case this hasn't been mentioned yet, there is a great option that will spare you a lot of trouble: Go to the Spotify settings on your phone and activate the Offline Mode. This will prevent synchronization, and Spotify will not launch automatically when you're online with your phone and for example tap your headphones to start playback from a different source.

[mmortal03]

datsunlaurel, I believe that is a Premium feature: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/Where-did-offline-mode-go/td-p/5967897

[datsunlaurel]

Ah, I've been a Premium user basically ever since. If I used Spotify daily and not bought Premium, I would also not come here to complain about anything. Isn't the free option also with ads? 

[mmortal03]

Yes, the free version of Spotify has ads, so they still get paid from ad revenue from free users. Using the offline mode is a workaround, not a full solution for this issue. Solving this would benefit everyone, paid and free users.

[datsunlaurel]

Sure, they should offer the option to deactivate synchronization. But I'm glad there is a good workaround, because there are many issues there is no workaround for. And I really don't understand how someone could be too cheap to pay such a small amount for such a gigantic catalogue of music, unless of course they only use it sporadically. I use Spotify every day, for hours. For me Premium is a no-brainer.

[mmortal03]

I use the Android app exclusively for listening to podcasts. I believe there were historical functionality reasons for why I used it over a couple of the other, popular podcast-specific apps. I occasionally use the desktop app for music, which is why I would like the separation there, but I don't listen to music on it enough to make the argument for paying for it. The ad-supported model isn't "too cheap".

[CharlieGull]

I don't get why this feature is not being implemented yet!
It is a daily annoyance and there is no good option to get around it. Offline mode is not really a good option as it limits you to music you have downloaded, meaning you have to download playlists before listening, or remember to turn the option on and off depending on which device you are using.

Also, please don't shame people for using the free option. Having the option to pay for a service like this is not a given. What might seem like a small amount to you could be a big amount for others. And that is without taking regional pricing into consideration.
Just as an example, here in Denmark Spotify costs 109DKK or 15USD per month.

[datsunlaurel]

The ad-supported model isn't "too cheap" - Not the model is too cheap, people are too cheap! CharlieGull: Sorry, $15 per month for more than 100 million songs is a lot in your opinion? Maybe I come from a different world, but I grew up paying $20 for a single CD or LP, and that was the only option to get the music. But today's mentality is "I'm entitled to get everything for free!" Jesus, you can bet that I will shame this attitude because it is shameful, zero respect for artists. I'm not shaming anyone for using the free option though, so please don't twist my words.

[mmortal03]

This whole side discussion is going off-topic, but there are other ways to support the artists directly, rather than paying for a Spotify subscription to then have them get a fractional cut; these aren't mutually exclusive ideas. Meanwhile, the ads *do* make them money, too, so it shouldn't be frowned upon. Like I said above, just my personal use case, I only occasionally use Spotify for music. I also still buy artists' CDs.

[datsunlaurel]

As I said, if you're not a heavy user, I totally understand that you prefer the free option. But then I would be glad I can use it for free and not complain about usability issues. If you are a heavy user though, there is no excuse not to pay those $15 for Premium, unless you're so poor that you have to worry how to get some food on the table on a daily basis. But then I would not worry about the usability of a music streaming service.

Anyway, nuff said, Happy Holidays.

[stommsh]

Apple Music bihaves exactly like I would like and just opposite what Spotify does. If I listen somthing at home, I can listen different music in my Tesla and can also listen another thing at work with the same account. And nothing syncs between different listening places, so when I return to my car music continues where it left when I exited the car, despite I have listened something else at work before that. Different music in different places with the same account - and it is great! Spotify should also do that, not push dumb limitations to paid customers. I think I will move to Apple music because of this and stop my Spotify subscription.

[Ethan60]

I came looking for a quick fix to turn off this unwanted "feature" only to find it had been requested over a decade ago with only patronising corporate generic responses to show for it. How quickly Spotify managed to change my query from "where is the toggle for auto syncing" to "is youtube music or amazon music better value" is astonishing