[Android] Downloaded podcasts don't show up in Offline Mode

[Xenia]

Hey folks,

We're seeing reports that downloaded podcasts don't load in Offline Mode. 

The relevant team is aware of this and they are currently looking into it. 

If you're experiencing this, let us know by adding your +VOTE and follow the instructions in the Status Update below.

We'll be keeping everyone up to speed here, so make sure to subscribe to this thread!

[DNHerring1130]

Plan

Premium

Country

US

Device

Samsung Galaxy S10

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

I have downloaded a number of podcast episodes.  However, these episodes don't show up when Spotify is in offline mode.  I am therefore unable to listen to podcasts in offline mode - which was one reason I upgraded to Premium.  Downloaded playlists work in offline mode.  It seems the issue is limited to downloaded podcast episodes.

[Jeremy]

Hey there @DNHerring1130,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community.

In this case we suggest that you perform a clean reinstall of the app. This will make sure there's no old cache files causing this.

If that doesn't do the trick and you have an SD card we suggest that you uninstall the app > turn off your phone > take out your SD card > turn on the phone again (without the SD card) > reinstall the app since the card can be corrupted.

Let us know how it goes 🙂

[DNHerring1130]

@jeremy

Thanks for the response.  I tired the clean reinstall and it didn't fix the issue.

I don't use an SD card in the phone, so the second fix doesn't apply to me.

Open to any additional ideas you may have.

[Elena]

Thanks for the quick reply @DNHerring1130,

Can you just confirm for us that you don't see your downloaded podcasts in the folder Your Episodes > Downloaded?

If so, can you send us a screenshot of the app so that we'd be able to take a closer look?

We can also recommend re-downloading an episode to see if that makes a difference.

Keep us in the loop!

[lela2011]

Plan

Family Premium

Country

Switzerland

Device

OnePlus 7 Pro

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

I have podcasts downloaded for my commute. I'm offline while on the train. However I can't access my downloads. It takes up to two minutes to load them. Sometimes they never show up at all. I tried disabling battery optimization, set Spotify to offline mode and clearing cache. Nothing of that worked.

[Mihail]

Hey @lela2011,

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the Community.

Note that we recommend to always manually set the app itself to offline mode when loosing internet connection. That way it's best optimized for the situation. You can use the steps here. 

If the issue persist, could you share the approximate size of your downloads and the free storage remaining on your device? This info is available in the settings menu of the app.

In any case, we'd also recommend that you run a clean reinstall. This step lets you start afresh with the latest app version by removing any corrupted files from previous installations. 

Hope this helps. Keep us posted how you get on.

[Tashiewashie]

The reinstall doesn't fix anything. I still cannot access downloaded podcast offline.  The podcast page never loads and just spins. Useless.

[Jeremy]

Hi @Tashiewashie,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

Can you let us know if this happens on one specific device or multiple devices?

On another note, are you able to redownload the episodes to see if the issue persist?

It would also be great if you can provide us a screenshot or a screen recording to see if the issue persist.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

Cheers!

[Tashiewashie]

I only have the one phone, Pixel 4a Android 11.

No they are downloaded. It's just I cannot get to the podcast page to access the downloaded podcasts I cant even get to them via the library or my episodes playlist. It just spins and says you are offline. Once I get online the page loads just fine. After a few hours offline, under the library all podcast images just disappears and displays a date in 1970. I wish I had a screenshot. Once clicked just spins and never loads.

 

[Tashiewashie]

Let me rephrase, after a few hours offline all podcast images disappear and the the text for the shows displays a date in 1970 like '1 January 1970'. So you can't even identify which podcast is which. It is quite annoying, just as annoying as not having downloaded podcasts available offline.