Android / respect the system WIFI restriction setting to avoid mass data usage

[E-J-D]

On Android (and I think iOS, too) you can restrict WIFIs, when they are behind a data plan access, e.g. a 3G/4G internet access. I have this everyday, when travelling by train in Germany. The WIFI access itselve is for free, but limited in bandwith and data usage per guest. Everytime I connect to the WIFI, Spotify starts updating the playlists and downloading the songs.

As I have marked the WIFI on the train as restricted, my Android and as it seems all other apps respect this and just use this WIFI for "normal" internet access, but no mass downloads or system updates. Unforntunately Spotify doesn't respect this.

[FabianS_Bogota]

Hey @E-J-D!

Thanks for letting us know about this. Send us over the type of device, operating system and Spotify version you're using. We'll see what to suggest.

In the meantime, you could try downloading all songs from a safe WiFi and activating the Offline Mode to avoid this. 

Keep us posted!

[E-J-D]

Hi Fabian,

thanks for your reply.

I'm using an OnePlus X with Android 6.0.1 and Spotify 7.7.0.1179 armV7. See
the screenshots for details.

Regards,
Eike

[FabianS_Bogota]

Thanks for the info @E-J-D!

It seems we didn't receive the screenshots, can you give it another shot? Also, let us know if downloading the songs using a trusted WiFi worked. We'll see what else to suggest.

Take care!

[E-J-D]

Hi Fabian,

here is another try for the screenshots.

Downloading via our WIFI at home or at work works fine.

Regards,
Eike

[JulianA_Bogota]

Thanks for letting us know about that, @E-J-D.

We are still unable to view the screenshots you're sharing with us. Could you try to send them over using a different image format? We'd also like to know if you're able to see the screenshots after refreshing your webpage when your comment has been posted here. If not, give it a shot using an incognito window.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply 🙂

[E-J-D]

Hi all,

seems that I have some trouble to reply and upload the screenshots via Mail-reply. Let's try this via web ;-).

https://ibb.co/hYcprF
https://ibb.co/gdiJka

Hope this works for us.

[JulianA_Bogota]

Awesome, @E-J-D! We were able to see the screenshots you sent.

Could you let us know if performing a clean reinstall helps at all? Just follow these steps. Doing this might reset the app settings, allowing Spotify to recognize that WiFi network as restricted.

Give it a shot and let us know how it goes, we'll keep an eye out for your reply 🙂

[E-J-D]

I deleted all downloaded media, deinstalled Spotify, restarted the phone and installed everything clean. After downloading a few playlists I tried to use the restricted WIFI at the train ... and ... still the same behaviour as before. Spotify starts to download the missing or newer songs in the restricted WIFI.

Any other suggestions?

[JuanSebastian]

Got it @E-J-D.

In this case, let's try this. First, download the songs that you'll like to hear on your train ride. After that, make sure to turn on the Offline Mode on your Spotify app in order to avoid using the WiFi connection.

Let us know how it goes. 

[E-J-D]

Thanks Juan, please have a look at the screenshots for the details...

https://ibb.co/hYcprF
https://ibb.co/gdiJka

OnePlus X, Android 6.0.1

Meanwhile I use your workaround and switch Spotify to offline while I'm on the train.