Downloading on Apple Watch stuck at first song

[Mihail]

Hey folks,

We're receiving reports that some users are unable to download music for offline listening on their Apple Watches. The download is stuck on the first song and doesn't progress.

If you’re experiencing this issue, make sure to add 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. 

Thanks! 

[Davebass5]

They are aware of the issue, they have stated this. 

The workarounds are nothing but time wasters. IF one worked 100% we would all be using it. 

[6ixgun]

Sadly, I have decided to leave Spotify and go back to Apple Music.   It is a shame this company cannot get its act together.   They are unresponsive and apparently have no real interest in their customer base.    So I will speak to them this time with my wallet and simply stop paying for junk software that does not work.   

[Priestley_martin]

Amazon Music may work. Time to cancel Spotify?

[scramjet-it]

time to get back to Apple Music 😕

issue open since this summer, come on Spotify, I payed premium only for this feature!

[skaiwoka]

I had the same issue: iPhone 11 iOS 15.2 with Spotify connected to the same wifi network with Apple Watch 5 watchOS 8.1. It was stuck downloading 1st of 50 song of a playlist. All songs of the playlist were already downloaded into the iPhone.
I found out a workaround: I killed the Spotify Watch app by pressing the on/off button and then the Digital Crown, so I forced the app to quit. Then I re-launch it again.
Spotify Watch app started to download the rest of the songs.

[Watchuser]

Same problem - my downloads list on my Apple Watch 7 (OS 8.1) is stuck on “loading….” perpetually after downloading a test playlist with one song to my Apple Watch via the phone app. iPhone 12, iOS 15.1.

I tried all the troubleshooting in this thread. None of it works. Kinda frustrating because offline Spotify playback was a huge reason why I bought the watch. I’m considering going to Apple Music because their watch app works as intended.

[tjg823]

fixed it. What worked for me is selecting the playlist on the watch that you are trying to download. I mean select it as a in the area where you can stream it from the phone, not where it is downloading. Then swipe over to where you can view that song playing and pause, skip etc. Bottom right, it shows its playing from the phone. Change it to your watch. As soon as i did that, it showed the watch was playing the music instead of the phone. I then checked my two stuck playlists and they both were completely downloaded. hope this helps.

[Rob__M]

My issue was slightly different that when I tried to download, the watch always said "downloading..."  After A LOT OF HOURS and trying every solution in this thread and several of the others, I somehow missed the one about turning off the passcode on the watch.  I turned if off and the watch immediately started downloading.  I can't believe that Apple Support doesn't know this, Spotify Chat support doesn't know this, it is crazy.

[racheski]

I read about half of this thread so apologies if this workaround has been mentioned previously.  My watch was stuck on "downloading" - it did not even display "downloading 1 of X" nor show the name of the playlist, and I was trying to play through Airpods Pro...

1. Both Apple Watch & iPhone were connected to Wifi, BT, paired with Airpods, and placed close together.
2. I put the Airpods back in their case, closed it, and then re-opened near the iPhone with the Spotify app open.  Then a notification on the iPhone popped up from Spotify asking me if I want to listen on my Apple Watch - I pressed "Continue".
3. Now downloads began to work on the watch.  To "re-trigger" downloads if you begin to play through your iPhone again, on Apple Watch Spotify go to the middle view > press icon in bottom right (should look like phone) > select Apple Watch > Close > icon should change to picture of watch and downloads should initiate.

My theory is that Spotify on the iPhone needs to connect only to the Apple Watch, and then Spotify on the Apple Watch needs to play through the AirPods (or other BT device).  If iPhone Spotify connects directly to AirPods for playback, or if Apple Watch Spotify connects to the iPhone for playback, then the downloads do not initiate.

• Apple Watch Series 4 & iPhone XS with apps and iOS up to date.
• Previously had tried re-installing both apps, re-pairing watch, disconnecting BT & Wifi on iPhone, rebooting both devices, etc...

[Davebass5]

For the past week or so ive had better luck with all this. Its been working without me needing to mess around turning things on and off etc. This was on my Series 4 watch. Not that i was using Spotify on the watch, i just wanted to see if things were improving. 

Today i got a series 7 and not only do i not get any music, i just see ‘loading’ when i go to the download screen on the watch.