Spotify Community

Goodman · ‎2013-01-10

Thread: 1513

Status: Unresolved

Description

Syncing tracks for offline use, on iPhone is extremely slow.

Additional information

From original topic:

"The mobile Spotify app is extremely slow to sync songs and usually stops after 20-25 songs. This has been happening for weeks if not months.

I have a blazing fast cable connection: 100Mb download speed + backup 8Mb download DSL. I've tried on these 2 connections + a 20Mb DSL connection at work and I have the same issue. Wifi signal is 5/5 on both iPhones and bandwidth tests are good.

Friends of mine living where I live (Strasbourg, France) don't seem to have the same problem. I can only think that it might be related to my account."

Please provide this additional info when you reply:

Which device(s) are you using? Please be specific, i.e. iPhone 4S, iPad 3 WiFi only, iPad 4 3G
What version is your iOS? I.e. 5.1,6.0.1,etc.
What quality are you syncing?
On which device(s) is syncing slow?
On which device(s) is syncing fast (or "regular" speed)?
If your tracks are syncing slowly, what's your average sync speed?
How many tracks, approximately, are you trying to sync?
Are you syncing over WiFi or 3G?
Do you know and can you confirm how fast your down- and upload speeds are on your WiFi network?
(Optional, for privacy reasons) In which country are you located?
Are you syncing local files or Spotify tracks?
If you are trying to sync local files, could you try only syncing Spotify tracks. Is this slow?
Please provide a couple of examples of playlists or tracks that are slow to sync.
On the "slow" device, did you:
reset the cache of your Safari app?
un- and reinstall the Spotify app?

Updates

2013-01-10: We still have people looking into this and we need your help to provide more specific data

2013-01-16: Anyone having any kind of connection issue should have a look at the connection troubleshooting tips

2013-01-29: We have reports of this issue being resolved for users with an iPhone 5, on iOS 6.1. Please try updating your device to iOS 6.1 and let us know if that changes anything. When you reply, please include your iOS version.

redcarpet26 · ‎2013-01-10

iPhone 5

Syncing at extreme quality (I have switched this to Normal and have not seen an improvement)

Syncs slowly on iPhone 5. I do not use Spotify on my iPad.

Syncs at a rate of 1 song every 10 minutes is my best guestimation. A playlist of 12 songs was not finished after leaving spotify running over night.

I'm trying to sync 1 albums worth, about 10 to 12 songs.

I'm trying to sync over Wifi. If I turn off Wifi sync happens at normal speed (very fast), but that eats my cellular data plan.

I've tried to sync at both home and work. We both have the same Cable internet connection that tests at about 14megs down, 2 up. They are rated at 20 megabits download, but speedtest.net averages closer to 14.

I am located in the United States, Olympia, WA.

I am syncing spotify tracks. I don't use the local sync feature.

The album I was using as a test was The Scissor Sisters: Magic Hour and Adam Lambert: Tresspassing.

I have reset the safari cache, uninstalled spotify, I have restored my phone using iTunes. I have tried enabling Proxy autodiscovery in the settings for my wifi network. I have even tried switching my network from WPA to WEP and 802.11b. The only thing I haven't tried is restoring and setting it up as a new iPhone, but that would make me loose a lot of my data and settings. Nothing has worked.

ALTRON · ‎2013-01-10

Iphone 5 (latest firmware)

medium quality sync

iphone 5 sync slow

No idevices sync fast

Actual sync speed unknown but it takes at least 30mins to sync a 10+ track album

Syncing on wifi.

Wifi network is 20Mbit/s down 5Mb up

country New Zealand

Syncing spotify tracks

Mattacrazy · ‎2013-01-11

Always wondered if the slow sync was just me but had never bothered to actually check and just waited.

Using an iPod Touch 4 8gb. For comparison a Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Syncing at "Extreme".

Syncing is slow on the iPod. In one minute it synced one song on extreme quality.

Syncing is "fast" on the Galaxy Nexus. In one minute it synced 20 songs on extreme quality.

I would say the Galaxy Nexus speed of 20 songs/minute is average.

Syncing approximately 50 tracks.

Sync over WiFi on both devices, same network, same distance.

Speedtests on both devices max my connection (~500kb/s down, ~80kb/s up). On computers on this network at the same distance local transfer speeds are ~4mb/s.

Located in Australia.

Syncing mostly Spotify tracks, some local.

Test conditions:

Same WiFi network, same distance. Using PC with devices connected to same WiFi netowork not plugged in via cable. Ticking, "Sync" box on playlist in devices and waiting for playlist to sync.

Created a playlist with tracks that were not cached on the computer to test "Spotify" sync speed. Playlist: Test (Spotify)

Galaxy Nexus: 2 minutes for 9 tracks.

iPod: 5 minutes for 4 tracks. (I gave up on waiting.)

Clearing Safari cache (and restarting the device as no syncing occured until this was done) resuulted in the same speed as earlier, around 5 minutes to sync 4 tracks.

Testing local tracks - same as above except testing with a playlst containing songs only available locally. Playlist: Test (Local) The files come to a total of 15mb.

Galaxy Nexus: 10 seconds for the 5 tracks

iPod: 10 seconds for the 5 tracks.

Seems to be an issue with syncing Spotify tracks to iOS for me. I didn't reinstall the app as I really don't want to re-sync the hundreds of songs I currently have synced, especially given the nature of this issue.

Extra information about the devices:

iPod Touch:

4th Gen
8gb
iOS 5.1.1 (Jailbroken)

Galaxy Nexus:

16gb
GSM
Android OS 4.2.1 (Rooted)

Hope this helps.

-Matt

thewanderingv · ‎2013-01-12

*** Edit: Temporary fix in my case: I went back to my router and changed it from an 'N only network' to a 'B only network' and files are now syncing fast. Each song takes under 5 seconds now. ***

Which device(s) are you using? Please be specific, i.e. iPhone 4S, iPad 3 WiFi only, iPad 4 3G

Iphone5

What quality are you syncing?

High

On which device(s) is syncing slow?

Iphone5

On which device(s) is syncing fast (or "regular" speed)?

None

If your tracks are syncing slowly, what's your average sync speed?

Over 3 minutes per song via internet, and over 6 minutes via desktop sync.

How many tracks, approximately, are you trying to sync?

Doesn't matter. I've tried 1 song alone, I've tried 500, it's all the same.

Are you syncing over WiFi or 3G?

Wifi

Do you know and can you confirm how fast your down- and upload speeds are on your WiFi network?

96MBPS/down; 8MBPS/up

(Optional, for privacy reasons) In which country are you located?

New Zealand

Are you syncing local files or Spotify tracks?

Both - excruciatingly slow either way.

If you are trying to sync local files, could you try only syncing Spotify tracks. Is this slow?

Yes

Please provide a couple of examples of playlists or tracks that are slow to sync.

"Los Nocheros y Los Tekis" playlist. Pick any playlist you want! It's terrible.

On the "slow" device, did you:
reset the cache of your Safari app?
un- and reinstall the Spotify app?

Yes, and yes.

Comment:

Slow sync has been a hallmark of Spotify since it launched the iOS app. While often that's been tolerable, this time it is the worst I have ever seen it since I started up my premium membership.

There is an easy fix, and it's a fix that you guys really need to consider: Allow syncing over USB cable. I just can't understand why it hasn't been a priority for you guys to enable cable syncing. It's bound to be faster, more reliable, and will probably go a long way to improving your reputation among the iOS sync community.

WhatisIX9 · ‎2013-01-15

Which device(s) are you using? iPhone 5, iPad 3rd Gen
What quality are you syncing? Extreme
On which device(s) is syncing slow? ONLY the iPhone5
On which device(s) is syncing fast (or "regular" speed)? iPad 3rd Gen
If your tracks are syncing slowly, what's your average sync speed? Anywhere from 5mins to 13mins
How many tracks, approximately, are you trying to sync? 15 (one album at a time)
Are you syncing over WiFi or 3G? WiFi
Do you know and can you confirm how fast your down- and upload speeds are on your WiFi network? 14/1mbit Internet - full speed on Wifi
(Optional, for privacy reasons) In which country are you located? Australia
Are you syncing local files or Spotify tracks? Spotify Tracks
Please provide a couple of examples of playlists or tracks that are slow to sync. Dash Berlin - The new Daylight, Ashley Wallbridge - The Inner Me
On the "slow" device, did you:
reset the cache of your Safari app? YES
un- and reinstall the Spotify app? YES, 3 times!

gdbspotify · ‎2013-01-15

Which device(s) are you using? Please be specific, i.e. iPhone 4S, iPad 3 WiFi only, iPad 4 3G

iPhone 5

What quality are you syncing?

Medium (edit for typo: should be "High").

On which device(s) is syncing slow?

iPhone 5

On which device(s) is syncing fast (or "regular" speed)?

n/a

If your tracks are syncing slowly, what's your average sync speed?

Say one track every 3-5 min.

How many tracks, approximately, are you trying to sync?

At the moment, 200 odd. (it did around 600 before that at what seemed to be normal speeds. Now its a crawl).

Are you syncing over WiFi or 3G?

WiFi

Do you know and can you confirm how fast your down- and upload speeds are on your WiFi network?

Sorry, no, We stream 720p video over WiFi without problems if that gives you any indication.

(Optional, for privacy reasons) In which country are you located?

Australia

Are you syncing local files or Spotify tracks?

Both

If you are trying to sync local files, could you try only syncing Spotify tracks. Is this slow?

It seems to be stuck on local files. Will try again with spotify tracks and update this post if necessary. (edit: per below, I've now confirmed its the Spotify files its choking on).

Please provide a couple of examples of playlists or tracks that are slow to sync.

Sorry not sure. Am reinstalling spotify while typing this and I didn't pay attention to which tracks were syncing. (edit: Its very very slowly crawling its way through the triple j hitlist playlist).

On the "slow" device, did you:
reset the cache of your Safari app? nope, haven't tried. (edit: tried, no effect)
un- and reinstall the Spotify app? Am trying this now. (edit: tried, seems to be working now, will update if this changes). (edit 2: nope, its stopped working again. It got through all my local files ok, and is now choking on the Spotify files...like one track/5 min. So basically Spotify is useless for me until fixed...I can already get all my own music onto the phone with iTunes or MediaMonkey.)

Goodman · ‎2013-01-15

@thewanderingv wrote:

*** Edit: Temporary fix in my case: I went back to my router and changed it from an 'N only network' to a 'B only network' and files are now syncing fast. Each song takes under 5 seconds now. ***

That's interesting. So changing a router setting made the problem go away? Perhaps changing from N to B also set different ports to open/close?

Could you please compare your router's settings on both N and B and see if there are any other differences?

redcarpet26 · ‎2013-01-15

My router doesn't support B. The slowest it will let me go is G, and I had no luck with that.

Goodman · ‎2013-01-16

Hi redcarpet26, it's not so much about being on B,G or N. The theory is that switching between these also changes other settings on the router, like opened and closed ports and such.

Eihter way, it would be good for anyone to go through the connection troubleshooting tips.

thewanderingv · ‎2013-01-16

Hi,

I am an expert router user so I double checked every step just in case:

No other settings change at all. Just N to B. It doesn't speed up under any other alternative (either N to G, or N to mixed B/G).

It only speeds up when I change from N to B, holding all other settings the same.

Hope this helps.

Someone else posted in the earlier thread about this on the iOS board that they had also succeded in speeding things up a little more through a switch to the B network. That is what prompted me to try it as an optiopn.

[iOS] Tracks sync very slowly

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