Allow downloaded podcast playback on episodes without forcing ad refresh

[lancegliser]

My morning routine is simple enough. Wake up, shower, dress, open the phone and start a download of all my new episodes, get leash and set dog up. The hope is that by opening the app, and episodes in particular, they get sorted out and I'm free to listen.

But multiple times, in the morning, and for sure later in the afternoon, the "downloaded" episodes refuse to play because they are "downloading". What's downloading? I assume it's not the podcast... It was already downloaded. So it's got to be new ads. Between the multiple wifi / cell networks / elevators / dead zones, it can be a while before Spotify catches those updated ads... that I already downloaded. The experience is very sub par. I don't mind if you grab new ads, make your money. But please allow the playback of downloaded without requiring new ads. Wait for the next stable wifi, and replace them post download.

[Vasil]

Hey @lancegliser,

Thanks for reaching out 🙂 
The app is checking for updated versions of the downloaded content when the downloading process is visible.
This is expected behaviour at the moment; however, it shouldn't be specifically tied to (if at all) to a download of new ads.

Hope you'll find this info helpful. We're here for you in case there's anything else!

[lancegliser]

"The app is checking for updated versions of the downloaded content when the downloading process is visible."

That is interesting. It still seems a bug to me though. I'm offline, or on spotty connections. I have a copy. I'd like to use it and not have playback blocked until I'm back online. Perhaps it could attempt a background download, and replace the existing episode's file only after success? The block only makes sense for enough of the first bits stream to get started.

[Ivelina]

Thanks for the response @lancegliser!

Just to be on the safe side, could you make sure to enable Offline mode after you've downloaded your podcast episodes? Just go to Settings and privacy within the Spotify app > Playback > Switch Offline on.

If the downloading issue continues, I recommend clearing the cache and for a step further, you can even perform a clean reinstall. More details you can find in this article.

Keep us posted 🙂