Local Files from PC downloaded to phone no longer working

[wayvox]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

Samsung Galaxy S8+

Operating System

Android

My Question or Issue

Since the recent Spotify update for premium members I realised songs downloaded to my phone via my Local Files on the PC app were no longer playing.

Upon inspection it seems the feature no longer works. I am still connected to the same Wi-Fi as my PC which is how it used to work but now a "!" shows up when I to download again.

Anyone else experienced this issue?

[Thomas_pty]

I also have this problem 

[Jeremy]

Hi there @wayvox and @Thomas_pty,

Thank you for reaching out to us here in the Community.

Can you double-check that you've followed all of the support site steps correctly.

Another useful step in is to change the source folder of the local files on the pc. The steps are: Uninstall Spotify on both devices > create a new folder somewhere else on the pc and move the local files there > install Spotify again > remove any potential source folders and add the new one > download the playlist again.

Let us know how everything goes.

Take care!

[Thomas_pty]

I just performed all these steps and it didn't work my local files are only available on my computer 

[Jeremy]

Hi again @Thomas_pty,

Thank you for your reply and for the troubleshooting steps you've taken so far.

Can you check that your local files is turned on in the Settings menu?

If that doesn't do the trick - can you try the following:

• Add some songs from our catalogue to the playlist as well as the local file/s and make sure they have ‘Show unavailable songs in playlists’ turned on in Settings

• Play some music on the device that has the local files to see if it shows via Connect on the other device

• Make sure the router supports the Bonjour protocol. If the router is made after 2005, it will likely have this protocol. The best way to handle this is to check the router make/model and Google it

Keep us posted 🙂

Cheers!

[wayvox]

Hi Jeremy,

Yes I tried the same and no luck. and local files work on my PC app but nothing happens when I select them on the phone and if I try to change device while playing it on my PC it states "This song cannot be played". I have just tried adding a Spotify song onto the playlist and it has downloaded it via the playlist.
Router was issued last year so doubt it's that.

Let me know if it could be something else.

Best regards!

[Jeremy]

Hi there @wayvox,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

Can you try the following:

• Add some songs from our catalogue to the playlist as well as the local file/s and make sure they have ‘Show unavailable songs in playlists’ turned on in Settings

• Play some music on the device that has the local files to see if it shows via Connect on the other device

• Make sure the router supports the Bonjour protocol. If the router is made after 2005, it will likely have this protocol. The best way to handle this is to check the router make/model and Google it

Keep us posted 🙂

Take care!

[wayvox]

Hi Jeremy,

Yes I tried the same and no luck. and local files work on my PC app but nothing happens when I select them on the phone and if I try to change device while playing it on my PC it states "This song cannot be played". I have just tried adding a Spotify song onto the playlist and it has downloaded it via the playlist.
Router was issued last year so doubt it's that.

Let me know if it could be something else.

Best regards!

[Xenia]

Hi @wayvox,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Can you switch on Show local devices only in the settings on your phone and check if your PC shows up in the device list while listening on your phone? If it doesn't, you should take a look at your network settings and make sure to turn off VPN, if in use.

In case everything checks out, it's worth removing the playlist from your downloads and giving it another try with the app both on your phone and PC open and in focus while the songs are downloading, to see if that makes a difference.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

[wayvox]

Hi Xenia,
I tried that and I can see it does not show up on my devices list, the only thing is that I don't use a VPN so not sure what I can do to get it appearing? Both devices are running off the same router.

Let me know if you have any ideas.

Best regards

[Novy]

Hey @wayvox, 

Thanks for your reply. 

Just to confirm, are both devices connected to the same WiFi network? Do you notice any difference if you give it a try using another internet connection? 

We'd also recommend making sure that your device has enough storage space available. 

Let us know how it goes. 

[wayvox]

Hello,

As mentioned before they are both on the same BT router. 

The Spotify app states I have 7.1 GB free on my phone so can't be a storage issue 🤔

Best regards

[Novy]

Hi @wayvox, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Would you mind sending over the exact OS version on your phone and the Spotify version you're currently running?

We'll continue investigating what might be happening. 

[wayvox]

My phone is using Android 9 and my Spotify app is version 8.6.18.720

[Jeremy]

Hey @wayvox,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

Cab you restart your router?

If that doesn't do the trick, can you perform a clean reinstall of both devices? This will make sure there's no old cache files causing this.

Also, if 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.

Cheers!

[wayvox]

Hi Jeremy,

I have recently upgraded to the Samsung S20 Ultra so should have a clean cache.
I did try to reinstall without the SD Card but it's still giving the same results.

Alternatively, is there any way to utilise local files on the phone itself?

[Jeremy]

Hi again @wayvox,

Thank you for your reply.

Can you disable any firewalls and proxies on the PC?

Also, can you ensure that UPnP is enabled on the router and that in the Windows settings, network discovery is enabled for the specific network?

Note: you should always restart the devices to ensure they reconnect with the fresh settings when you changing them.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

Take care!

[wayvox]

Hi Jeremy,

I disabled the firewall running on my PC (no proxies) but had no luck.

I've tried to see whether that router feature is enabled on it's settings but not sure where I'd find that on the BT router hub site?

Best regards,
William

[Eni]

Hi @wayvox, 

Thanks for getting back in touch. 

We'd suggest that you delete the cache from the app settings (Settings > Storage > Delete cache) and then try reinstalling the app again following the steps @Jeremy sent previously to check if that makes the difference. 

Regarding your other question, in case you don't find that info on the hub site, we suggest that you reach out to your router's manufacturer for more info.

If the issue persists after that, we recommend reaching out to our Support team through any of these channels so they can take a look at your account backstage. You can send them this thread's link so they can check what we've already tried here. 

If you have any questions, just let us know.