Local files undownloading on iphone

[Commander1]

I have a playlist with a bunch of local files on it. I added them through my computer and then downloaded them to my phone over wifi. However, whenever I close the app (double press the home button to see all the apps and then swipe up to close it), all of the local files just undownload. The same thing happens even when I just haven't played any of the songs for a while, and it's extremely frustrating. I have so far been able to fix it by coming back to my computer and redownloading all of the songs but then it always happens again. This problem has been affecting me for months and while I *could* keep on doing what I've been doing, I'd much prefer a solution that doesn't require me to.

[Commander1]

if I'm not able to find a way to fix this i'm genuinely considering just switching to a platform that can handle local files better (oh and i'm on a premium plan btw)

[Ivelina]

Hey @Commander1,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome!

It's worth mentioning that the way of how local files work has recently been changed. This means that you sometimes may encounter issues with syncing them between different devices, and some users may no longer be able to sync them at all. With this said, keep in mind that you'd have to have the actual tracks stored on your iPhone as well.

For more info on how this works, you can head over to this article and also make sure to add them to the Files app on your iPhone > On My iPhone location > Spotify > Synced files folder.

Let us know how it goes and we're here if anything else comes up 🙂

[Commander1]

@Ivelina I followed your instructions, and all of my local files are now in a playlist that is saved on my iphone as well called local files, and they show up under files as well. Unfortunately, although they're saved, on my playlist they still show up as downloaded but greyed out and don't allow me to play them (this isn't true for all of my local files, some are working the way they should be). For the ones that aren't working, it shows up in the local files folder as being there but not being in the playlist, and if i add it from the local files folder to the playlist it adds it a second time, with one copy working on my phone and one copy on my computer, but i feel like it needlessly clutters up the playlist.

[Vasil]

Hey @Commander1,

As @Ivelina has mentioned, what you've described is expected behaviour now.
Local Files are meant to only be played locally and to not sync across devices. This means that having them added to a playlist will display them greyed out on a different device.
Adding the same local file from that device will duplicate the file.

If you wish to avoid the playlist clutter, what I could suggest as a semi-good workaround would be to duplicate your playlist before it has any local files in it. One copy can be called 'Name (mobile)' with the other one being the same but for desktop. You will then be able to add your respective local files and have two fully-functional playlists.

Tip: A playlist's contents is most easily copied on a desktop, where Ctrl+A will select all songs and Ctrl+C will copy them (Ctrl+V for pasting).

Hope this helps! We're here for you in case anything else comes up 🙂

[Commander1]

Thanks so much @Vasil, I think I probably will do that. The one last question I had though is that the files that don't work on both my phone and computer are only a small proportion (maybe about 10%) of the total local files I have in my playlist. For example, all of the files in the screenshot I posted except the one without the green arrow did work on both devices, so I can't help but feel like it's possible somehow to fix. I like your idea about having two playlists as a workaround though, so again thanks for helping out

[Vasil]

Hey again @Commander1,

The files are most likely synching due to some cloud connection keeping them active but even that is iOS only and not entirely dependable in this case.
There is currently no way of actually uploading the files online so that they can reliably sync and, as far as I know, at least for the time being, there will be no changes made to the way this works. Even if it does still work at times, this is more likely due to luck while the old system is gradually getting deprecated.

Hope this clears things up! Wishing you a good day 🙌🏼 🙂