Can no longer add local files to playlists

[ocdajuiceman]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

(iPhone 13)

Operating System

(iOS 16.3.1)

My Question or Issue

I’ve been having this issue since the recent update replacing the hearts with the plus. When clicking the three dots next to a song from my local files, usually there are multiple options including to add it to any playlist. However, now the only option is to add the song to the queue. However, all of my local files already on a playlist are still there and can still be removed from the playlist. I am only having this issue with local files, and not any of my other songs.

[ocdajuiceman]

Hey folks,

Try creating a copy of the playlist you're having issues with by tapping the three dots menu > Add to other playlist > New playlist. Check if you'd be able to add local files to it then.

If the issue persists, please share a short screen recording which captures the exact behavior in action so we can take a clear view of what's happening on your end.

Cheers 🤘

[Maria]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for reaching out! And kudos for already trying some troubleshooting.

Just to make sure we cover all bases, there are a few more things we can suggest trying in this case (if you haven't already):

• Make sure Smart Shuffle is switched off.
• Check if a copy of the playlist you want to add the songs to helps. Click the 3 dots > Add to other playlist > New playlist.
• Remove local files from any playlists you have added them to, then start over the steps for adding Local Files.
• iOS: Ensure that the Spotify folder is located in Files > On My iPhone. If you can't find the folder there, reboot your device along with the Spotify app, and give it another try.
• A clean reinstall of the app to remove any damaged cache.

Please give the above steps a try, to see if you notice any difference.

Should the issue persist, however, it would be great if you could let us know the following:

• Are the songs playing directly from the Local Files folder you find in Your Library?
• The make, model, and OS version of your device.
• A video showing how things look from your end, if possible. Should the files are too large to attach here in the Community, you can send them to us via Google Drive or as unlisted YouTube videos (just make sure to not include any personal info).

Keep us posted!

@Overclow @_taiyo

[Robbyrparker]

Hello the problem I'm having is that the songs are already in a local files playlist and it even let me create another playlist with those songs, but I can't seem to add any of these songs to an existing playlist like the one I use everyday with over 1000 songs on it. It gives me the option but won't show up in the existing playlist.

[Littleslimedude123]

Plan

Free

Country

Canada

Device

iPhone 14

Operating System

Latest iOS

My Question or Issue

Local files are showing up correctly in my spotify app and I can listen to them with no problem, but only when I access the "local files" folder in spotify library.

Whenever I try to add one of these local file songs to a regular playlist with other songs from the spotify library, it simply disappears. The app will say that the song was added successfully, and when I go to the playlist it will not show up there. 

If I create a playlist with only local files, it plays fine. However, as soon as I add a song from the spotify library, all the local files disappear and only the newly added song shows. When I remove this (non local file) song, the rest of the local files pop back up.

This is especially strange because I vividly remember being able to play local files and spotify songs in the same playlist. A recent update must have changed this or spotify simply got rid of this feature (which seems silly as the software is already there to support this type of mixing).

[Littleslimedude123]

I know that turning off smart shuffle supposedly brings local files back to playlists, but I don't have premium. Smart shuffle is always on. If this is the only fix, then please make it more clear that free users can't add local files to playlists (because we literally cannot disable smart shuffle). The spotify "local files" help page says nothing about smart shuffle or requiring premium.

A little disappointing because I remember local files worked fine some time ago. I want this feature to return but honestly it probably won't happen. Spotify needs money after all and thus they strip as many features from free as possible. If local file mixing isn't coming back, please let users know instead of silently removing it.