How to unsync a playlist? (Spotify is not giving back my data space)

[Vito_Basile]

Hi!
I have no more space dat on my iPhone because Spotify downloaded playlists are using some space, so what should i do? I already deleted some playlists on Spotify but is not giving me the space available again, i went to settings and even though i'm getting rid of some playlists and songs, The app is not giving me back the space, I refuse to clear all the data from spotify and lose all my synced playlists, is there away to get back my space data? I really need some space for other apps, i would love to know how to get my space data again, seems like i can't unsync a playlist, can somebody help me please? Thanks in advance...

[Smittles]

a. Your iOS device and iOS -> iPhone 4 iOS 7.1.2 (11D257)

b. Your Spotify app version -> 1.4.1.4

c. How much space is used before unsycning -> 10.2 GB Used (2.8 GB Spotify => Documents & Data = 2.7 GB)

d. How many playlists/ tracks you unsynced -> 13

e. Please confirm how much space is still being used -> 10.2 GB (2.8 GB Spotify => Documents & Data = 2.7 GB)  NO CHANGE

[jeremygoh]

once you have deleted albums or rather, toggle the tab to OFF in Available Offline - You have to give the app 5 to 10 minutes to clear off all the space, you can't just hit the home button and head to settings, general and usage and see the space increase.

[Smittles]

I waited 24 hours. No change in usage.

[jeremygoh]

Did you leave the app open for 2 mins after double tapping home and removing the app from the task queue and starting again?

[Smittles]

jeremygoh, I cannot tell if you're being sarcastic or serious. 

At any rate, removing the app from the multitasking view (double-tapping the home key) closes the app. 

Let's try to keep signal to noise ratios down going forward in this thread, shall we?

[jeremygoh · Accepted solution]

@Smittles Perhaps I was misunderstood:

What I meant was closing the app fully after removing the offline songs, and starting the app again and waiting for it for about 5 minutes.

That did the trick for me everytime.. If you are still having problems, I know that its inevitable, but a clean reinstallation will work. Details below:
https://support.spotify.com/sg-en/learn-more/faq/#!/article/reinstallation-of-spotify

Regarding the cache issue, I did escalate this issue previously.

[Smittles]

I see. You said "after" and I think you mean "before".

[Smittles · Accepted solution]

I can confirm that leaving the app open for 5 minutes or longer, then qutting the app via the Multitask view has restored approx 2 GB of previously cached playlist to the phone. 

Thank you for that clear explanation. It's too bad Apple is limiting the app from being able to clear cache while the app isn't at the forefront.

[martin_]

---

@Smittles wrote:

I can confirm that leaving the app open for 5 minutes or longer, then qutting the app via the Multitask view has restored approx 2 GB of previously cached playlist to the phone. 

---

 Sadly this does not work for me. iPhone 4 S, Spotify 1.5.0.2xxxxx  and iOS 7.1.2. Got a mail from Fretwell the other day, and at least he is still bugging the dev team about it. Hopefully they fix it sooner rather than later. It is a bit disconcerting that it works for some but not others, i.e. perhaps a **bleep** to fix.

Regards,

Martin

[mjsprad]

I've tried every suggestion on this latest thread (wait 5 minutes, close the app, etc), and I've been keeping track of these forums for months looking for a permanent solution or at least a workaround.

Sometimes, when I unsync a playlist on my iPhone, Spotify gives me some of the space back.  Othertimes, it doesn't give any back.  It's completely random, and that's the frustrating thing.  I think there is some fundamental way Spotify has designed their app that just isn't compatible with the way Apple/iOS handles caching of data, and no one from Spotify will simply come out and say "yes, we know it's a problem, and we're working on it."  All we get on here is "we'll report it to the devs."  Every other streaming music app I've tried (and I've tried them all - Rdio, Beats, Rhapsody, etc) has the ability to sync playlists offline, and then unsync them to get the space back.  Only Spotify doesn't do this reliably. 

And another related, but separate issue is the matter of clearing the cache that builds up of previously played songs, which builds up over time as well, and there is no way to clear it other than deleting and reinstalling the app.  It's crazy that there isn't a "clear cache" button built into the app to accomplish this.

[CheefLatif]

It's the exact same problem with Your Music. If you download a album/song, it's stuck on your device until you delete the Spotify app and install it again. I also tried everything that was suggested, but more and more Beats Music is looking very appealing to switch to. At least they actually have a Explicit sign on their songs in the app.

[asheinhaus]

Did this ever get fixed?

[leneker]

Nope

[johre]

Cannot belleve so many years not to solve such a basic behavior!!!

[Mcneilm]

a) iphone 5 iOS 8.0.2
B) 1.8.1.8
C) 3.5 bg used
D) 1 playlist 282 tracks
E) 3.5 gb still used

Cmon this is rubbish this must be easy to get fixed. Unless you get paid royalties if tracks are left on devices of course...

[Keywal]

This is very basic not to fix??? whats happening?

[adownes]

I left Spotify for this reason. I got fed up reinstalling the app and re-downloading the albums I wanted to listen to offline. Also each time I listened to a song online it used up memory which is released if you need it (to download another app for example) but is not very helpful when trying to understand what your ACTUAL memory capacity is on your device.

[Keywal]

So do we just say nothing if were using an Applie device or are they saying to get an Android?

Works for them why not Apple?

Only flaw i have with the whole service and its actually making want to walk away

[cbonso]

All talk, no walk

[Stew444]

The confusing thing here is that it seems to be an apple issue as I had teh same problem on my iphone 5 ios 8.1.2 and Ipad 2 same build and was told to delete the playlists or make not offline and then plug into itunes.

This then seemed to reset available storage and sort out the amount of data on my phone, not an ideal solution but better than a deletion and reinstall of the app, I was using Itunes 12 to do this.

My girlfriend has the same build phone and ios and has never seen an issue and tis is what I think the difficulty is, trying to resolve what seems to be a non specific and intermittant issue.