More puzzlement over 'Local Files'

[TheUbiquitousChip]

Hello,

I realise that the method of accessing local files on iOS devices has recently changed but I've noticed a couple of odd things when trying out the new method:

1. The 'old' method (on Spotify for PC, add a source folder containing music files then creating a playlist from the 'Local Files' playlist) is now working again! The new playlist now appears immediately in Spotify on my iPhone and I can download the tracks to my iPhone.

2.  In the 'Local Files' playlist in Spotify on my iPhone there are 50 tracks. Some of those 50 tracks are present in Spotify 'local files' playlists I've downloaded to my iPhone but there are a number of tracks I don't understand how they got there - if I connect the iPhone to my PC running iTunes there are no music files shown.

Has the 'old' way of adding local files to iOS devices been resurrected, and where is Spotify looking for local files on an iOS device? I'm trying to understand why Spotify on my iPhone is seeing a number of local files which iTunes does not.

Thanks in anticipation...

/Neil 

[KieranCheung]

Plan

Premium

Country

GB

Device

iPhone13 Pro, iPhone11 & PC windows 10

Operating System

iOS 16 & Windows 10

My Question or Issue

I recently got a new phone and I have seemingly tried every trick in the book to get my local files onto the new phone to no avail. I have disabled and re-enabled local files on my pc. I have moved the folder on my pc and changed the location. I have deleted spotify on my phone, cleared the cache, restarted my phone and then redownloaded and still nothing. Can I have some help please.

[Vasil]

Hey @KieranCheung & @TheUbiquitousChip,

Syncing your local files from you desktop app to the mobile app is the old model of how things worked.
You'll currently need to have your local files physically present on the mobile device itself to ensure that no errors occur.

Check this article for more info on how things work now 🙂

And @TheUbiquitousChip, do you maybe have the Enhanced feature enabled?
This adds recommendations to your playlists and might be the reason for your second issue.

Let us know if any questions arise!

[TheUbiquitousChip]

Hey Vasil,

Thanks for your response. I guess I wasn't too clear in my opening notes. In my case the 'old model' is working just fine, i.e., syncing my local files from my desktop app to the mobile app is working for me. Could it be that both methods of adding local files to iOS devices are somehow supported? 

Let me re-phrase my second issue (BTW - I don't have the Enhanced feature enabled). When I enable the 'Show audio files from this device' option on my iPhone a new 'Local Files' playlist appears which now contains 28 tracks. All of the tracks show an icon of a down arrow in a green circle which (I think) indicates that they have been downloaded. So if I attach my iPhone to iTunes and look at the music files downloaded locally I would expect to see these same 28 tracks, but I don't...I see nothing, i.e., iTunes shows that there are no music files local to my device.

So where exactly is Spotify finding these 28 tracks? 

/Neil 

[MihailY]

Hey @TheUbiquitousChip,

Thanks for your reply and apologies for the confusion.

The old method of adding local files (from your desktop to your mobile device) is still available, however it's difficult to say where exactly the 28 tracks are coming from.

Can you please send us a few screenshots of how things look on your end (a video would be best) and let us know if those 28 tracks are present on your PC?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Take care.

[KieranCheung]

So if I was to add the exact files to my iphone. It would automatically register and continue like normal without having to readd the files to playlists?

[Dian]

Hey @KieranCheung,

Thanks for the reply.

Could you elaborate more on what you want to achieve so we can provide the best answer to your question?

Looking forward to it,

Cheers!

[KieranCheung]

I am trying to get my local files on my pc to my phone to play the songs that were in my playlist. Now that I have a new phone, I cannot seem to get them working through the old system so I was just asking if I moved the songs onto my phone, would they automatically recognise they are the same as the ones in my playlist and then play like normal without having to readd them to the playlist etc.

[MihailY]

Hey @KieranCheung,

Thanks for the clarifying.

If you transfer the tracks onto your phone, the app won't recognize they're the same as the ones you've added to your PC, so you'll need to add them again. In order to make them appear in the Local files folder in your phone's library, you'll also need to enable the option Show audio files from this device in the app's settings.

Let us know how it goes.

Take care,

[KieranCheung]

I was just wondering if its possible to hide local files on my phone from spotify. There are some audio files that I have moved onto my iphone that aren't songs and obviously I dont really want them in spotify either. Is there any way to hide/delete them or prevent them from being shown on spotify.

[AlejaR]

Hey @KieranCheung,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared.

In this case, you can toggle off the Local files in your mobile From Settings> tap Local Files> Switch Show audio files from this device off. You can read more about it in this article.

Just to clarify, currently the Local Files feature lets you use the Spotify app to play any audio files stored on your device (e.g .mp3, .mp4, .m4a). So, with this function you'll see all the audio files you have in your phone. When toggling it off, you won't see any of them in the app.

Hope this clears things up. If you have any questions or need a hand with anything else, we're always a post away.