Songs not downloading to Apple Watch at all (stuck at “Downloading…” screen)

[empeimaj2]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone 13 Pro; Apple Watch Series 7 (GPS only, not cellular) 

Operating System

iOS 15.1; watchOS 8.1

My Question or Issue

I got a new watch, which is running the latest version of watchOS, and it will not start downloading songs to the Spotify app on the watch. It’s not the same as the ongoing issue (songs get stuck at the first download) — the downloads section in the watch app just says "Loading..." forever. For reference, the old watch is removed from all my Apple accounts, erased, and sold. 

Things I've tried:

- rebooting both Watch and phone. 

- leaving watch and phone on chargers next to each other with the Spotify app open on both (and periodically waking watch up so that it registers as active). 
- force quitting the app on both watch and phone. 
- uninstalling and reinstalling the app on the watch. 
- logging out of and logging back into the app on the phone. 
- logging out and uninstalling the app on the phone and then reinstalling the app and logging back in on the phone. 

- unpairing and repairing the watch (and choosing to set up watch as new, not restore from backup).
- trying from a different wifi connection. 
- trying from a cellular data connection (on phone). 

- updating to Spotify app 8.6.78 (issue continues).

Before I got my new watch, my old watch (series 4) was updated to watchOS 8.1 and had downloaded songs in that section of the watch app. However, these downloads were initially done prior to watchOS 8.1. I don't recall manually initiating a download to my old watch after it was on 8.1. 

I'm assuming it's a bug in iOS 15.1, watchOS 8.1, or the Spotify app. 

[WoopdyDoop]

Yep - Finally got it working.  After reboots and a million other things it seems like the workaround is to fully close Spotify on your Watch AND your phone; put the phone aside and don't touch it.  I then rebooted my watch. Then, while on the watch charger, open Spotify only on your watch.

This worked for me, and I could see in the Downloads it was downloading x of x songs.  Good luck.

[fezz]

My solution does not require uninstalling the app. Just connect your BT headphones to your Watch (I guess you already did that) and play any song on it. Done. This worked for me.

[fatsy666]

Thanks! This worked for me after trying other methods.

[kovacsdani8]

Hi guys!
My solution: clear install spotify on apple watch and Iphone too then turn off your mobile phone and turn on.
Start a download to your apple watch.
These steps are solved my problem after a half year. 😅😂

[Person1337]

It worked. Bless your heart. I just had to play a song from my watch (your phone willstart playing) then it worked 🤩

[090684]

This 100% worked 👏🏻🙌🏻 Thank you!

[ellimondo]

Thanks so much. This fixed sticky downloads for me.

[felipeventurim]

Your fix actually did solve the problem for me, thanks a lot!

[BongoBill]

I also found that if you had a playlist more than 50 songs it said 'downloaded' but only showed 50 songs, but then prevented anything else being downloaded. Deleting that playlist seemed to unlock the other downloads and they then resumed. Had me foxed for ages.

[Hazer1]

Spotify isn't working hard enough to fix this problem.  It NEVER works on my watch.  I'm seriously considering Apple One just to get music on my watch for runs.  Apple won't help when I call because "it's the Spotify App and you need to contact them".  

[andrewmglenn]

Uninstalling and reinstalling spotify on my phone worked for me as well