iPad Will Not Sync Unless Freshly Installed

[mlpmlp]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad 5th Gen 12.9", M2 Macbook Pro, M4 Macbook Pro, Older intel Macbook Pro ...

Operating System

Current OS on all devices 

My Question or Issue

I sync Spotify across a ton of devices even beyond the above. While the majority of the devices have no problems, my iPad will only sync if Spotify is re-installed. Restarting the iPad or Spotify does nothing. 

This applies across the app: settings changes, adding songs to playlists or my favorites, saving/making playlists, locally downloaded files have to be re-downloaded on re-install, etc. 

What's an actual fix to get this syncing that isn't reinstalling the app every time I want to listen? 

[Yordan]

Hi there, @mlpmlp,

Thanks for reaching out!

There's another thread where users are reporting sync issues between their devices, which sounds similar to what you're experiencing, I'd recommend checking it out.

If you believe your issue is different, could you let us know if you've tried making changes (to a playlist, for example) on another device while keeping Spotify open and running on your iPad to see if the changes would be reflected there as well?

I'd also recommend checking if Background App Refresh is toggled on for Spotify. You can do this in Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Spotify. Something else that's worth trying is resetting the iPad's network settings.

In case you're using a VPN, I'd suggest disabling it as well. 

Let us know how it goes 👍

[mlpmlp]

Thanks, Yordan. Added a comment there, but that thread describes just one aspect of what I've been seeing on this iPad for quite some time, but not the full issue. Other similar threads offer the same "solution" which is to reinstall Spotify.

This is as if my iPad app is stuck at the time of the re-install. Nothing in the app syncs after that, from preference changes to playlist/song/audiobook/podcast adds, where i am in a podcast/audiobook, etc. 

I do not use a VPN on this device and background app refresh is turned on. Ironically, Spotify syncs fine on my devices where I have a VPN and background app refresh is turned off.

Beyond that, I've rebuilt the iPad from factory settings multiple times, reinstalled Spotify at least 50x, and it still does not sync anything that's done on other devices that sync to every other device. 

[Yordan]

Thanks for the reply, @mlpmlp! I see you posted in another thread as well, but since those don't fully cover the issue you're experiencing let's continue the discussion here.

Given that Spotify syncs just fine on your other devices, perhaps using the same system settings as on your iPad would do the trick. I'd also suggest keeping Spotify open and running on your iPad and making changes (to a playlist, for example) on another device to see if they'd show up on the iPad.

Something else that comes to mind is checking you have any battery/performance optimization settings or data-saving / cache-clearing software running which might be hindering the app's performance and if you do, I'd suggest disabling them to see if that helps. It's also worth using another Wi-Fi network to see if it helps - you can create a mobile hotspot from an iPhone to connect your iPad to.

Keep us posted on this!

[mlpmlp]

I have connected with Apple support a couple times and all settings that should be allowing the app to update itself are all correctly aligned: background app refresh, low power mode, etc. My network is fine, as are many others this iPad has attached to over the past year that this problem has existed. All other apps that update in the background have no issues. As noted, I have also rebuilt the iPad from scratch–not from a backup–a few times and when installing Spotify on a fresh iPadOS install, the same problem persists. 

Making a change on the iPad shows up on other devices, but not the other way around. I just added a song to my liked songs, it appeared immediately on my notebook, but when I removed it on the notebook it stayed on the iPad. 

The only thing that has gotten changes to apply has been deleting and reinstalling Spotify.

[Ivelina]

Appreciate the details @mlpmlp!

It's great that you've reached out to Apple Support to make sure there aren't any other settings on the device that may be causing this behavior with Spotify.

Since you've tried various troubleshooting steps so far and the only workaround for the moment is deleting and reinstalling Spotify, then possibly something gets corrupted or broken somehow on the iPad itself, or this could be an account-related issue instead.

To check this, it would be helpful to ask a relative or a friend to log in to their account on the iPad and from their device(s) where they're also logged in, perform some actions such as add or remove a song from a playlist. Let us know what happens and if these actions sync on your iPad.

Lastly, if the same behavior continues, feel free to include a video so we can take a look (make sure no sensitive info, such as a username is visible). You can either attach it here via the Insert Video option in the post editor, or upload the file to Google Drive and share the link with us.

Don't hesitate to let us know if anything else comes up in the meantime.

[mlpmlp]

Have already been over this, but have had two people log into the ipad app on the current install – and a fresh one and it has the same behavior. 

There would be nothing to show on the video I could record: I add a song on another device and the iPad does not change – nothing happens. I add a song on the iPad and it updates on the other devices. 

I'm still experiencing this as of 6/9/25. I still have to completely reinstall the app to get it to sync changes. Spotify is the problem, not everything else. 

Every bit of device or iPadOS troubleshooting has been done, including installing Spotify first after a fresh iPadOS install. Problem still persists. 

[Susan_GP]

Hi @mlpmlp,

Thanks for keeping in touch and for trying out our recommendations.

Could you let us know the exact OS version, along with the Spotify version you have installed on your iPad.  

Something else you can try is going to your Account Overview page and Signing out everywhere. Additionally, remove access to all the apps you've connected to your account from here. You can easily reconnect your apps anytime. Once done, log back in and check if that makes a difference.

We'll be on the lookout!

[mlpmlp]

I'm running 18.5 22F76 on an iPad MHNM3LL/A and running 9.0.60.

I've noticed some UI updates since the last reinstall, so I know it's actually updating. I'm typically deleting it and then re-downloading it from the App Store. As previously described, logging out/in does not see it sync. Restarting the iPad doesn't do it either. Only a delete and reinstall, then I see the current library updates. 

Issue persists.

[Dessi]

Hey @mlpmlp,

Thanks for your reply and for the provided info!

Since you've exhausted a lot of troubleshooting steps and nothing seems to be working apart from reinstalling the app, which is also a temporary solution, we've forwarded this to our tech team so they can have a closer look. We're unable to provide an ETA for a fix at this time, but rest assured this will remain on our internal teams' radar. In the meantime, make sure you're always running the latest version of Spotify so you don't miss out on any updates.

The Community is always here if something else comes up.

[mlpmlp]

Can't stress enough that I am deleting and reinstalling the app almost every time I add tracks–just did it earlier today! So, I'm always running the newest version of Spotify. Hope you forwarded the correct details to the tech team as every reply seems to ignore what I've done and suggest I do it again. 

The "community" had no posts and hasn't had any answers for this issue over the past 2 months. Shocking that you would pass the buck to other customers to fix issues rather than addressing a major internal iPadOS issue internally. Maybe more money needs to get siphoned from the operation for ai war tech instead?

[mlpmlp]

As of today, multiple other devices have stopped syncing. 

Macbook Pro  M4 Max running 15.5 (24F74)

iPhone 15 Pro MTU13LL/A running 18.5 22F76

Reinstalling on these devices has not initiated a sync, and reinstalling on the iPad has also not forced it to sync as previous.

[mlpmlp]

... the web app on desktop shows all current playlist edits + adds. 

[mlpmlp]

Screenshots of web app + new reinstall, downloaded from the Spotify site. New app DL did not update after reinstall. 

 

[Dessi]

Hi @mlpmlp,

Our tech team is looking into this and have asked for a screenshot of one device showing a version of a playlist and another screenshot for a different device showing a different version, since you mentioned this started affecting multiple devices now. 

Just make sure to mask any sensitive info when posting a screenshot on the forum, such as any login info, payment details, etc, otherwise we might have to remove it for security reasons.

We'll be on the lookout.

[mlpmlp]

Your team has been provided screenshots, app/OS info and more going back several months. The screens you asked for were posted and you removed them – but could have simply grabbed them for the case. 

At this point, I'm also requesting account credits going back to at least the date of this original post as the service I'm paying for doesn't work. 

Currently the iPad has seen some songs sync – but not all – and ironically all other devices now won't sync. I have removed the app from all devices, reinstalled, and still experience no syncing. 

If your team wants even more screenshots or info, please provide a detailed list of what you need. This will be the last time I can give to this before canceling as this is turning into a part-time job and still has zero results going back several months. 

[mlpmlp]

Another note to add, all devices are now playing the exact same songs in the exact same order when shuffling. I previously experienced this on the iPhone outside of a window from about March-June where it actually shuffled. 

[mlpmlp]

Following up to see what your team requires to troubleshoot. Issue persists. 

For example, last night added 24 songs to 'Liked Songs' via the iPad which was previously syncing again, but no other devices (iPhone 15 Pro, Macbook Pro M2, Macbook Pro M4 Ultra, iPhone 14 Pro Max) are adding new songs. I have uninstalled the apps and logged out of all locations, reinstalled, logged in again, and they are still only visible on the iPad and web player. When trying to play one of these songs via the web player whether desktop app is open or not I get this error "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it."

Adding 3 screen shots in case these may not get deleted and can help:
• Web Player that shows 1,111 tracks (current adds)

• M2 Macbook Pro shows 1,087 tracks

• iPhone 15 Pro shows 1,087 tracks

   

[mlpmlp]

Syncing Issue persists. Devices not syncing, although some have had some but not all tracks added and aren't current to what's viewable in the web player (currently the only way I can view spotify with all current updates/tracks).

A new issue has also come up, shuffle repeating the same tracks in the same order, only about 50 songs from my library playing. It's as if shuffle is a specific playlist rather than shuffling. 
• I listen on shuffle on my phone during commute. Hear about 10-15 songs.
• I throw on the desktop app and hear the same 10-15 songs in the same order. 
• I listen in the car on the way home and hear them again. 

I continue to try to troubleshoot. I currently only have 3 devices with Spotify installed/logged in that were all removed, devices removed, caches deleted where possible, restarted devices, then reinstalled from new downloads. No changes to the issues. 

[Eni]

Hey @mlpmlp, 

Thanks for getting back to us and for all the info you've sent so far.

We can confirm our relevant team is still looking into this. We have another thread here in which other users reported similar issues with syncing and some of them shared what worked for them. In this case, we recommend that you take a look at that thread and see if one of those suggestions does the trick for you too.  

Regarding the behavior you're experiencing with the shuffle feature, could you let us know if this happens only when shuffle is turned on, or if the queue also restarts from the beginning when shuffle is off?

We'll be waiting for your reply.