Local files won't sync with Android Phone

[davidallsopp]

Hi,

All is well except:

I have a local file on my PC and

I add to a playlist on my PC then

the playlist appears on the phone OK (Android)

the songs appear in the playlist OK

the playlist allows it to be set as offline sync on the phone  BUT

the songs don't sync - at all!?

[davidallsopp · Accepted solution]

OK - here's the answer.  It was the firewall stopping it from connecting!

If you have a firewall software (Norton, NOD32 etc) you may need to add spotify.exe as an exception to let it through.

BTW, Spotify help dudes - I didn't see from the information that my device should actually appear in the device folder, you might like to add something that explains that?

Cheers,

David

[mints59]

thanks man

[gregfalcione]

from the number of threads, posts and views, not syncing local files to your phone is a huge issue for spotify. they promise you can do it, but so many people cannot.  there are 340,000 results in google if you search "can't sync local files spotify to android."

spotify seems to focus on doing everything but solving this issue (your phone is not approved, you have a firewall, you're running preview), which is great for the .01% that this has solved the issue for. 

i have a galaxy SII, i can sync all my spotify songs, i can see and play my local files on my desktop, i can create playlists that include both local files and spotify files, and i can see these playlists on my phone. but the only files that sync to my phone are the spotify files, none of my local files (local to my desktop) will sync.

If it's not possible, just tell me so i stop wasting my time with these "workarounds."

It's an understatement to say how bad spotify support is, maybe a user can help me. spotify even double-billed me for three months and i couldn't get any attention and just let it go.

Has anyone actually synced their desktop local files to their phone?

[Mitzuku]

I have done it before, it's so weird. Everything used to work just fine, i'd just put my iPod Touch on the same wifi as my computer and all the local files synced perfectly. Now, they don't anymore, i don't know why. My iPod doesn't even show up under the "devices" folder on spotify on my computer. I tried with uninstalling the app and restarting my iPod and trying again, but it still won't work, and no all my earlier local files synced over are gone as well. Please someone, a solution??

[smalldog]

THIS is the exact same problem I have had since spotify upgraded it's UI on Android. 

One interesting thing I found: My main phone is the HTC Rezound. This phone experiences the issue where local tracks from my pc can be seen in a playlist synced with my phone, but when I tap the local track to play it, it says " The track is not available." However, on my HTC Droic Incredible I am able to play local tracks synced from my pc. Both phones are running the same version of Spotify, 0.5.2.87 (0.8.3.636.gf43da5f3).

The Incredible is on Gingerbread, while the Rezound is on ICS. I'm not sure wether this is part of the issue or not.

[user-removed]

Add all local files to playlist in PC, download local tracks manually to your phone via USB or wifi. Then all songs should be playable.

[smalldog]

"Then all songs SHOULD be playable."

You see? This is the problem. All songs are NOT playable. Specifically, my local files.

[user-removed]

At least in my Motorola I can play local files in Spotify this way.

[smalldog]

Which phone do you have?

[licenced]

hpguru - you'll need to explain those steps a bit more clearly. As far as I am aware the latest version of spotify is NOT capable of finding, let alone playing, local mp3 files stored on your phone's sd card. Spotify have said that the only way to play your own files is to have them in a playlist and sync that playlist over wifi - but that's the issue that thus thread is about

[Sacro]

I had this problem for a while but i somehow solved it.

What I did:

First of all, i copied all my local files to my own document folder under Music on my C drive.

Then I deleted all playlists i had.

Then I added local files to spotify like its a brand new installation.

Then I made all the playlists i wanted.

When I connected my phone and selected the playlists, it synced them just fine. Same thing with both my GT8.9 and my Nokia 808.

Other than this being the solution for me, it seems the problem itself hasnt been solved yet... sad :S

[turn8]

bump. add me to the list, i am a premium user with a droid razr max i have tried uninstalling and re-installing multiple times searching for leftover files on my phone and deleting them and i cannot get my local files to sync over wifi since the last upgrade. this is very frustrating

[village_girl]

I would also like to bump. It seems to have synced a random selection of local files from a playlist but not all, and I have no idea why. I'm really starting to regret getting my premium account because none of the features I thought I was getting seem to work properly. There are a lot of questions from users on the forums and very few answers from the Spotify team.

[kujo76]

This doesn't work. I have multiple spotify desktops, multiple android phones running spotify, a  blackberry running spotify and none of them show up in the devices window for either of my spotify desktop apps. I've reinstalled my desktop apps, reinstalled my android apps, reset my router, disabled my pc firewall, and antivirus software, and the pc app will not see any devices. all playlists show up on the mobile devices, but local files will not sync. I'm a premium member in good standing.

[kujo76]

 === START OF TEMPLATE ===

Description

No devices show in the Devices window on my PC. Consequently, no local files will download to any android device. (Although non local files, or files that are both on Spotify and local sync.) I can see the playlists in th eandroid phone, but all local files from the PC are grayed out and will not download with the rest of the songs when the "Download Playlist" is selected.

What are the steps you took to get to the error/issue?

(We need to know what you are doing so we can do the exact same to try and get the same error)

1. Open up spotify on my desktop pc and log on to my account

2. Connect my android device to the internet using the same wifi connection as my desktop pc

3. Disable mobile data on my android device

4. Log onto spotify on my android device

5. Click on the devices link on my spotify desktop app

6. See devicees listed. (Problem A)

7. Select a playlist on my spotify android app that contains local files

8. Select the download playlist button

9. Verify on the android spotify app that local files are listed as "unavailable" and would not download to my android device.

What I expected to happen

The android device should be listed in Devices on the desktop app

When downloading playlists on the android device, local files from the PC should sync.

Did you restart your device when troubleshooting in section B?

Yes

Did you read the connection troubleshooting tips?

Yes

Your device

Galaxy S III i535, Galaxy S Captivate, Blackberry Bold. (The same issue exists for any device I try, although I understand there are some restrictions on blackberry spotify functionality.)

Device’s Operating System

Android version 4.1.1 

What type of account do you have?

Premium

(FYI for the below points: Android devices tend to refer to the internal memory as "SD Card" and the SD card you inserted yourself as "External SD Card")

Space left on your device

23 GB

Space left on your SD card (if applicable)

23 GB

Space left on your External SD card (if applicable)

2.8 GB

Is your device rooted?

Yes

Are you using a custom ROM, if so which one, exactly?

No. Stock rom.

Did you set your external SD card as storage location?

No

Did you manually install an older version before installing the latest version from the Play Store?

No. But I did try to install an older version during the troubleshooting process. It wouldn't run.

Do you have the same issue when switching between WiFi/Mobile Data (If applicable)?

Yes

My mobile Spotify version

0.5.4.73

My desktop Spotify version (if applicable)

0.8.5

My mobile provider and country

Verizon US

My username

kujo76

Do you have a Spotify (non-Facebook) login?

Yes

Are you logging in with Facebook or with your Spotify login details?

Spotfify

Do you have any screenshots you can attach to more clearly explain your issue?

No

=== END OF TEMPLATE ===

[smalldog]

Update: 

I upgraded from the HTC Rezound to the Samsung Galaxy SIII the other day and decided to try to get my local files from my pc to sync to my phone through Spotify. I turned on Wifi on my SIII and miraculously it appeared in my Spotify pretty much instantly (I had issues getting my Rezound to appear in Spotify). I made a test playlist with some local files, synced the playlist to my phone through Spotify on my desktop, waited a few seconds, and BAM, my local PC files were available to play - online and offline - on my smartphone!

I did nothing different when trying to get local files to sync to my Rezound. Unfortunately, it appears as though Spotify just likes some phones more than others and chooses, apperantly randomly, what phones it feels like syncing local files to. I have been using the same Spotify account this whole time - from when I could sync local files to my HTC Droid Incredible, couldn't sync them to my HTC Rezound, and am now able to sync them to my Samsung GSIII. I have also remained under Verizon this whole time. 

I wish I had an answer for the rest of you with this issue, as I know how aggravating it is. I even considered dropping Spotify Premium when I was unable to sync local files to my Rezound (don't take that as a reason to not look into this issue, Spotify). Although it seems the solution to this problem is to get a GSIII; it is a fantastic phone. 

Edit: As others have said, I wish Spotify was putting forth some effort in an attempt to try and diagnose this issue. If they are doing so, they should also let us know in this thread. The least they could do is pick up the phones we had and attempt to recreate the issue, then maybe, I don't know, try and fix the issue?

I recommend Spotify to my friends and people who inquire about it, but always make a point to warn them of the poor customer service displayed through this thread. I can go on an nVidia support thread with a specific problem/question and have it addressed directly by an actual rep/dev. This thread and the lack of Spotify's involvement squashes Spotify's reputation in my eyes. I wish they did something to raise it again. 

[tbosoccer]

So i had all sorts of trouble with syncing all my local files for a while with my HTC rezound and worked for days trying to figure it out. i will give the steps i took and ways i made sure it works in as much detail as i can.

1. i deleted the .com.spotify folder completely and just worked with my phone's capactiy for now (until they update it the workaround for the sd card seems buggy)

2. restarted my phone and my computer completely

3. made sure all the local files were found and working (if the song name is not white but grey spotify cant locate it, dont worry if the artist is greyed out that seems to be ok)

4. made sure i had itunes AND quicktime installed, i dont use these but to play m4a files in spotify both must be installed

5. i made all the playlists i wanted on my phone available offline on my computer (top right corner, should turn green)

6. made sure there was a green arrow next to the playlist name (if not there are some songs spotify can't find in the playlist)

7. restarted spotify on my phone and made sure my firewall allowed spotify (if your phone shows up in devices your fine)

8. unchecked all the "show tracks for these sources" under loacal files in edit<prefrences (spotify should have all your tracks available offline anyways)

9. under my phone i checked all the playlists i made available offline that i wanted on my phone under manually check playlists.

10. made it so that my phone nor my computer went to sleep and plugged both in till the whole copy was finished (remember they must both be on the same wifi)

help: if all songs dont download still try pressing offline mode on your phone and then turning it back online that could trigger more downloading. if following all these steps your still having trouble im sorry but the amount of time i spent figuring this out i finally got it right after reading many helpful posts and doing all these things helped me. some may not be nessecary but i was as descriptive as i could be!

[kjell-stefan]

Samsung music app connects music on pc to phone without any problems... using wifi. 

Last 2-3 years i have not beeing able to play local files on my samsung phone using spotify.

[Joe]

Hey @kjell-stefan Have you tried following the steps here to synch your local files to your mobile?