[Android][Other] The new Local Files system on Android is bad

[Feeelix1]

Due to a recent update, you can now show local files on the Android app. This replaces the old system of going through the PC app and putting local files on a playlist, which you would then download on your phone. While the old system was admittedly a bit clunky, this new "Show local audio files" tickbox is a nightmare for several reasons:

- It shows all the audio files on the device, with no way to select a specific file to show (which you can do on PC). This means that, for example, all my WhatsApp audio files show up on Spotify

- The files are shown in alphabetical order, with zero regard for artist or album

- The old way of creating a playlist on PC and downloading on your phone no longer works. However, it's much more convenient to manipulate files on PC than it is on Android

Playing local files is a feature I use extensively, and the ability of Spotify to do that is the main reason I switched over from YouTube Music. I appreciate the effort to make it more seamless, but please allow us to add local files to Android the old way again, it was much more convenient for me.

[Eni]

Hey @Feeelix1,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community. 

We moved your post from the Ideas board to the relevant Help board, where it fits better.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and we've passed it onto the right team, as it helps us keep improving the app.

Regarding the app showing all the audio files on the device and in alphabetical order, we can confirm that this is expected behavior in this new update. However, you can still move the songs to a regular playlist so they can be sorted or rearranged in any way you want from the desktop app.

On another note, it's still possible to sync the files the old way following the steps here since this new way hasn't replaced the old one, it's just a new feature for Android devices.

Lastly, keep in mind that we can only accept one change request per idea on the Ideas Board. When one post includes several feature requests, it becomes hard to keep track of and update them. If you'd like to change more than one thing, you can make a new idea submission for each one. This way we’ll know exactly which idea folks are voting for. Feel free to submit your ideas again, making sure that it adheres to our Idea Exchange guidelines.

If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you. 

Cheers 🙂

[doksho]

Spotify has one big disadvantage over Youtube music:

You can listen to music from local files on Youtube music app without going through a second step of downloading the songs/playlists (as long as you are not offline).

On Spotify app you have to firstly put the local files on a playlist, and would then have to download on your phone thereby using more storage space.

This is unfortunate because I think Spotify is better that Youtube music overall. But the inability to play local music files without downloading (when you are not offline) is a deal breaker.