[Android][Your Library] Fix Local File Playback on Android Devices

[saucyross]

I'm currently able to download all of my local files on my Android phone (OnePlus 8 Pro) without any problems. The songs playback as expected, and sound just fine.

However, on my Kindle Fire tablet, these same exact songs are unlistenable. The playback is choppy, as if they were on a scratched CD. Every single song that I personally own has this problem. 

This causes me to be unable to listen to my own music through Spotify, which is extremely disappointing since I'm actively paying for a subscription. So now, not only is local file playback of FLAC files completely broken on Desktop (as of a recent update, which has already been posted here, but somehow continues to be a problem months after the bug was introduced), it is also completely broken on some Android devices as well. This truly is unacceptable.

[Elena]

Hey there @saucyross!

Welcome to the Community and thanks for reaching out.

We have received a few other reports about users experiencing playback issues with their local files and we looked further into this. You can take a look here for more info on the issue we had.

This should now be fixed so make sure you have the latest version of the app and try resyncing your songs again. Does this work better for you now?

Let us know if there's anything else we can help out with

[saucyross]

Hi @Elena, yes they finally fixed the issue with local playback on Desktop which resulted in crackling sounds. I am now able to play my local files on my Desktop at least.

Unfortunately though, the issue with Android devices is still indeed a problem.

On my Kindle Fire tablet, the local files when downloaded to either the internal or external SD card, experience a playback issue that sounds like the songs are being played from a scratched CD. Playback is extremely choppy and skips all over the song, essentially making the songs useless as I cannot listen to the music which I already paid for. Songs that are available through Spotify, when downloaded to the internal or external SD card, have absolutely no issue with playback at all.  

I am positive there is no issue with the SD card, as I have inserted the same card into my LG G7 and downloaded the local files to the same SD card and experience absolutely no playback issues on the G7. But as soon as that card is inserted in the Kindle Fire and the songs are downloaded, the same issue arises.

Songs that are available on Spotify and downloaded to the device have absolutely no issue with playback at all, but all of my local files do. This is true whether the songs are downloaded to the internal or external SD card of the device. 

I went and used another device I had, an Alcatel phone, and this device also experiences the choppy playback issue on the local files only. Songs available on Spotify do not have any issues at all when downloaded.

I created a thread, located at https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/Local-File-Playback-Choppy-on-Android/td-p/5095702 , and I followed up with Spotify on this. They dismissed this as a "device issue", which I do not agree with at all. This issue happens across multiple devices, and seems moreso an issue with how Spotify downloads local files for playback on devices instead of there being an issue with the device. 

These same files can be downloaded on a 10+ year old iPod Touch that I have, and they are played without any problems at all. The playlists are downloaded to the iPod Touch and playback is completely fine. But somehow there is an issue on devices made within the past few years? Especially considering these newer Android devices are able to play games and other demanding applications without any problems at all, but somehow local files from Spotify are too demanding for the device?

My response from the other thread:

For anyone also experiencing this problem, I contacted Spotify support today and was unfortunately told that this is a problem with the device and they are unable to help me.

I thought this was odd, since offline playback for songs available through Spotify that are downloaded to my SD card is completely normal. But my local files, when downloaded to the same SD card on the same device, have the choppy playback issue.

They informed me that the files that Spotify downloads to the device are somehow in a different format than the files that are downloaded when your local files are downloaded. This surely seems like a limitation of Spotify (which is downloading files differently based on the source of the file) and not my device, but they disagree. So basically, I am completely unable to listen to my local files on this device.

I went ahead and tried to use the same SD card (which has no issues when playing the local files) in an Alcatel Android phone, and of course, this phone has the same exact problem as the Kindle tablet. I am not even going to waste the time of contacting Spotify Support again, as they will just dismiss this as another "device issue".

At some point, Spotify will have to take some responsibility for these issues and stop blaming the device manufacturers. These files are able to be played by old iPods and MP3 players, so the fact that they are unable to be played on an Android device is extremely disappointing and unfortunate that I am actively paying money for a subscription to Spotify even though it doesn't allow me to listen to songs which I have purchased before.