Cannot Shuffle Offline Music on Samsung Galaxy Watch

[bplatter]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA 

Device

(Samsung Galaxy Watch)

My Question or Issue

My primary reason for buying a Samsung Galaxy Watch was how much it markets being able to play Spotify offline hassle free. That is by far the case. The app is super glitchy and works horrible. I finally figured how to at least get it to function how i'd like, but Shuffle still doesn't work on downloaded offline music (only works when connected to WiFi). Such a minor feature, how is it not available? Even when I hit 'Shuffle All,' it will pick a random song on a playlist, but then it just starts back over again at the top of the list. This is an extremely frustrating feature on top of the other work arounds you need to do to even make the app function as advertised. 

[user-removed]

I completely agree with this post. The Spotify app for Gear is atrocious -- it's a hodgepodge of broken, innavigable interface without explanation. Spotify has always struggled with design when it came to Android, but this is really something else.

[bplatter]

I just don't understand how some of these issues aren't worked out by now. When I started researching the issue, I found posts up to a few years ago on similar topics. It's ridiculous, especially since it's one of Samsungs big marketing points for the new Galaxy Watch. 

[Peter]

Hey @bplatter.

Thank you for raising this issue on the Community.

Could you provide a bit more information about what happens when you try to play in Shuffle mode? Does this happen predominantly with long playlists (100+ songs), or with any kind of playlist? Does it just shuffle a handful of songs, and forget the rest?

Let us know,

P

[bplatter]

I had made a reply yesterday following your inquiry, but it seems it never got posted. I also received a follow up question via e-mail, but it does not seem to be showing up on this thread either. Not sure what the issue is there. 

Back to your question...The Shuffle issue happened with any size playlist and it never actually shuffled anything. It would only play songs in order. 

These are a few other issues that I experienced that resulted in me ultimately returning the watch...

• Songs would start to play from Spotify after receiving a phone call whether the app had been closed or not
• The app would log me out any time I restarted the watch
• Offline mode did not work consistently. Sometimes it wouldn't work at all and other times it would only play the first few seconds of a song

As I stated in my original post, the watch was purchased primarily for Spotify and Samsung hsa marketed the device as such. Which is extremely misleading, especially considering these are known issues from as far back as 2016. I love Spotify and have been a premium member for a few years now, but this is very disappointing. 

Thanks

[Jemi]

Hey @bplatter,

Let's try with some troubleshooting. First, make sure that you reinstall the apps on your devices for a fresh start. This means that you' have to download your music for offline listening again. 

If that doesn't work, go to your account page and remove all your offline devices under the Offline Devices section. This again means that you'll have to download your music. 

If that doesn't work, and if possible, send us a video of what happens along with the model of your watch and we'll have a closer look.

Thanks! 🙂

[Kavana11]

I have the exact same issue.  Downloaded my running playslist, hit shuffle before heading out for a run only to find it doesnt actually shuffle! It just plays the tracks in the same order it would if you selected the first track, which is really frustrating.  I have un installed the app, re synced the playlist, tried differnt playlist etc to no avail.  Please fix this as it is the sole reason I purchased this watch over the Apple Watch and would rather stay with Spotify than switch to Apple music but I mainly want my music for running so may be forced to if the bug is not fixed.  Thanks

[Purplehornet]

Same issue here

Hit shuffle on the watch, it will seemingly choose a random song to begin with, but will then proceed to just play the remainder of the playlist in order.

Other issues include:

1: App randomly stopping on occasion after and audio alert in a workout,

2: Unable to select to repeat a playlist when offline

3: Can only download a playlist on the watch when not connected to my phone (note 8). I mean, wth is that about???

Spotify for Galaxy Watch sucks real hard I'm afraid, and it was a major factor in choosing this watch.

[bplatter]

As I had stated in my previous post, all of these issues led to me returning the watch. A device costing over $300 should not have such issues with a feature that is heavily marketing by Samsung. However, I did try all of the aforementioned troubleshooting techniques to no avail. I have come across forums that discuss these same issues as far back as 2016.

[dcarr66]

Hey @Jemi and @Peter,

Are these issues being looked into?

Thanks.

[dcarr66]

Maybe this is why improvements to the Samsung version are languishing ?

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/11/13/spotify-debuts-apple-watch-app/

[BruceyPoo]

To be clear: this is not a bug. It's been programmed this way. @Jemi is acting like "oh this is not supposed to happen" all the while we get these error messages (attached, please excuse the fingerprints).

Why has this functionality been gimped for offline mode? Again: this is not a bug, it was made this way.

[Wkp82]

Just like everyone else, I'm experiencing the same thing (no offline shuffle, randomly turning on after a phone call, etc.). Plus, I'd like to add: not being able to re-order my song list.

I reached out to Spotify, got a reply and sent in a pic along with a detailed list of the problems. But after seeing this forum and with the app not being updated since DECEMBER 2017, I'm not holding my breath. 

[Joshua2019]

I cant believe i cant shuffle music offline!

I'm payng € 14,99 / month and when i go running without my phone my galaxy watch not shuffle downloaded music!

This is UNBELIEVABLE!

Please adjust this issue and release an update!!!

TX

[MacFly]

+1

Just had my first workout today with the Samsung Galaxy Watch and was happy to listen to my music without having my smartphone with me. Bummer. No Shuffle, seriously? How can this even be a design decision? Who is responsible for such a crappy software design? Spotify, come on, you can do it better.

[Purplehornet]

FWIW I just gave up waiting. I'd heard great things about Spotify on the Garmin 645m so took the plunge with that and ditched the galaxy watch. I'm so pleased I did - it just works. I do miss the richer notification experience but, given music & workouts (running) are most important to me, the switch to Garmin has been a no-brainer

[Joshua2019]

i agree

[Mborskoefoed]

I am experiencing the same shuffle problem. I use my gear fit2 pro when I run and workout with headphones so I don't have to carry my phone. This is the entire reason I got the watch. When I hit shuffle on a downloaded playlist, it plays a random song from the list then just goes in order. I have also noticed that it wont play all of the songs from a large playlist (just over 100 song, all downloaded). It stops playing before it gets to the end. Always after the same song

[Joshua2019]

No answer or updates about... This Is unbelievable

[Boostedblue24]

I have a workaround that I hope can be of use to anyone like myself that was having this problem.

For whatever reason, Spotify allows a Shuffled play of songs, but not a Randomization of the song order itself. If you're okay with not having a consistent song order though, Randomizing the song order will essentially Shuffle the playlist.

In the Desktop app, if you highlight all of the songs on your playlist and hit your Copy key, you will be able to paste the songs (the HTTP references to them specifically) into a text line randomizer such as:

https://textmechanic.com/text-tools/basic-text-tools/sort-text-lines/

Clicking the Randomize button will generate a new track order. Then you simply Copy/Paste the new code back into Spotify.(I know it seems strange, but it does work)

You will need to make sure Wifi is connected on your Gear, and then open up the playlist you have just changed. It will probably need to redownload, but that doesn't take too long.

Simply start at the beginning of your new playlist and viola! You've got a "shuffled" playlist!

It's not an ideal solution, but it did only take me about 2 minutes from initial Copy/Paste to when my Gear finished re-downloading so..well...it's something at least!

Side note: Spotify... get it together. Being able to shuffle/repeat while offline is ESSENTIAL for the environment that this app is deployed in.