No "Local Files" options for Android devices

[wubzygoot]

Plan

Premium

Country

US

Device

Motorola G6

Operating System

Android

My Question or Issue

I have noticed that on desktops and iOS devices that there is a category for Local Files under the settings menu, however, on android devices, there is no category. Spotify does have steps under their support page for listening to local files on phones (https://support.spotify.com/us/article/local-files/), but those steps did not work when I tried them.

My first question is why is there no settings for Local Files on android devices? Secondly, has anyone gotten local files from their desktop to work on their android phones? If so, let me know!

[Emilia_8]

Hello @wubzygoot, 

I'm using Local Files on my Android device, so I hope I'll be able to help!

As you've already noticed, there's no option for Local Files in settings on your mobile, but you can still use them. However, it's not possible to add Local Files directly from your Android mobile device.

In order to be able to listen to them, you need to import those files to your desktop and add them to your sources.

On desktop: click your username in the top-right corner > select Settings > switch Show Local Files on (green) > under Show songs from choose your sources.

Now you can find your Local Files in Your Library. 

You should see a blue folder with your Local Files there. 

Now you need to create a new playlist on your desktop and add to it all the Local Files you want to have on your Android device. 

Once you do that, open that playlist on your mobile and, using the same WiFi connection as on your desktop, tap Download. 

Now you should be able to listen to your Local Files on mobile, both in online and offline mode. 

If you're having troubles with syncing your Local Files, I'd recommend performing a clean reinstall of your Spotify mobile and desktop apps. Just find your devices in this article and follow the steps provided there. 

Let me know how it goes! 

[wubzygoot]

Thanks @Emilia_8, but sadly these steps did not work for me either, even after performing a clean reinstall of the apps on both my desktop and mobile.

From what I can tell, the issue seems to occur when my mobile tries to download or play the songs I am trying to get from my desktop. Once I create the playlist with those songs on my pc, I am able to see that playlist on my mobile, but the songs are greyed out. When I tap on one of them, it will either do nothing or it will play the song using my desktop as if I am using my phone as a remote.

I've also noticed that when I tap "download" on my phone, a little exclamation mark appears next to every song. Unfortunately, spotify doesn't tell me what the issue is when those marks appear, but I'm assuming it simply means they cannot be downloaded.

That's where I'm at lol

Any additional suggestions or insights will be appreciated!

[Emilia_8]

Hi @wubzygoot , 

Thanks for getting back to me!

Could you try connecting your laptop to your mobile hotspot?

Then open the Spotify app on both devices and tap the Download button again. 

Also, make sure that downloading using cellular is allowed in the mobile Spotify settings. 

Could you let me know as well if you have other content downloaded, and on how many devices?

[wubzygoot]

Thanks for the fast reply @Emilia_8,

I allowed "downloading using cellular" and then tried connecting my desktop to my mobile's hotspot in order to download the playlist, but that did not work either.

I do have 9 playlists downloaded on spotify on both my desktop and mobile. Each playlist is around 3 hours long. Additionally, the only two devices I use for spotify are my mobile phone and desktop.

[Emilia_8]

Thank you for the details @wubzygoot!

Some more steps that you can try are:

• Check your firewall or internet security program and make sure Spotify is set as an exception.
• Check if there are any pending OS updates.
• Log out and back in to your account on each device twice.

Let me know if that helps!