High Data Usage

[calvin1414]

Plan

Premium

Country

U.S.

Device

Pixel 3 XL

Operating System

Android 12

My Question or Issue

In recent months, it seems that Spotify is using higher and higher amounts of mobile data. I already have "Data Saver" turned on, I have already followed all the advice in the Help related to reducing data usage, I have all my music and podcasts downloaded ahead of time, and the app has still been consuming large amounts of data. 1-2 years ago, I switched to Spotify from another podcast player even though my old player had better features largely because my old player would constantly consume data for ads with no way to stop it. It is disappointing that Spotify's app is now not functioning in this regard.

Specific problems Spotify should fix:

• I had the Spotify home page sitting open a few days ago, and the app downloaded multiple 100 MB of mobile data before I was able to close it, even though I was not doing anything in the app and "Data Saver" is on.
• Podcasts will always autoplay the next episode when the current one is finished, even if the next episode has not been downloaded. I cannot find any way to change this behavior. This can result in multiple 100 MB of mobile data being used within seconds of the new episode starting.
• I have not always been able to figure out why Spotify uses so much data. However, if settings have been configured optimally and all content has been downloaded ahead of time, there is no reason why the app should use almost any data at all, yet it sometimes uses multiple 100 MB of mobile data in short periods of time.
• I realize it is possible to turn on "Offline mode". However, this is undesirable because the app does not work well in offline mode. Spotify should ensure that the app will actually function in offline mode without hanging or crashing and will be able to play downloaded content.
• Why is it not possible to simply set "Cellular streaming" to "Off" as an option? Currently, the best option is "Low", but I do not want Spotify to stream of cellular at all. Why is this not an option?
• The Car mode that was recently introduced seems to have total disregard for whether content has been downloaded or not. There is no way to even see whether something has been downloaded before playing it in car mode. For this and other reasons, I made sure to set car mode to never come on.

[MafeG]

Hi @calvin1414,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. 

We're sorry to hear about these inconveniences you've been presenting with your data usage. We'll do our best to help you sort them out, as there are other things we can check here. 

There's already a setting which lets you keep the app from downloading over cellular data. 

Keep in mind that even if you have content downloaded ahead of time, if the app is connected to the internet it will still have a consumption to keep some functions working. That's why the Offline Mode is available and we strongly recommend you use it, because it will completely restrain the app from consuming data. 

However, your app crashing with the Offline Mode active is not a normal behavior. Most of these issues can be solved with a clean reinstall of the app.

We also suggest you go to your phone's Settings > Data Usage. When you're there, search for Spotify and restrict the app from connecting through mobile data. 

Lastly, about the Car Mode. Keep in mind that this mode uses features as Voice Search, which needs an internet connection in order to work.

Hope this helps! Let us know how this goes. 

[calvin1414]

Hello, thank you.

I have already turned off "Download using cellular". That is not the source of my issue, and it is different from the feature that I requested in my original message.

I understand that the app will require some "consumption to keep some functions working". However, there is no reason consumption should be as high as I have reported, and indeed, in the past it was significantly less.

The Offline mode does not always cause crashes, but I have seen this behavior. Also, sometimes playlists will not load that should be cached. Even in the best case, it is still not ideal. Every time I am on Wi-Fi, I need to manually turn off "Offline mode" so that I can download content and then manually turn it on again when I leave Wi-Fi. This is the basis of my request that Spotify have a mode where it would essentially be "Offline" when on cellular and "Online" when on Wi-Fi. This would be a kind of higher-level "Data Saver" mode than currently exists.

Regarding settings, I am not aware it is possible to set Android so that certain apps are not allowed to use certain networks. The only relevant setting is about whether the app is allowed to use data in the background.

Regarding Car Mode, I understand, but this is one reason why Car Mode is not useful.

[MafeG]

Hi @calvin1414,

Thank you for keeping in touch. 

In order to continue, first we'd like to confirm if you performed the clean reinstall with the steps I shared on my previous post. I ask this because your app is presenting some issues that can potentially be solved with it. 

Some Android phones can restrict apps from using mobile data, the location of the setting can change depending on the device but the steps are generally the same.

1. Open your phone's settings, go to Network & Internet > Data usage 
2. Here, you should find the list of all of your apps, search for and select Spotify.
3. Depending on your device, you should disable an option called "Mobile Data", "Unrestricted Data", etc. 

However, we suggest you try this after performing the clean reinstall and checking if it makes a difference with the data consumption. 

Keep us posted.