How to set playlists private by default on mobile? -they are private on desktop but public on the ap

[Rauven]

Device

(iPhone 12)

Operating System

(iOS 15)

Why the desktop version of spotify seems to be a completely different service from the mobile??
This time my issue is the fact that i've set the option to make all playlists private by default on the desktop app (since that's the only place i could find that option) but i've noticed that all the playlists i've created on my iphone are public, how the heck i set the playlists private by default on my phone? 

[Eni]

Hey there @Rauven, 

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

We've made a few changes around the privacy of playlists and we've added more security to them.

Currently, if you'd like to make a playlist that will not show up on your profile, but that you'd like to share with other people you can use the option ''Remove from profile''.

On the mobile app we offer the option to ''Make private'' which means that only you will be able to see the list. 

For more info, we suggest that you check this article. 

Hope this info helps. Cheers!

[rontonic]

Why don't you rather answer original posters question?

Why can't you create a playlist on the mobile app, and it is private by default?!

[Dian]

Hey @rontonic,

Thanks for posting in the Community.

Setting the new playlists to be public/private by default can be done for the account on the desktop app. This setting then syncs to the mobile app, where the account is logged in. If this sync doesn't happen, we'd advise to log out from the mobile app and log back in a few times and perform a clean reinstall of the app if this doesn't get the setting to sync. Here is how to do one.

If the setting still doesn't sync, it is possible, that there is a network connection issue and the thing to be tried should be switching networks for both the desktop and the mobile app.

Keep us posted on how that went,

Cheers!

[NKQ]

Hi,

Found this thread while looking for a way to make playlists private by default when I create them. I tried following the recommendations above to set the defaults on the desktop app, but the only available option I see a switch for "Publish my new playlists on my profile" - turning this off doesn't seem to affect the privacy of new playlists I create and I still need to remember to manually set the playlist to "private" after creating it.

Is this the intended behavior? Is there any other setting to control playlist privacy? I wasn't able to find any related settings on either the web or mobile apps either.

Thanks!

[Vasil]

Hey @NKQ, @Rauven and @rontonic,

When 'Publish my new playlists on my profile' is toggled off, a playlist will only be visible to you.

1.  Add to profile x public = visible to the public; sharable
2.  Add to profile x private = not possible; add to profile option is missing when a playlist is private
3.  Don't add to profile x public = not visible to the public; sharable
4.  Don't add to profile x private = private; still sharable, but the link now invites users as collaborators*

*an invited collaborator's role can be changed to collaborator/listener at any given time

Hopefully this could clear things up a bit for you.
Let us know if any further questions arise 🙂
Cheers!
 

[Sol14aire]

This does not work on mobile (android at least). I want my created playlists to be private by default. I did the make playlist private on desktop app, but when I create playlist on mobile, it's always public. I just want to listen to music and keep my privacy. If I want to be social, I'll go to social media. 

[AndresM]

Hey @Sol14aire,

Thanks for posting.

All new playlists are made public by default and the user has to manually set them to private. The "Publish my new playlists on my profile" option on the desktop app actually has to do with your playlists visibility on your profile: if the option is toggled on, all new playlists will automatically be added to your profile, so that when someone opens your profile on Spotify, they'd show up. If the option is disabled, they wouldn't.

Hope this clears things up. The Community is always here if there's anything else you need assistance with.
 

Cheers!

[Exagone313]

I am affected by this issue too. Despite toggling off "Publish my new playlists on my profile" on desktop, when creating a new playlist on Android, it is public by default (and I updated Spotify to make sure of it). The configuration is not synced unlike what the moderator bots are saying above.

[Alex]

Hi there @Exagone313,

Thanks for the post.

I tried this on my end, but when the setting "Publish my new playlists on my profile" is switched off, new playlists I make on my Android phone are not displayed on my profile. 

The playlists will be set to Public by default though. However, this doesn't mean that the can be seen by other users. Public playlists are not shows on your public Spotify profile. This means that you can share those playlists with your friends and they can follow them. 

You can learn more about playlist privacy here. 

Cheers.

[joshwein]

Hi,

On the desktop app, is there a way that ALL future playlists I create are set to Private?

I already made sure they do not appear on my profile.

That said, I do not want my playlists to appear in other users' search attempts either.

[Muik]

This is no longer true as you can see in this article https://support.spotify.com/il-en/article/playlist-privacy-and-access/?ref=related