Data Saver Feature (explained)

[Bazzalad007]

Hi,

 Can an official source please CONFIRM once and for all that the DATA SAVER feature is the following:

1) once set to ON, Spotify will ONLY stream at a Low rate of 24kbps when streaming over a Mobile/ Cellular data connection (this is automatic)

2) Ie. the only data affected is mobile/cellular and therefore:

3) whenever your connected to a Wifi connection Spotify connects at/streams as per your normal MUSIC QUALITY settings. 

4) Therefore in practice this means that at home you can listen to music to your hearts content at an Extream Music Quality rate of 320kbps BUT the second you leave home and your mobile phone or ipad connects to the internet using your phone/mobile/cellular data plan - Spotify AUTOMATICALLY reverts to the DATA SAVER MODE of 24kbps.

Personally, I do not understand why this isn’t made explicit everywhere. I’ve been looking for over 30 mins online for this to be confirmed. Why not a sentence in the DATA SAVER screen in Spotify saying “this feature only works/affects your connection when your streaming over a cellular data connection, otherwise (ie. wifi) your device will rely upon the settings you’ve specified in the MUSIC QUALITY section.

Why is this such a big deal?

SIMPLE: I only get 2GB free each month. Unless I prepay for additional data I, like most kiwis are charged at exorbitant prices of $20 per GB or part thereof. It’s outrageous. Hence why it’s incredibly important for users like myself to fully understand the likely data usage rates of specific apps. In most cases, iOS apps are denied access to data over a mobile connection.

I also don’t understand why you can set NO DOWNLOADS over cellular. Why not NO STREAMING either. That way users can be certain that the music they’re listening to is restricted to songs predownloaded. 

Please confirm above. I’d be incredibly grateful. As I imagine that many other kiwi users will be too. 

[Loxer]

Hey @Bazzalad007, welcome to the Community.

Hope you're doing great!

Yes, that's what Data Saver does. Also this article helps you with explaining it and some tips to save more data.

You have the option to restrict from downloading songs for offline usage using by toggling Download Using Cellular inside Music Quality in Settings. That comes in handy in many cases and especially when you don't want to download songs over cellular data at all.

Also, there's one for no streaming with mobile data on, or even when on wifi. Just go to Settings and find Playback section. Once in there, the first option you'll see is Offline Mode, which disables the connection of Spotify with the internet, even if you have access to the internet it won't use it and will appear offline.

If you would like, you can use the Shortcuts app to create a toggle to turn mobile data for Spotify completely which can also be done in Settings but as the apps name implies it's a shortcut and it's much faster.

You need to upgrade your OS to iOS 12 to get this app. You can also find great Shortcuts recipes in a subreddit called r/shortcuts.

Hope it helps! 🙂

[Loxer]

Hey @Bazzalad007, welcome to the Community.

Hope you're doing great!

Yes, that's what Data Saver does. Also this article helps you with explaining it and some tips to save more data.

You have the option to restrict from downloading songs for offline usage using by toggling Download Using Cellular inside Music Quality in Settings. That comes in handy in many cases and especially when you don't want to download songs over cellular data at all.

Also, there's one for no streaming with mobile data on, or even when on wifi. Just go to Settings and find Playback section. Once in there, the first option you'll see is Offline Mode, which disables the connection of Spotify with the internet, even if you have access to the internet it won't use it and will appear offline.

If you would like, you can use the Shortcuts app to create a toggle to turn mobile data for Spotify completely which can also be done in Settings but as the apps name implies it's a shortcut and it's much faster.

You need to upgrade your OS to iOS 12 to get this app. You can also find great Shortcuts recipes in a subreddit called r/shortcuts.

Hope it helps! 🙂