Having trouble getting local files on iPhone. Have attempted numerous fixes suggested by others.

[Finnsj]

Plan

Premium

Country

United Kingdom

Device

iPhone 5c

Operating System

iOS 10.3.3

My Question or Issue

I have MP3 files downloaded to my Chromebook (Running Linux, running Spotify for Linux) that I would like to be able to listen to in my phone's playlists. I cannot play the song through my Spotify on my PC, though I can play it through other apps ('Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it.') but I can add it to playlists. I've got both devices on the same Internet network, the playlist I'm attempting to use is downloaded on both devices. Clicking the song anywhere on my PC reads the above message, and on my phone it tells me 'Song Not Downloaded, If you own the song, you can sync it from your computer'.
I'm unable to mark the playlist for offline sync as there is no button giving me the option to on either device, just the download playlist button. I've tried numerous fixes suggested by different, related threads and none work.
Overall, I'm getting pretty bored of this. I've tried everything I can find and have been trying for about two hours now.

[Ivan]

Hey @Finnsj, 

Thanks for posting on the Community about this. 
 

Could you confirm if you've tried a clean reinstall of Spotify? We recommend performing this step on both devices to remove corrupted data that could be causing the issue with your local files. 

Also, have you tried restarting your network device (router or modem)? Let us know if this makes a difference. It's also a good idea to test if the same happens with a different connection. If it works as expected on another network, it's best to contact the service provider of the original connection for more info.

Let us know how you get on! We'll be here in case you need any further help. 

[Finnsj]

Hey, thanks for the advice. I reinstalled Spotify on my iPhone -- weirdly, it didn't give me the option to 'offload the app', though -- and tried again. There's still no 'mark for offline sync' button, though, and I'm still unable to play the song. The playlist is set to download on both devices.

[Ivan]

Hey @Finnsj, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

If a clean reinstall didn't help, could you confirm if you experience the same after restarting the network device (router or modem)?

It's also a good idea to test if you observe the same with a different connection. If it works as expected on another network, it's best to contact the service provider of the original connection for more info.

If you still have this issue after checking the connection, make sure the following:

• You're logged in to the same account on both your desktop and mobile
• The app is up-to-date on both devices
• Your device is up-to-date
• The Spotify app has access to your local network. Check in your iPhone/iPad settings under Spotify

Keep us in the loop here.

[Finnsj]

I've restarted the router and it didn't work. I can't test it on a different network, but I could probably hotspot my phone and my Chromebook, see if that helps. I'd rather not, as that would entail me spending money on data, but I'll try that if nothing else works. I'm logged in on both devices, the app should be updated on the PC side but it's not fully updated on my phone as the latest updates, if I remember correctly, were released for iOS 11 and further, and my phone doesn't update past 10.3.3. I have the latest update I have access to.

Spotify's got the permissions to connect to the Internet, that's how I listen to most of my music, I don't have a lot downloaded.

[Ivan]

Hey @Finnsj, 

Thanks for keeping us posted. 

Next thing we suggest checking is if you've switched on the Local audio files setting which you'll find by going to Spotify's Settings > Local Files. If you've activated this feature successfully, try downloading the local files again once you've properly imported them in the desktop app. 

If this doesn't work it's also possible that your current iOS version doesn't meet our minimum  requirements. This would explain why you don't see the option available. 

Since you mentioned using the app on Linux we can confirm that we don't actively support the platform, but we can recommend checking out our Linux help board for suggestions from fellow Linux users.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes. 

[Finnsj]

Hiya, cheers for the suggestions, still having trouble though. On the PC side, I see the option to see local files and I have it checked, but nothing explicitly saying 'local audio files', just 'show local files' as a toggle and then which directories I want songs shown from. On mobile, I don't even see anywhere in the settings where I can enable local files.
I'll have a look at the Linux help board, as well, thanks.

[Ivan]

Hey @Finnsj, 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. 

Checking the Linux help boards is the best way to go in such a case.

For the time being Spotify for Linux is a labor of love from our engineers that wanted to listen to Spotify on their Linux development machines. They work on it in their spare time and it's currently not a platform that we actively support.

Cheers! 

[GloryPink]

Hey @Finnsj

Have you fixed your problem? My sister is using the same family plan as me. She is encountering the same issue with you, but my local files play well... 

[Ivan]

Hey @GloryPink, 

Thanks for searching for the answer you need here!

Could you confirm if your sister is still experiencing this after running a clean reinstall of the Spotify app on her device? It's worth giving it a try since this will update her app to the latest version and remove corrupted cache that could be causing the issue. 

If the clean reinstall doesn't help, let us know some more info about the devices you both use so we can take a closer look. Make sure to provide us with the following details:

• make and model of both devices
• exact version of the OS of the devices
• exact version of the Spotify app 

Once we've collected this info from you we'll be able to investigate further and assist. 

Looking forward to your reply. Enjoy your day!