Local files no longer works for supervised iPhones?

[modestporpoise]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

(iPhone SE 2nd gen)

Operating System

(iOS 15)

I'm guessing Spotify has many many customers using an iPhone provided by and 'supervised' (ie locked down) by their employer. I'm one. With these iPhones, the old way of syncing Spotify local files from laptop to phone worked, usually.

But the new "local file discovery" method which picks up audio files from the music library on iOS - it doesn't seem to work at all.

That's because it requires the iPhone to download the files from a laptop via a cable, and many if not most supervised iPhones are blocked from doing that. 

Is there a workaround?

Thanks!

[Eni]

Hey there @modestporpoise, 

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community. 

If the phone doesn't allow you to store the files in it, we're afraid it's not possible to add local files to the Spotify app.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and will make sure to pass it onto the right team, as we always strive to improve your experience.

If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you. 

[modestporpoise]

Hi Eni, thanks for the reply. Yes I can store files on the phone. It's easy to download them into the iPhone Files app, for example (eg from from iCloud Drive or Google Drive). But the Spotify app doesn't see files in the Files app: it insists instead that files are stored in the iPhone music library. And I haven't found any non-cable way to download files to the music library (except by buying a subscription to Apple Music!). 

So I guess I'm looking for any workarounds people have found to get files into the music library; or else to allow the Spotify app to see local files in a different location on the iPhone (like it does on desktop)?

[AlejaR]

Hey @modestporpoise,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared 🙂

Only audio files can currently be imported into the Spotify app from the iPhone's music library. You won't be able to import the files into the app if you don't have a means to save them there.

In this case, what we can recommend you is to reach out to Apple customer support for further details about this and a possible workaround.

We hope you found this helpful. Let us know if you need anything else. 
 

Cheers!

[modestporpoise]

Hi @AlejaR - thanks for your reply. But I don't see why this is something for Apple customer support. Until a couple of months ago Spotify provided a local files system - sync by wifi - which worked. But now Spotify, not Apple, has broken that system. 

Why can't we select the old sync system as an option? Or why can't Spotify play audio files from the Files app as well as from the iPhone music library? Plenty of other apps (nPlayer, OfflineMusicPlayer etc) can do that.