downloaded podcasts can’t be played offline

[hattyacton]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

iPhone 13 mini

Operating System

iOS 17.5.1

My Question or Issue

I download podcasts to listen to offline and they download, showing the green tick next to them when I’m on WiFi, but whenever i exit the app and go onto it when I’m offline I can’t play the downloaded podcasts and they show a spinning circle instead of the download symbol. When I’m online and then go offline I can listen to the downloads, otherwise I can’t.

I've had this problem before but it’s never persisted like this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I’m going on a flight soon and would like to be able to listen to my downloads!!

[Luan]

Hey, @hattyacton 
Welcome to the Spotify Community, and thanks for reaching out to us!

I know it sounds simple, but have you already tried a fast reinstallation of the app on your device? Just take a look at this article below to get help about how to do it:

• Reinstall Spotify

Stay awesome and keep me in the loop! 🎶

If you have further questions or if you need anything else, let me know! I'd love to help!

[hattyacton]

Yep, I’ve tried logging out which doesn’t work and deleting and re installing the app only works for a day or so then the problems returns

[sum2chen]

I also have an iPhone 13 and the same thing happened. I did a clean reinstall twice and still have the same problem.

[OscarDC]

Hey folks,

Thank you for your messages.

Jumping in to gather some info to continue investigating this issue. Include in your next responses the following info:
 

- Is this happening to music as well, or just with podcasts?

- Your device info (make/model) and OS version

- Exact Spotify version

Also, and if possible; could any of you record a short video where we can take a better look? You can attach it to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. You can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it).
 

We'll be on the lookout.

[hattyacton]

it’s both podcasts and music and my device and spotify details are in the original post.

i can’t post a picture / video of the music but it’s just like the usual playback screen only when you press play or click on a song nothing plays

https://imgur.com/a/l2N1950

[hattyacton]

this works but only for a short period of time. after a few days the problem just comes back.

[Yordan]

Hey there @hattyacton,

Thanks for the details.

Are you using any cache-clearing apps? If so, make sure Spotify is added to the list of excluded apps, as they might be corrupting your downloads. If you're using other any battery or performance optimizing apps, I'd recommend disabling those as well to see if that does the trick.

Let us know how it goes.

[hattyacton]

No, I don’t have any of those apps

[AlejaR]

Hey there @hattyacton,

Thanks for your reply.

This type of issue can be caused due to any Background App Refresh settings that might be active on your device. In this case, we'd suggest you go to your mobile device settings> General> Background App Refresh. You can turn Background App Refresh on or off, or adjust the options for individual apps. Make sure this setting is enabled for Spotify.

If the above doesn't do the trick, we'd like to gather more info to better understand this behavior. Please send us:

• The exact Spotify version you're running on your mobile device.
• Can you replicate this behavior on a different mobile device? You can ask for the mobile device of a relative or a friend to open your account there and check.
• You mentioned this had happened before, but it has recently persisted through time. Did you notice if this started to happen after a specific event, such as an OS update?

Keep us in the loop!

[hattyacton]

Background app refresh is turned on.

I am currently running Spotify version 8.9.64

I have only noticed this on my phone, my sister (who also uses premium as we have the premium duo subscription) had this happen once, with her music. For both of us, this started happening when we went abroad on holiday where the WiFi was quite spotty and our devices would connect and disconnect to WiFi sporadically. However, this issue has persisted for me and not for her. This would have been the week of July 22nd onwards.

[Dessi]

Hey @hattyacton,

Thanks for the details!

The green check mark, which can be seen on your screenshot, indicates that the podcast episode is saved in Your Episodes in Your Library. Successfully downloaded episodes for offline listening are indicated by  instead. Can you make sure that this icon is displayed before switching to Offline Mode?

It's worth following these steps if the episodes aren't downloading when your app is online:

• Make sure your internet connection is active and try on a different one if available
• Make sure you have enough storage space
  Tip: We recommend at least 1GB free memory
• Restart the app

Let us know how it goes.

[hattyacton]

This is exactly my problem, I can download podcasts fine, and they are showing the green downloaded icon when connected to wifi but when Spotify goes offline it instead shows the spinning circle

[Eni]

Hey @hattyacton, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Just to confirm, have you checked if you have enough storage space available on your phone? 

On another note, would you mind asking a friend or a relative to log in to their account on your phone to see if they can replicate this behavior with their account? 

We'll be on the lookout.

[hattyacton]

I do have over 100 gb of free storage space so don't believe that's the issue. I can't replicate the problem on my device or anyone else's as it occurs randomly.

[MihailY]

Hey @hattyacton,

Thanks for your reply.

You've mentioned this happens with a spotty WiFi connection. We've seen similar reports in the past so can you confirm it works normally when you switch on Airplane mode and/or Offline mode (in the Spotify settings) and restart the app? 

Keep us posted.

[hattyacton]

No, when I was on holiday I went to play downloaded podcasts on the plane and they were showing the spiining icon even though I'd checked they had downloaded properly earlier

[OscarDC]

Hey @hattyacton,

Thank you for keeping in contact and for the info shared.

Since some devices may have task killer, or speed booster apps that may affect the cache stored on your device and taking into account that downloads are stored as cache, we'd recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app by following the steps in this article to replace any damaged files. Keep in mind that this process will delete all your downloads and you'll need to re-download them to have it available again for offline listening.

If it happens again, we'd always recommend turning the Offline mode ON to play downloaded content as this avoids the app from trying to stream it online and get the spinning icon.

Lastly, make sure to have the Spotify app updated as this may prevent some common issues.

Hope this helps. If anything else comes up, the Community will be here for you.