iPhone Sync grey/green/no arrow?

[stuford514]

Hi

I am syncing tracks to my iPhone 5 from my laptop and when I make the playlist available offline, it shows all tracks with the grey downwards arrow on some, a green arrow on others and no arrow at all on some.

What do these coloured arrows mean and why aren't they all the same?

Thanks

[Joe]

Any chance of a screenshot?

[limegroove · Accepted solution]

In terms of what the colored arrows mean:

• Green – Track has been downloaded and is available for offline listening
• Grey – Track is waiting to be downloaded for offline listening
• No Arrow – Track hasn't been selected for download and is not available for offline listening

As for why they're not all the same, scroll to the top of the playlist and make sure the Available Offline switch is toggled on like this:

If it is, try toggling it off and then on again.

Hope that helps!

[Malteasers]

I have this too- and yes, the available offline is checked. when i put spotify in offline mode, however, the songs with no arrows will still play. bug?

[Hope_Amongst_Us]

I'm having the same problem. Only a few of my tracks have a green arrow, though they are all available offline and will play in offline mode.

I'm also concerned if this reflects tracks being drawn from local files or Spotify's database. Is there any way I confirm Spotify is using local files rather than their own database? I don't want to risk hitting the 3,333 limit on downloaded songs (which doesn't apply to local files). 

[_loafs]

I'm not sure about the DL limit and if local files add to it, sorry.
The reason some tracks have no arrow at all however, is because they are already on your phone's music library like iTunes (for iPhones) i.e. Local Files.

[Malteasers]

nope, I have some songs that aren't in spotify WITH the green arrow

[Peter__]

The reason some tracks have no arrow at all however, is because they are already on your phone's music library like iTunes (for iPhones) i.e. Local Files.

That isn't true, Spotify can't access any local files from other sources on your device. 

Roughly how many tracks would you say you have downloaded to offline mode? 

[Hope_Amongst_Us]

Yes, I don't have any local music files on my phone anyway, so it couldn't be that. 

I'm currently in the process of syncing 5660 local files to my phone. It has synced about 2000 so far. Of these, some have the green arrow, some do not. It's hard to say without counting 2000 songs, but I'd say there are more without the arrow that with. I can't tell what logic there is behind which songs get the arrow. Songs that don't exist in the Spotify catlog, like those by the Beatles, have the green arrow. Yet, there are songs that do exist in the catalog that have the green arrow as well. Maybe the metadata on those songs is slightly off or something? 

[Hope_Amongst_Us]

To add to this, I'm confused about how Spotify integrates local music and their own music. 

I've been adding my imported local music to my "Your Music", but the integration is anything but smooth. It seems Spotify has multiple records of the same albums (perhaps with minor differences). It seems to be matching my local files, which I dragged into "Your Music", to various iterations of these albums. This is leading to clutter and confusion in my "Your Music" section. Here's a photo to just show a sample of this doubling of albums. However, it is not doubling any tracks. The tracks are just spread out among the various albums. 

Moreover, this is leading to a strange phenomenon in which only certain albums show up as saved to my "Your Music" when I search that album in the Spotify catalog. For example, I have imported an album from local files, added it to "Your Music" (and it shows up here), but when I search the name of that album in Spotify's catalog, it does not show up as "Saved". I suppose this is because Spotify recognized my version of the album as some other version, though all the track information appears the same. I've also attached a photo to demonstrate this: I've imported Neon Bible by Arcade Fire, and it shows up in "Your Music", but if I search it in Spotify, it does not appear "Saved". 

[Joe]

Local music hasn't been integrated into Your Music yet so my advice is not to add local files there or you will see the issues you are reporting. These occur when an album is available in another country than yours (often in a different version) or only a partial release exists in the database.

[Hope_Amongst_Us]

Thanks, it seems you're right. I really wanted to import all of my local files into Spotify and use "Your Music" to organize it (rather than manual playlists), but it seems that won't really work. 

I just hope one day this gets addressed so I can ditch iTunes and all other music managers for a unified Spotify. 

[Joe]

Don't worry. They're actually testing local file integration right now 🙂

[Hope_Amongst_Us]

When do you think something might be worked out? 

What do you suggest I do in the meantime? I'm thinking I'll just balance two music libraries using iTunes and Spotify. 

[Joe]

No idea when but I use playlists (I know, I know!) for local file albums.

[Hope_Amongst_Us]

Okay, thanks for your help. I'll consider the playlists, but it might be too much effort for organizing a 6000 track library. 

[winners31]

Hi,

I get the green and grey arrows also when syncing my songs, you say the grey arrows are becuase its waiting to be downloaded.

How long do they stay like this?

Do we have to clear some memory for them to be downloaded?

[_loafs]

That coud be. Are you trying to download them while your phone is connected to the Spotify client (desktop player)? If so, there will be a status bar for the space on your phone/device. Just make sure that the Spotify App is also open on your phone/device.

---

@winners31 wrote:

Hi,

I get the green and grey arrows also when syncing my songs, you say the grey arrows are becuase its waiting to be downloaded.

How long do they stay like this?

Do we have to clear some memory for them to be downloaded?

---

[KR2001]

What do these red arrows I'm getting mean?

Thanks

[MattSuda]

@KR2001 

That's weird... I've been using the iPhone app for 4 years and I have never seen those red arrows. I've only seen grey or green arrows.