How to sync Spotify local files to your mobile devices
Open Spotify desktop app (Yes, you need to install this):
- Turn on “Settings — Local Files — Show Local Files”.
- Add local files to a new playlist.
Open Spotify mobile app:
- Turn on “Settings — Local Files — Local audio files”. Grant local network permission if presented (new permission on iOS 14).
- Turn off “Settings — Playback — Hide Unplayable Songs”.
- Select the new playlist and download all songs of local files.
Comments
Spotify excels Apple Music in almost every aspect except for this one. Apple Music feature, Syncing Library, is an old feature called “iTunes Match”, works a lot easier than Spotify Local Files.
Apple Music, which uploads and matches your songs on the iTunes Store. Those unmatched songs get uploaded to the cloud, up to 100,000 songs. DO BACKUP YOUR SONGS ELSEWHERE because Apple Music would replace matched songs with 256 Kbps AAC version on the iTunes Store.
Spotify, which does not upload your songs to the cloud, but using local network feature to sync the songs. That means, without saving local files under the same local network, those songs are unplayable. The support page claims they may match the songs, but the mechanism is unclear.
We’re having a good time with unified public catalogue and music streaming experience, but also stagnant experience of dealing with our own music files.
P.S. The iTunes lossless format (M4A) IS supported on iOS devices, unlike Spotify support claims.
Refs:
