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Spotify could soon solve its biggest lossless audio download problem
- Spotify is testing a “Bulk Redownload” tool that will help users automatically upgrade offline music to higher-quality tiers.
- The feature specifically addresses the current need to manually delete and redownload files when switching to lossless audio.
- The app will display dynamic warnings about the significant storage and data impact of bulk lossless downloads.
Spotify has had a busy April, launching several features, including Fitness with Spotify, Verified by Spotify, and a redesign of its tablet apps. The company seems set to ride that momentum into the new month, as we’ve now spotted a Bulk Redownload feature in the works that users have long requested for lossless music.
Spotify allows users to download songs to their devices for offline playback. Premium users can choose between low (~24kbps), normal (~96kbps), high (~160kbps), very high (~320kbps), and lossless (variable, up to ~2,100kbps) quality for their downloaded files.
Of these, the lossless audio tier was introduced recently, and users quickly noticed a peculiar behavior when the upgrade became available: switching the download quality to lossless affected only future downloads, while their existing downloads remained at their previous quality. The app would present the following message to users:
<string name="settings_item_download_quality_dialog_snackbar">New song downloads will be in lossless. Older downloads won't be affected.</string>If you have a large library of songs and albums, you would have to redownload them, since the app wouldn’t automatically upgrade their quality. However, the app automatically applies the quality upgrade when switching between non-lossless tiers.
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Within Spotify for Android 9.1.48.148, we’ve spotted code for a new Bulk Redownload feature that would likely address this pain point for lossless users.
<string name="settings_item_update_existing_downloads_title">Update existing downloads</string>
<string name="settings_item_update_existing_downloads_description">Update your existing downloads to the audio quality you've selected.</string>While the new strings don’t explicitly target the lossless tier, as mentioned, the app already handles upgrades for non-lossless tiers and has an explicit exception for the lossless tier. Thus, the new Bulk Redownload feature could target this outlier.
We’ve also spotted several warning dialogs for storage space and data use, which once again tie to the lossless tier.
<string name="bulk_redownload_dialog_body">Your downloads currently use %1$s of storage. In %2$s, they'll use about %3$s.</string>
<string name="bulk_redownload_dialog_low_storage_body">Your downloads currently use %1$s of storage. In %2$s, they'll use about %3$s. This could cause your device to run out of space.</string>“%s” are placeholder strings. The app will dynamically change this placeholder information based on user data. In the above strings, %2$s likely refers to the download quality tier, while %1$s and %3$s likely refer to the storage amount.
<string name="bulk_redownload_dialog_cellular_body">You’re on mobile data. Downloading in %1$s may use up to %2$s. This could significantly impact your data plan.</string>
<string name="bulk_redownload_dialog_cellular_not_allowed_body">Update your settings to enable downloads using mobile data.</string>
<string name="bulk_redownload_dialog_cellular_not_allowed_title">Download using mobile data?</string>
<string name="bulk_redownload_dialog_cellular_title">Update existing downloads to %1$s over cellular?</string>
<string name="bulk_redownload_dialog_change_cellular_setting">Change cellular setting</string>It’s possible that these system warning dialogs and the bulk redownload feature become available across all download quality tiers, giving users a consistent experience regardless of which tier they switch to. We’ll keep an eye out for when Spotify begins rolling out the new Bulk Redownload feature to mobile users, making it easier to upgrade download quality tiers.
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