Spotify Premium Not Working On Phone? (5 Known Issues)

Spotify Premium hosts a variety of brilliant features, such as downloading tracks for offline playback, ad-free content, and the ability to listen at a higher quality compared with Spotify Free.

In this article, we will cover the most common issues with Spotify Premium and mobile phones, and what you can do to resolve the problems.

Male hand holding New Apple iPhone 7 Plus after unboxing and testing by installing the app application software Spotify music welcome

1. Unable to Access Downloaded Content on your Phone

With Spotify Premium, members have the ability to download up to 10,000 tracks on multiple different devices. This handy feature allows Premium account holders the option to listen to the music they love, even when they don’t have access to the internet.

As many would agree, this is incredibly useful; however, when you cannot access the content that you previously downloaded on your phone, it can be disappointing.

If you are experiencing issues with your Premium account and cannot access your offline playlists or tracks from your phone, then it’s worth trying the following 3 quick and simple solutions listed below.

Ensure you Haven’t Exceeded your Device Limit:

With Spotify Premium, you are able to log in and use your account on multiple devices. There is, however, a limit to the number of devices you can use.

Spotify allows Premium members to access their accounts across 5 different devices. That means you can listen to Spotify on your phone, your tablet, and your laptop with no problems at all.

However, if you’re finding you can’t access your downloaded content when you go to listen on your phone, it may be because you have too many devices signed into your account and you have exceeded Spotify’s device limit.

All you have to do is make sure you only use 5 devices to listen to your Spotify account, and this will avoid any future problems.

If you end up using more than 5 devices, Spotify will delete any and all offline tracks from the device that was last used. This automatic process will result in the problematic situation of you finding that your previous downloads have disappeared.

Make Sure you Log In to your Spotify Premium at Least Every 30 Days

Spotify Premium members need to ensure that they log into their account every month so that Spotify can verify they are active, paying members. This process also syncs and re-downloads any offline content.

As Support.Spotify.com explains:

“You need to go online at least once every 30 days to keep your downloads. This is so Spotify can collect play data to compensate artists.”

In other words, if you haven’t logged into Spotify in the past few months, you’ll find that you can no longer play your downloaded content offline.

Remember, downloaded content will only stay downloaded if, and only if, you reconnect to Spotify via the internet. If you’re on holiday and have downloaded podcasts and music due to being unable to use cellular data, it’s essential you use a Wi-Fi connection to verify your account every 30 days.

Make Sure you Haven’t Unknowingly Reached your Download Limit

As previously stated, if you have a Spotify Premium account, you’re able to download 10,000 songs on up to 5 devices.

Although 10,000 songs may sound perfectly adequate, some users will find that they fill up this offline storage space sooner than expected.

If you have reached the limit on downloading offline content on your devices, you will no longer be able to download any additional tracks or podcasts.

The only option you have in this situation is to begin removing older songs or podcasts in order to make room for the downloads you want today.

2. Glitches & Pauses with Spotify Premium Playback because the Spotify App Needs an Update

Glitches within the Spotify app can completely disrupt a user’s experience when listening to music, especially if they pause playback.

There are multiple known causes for this to happen, but luckily there are many straightforward solutions. The most common reason for Spotify to pause, stop, or shut down is that the app is out-of-date.

Keeping apps updated to the newest version is incredibly important when it comes to experiencing all the latest features and security updates. 

Moreover, Spotify developers include bug fixes in these updates to ensure that any known glitches become a thing of the past. 

So whenever there is a new release available, it’s worth a download.

Installing the latest Spotify updates is incredibly straightforward, no matter whether you’re using an iPhone or Android phone, just take a look at the steps below.

Here’s How to Update Spotify on your iPhone:

  1. Begin by opening up the App Store on your iPhone.
  2. Tap your profile icon on the top right-hand side of your screen.
  3. Refresh the screen by dragging downwards.
    • You will now see a list of all apps that have updates available.
  4. Simply find Spotify in the list and tap ‘Update’
  5. Alternatively, type Spotify into the search bar and click ‘Update’

If there is no update option available, then you can be certain that you are currently running the latest version of Spotify.

Here’s How to Update Spotify on your Android Phone:

  1. Visit the Play Store app.
  2. Tap on your profile on the top right-hand side of your screen.
  3. Now tap on ‘Manage apps & device’
  4. If Spotify needs an update, the logo will appear in your list of available updates. Simply tap ‘Update’

You can also always tap on ‘Update All’ in order to make sure that all your apps, not just Spotify, are currently up to date.

3. Failed Payment Methods for Spotify Premium

As we all know, Spotify Premium charges $9.99 a month to access all of its brilliant premium features.

However, issues with your payment can lead to your account reverting from Premium back to Free, therefore losing access to the features you’ve come to expect. If you have ever experienced payment issues with Spotify, then here are a few things to double-check beforehand:

  • Your debit or credit card hasn’t expired or been canceled for some reason.
  • Your payment details are registered where your Spotify account details are registered, i.e., in the same country.
  • You have enabled recurring, foreign and secure online payments through your banking app or online.

Once these have all been checked, there are a few other things you can try, such as:

  • Use incognito mode to enter your payment details again.
  • Using a different debit or credit card to make the payment.
  • Contact your payment provider to see if they can shed any light on why you may be experiencing these issues.
  • Wait a couple of hours before trying again, as there may be a connection issue.

4. Your Spotify Premium Keeps Crashing because your Cache is Too Full

Cache files are extremely useful on Spotify when it comes to reducing lag and saving any other temporary data for offline listening.

However, Spotify users have found that when their cache is too full, the app crashes or glitches fairly frequently.

The good news is that clearing out your cache files is very straightforward; just follow the steps below.

How to Clear your Spotify Cache on iOS & Android Smartphones:

  1. Open the Spotify app and click on the small gear icon in the top right to open up your Settings Menu.
  2. Once on the settings page, scroll down and tap on ‘Storage’
  3. Now simply tap ‘Clear cache’

Once your phone has removed the cached files, you should find that Spotify no longer keeps crashing or freezing.

5. Spotify is Freezing because you need to Force Quit the App

Sometimes, one of the simplest methods to fix any issue you have with an app glitching or freezing, including Spotify, is to perform the force quit function.

This is quickly done on both Android phones and iPhones; just follow the steps below.

How to Force Quit the Spotify App on your iPhone:

  1. Double-tap the home button in quick succession.
  2. Once the app-switcher menu has opened, either swipe right or left to find Spotify.
  3. Simply swipe upwards to force quit the app.

How to Force Quit the Spotify App on your Android Phone:

  1. To access your recently used app interface, swipe upwards from the bottom of your screen.
  2. Scroll either left or right and locate Spotify.
  3. Swipe upwards to force close the app.

If you’re using Premium on a different device and have problems, head over to our article with solutions to common issues with Spotify Premium. 

General Pros & Cons of Spotify Premium on Phones

Spotify Premium gives users many added benefits compared with Spotify Free, such as the ability to have ad-free streaming, download content offline, and also listen at a higher quality. For such a reasonable monthly price of $9.99, the pros far out way the cons.

Once you combine the portability of using Spotify via the app on your phone, the value of a Premium account is clear.

Moreover, there are other payment plans, such as ‘Spotify Duo‘ and ‘Spotify Family’ available for those living under the same roof, meaning you can save money whilst still reaping the rewards of being a Premium account owner.

Cons:

  • Issues with offline playback
  • Payment issues with Premium
  • Problems with the app’s cache storage being too full
  • The app glitched and needs to be forced to quit
  • Difficulty accessing downloaded content on your Phone

Sources

Listen Offline

Failed Payment Help

How to clear your Spotify cache to reclaim storage space, or remove all your downloaded music at once

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