It is unclear if the upcoming feature will be limited to Spotify Premium users.
Spotify users won’t need to sync from the desktop to play locally stored music on the phone
Spotify is working on adding support for local music playback on Android, as per a tipster. Notable reverse engineer expert Jane Manchun Wong said that Spotify's app on Android may soon have on-device or local files support. A screenshot shows a toggle which can be enabled to ‘Show device files.' Spotify users won't need to sync from the desktop to play locally stored music on the phone. It isn't clear so far whether this feature will be limited to Spotify Premium users or if it will roll out to free users as well.
The latest Spotify feature is being tested for Android right now, as per Jane Manchun Wong. She said that she wasn't aware of the feature being tested for the iOS app so far.
The toggle under Spotify's settings, as visible in the screenshot shared by Jane Manchun Wong, gives users the option to turn on the ‘Show device files' option. This will show all the audio files that are there on the user's device in Your Library. It seems that the app will scan your phone for audio files that have been saved, and show then in the Your Library section on the app.
To listen to locally downloaded files, Spotify users currently have to log in to their accounts on the mobile app as well as Spotify on the desktop. They also have to be synced on the same local network.
Since the feature is only testing right now, it could be a while before it rolls out to a wider audience. This feature will bring the popular music streaming app to the likes of YouTube Music, which lets users play locally stored files and uploaded songs.
Spotify has recently also started rolling out a Stories feature on Android and iOS to a limited group of artists. Through this, users will be able to share video clips that have snippets of songs and album art, as well as snippets of their playlists.
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