GoKawiilTushar Mehta / Android Authority
TL;DR 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:
Code Copy Text <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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