When it comes to things that can burn your data plan, streaming music is at the top of the list. Fortunately, Spotify gives you several ways to save data while still enjoying your music on the go.
Streaming services like Spotify are handy, but having all of your music in the cloud means you need an internet connection to access it. We’ll show you how you can still enjoy streaming music while reducing its impact on your monthly cell phone data bill.
Activate data saver
Spotify has a “Data Saver” feature available for Free and Premium subscribers. Enabling this option will set the music quality to the equivalent of 24kbps and disable artist canvases (short videos that appear in Now Playing).
To get started, open Spotify on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device and tap the gear icon in the top right corner.
At the top of the settings, you’ll see a “data saver” section and a few toggles. On iPhone and iPad, you need to select “Data Saver” first to see the toggles.
The toggles will be slightly different for Free and Premium users. Activate “data saver” or “audio quality”.
That’s it. Your music will now stream at a lower quality, which uses less data.
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Adjust streaming quality
The Data Saver feature is sort of a big master switch, but if you want more control over audio quality, there are more precise options for Free and Premium subscribers.
First, open Spotify on your iPhone, iPad or Android device and tap the gear icon in the top right corner.
Then scroll down to the “Audio Quality” section. On iPhone and iPad, you will need to tap on “Audio Quality” to see the options.
You can choose the audio quality for streaming over Wi-Fi and cellular. The “Automatic” option will attempt to adjust the quality according to your connection speed. Select one or the other and choose a quality setting.
Spotify for Windows and Mac also offers audio quality options. They can be found on the Settings page.
That’s all we can say about it. If your goal is to reduce data usage, we recommend that you choose “Low” or “Normal” for “Cell broadcast”.
Download for offline listening
The latter method is only available for Premium subscribers. You can download playlists and albums for offline listening. This means that you won’t use any data when listening to them. This is a must have feature if you are paying for Spotify Premium.
Spotify supports offline listening on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, and Mac. It’s as easy as flipping a switch or pressing a download button.
RELATED: How to Download Music from Spotify for Offline Playback
It is not possible to download individual songs for offline listening, but a good tip is to download your “Liked Songs” playlist. Any song you “like” will automatically be added to the playlist and downloaded for offline listening.
With all these methods, you can enjoy all the benefits of music streaming without draining your data. There is nothing worse than an unusually high bill, so be sure to take advantage of these features.
RELATED: How to Use Spotify Offline on Windows 10 PC or Mac
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