Syncing Spotify across the Windows, Mac, and iOS environments is handled automatically through Spotify Connect. Not only does it sync your albums and playlists, but it also turns your devices into one unified control system, allowing you to start a song on your Mac, pausing or skipping it seamlessly from your iPhone. This is particularly great if you have speakers throughout your home, as it allows you to move from the room where you were playing music on your PC or Mac, using your phone to pick up where you left off in another part of the house.
To get all of your devices communicating with each other across Spotify Connect, you first need to make sure they’re all on the same Wi-Fi network, and they’re each logged into the same Spotify account.
Desktop (Windows & Mac)
Step 1. Open Spotify and play any song.
Step 2. Look for the “Devices” icon at the bottom-right side (a small speaker with a monitor behind it).
Step 3. Click to see a list of all available devices on your network, making sure they are all shown.
iOS (iPhone & iPad)
Step 1. Open the Spotify app and navigate to the “Now Playing” screen.
Step 2. Tap the “Devices” icon in the bottom-left corner (in iOS, it’s now in the bottom-right corner).
Step 3. Select whichever device you started the song on, whether that was a Mac or PC, to hand off the audio or control it from your phone. The up and down side buttons will now control the volume, and you can pause or change tracks.
Syncing Local Files
If you have other files, such as MP3s, stored on a hard drive and not on Spotify, you can sync them to your iPhone using Spotify Connect. It just requires a few extra steps.
Desktop Setup
Step 1. On your PC or Mac, open Spotify and click on your profile picture or icon.
Step 2. Navigate to “Settings,” then scroll down on the left to “Library,” and toggle the switch “Show Local Files” to the “On” position. In iOS, it’s now found in Settings and privacy > Apps and devices > Local audio files, while in the browser-based version, it’s in the “Library” section of the “Settings” menu.
You will then have the option to choose to show songs from your “Downloads,” “Music Library,” or optionally, “Add a source” to navigate to a custom folder on an external hard drive.
Step 3. Next, create a new playlist on your desktop computer. Navigate to your local files folder (it will be on the left-side with all your other albums and folders).
Step 4. Add the songs from your local folder to the playlist by hovering the mouse over the song and then clicking the 3 horizontal dots to the right-hand side.
iPhone Setup
Now you need to set up your iPhone to correctly access and play the playlist containing the synced files from your computer.
Step 1. Open Spotify on your phone and go to “Settings,” “Apps and devices,” and make sure “Local audio files” is toggled to the “On” position.
You should now be able to access and play the songs from your local folder on your desktop.
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