Spotify says it’s testing an ‘offline mix’ for when your connection’s patchy

Spotify is testing a new feature that could make it easier to keep listening when you’re away from an internet connection. Called “Your Offline Mix” the playlist would automatically save “a mix of your recently played songs for when the vibe is high, but your connection is low,” according to a screenshot shared by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek that shows a roughly three-and-a-half hour long playlist. Ek didn’t share a timeline for when the feature could get a broader rollout, but given he’s tweeting publicly about the test it’s hopefully not too far away.

The audio streaming app already lets users download playlists or albums for offline listening; a useful feature for saving data when you’re not on Wi-Fi, or when you’re away from an internet connection entirely while doing anything from traveling on a plane or riding the metro. But it can be an annoyingly manual process to pick what music to download, especially if you’re someone that likes to hop between lots of different music.

YouTube Music has had a similar feature called Offline Mixtape for years, and Spotify appears to have been working on its offline mix feature since at least mid-2020 if evidence discovered at the time by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong (via TechCrunch) is anything to go by. Why exactly it’s taken the service this long to roll it out is unclear, but if I had to guess I’d assume it became less of a priority when the covid pandemic severely curtailed the amount of time a lot of people spent outside away from Wi-Fi.

Your Offline Mix seems like it could be a neat feature when it rolls out. In the meantime, if you’re struggling to pick which playlists to download for offline listening, I suggest downloading the “Your Top Songs” playlist Spotify generated for you last year. It might lack your more recent listening obsessions, but at least you’ll have a decent starting point to fall back on when your internet fails you.