Spotify is preparing a new tool for those who download music and want to take advantage of FLAC audio without wasting time deleting and re-downloading their songs . The feature, still under development, would allow users to adapt the quality of content already saved on their device to the lossless audio option that the platform recently launched for Premium subscribers.
The change is aimed directly at the most demanding users when it comes to sound, especially in markets like Spain and the rest of Europe , where competition in high-fidelity audio has intensified and the offline download experience is key to listening to music on the go without depending on a connection.
Spotify's leap to lossless audio in FLAC
In September, the company activated its long-awaited lossless audio mode for Premium accounts, supporting FLAC format with a resolution of up to 24 bits and 44,1 kHz . This move positioned Spotify closer to other services already offering high-fidelity sound, thus responding to a recurring demand from users who wanted higher quality without resorting to other platforms.
However, the arrival of this quality level brought with it a significant limitation: the improvement only applied to new downloads made after lossless audio was activated . Everything already stored on the phone or tablet continued to use the previous compression, even if the user had changed the quality settings.
Until now, Spotify was able to automatically adjust the low, normal, high, and very high levels of downloaded files , adapting the quality without much user intervention. The problem arose precisely with the switch to FLAC, which was left out of this automatic update system.
This created a rather awkward situation for anyone with a large library: if someone wanted to enjoy all their albums, playlists, and songs offline in the new lossless quality , the only real alternative was to delete absolutely everything and download their personal catalog again from scratch.
On devices with limited storage, or for users who have been accumulating downloads for years, this obligation to start over was impractical and, in many cases, unfeasible , which detracted from the appeal of the high-fidelity audio function itself.
A function to update the quality of what has already been downloaded
To address this issue, Spotify is working on a new feature that would allow users to update the quality of content already downloaded to their device without having to delete it first. The idea is that the offline library can adapt to the audio quality selected in the settings, including lossless audio.
The development of this feature was revealed thanks to an analysis of version 9.1.48.148 of the Spotify app for Android , conducted by the tech website Android Authority. Upon reviewing the internal code, clear references were identified to a new bulk download system designed to improve the quality of existing files.
These code snippets explicitly mention the possibility of "updating current downloads to the selected audio quality ," an indication that fits with the need to bring all the songs and playlists that the user had downloaded before the arrival of lossless audio up to the FLAC level.
Although the app's internal text doesn't explicitly mention lossless mode, the app's structure suggests that this new tool is specifically designed to bridge the gap with the FLAC format . The other quality levels are already being adapted without much difficulty, so the focus is on upgrading to the highest available quality.
If confirmed as described in the code, the function would act as a massive background download , replacing old files with their higher quality equivalents, thus preventing the user from having to go one by one or completely redo their favorite playlists and albums.
Impact on data storage and consumption
The analysis also revealed that Spotify is introducing warning messages about storage space and data usage associated with this quality update. One of the messages found indicated that the process could cause the device to "run out of space."
This precaution makes sense considering that FLAC audio, being lossless, takes up considerably more memory than the compressed formats previously used on the platform. Upgrading dozens or hundreds of albums to this quality could add several gigabytes of space.
For users in Spain and Europe who use offline mode for travel, public transport, or listening to music outside the home, managing storage on mobile phones with 64 GB or less can become an important factor when deciding which playlists and albums to convert to FLAC.
Furthermore, the platform is expected to offer some kind of recommendation on the use of a WiFi connection during the process, since downloading or updating an entire library to FLAC could consume a significant portion of the mobile data allowance if done using the operator's network.
For many users, the key will be finding a balance: enjoying the leap in quality that lossless audio offers in the albums and playlists they listen to most, but without saturating the device's internal storage or exhausting their contracted data allowance.
Availability and what may change for users
This new feature is still under development and has not yet been publicly rolled out in the Spotify app. There is no official release date, and it's unknown whether it will arrive first on Android, iOS, or simultaneously on all platforms.
What does seem clear is that, once available, it will significantly facilitate the transition to high-fidelity audio for those who already have large downloaded libraries . The ability to update all that music at once will save time and avoid the frustration of having to reorganize everything.
In European markets where the use of collaborative playlists, personal collections, and extensive libraries is quite common, this tool can make all the difference in the perceived value of the Premium plan . The lossless audio feature will no longer be something only available with new downloads, but will instead be better integrated with how listeners actually use the music.
It also opens the door for Spotify to further refine its quality management options in the future, allowing users to decide in more detail which parts of the library are updated and which are kept in lighter formats , depending on the needs of each user and the device they use.
Meanwhile, those who have already switched to lossless audio will have to continue using the traditional method of deleting and re-downloading the content they want to listen to in FLAC . The appearance of this feature in the code, however, indicates that the change might not be too far off in the stable version.
Overall, the development of this mass upgrade option suggests that Spotify wants to refine the experience of its new lossless audio and reduce the practical hurdles users encounter when upgrading to higher sound quality. If the implementation adheres to the code, the result will be a much simpler migration to FLAC, especially for those in Spain and Europe who rely on offline listening to music daily.
