Spotify's high data usage is a cause for concern, workarounds come to aid for many
For a few, the data usage was as high as 300GB/month
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If you run the Spotify app, be it on a mobile or PC, do check the data usage when on a limited plan. As it turns out, a few are complaining about Spotify’s high data usage, sometimes to the tune of 100-300 GBs, even when the app usage was barely a few hours per day.
In a recent case, a user through a Reddit post claimed that Spotify consumed 300GB after using it for a few hours daily. This is extremely high with no possible justification!
When we further investigated, it appears that the problem has been present for years, with complaints from as far as September’13 available on Reddit.
When I checked the data consumption on my devices (a Windows PC and an iPhone), it was in the normal 1-5 GB range. I personally use it less than an hour a day for a handful of songs and podcasts.
So, the problem is most likely limited and does not affect everyone, as is evident from what many others have to say.
I believe it wouldn’t use up that much data. I have a 100GB plan and throughout workdays I do spend around 3 hours daily, sometimes more sometimes less, watching some YouTube, or anime while going places. The highest total I’ve gotten was on a work trip abroad since mostly on mobile data since my hotel room had horrible wifi, and it was 60gb. Now if they watched that much on 4-8k, possible. But afaik in most cases you won’t even get it as an option…
So I’m likely to believe that it’s not quite possible.
I listen to Spotify on my phone A LOT. I’m talking podcasts and music for the bulk of my 8 hour shift, and during my commute in and out of the office and I’m only at 65 gb for the month.
Verified workarounds to reduce Spotify’s high data usage
- Choose Low quality for Cellular streaming: Open Spotify Settings from the top-right corner > go to Audio Quality > choose Low under Cellular streaming.
- Turn on Data Saver mode: In Spotify Settings, go to Data Saver > enable the Data Saver toggle, as well as the ones for Download audio only and Stream audio only.
- Limit Spotify’s data usage in Settings: You can turn off an app’s access to mobile data from the built-in device settings. Doing so would only let it connect to the Internet when on Wi-Fi.
Besides, Spotify should not be set to download playlists and podcasts automatically. This turned out to be the underlying cause for most.
With one of these tricks, you should be able to lower Spotify’s data usage, but raising a ticket with Spotify support is vital as it will highlight the problem to the developers.
Also, discover which of the two better suits your needs, Spotify app or Spotify web, and choose one!
To share your issue or more possible workarounds, drop a comment below.
