Spotify not playing downloaded songs on Apple Watch [FINALLY RESOLVED!!!] - Oct 2023

I had been trying to resolve this issue non-stop for 7 hours!! I'm still in my running clothes because I was too frustrated to go for the run without first resolving this FML!

I had been unable to get playlists and albums to play offline for all this time until I did all of the below three things.

(Note, I'm not sure which of the three helped, or if indeed it was a combination of all three.)

• I updated to the latest Apple Watch OS (for me it's WatchOS 9.6.3 because I'm using an iPhone 8, and that's running on iOS 16.4.1)

I admit I was reluctant to update the software at first because I didn't think it would make a difference.

• When the songs are downloading on the Apple Watch, do not let the screen go to sleep.

I tried this after downloading Tidal in frustration: when you download songs to the Tidal Apple Watch app, a prompt pops up saying "do not let screen go to sleep" so I thought this may also have an effect with Spotify.

• I connected the AirPods to the Watch only after the songs/playlists had finished downloading.

I have verified this by successfully going on a 5k run without the iPhone.

PS: I'm using an Apple Watch Ultra (2022)