Offline Google Music on iOS

[blairh]

Has anybody had success accessing their Google Music collection on iOS for offline use? I downloaded gMusic today but offline listening does not work well at all for me. A total mess. I'd love to be able to ditch the Apple music app altogether and just pin my Google Music collection so I can listen without a connection of any kind.

 

[paulbennett95]

I've replaced the stock music app w/an app called Melodies (
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/melodies-google-music-client/id492178411?mt=8 )
It works very well for me, and offline listening is great.
Now I only have my favorite songs for offline, but I can still listen to some other ones online when I want without having them take up space. Kinda runs up my usage however, but I mostly listen to offline songs.
I tried the app you mentioned and didn't like it, so i'd definitely suggest Melodies for a Google Music client

EDIT: I linked the free version, but I use the paid version which is significantly better and I'd suggest getting it, I think it's like $2.

EDIT2: The free version doesn't support offline it seems, but the paid version is actually only $.99 so yeah.

 

[blairh]

I've replaced the stock music app w/an app called Melodies (
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/melodies-google-music-client/id492178411?mt=8 )
It works very well for me, and offline listening is great.
Now I only have my favorite songs for offline, but I can still listen to some other ones online when I want without having them take up space. Kinda runs up my usage however, but I mostly listen to offline songs.
I tried the app you mentioned and didn't like it, so i'd definitely suggest Melodies for a Google Music client

EDIT: I linked the free version, but I use the paid version which is significantly better and I'd suggest getting it, I think it's like $2.

EDIT2: The free version doesn't support offline it seems, but the paid version is actually only $.99 so yeah.

I'll try it. gMusic allegedly supports offline listening but it fails miserably when I do so.

 

[LSUtigers03]

I use GoMusic and haven't had any problems with downloading music for offline use. What problems are you having with gMusic?

 

[blairh]

I use GoMusic and haven't had any problems with downloading music for offline use. What problems are you having with gMusic?

It just doesn't work. It will download and then when I open the app minutes later it downloads again. It also won't work for me if I have cellular off or I'm in Airplane mode.

 

[blairh]

It appears that GoMusic does indeed work well for offline use. Can't say the same about gMusic.

Thank you for suggesting it. If it works consistently then it appears I have finally found the perfect solution for my music needs. (Upload to Google Music, pin what I desire to my iPhone for offline use.)

Do you know if data is still used if the music you have downloaded for offline use is then played while you are away from wi-fi but with a cellular connection enabled? Does it by default revert to your locally stored files that you downloaded prior?

 

[LSUtigers03]

It appears that GoMusic does indeed work well for offline use. Can't say the same about gMusic.

Thank you for suggesting it. If it works consistently then it appears I have finally found the perfect solution for my music needs. (Upload to Google Music, pin what I desire to my iPhone for offline use.)

Do you know if data is still used if the music you have downloaded for offline use is then played while you are away from wi-fi but with a cellular connection enabled? Does it by default revert to your locally stored files that you downloaded prior?

I assume that it doesn't use any data. I usually put my phone in airplane mode just to test it out to make sure and it always plays my downloaded music and doesn't play what is in the cloud. You could clear your data usage and test out the downloaded music. It shouldn't use data because if it did there would be no point in downloading it.

 

[blairh]

I assume that it doesn't use any data. I usually put my phone in airplane mode just to test it out to make sure and it always plays my downloaded music and doesn't play what is in the cloud. You could clear your data usage and test out the downloaded music. It shouldn't use data because if it did there would be no point in downloading it.

It probably does not use data. I might shut off cellular if I want to be safe. The app is amazing (even has cover flow). I'm planning on ditching iTunes entirely with respect to managing my music. Google Music + GoMusic should be sufficient for my needs. Thanks again for the suggestion.

 

[blairh]

So GoMusic works as stated but it's not a smooth process. Downloading for offline use could work a lot better. I tried downloading 3 albums at the same time while under an excellent wi-fi connection and it didn't work. It started to download one and then essentially never downloaded the others. Even downloading one album at a time isn't smooth. It downloads the songs out of order, which isn't a big deal, but even then sometimes it doesn't download the entire album. And sometimes it will download the entire album but show as if a song isn't completed, etc, when it is. Also downloading an entire album is pretty slow. Usually more than 5 minutes an album.

Anybody use an Android device to download their music for offline use using their official Google Music app? I wonder if that service is smoother/quicker.

I also I got an 'invalid response' message when trying to access my Google Music via GoMusic this morning over LTE. I had to close the app for good (double tap home button, then hold onto an app and hit the red icon) to get it working again.