You found a better deal, or a family plan, or you just want to hear what all the lossless fuss is about, and now Apple Music is calling. The only thing holding you back is the thought of losing years of playlists and every song you carefully saved for offline listening. Good news: you do not rebuild any of it by hand. A free transfer app carries your playlists and library across in minutes, and your offline tracks come back with one tap of re-download on the other side. Here is the whole move on iPhone, start to finish, with the honest bits about what carries over and what does not.
The switch takes about ten minutes of setup and then some waiting while the transfer runs. Nothing here touches your Spotify account until you are ready to cancel it, so you can try Apple Music with everything intact and back out if you change your mind.
The honest part: what moves and what does not
Start here, because it saves confusion later. Your playlists and your saved songs and albums move across, but not as files. A transfer app reads your Spotify library and rebuilds it on Apple Music by matching each track to Apple’s own catalog. What does not move is the actual downloaded audio. Offline files are locked to the app that made them, so they cannot jump services. That sounds worse than it is: once your library lands on Apple Music, you re-download it there for offline use, and you are back where you started. A small number of tracks may not match, usually a Spotify exclusive or an odd version, and the app hands you a list of those so you can add them back.
Before you start
Two things need to be true first. You need an active Apple Music subscription or its free trial running, because a transfer app can only add songs to a live account. Apple Music offers a trial for new users, usually a month, which is long enough to move everything and decide. Second, keep your Spotify subscription active until the move is done and checked. The transfer reads from Spotify, so cancelling it early leaves the app nothing to copy. Once Apple Music holds everything you want, then you cancel Spotify, not before.
Step 1: Install a transfer app
You cannot move a Spotify library into Apple Music from inside either app, so you use a third-party mover. On iPhone the easy pick is SongShift, a free app built for exactly this. It handles one playlist at a time for free, which covers most people, with a paid tier around $7 a month if you want to move many playlists at once. Soundiiz and TuneMyMusic do the same job and also have free tiers with one-playlist-at-a-time limits, and they work from a web browser if you prefer a bigger screen. Any of the three is fine. Install SongShift from the App Store to keep the whole thing on your phone.
Step 2: Connect both accounts
Open the app and link Spotify and Apple Music to it. It sends you to each service’s own sign-in screen, where you log in and approve access, so the app never sees your passwords. This is standard and safe, the same kind of permission you grant when a service offers “sign in with” another account. Approve read access to your Spotify library and permission to add music to Apple Music. Once both show as connected, the app can see what you have on one side and build it on the other.
Step 3: Move your playlists and library
Now choose what to bring over. Pick a playlist, or your Liked Songs, or your saved albums, and start the transfer. The app reads the source, finds each track in Apple Music, and adds it to a matching playlist on your account. A big library can take a while, so let it run and keep the app open if it asks. If you are on a free tier and have many playlists, work through them one at a time, starting with the ones you play most. When it finishes, open Apple Music and your playlists are waiting in your library.
Step 4: Re-download for offline listening
This is the step that replaces your old downloads. In Apple Music, turn on the download for the playlists and albums you want available without a connection. You can tap the download icon on each one, or turn on automatic downloads in Settings so anything you add to your library saves for offline on its own. Apple’s guide to the Music app on iPhone walks through the download controls if you want the exact taps. Give it a few minutes on Wi-Fi, and your offline collection is rebuilt.
Step 5: Check the leftovers
Before you cancel anything, look at what the app flagged. Most transfer tools give you a report of tracks that did not match, and it is worth a scan. Some are easy fixes, a live version instead of the studio one, or a single that sits under a different album on Apple Music, and you add those by hand in a couple of minutes. Others may be genuinely unavailable, which happens with the odd exclusive. Knowing the short list means no playlist quietly loses a favorite without you noticing.
What about the songs that did not transfer
A few gaps are normal, and they are usually small. Streaming catalogs are close but not identical, so a handful of tracks per large library might be missing or matched to a slightly different recording. The fix is manual: search the song in Apple Music and add it to the right playlist. If a track is not on Apple Music at all, that is the one real limit, and it is rare enough that most people find their libraries land more or less whole. Keep your Spotify account a few extra days while you confirm the important playlists feel right.
App features, free-trial lengths, and prices change often, so confirm the current details in each app before you rely on them. Transfer tools move playlist and library data, not the audio files themselves, and cancelling a subscription removes your access to its downloads.
What To Know
- Playlists and saved songs move across; offline downloads do not transfer as files, so you re-download them on Apple Music.
- You need an active Apple Music plan or trial, and you should keep Spotify running until the move is verified.
- On iPhone, SongShift is a free transfer app; Soundiiz and TuneMyMusic are good alternatives with free one-playlist limits.
- The transfer matches each track to Apple’s catalog, and a small number may not match.
- Check the app’s report of unmatched tracks and add those by hand before cancelling Spotify.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I move my Spotify playlists to Apple Music for free?
Yes, for most libraries. Free apps like SongShift on iPhone, or Soundiiz and TuneMyMusic, move playlists at no cost, though the free tiers usually handle one playlist at a time. If you have a large number of playlists and want them all moved at once, a low-cost paid tier speeds it up, but you can transfer everything for free by working through them one by one.
Will my downloaded songs come over to Apple Music?
Not as the actual files, because offline downloads are locked to the app that made them. What moves is your library and playlists as a list of tracks matched to Apple Music. Once they are in your Apple Music library, you re-download them there for offline listening with a tap, or turn on automatic downloads so they save on their own. In practice you do not lose them, you rebuild the offline copies on the new app.
Is it safe to connect my accounts to a transfer app?
It is, when the app uses each service’s official sign-in. You log in on Spotify’s and Apple’s own screens and approve access, so the transfer app never handles your passwords. That approval is the same permission model behind any “sign in with” button. Stick to well-known apps like SongShift, Soundiiz, or TuneMyMusic, and you can revoke their access later in your Spotify and Apple account settings once the move is done.
Should I cancel Spotify right after transferring?
Wait a few days. Keep Spotify active until you have confirmed your important playlists landed correctly and you have re-downloaded what you need on Apple Music. The transfer reads from Spotify, so if anything looks off you may want to run it again, which needs the account live. Once Apple Music holds everything and the offline downloads are rebuilt, then cancel Spotify.
Why did a few songs not transfer?
Streaming catalogs overlap heavily but are not identical, so a handful of tracks in a big library may be missing or matched to a different version, like a live cut instead of the studio one. Transfer apps give you a report of these so you can add them by hand. A song that is not on Apple Music at all is the only true gap, and that is uncommon enough that most libraries move over nearly whole.
What To Do Next
Start the Apple Music trial, install SongShift, and move your most-played playlist first to see how the process feels. Then bring over the rest, re-download for offline, and check the unmatched list before you cancel Spotify. For more on getting the most from your apps and subscriptions, browse the technology section, and the entertainment section has more on music and streaming.
