How to save Google Play Music to SD card?

[F0REVERY0UNG-]

Does anyone know how I can save my Google Play Music for offline listening to my SD card without rooting?
I'm scared to root. lol

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[B. Diddy]

There's no automatic way to do so. You'd have to use a file manager to copy the mp3 files from the directory /storage/sdcard0/Android/data/com.android.google.music/files/music over to a separate directory on your external SD card. Make sure you copy the files, because if you move them, then you might cause problems with Google Play Music, since it will think it had downloaded music before to its directory, but when it can't find the music, it might crash.

Once you've copied the files over, you could go back into Google Play Music and unpin those music files. Tapping the pin icon so that it is no longer vertical means that you're removing them from local storage; however, the files you copied to your external SD card should still remain.

The mp3 files will not have a normal filename--they're all numeric, so you may want to rename them.

Why is it so cryptic and complicated? My guess is that this is a way for Google to discourage rampant piracy of music tracks.

 

[anon(507726)]

There should still be a way to utilize an external SD card when so many phones have limited internal space. The main use would be for people trying not to go over their limit when streaming (since there may not be enough internal room left), or on a plane, or in a remote location without 3g/4g, or out of the country where the phone may not work or be roaming. I would think that Google Music would give you the ability to choose where to cache these music files. I think the same should be true for the Camera app.

Everything should be easy, not difficult with crazy work around's moving files or needing root to get things done the way you want it. It is Android and should be customize-able!

 

[STSVA]

It's a situation Google created and only they can provide an easy fix; otherwise it's the various workarounds people have suggested.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

There should still be a way to utilize an external SD card when so many phones have limited internal space. The main use would be for people trying not to go over their limit when streaming (since there may not be enough internal room left), or on a plane, or in a remote location without 3g/4g, or out of the country where the phone may not work or be roaming. I would think that Google Music would give you the ability to choose where to cache these music files. I think the same should be true for the Camera app.

Everything should be easy, not difficult with crazy work around's moving files or needing root to get things done the way you want it. It is Android and should be customize-able!

Android is customizable, but it's much more so if you root. Google doesn't really support SD cards and likely never will. Also, the camera will allow you to automatically store pictures and videos to the SD card.

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