Offline Listening in Roon ARC
To begin make sure you have Roon ARC installed on your mobile device
In this how-to, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to listen offline in ARC. First, you’ll need to make sure you’ve installed Roon ARC on your mobile device. Visit the App Store or Play Store to download the app. Once ARC is installed and configured, you are ready to browse, select, and download the music favorites you can’t live without.
Offline listening essentials
Before we dive in, let’s touch upon one of your frequently asked questions, “Why can’t I download music from TIDAL and Qobuz in Roon ARC?”
Offline listening in Roon ARC requires the use of files from your local music library. Due to licensing restrictions, music from streaming services cannot be downloaded directly.
Despite this limitation, Roon and ARC are built with a multitude of ways to download your music for offline listening. Let's dive in.
Downloading music in ARC
Find something to download
At the top of your downloads browser, you will find a convenient link to a list of all your downloadable albums.
- Tap the downloads icon at the top of the ARC home screen. (You can also use the library icon in the footer and then press Downloads on the next page.)
- Press the Find something to download banner on the Downloads page to browse albums from your local library.
- Tap the download icon to download an album on the Available to Download page.
- The album will begin downloading. Selecting multiple albums will create a download queue.
BONUS: You can still listen to music while your selections are downloading!
Three dot menu
You can also visit albums and playlists one by one and download them in multiple ways.
- Ensure this content is stored locally on your Roon Server.
- Select the three-dot menu.
- Select “download”
Info pages
If something is available for download, you will see a download icon directly in the top right of the details page. Click it to begin downloading.
As playlists can contain both streaming and local content, you can download them, but please note only the local tracks will be downloaded.
Downloading multiple items at once
From your albums browser, you can easily download lots of music with the press of a button.
Download All allows you to easily grab your entire library, or just a specific slice of albums you may want. Combine it with tags, filters, and favorites to precisely manage your music for offline listening.
- Open the albums browser
- Select the music you want by using tags, filters, or favorites.
- Open the context menu in the top right.
- Select Download X Albums.
Finding your downloaded music
Downloads Browser
The downloads browser is the home for all of your downloaded music. You can use it to find music you’ve downloaded, find new music to download, or manage and delete music you’ve already downloaded. By default, your downloads browser will show you all of your manual and smart downloads. However, you can further filter and sort to show various slices of your downloads.
On the right, you can sort your downloads by:
- Date downloaded
- File size
- Download format
On the left, you can select from different views of your downloads:
- All downloads (default)
- Queued downloads
- Smart Downloads
- Your downloads (shows only manual downloads)
Library pages
Tap the download icon to easily find downloaded music on your albums, playlists and tracks browsers.
Combine the downloads filter with favorites, tags, and text filters to whittle down your selection even further.
Pro tip: ARC will automatically filter to display your downloads when in Offline mode!
Download menu
There is a hidden menu for downloaded things in ARC which will show you key information about your downloaded item. Simply long press on the download icon for any downloaded item to reveal this menu.
In the top of this menu you will see:
- Downloaded file format (what format this file was downloaded as)
- File size (in its downloaded format)
- Download Quality (setting at which you downloaded this item)
This menu is helpful for determining the quality of the downloaded item, assessing how much space it’s currently using, and for storage management functions like removing, converting, or “keeping” a smart download.
If this item is a smart download, you will see an option to “keep” this download. That converts this item from a smart download to a manual download, ensuring it won’t get deleted.
If your download quality setting differs from the setting you had when you downloaded this item, you can Replace at X Quality. This is handy if you want to save space and down-convert something which you’ve previously downloaded at a higher quality. Conversely, you can also up-convert something you’ve already downloaded at a lower quality.
You can only up-convert a thing if the original file has more untapped quality. For example, if you downloaded a MP3 320kbps file at “balanced”, it’s already at its maximum quality. You can’t replace that item at at CD Quality as there’s no additional quality to be gained.
Removing downloads
ARC offers multiple ways to check on your downloads storage situation and remove downloaded music as needed.
As a first port of call, you can first use the settings page to review how much of your device’s storage ARC is using for downloads.
If you want to remove downloaded music from your device, you can do so in several ways.
- Remove everything
On the Settings page in the downloads section below the graph you’ll see an option to “Delete all downloads.” Select this to remove all downloaded content from your device in one fell swoop.
2. By file size
Go to the Downloads browser and sort by “File size”. Then you’ll see all of your downloads listed in order of biggest to smallest. You can then pick items to remove one by one.
3. Via browsers
Similar to download all, you can batch remove downloads from your albums browser. Just go to your albums browser, select the music you want to remove via tags, filters, and favorites. Then, select “Remove downloads” from the context menu.
4. One by one
You can remove downloaded items by opening their info panel via the three dot menu and selecting “Remove from downloads.”
Pro tip: Click on the download icon to open the downloads menu. This will show you extra info about file size and download quality and give you additional options.
Caution: Use Permanently delete from library only if you want to permanently delete a file from your Roon Server. Once deleted, items cannot be restored. Please be absolutely sure this is what you want to do.
Download Quality Settings
In ARC you can download music at a variety of quality settings. Preserve audio fidelity with original format or CD quality, or save space by using balanced and lossy options.
You can access this setting from two places:
- Settings > Downloads > Download Quality
- Smart Downloads
There are four options and they behave generally the same way as streaming quality settings. Here’s what the settings are and what they do:
* Multi-track files will be converted to FLAC
** Sample rate “family” will be preserved. 96kHz > 48kHz, 88.2kHz > 44.1kHz etc.
** Sample rate “family” will be preserved. 96kHz > 48kHz, 88.2kHz > 44.1kHz etc.
You can replace already downloaded music by changing your download quality setting and selecting “replace at [new quality]” via the download context menu.
More helpful tips
Offline mode
To switch to offline listening in ARC, tap the gear icon on the ARC home page, then toggle on Offline mode – found just below profiles. ARC automatically filters to your downloaded music when viewing library pages in Offline mode.
By default, ARC is set preserve your mobile data by only downloading while on Wi-Fi. To turn off that setting:
- Press the gear icon on the ARC Home Page.
- Go to Downloads and turn off “Download on Wi-Fi Only.”
- Alternatively, you can start downloading a selection while on mobile data.
- ARC will prompt you to change your settings preferences.
Background downloads
On Android, downloads will process in the background.
For iOS, due to the tricky way in which iOS handles background tasks, downloads will operate at a reduced speed when the app is in the background.
For best results on either platform, keep ARC open and in the foreground for downloads to finish processing.
Download speeds in ARC will vary depending on your in-app download settings, the internet traffic and speed of your home network, and the strength of your data connection while downloading to ARC on your mobile device.
Need help with adding your local music library to Roon?
Related Articles
Smart Downloads
What is Smart Downloads? Smart Downloads (SDL) is a feature that automatically downloads your favorite music to your phone, so it’s ready on your device for offline listening whenever you want it. SDL takes into account your listening habits, ...ARC FAQ
Overview What is ARC? Roon ARC allows you to take your Roon experience on the go. ARC lets you browse your library, play local and streaming content, download local media to your phone, and update your collection by adding albums, building playlists, ...Does Roon ARC work with CarPlay and Android Auto?
Roon ARC offers full support for CarPlay and Android Auto! CarPlay and Android Auto fully integrate Roon’s browsing and discovery features into your car’s controls for safe and easy playback while you drive. Take the ultimate Hi-Fi joyride CarPlay ...Exclusive Mode
The Exclusive Mode setting tells Roon to take exclusive control of your audio device. During this time, it can't be shared with other applications. This allows Roon to precisely control every aspect of the playback without any interference from the ...ARC Port Forwarding
Overview Roon ARC is designed to connect to your Roon Server from outside your home. This allows you to access your server on the go so you can play your files and streaming content, in addition to updating your library, playlists, favorites, and ...
Visit the Roon Community!
Need help? Thousands of Roon subscribers and audio enthusiasts are chatting over on our community site right now, join them! You don't even need a Roon subscription to sign up.