[Android] Spotify mobile streaming stuttering on WiFi and Data

[Vvarla]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Google Pixel 3a

Operating System

Android 9.0 Pie

My Question or Issue

For the past several months I have noticed an increase in excessive music streaming stuttering no matter if I am connected to WiFi or driving around using data, I noticed at first it seemed to clear up momentarily if I touched my phone(usually when i'm streaming through mobile my phone isn't being held, it's just set aside). I assumed this was a Pixel 3a issue because that seemed to be a connectivity issue(our bodies being big salt antennas after all) but after a full phone factory reset, messing with settings and contacting Pixel support they deemed it a Spotify app issue due to no other app having the same issue. As for what I've seen suggested in the forums and via googling, i've attempted to fix it by uninstalling the app, clearing the cache, reinstalling, turning off the battery saver mode and blood offerings(kidding). This issue is making Spotify unusable and that's especially problematic as I pay for premium. Is there something else I can do to get this problem fixed?

[Jeremy]

Hi there @Vvarla,

Thank you for your post here in the Community. We're happy to help.

Can you confirm if you followed these steps when you reinstalled the app?

If you did and that didn't do the trick, can you log in with another account on the device - such as a friend's or a family member's to see if the issue persist? This will help us understand if it's account related or not.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Cheers!

[Vvarla]

Thank you for the quick reply Jeremy, 
I did use those steps when uninstalling and reinstalling, also I did as you suggested and used a friends account(premium) and it took about 3 songs in to start the constant stuttering again.

[CarlosE]

Hey @Vvarla,

Thanks for trying and keeping us posted.

Can you let us know if the same happens with any other device where you use the app? We'd like you to try using the same WiFi network on the other device to check if this is rather device-related.

We'll be on the lookout.

[Vvarla]

The other phone in the home is a Google Pixel 4 and it has no issue streaming here(or using data), we have two computers that use Spotify, one that is using WiFi and the other is wired. Both have no issues. It seems like because it happens regardless if I am home(WiFi) or driving around(data), it's not a network issue.
Here are some of the experiments I tried over the course of the day:

~I downloaded a playlist to see if having the files on my phone instead of pulling through the internet would help it, it still stuttered heavily.

~I was suggested to use https://speed.cloudflare.com/ to check jittering, based on several tests, it was constant no matter if I was touching the phone or not.

~While using the jitter test, I changed my screen shut off timer from 1min to 30min. Whenever I had tried to do a "speed test" in the past, since it takes me a little bit to unlock my phone(and touch it), the issue always cleared up by the time I initiated something on fast.com. What I did notice is that I had no stuttering when my screen stayed on, the minute it timed out, it went right back to stuttering again. Seems like the weirdest part, I was not expecting that.

~ I tried turning my phone on airplane mode to make sure nothing was getting through via spotify when I was streaming my downloaded playlist, it still stuttered.
~ I streamed an hour each of Pandora and YT and neither stuttered. (Seems to be just this app having an issue).

I am very much at a loss, nothing is working and I can barely use the app.

[CarlosE]

Hi @Vvarla,

Thanks for keeping in touch and for all that extra info.

Since other devices work fine even when using the same connection, this seems to be isolated to your phone. Can you let us know if the stuttering happens when your phone is connected to another device, like a speaker, headphones, etc., if it happens on the phone's speaker, or both?

We'd also like to know the Spotify version you're running.

Keep us posted.

[Vvarla]

Both; Speaker and bluetooth.

[Mihail]

Hey @Vvarlam,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Since you mention that the stuttering seems to disappear while the phone screen stays on and only this device displays this behavior on the same network, it's likely that the battery settings are causing this. Could you make sure that Background app refresh is on for Spotify? It's also a good idea to double check if the app is added as an exception to all battery and storage optimization services you have on the device and that it has all permissions enabled. 

Let us know how you get on. We'll be here if any questions come up.

[Vvarla]

I can't seem to locate anything in my app settings or phone settings called "Background App Refresh", closest thing I see is "Spotify Connect in Background" which is switched on.
Double checked the battery exception, it is "not optimized" and I think that's what it needs to be.
I did change permissions as you said, I previously had given it no permissions.

I'll test what I've got so far and once I get feedback on the "Background App Refresh" and where I can locate it, i'll test that out as well.

[CarlosE]

Hi @Vvarla,

Thanks for your reply.

Keep us posted on how it goes now with the permissions enabled. You can also reach out to the manufacturer for further info about other settings that might be affecting this.

We'll be on the lookout.

[Vvarla]

I believe I found something akin to "background app refresh"? It's been turned on this whole time, also update with the other suggestions, it started stuttering despite all of those changes. Attached is a screenshot of what I found, let me know if this was the setting you suggested be turned on.

[CarlosE]

Hey @Vvarla,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

The option in the screenshot is related to the usage of mobile data by the app. What we meant is to make sure that the app is fully enabled to run in the background. This setting can vary across devices so we can't say for sure how it's called on your particular device.

In any case, it's worth reaching out to the manufacturer considering that this issue seems to be isolated to your device, since it doesn't occur in other devices and under the same network. They might be able to further assist you or give you more info on what may be causing this behavior.

Hope that helps. Keep us in the loop.