Songs stop and start when my Google Pixel 7 is locked.

[Zara13]

I am getting increasingly frustrated. Over the last week my songs just start and stop playing randomly when my phone screen is locked or when it times out and locks itself. It entirely defeats the purpose of a music app.

I have unpaired and repaired my bluetooth earphones about 10 times, I have turned on the setting to allow background usage on my phone.

I'm at a loss of what to do at this point

[sebasmoralesf]

Well, I thought of that, too, but I don't want to give Google a chance in case this is part of an anti-competitive practice or something. It is just so annoying that none of them respond/care.

[heroinebond]

Does Spotify have any updates regarding this issue?  It's been many many months now, and all we've gotten is radio silence. I'm considering switching to a different music service since I can't listen to anything on headphones or speakers for longer than a few minutes. I really hoped you guys would have helped us solve this by now. 

[RoRo13]

It seems that I found a way. You go in Spotify settings, apps and devices and you uncheck the Spotify connect control.

For now it didn't crash when locked

[sebasmoralesf]

Not for me :/. I do notice that it gets worse in some specific wi-fi networks, so I also think it has something to do with it. Who knows. 

[Yordan]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the info!

If possible, could you ask a friend or a relative to create a mobile hotspot for you so you can connect to it and see if the issue persists? Make sure you're running the latest Spotify updates available as well.

In case the issue persists, please share the exact version of the app you're running so we can forward the info to the team investigating this. A short video which captures the described behavior would also be greatly appreciated, if possible.

Keep us posted 👍

[svhdrummer]

YESS!!! This is it! It's the mediaplayer. I also turned off a setting that puts media on the lockscreen. It fixed it for me.

[CathyDT]

Woohoo ! I think that's a fix for me!

Finally !!!!!

You're a legend . 

Thanks. 

[axgerold]

Same issue, even with battery optimization off, uninstall/reinstall, not a WiFi or Bluetooth problem, all that jazz Spotify recommended.

Spotify version 8.9.78.513

Android 14

Pixel 7a

[SlicedPear]

I might as well throw my hat in the ring, too. I've been having this issue on/off for a few months now and it's very annoying!

Symptom(s): Spotify song playback pauses when phone screen locks on its own or by pressing the lock button when using Bluetooth earbuds or my car's Bluetooth stereo. I can replicate the issue easily when it's happening, but there are times when it doesn't happen for a few days so I can't replicate it.

My device: Google Pixel 7 Pro, Android 14, Build AP2A.240905.003

My app: Spotify version 8.9.78.513

What I've done: 

- disconnect/reconnect the device

- unpair/repair the device 

- enable background mobile data usage, including unrestricted data usage

- allow background battery usage, including unrestricted battery usage

- disable pausing app activity if unused 

- clear Spotify cache and storage (and then redownloading all my songs...)

- clear cache and storage for Bluetooth and Bluetooth Legacy in Android's app settings 

[Declancheetham]

I feel like at this point they're not gonna do anything unless they start losing customers, we have sent them every piece of information about the problem we can multiple times. Unfortunately I like to scrobble my music so I cannot switch services but I would encourage everyone who can to try an alternative 

[skimb0924]

We're now 6 months out from this issue being brought to Spotify's attention.  Has a solution been found yet? 

[PJOscheh]

Just updated to Android 15. Gonna try Spotify again and see if perhaps a fix was made on Google's end.

I'll report back here if issues remain.

[Deltor]

Device Details:

Pixel 7a, Android 14, build# AP2A.240905.003

App Version:

8.9.84.594

Same symptoms as described above: audio stops and (and occasionally resumes) at random when screen is locked. Restarting app resolves the issue temporarily (sometimes for ~2minutes, sometimes longer). Restarting phone resolves it for longer, but issue always returns within 30mins. 

Tried absolutely all of the suggestions above to no avail. I have canceled my Spotify subscription and switched to Tidal. No issues with Tidal whatsoever, and the subscription fee is the same. 

It's unbelievable how long this issue has persisted with little to no attention from devs. Time to jump ship, folks. 

[Storm6]

This problem has been going on for a few days now but what happens is that whenever I listen to Spotify on my Bluetooth earbuds and my phone screen turns off the song playing will start freezing. This only happens with earbuds and when the screen is off tho and it happens with Wi-Fi data and downloaded songs. I've tried a clean reinstall of Spotify and I factory reset my earbuds and nothing has helped.

Premium

United states

Device

Google pixel 6a

Operating System

Android version 14

[rainbow_danger_noodl]

I've been having this issue as well. It started when I turned off the option to make all the songs the same volume. Sometimes when a new song plays it'll blast for a split second and then switch back to normal like nothing happened

[GameDevTime]

Pixel 6 Pro has the same issue, and it seems that both Spotify and Google don't care about it. Goodbye, Spotify!!!

[Storm6]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States 

Device

Google pixel 6a

Operating System

Android 14

My Question or Issue

This started a week ago but whenever my phone screen goes into sleep mode with downloaded songs playing using my Bluetooth earbuds the song will start to freeze. Sometimes it can take a hour before it starts to freeze and other times it only takes 30 seconds, but once it starts it doesn't stop unless I play music from a different streaming service. It's done it from my phone speaker before but it's not as common on the phone speaker and it only does it when Wi-Fi and data are not connected.

My earbuds are the jbl tune 230 NC TWS

Any help is appreciated.

[heroinebond]

I gave the Spotify app a 1-star rating in the app store and will leave it that way until they fix this issue. I scrolled through a ton of recent reviews and it looks like ALOT of people are having the same issue.  Since Spotify is ignoring us on here, I suggest that everyone leave a 1-star review for the app. 

[Javlinofshpam]

I don't want to speak too soon but turning off the Spotify Connect Control feature seems to have worked for me.

But yeah, Spotify have been terrible in sorting this out.

[Yordan]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for aiding us in the investigation!

Could you try logging in to your account on another mobile device (a friend's or a relative's would do) to see if the issue persists there? Something else that's worth checking is if you'd be able to control Spotify from your PC while playing on your phone: you can start the playback on your PC and transfer it to your phone, then use your PC to pause, resume, skip, etc.

@PJOscheh, how are things looking on your end since the Android 15 update?

Cheers 🤘