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[Android 11] Playback keeps pausing/skipping when screen is off on Android 11

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

Google Pixel 4a

Operating System

Android 11

 

My Question or Issue

Since updating to Android 11 yesterday, Spotify audio playback stutters horribly when the device display is locked. Restarts/reinstalls do not fix the issue.

Hey everyone,

 

We appreciate your reporting this and providing us with the relevant info.

 

Based on the reports we have received and the investigation conducted, it seems like this is affecting many other apps besides Spotify. 

 

From the information we were able to gather, since many other apps are not behaving as expected, this is most likely an issue outside of our control. We suggest to install new Android updates as soon as they become available for the newest fixes to your OS.

 

Please note, that this issue is specifically for Android 11 and has been investigated by our teams as such. For anyone experiencing similar symptoms on other OS versions, it's best to post in a separate thread so we can look into what's happening separately. We'd also recommend checking this support site article in case that's what you're experiencing.

 

For more info about what the different Ongoing Issues statuses mean, check this Spotify Answer.

 

Thank you!

Comments
pezzdemon

I have tried everything recommended. Taken off battery optimization, changed settings for do not disturb, adjusted and fiddled with everything I can fiddled with and I am continuously having this issue both with bluetooth and when listening to the music through the phones speakers. It will work for maybe the first 10 minutes when I start listening and then the skipping starts until it eventually goes totally silent. Not only having this issue with Spotify. I've also noticed it skipping now and again with the screen on in the last day or two. Not near as bad as with the screen locked though. I have a Pixel 3axl with premium membership.

nixxy18

I am having a similar issue. With wired headphones on my pixel 3a updated to android 11 with the 5 October 2020 security update, Spotify music plays fine while the phone is unlocked, but as soon as I lock the phone the music cuts out until I wake the phone up. This also happens with YouTube music and BBC sounds, so I guess it is an android 11 issue

Xenia

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks again for all your reports so far about the app's unexpected behavior with Android 11 - this has all been passed on to the relevant teams.

 

We immensely appreciate the hard work and effort you've poured in to do some troubleshooting on your end. Just to double-check you haven't missed out a step that might fix the issue, could you make sure that you have:

  • the latest app version installed
  • Spotify enabled for background activity
  • battery saver and optimizer turned off
  • all permissions for Spotify enabled in your phone's apps settings
  • tried reinstalling the app and cleared cache as described here

For steps how to disable Battery Optimization or Doze Mode on your phone, we'd recommend you head over to this page and pick your device from the list. It's also worth checking the solutions suggested here and here.

 

If all of the above checks out but the issue still persists, it'd be great if you could share with us the following information, which will allow us to better coordinate between our and Google's teams:

  • Does it happen with phone speaker, aux speakers or Bluetooth headphones?
  • Is it only happening with Spotify or other audio/video apps as well?
  • Have you tried all the suggested troubleshooting?

We're eager to get this sorted out quickly, so we'll be looking forward to your replies 🙂

tosbro

Thank you for the info nikuri! It took me a bit to figure out, but it's important to note what phone you have when flashing back to Android 10. Looks like you have a Pixel 4a with the sunfish flash. I got my Pixel 3a flashed back to Android 10 without a hitch and my bluetooth is back up and running thankfully. Like you, I could not stand the glitching and I use bluetooth daily.

 

For those interested in a fix, and have a compatible device for flashing, use the mentioned flash.android.com. First figure out which build you want to flash to using this list: https://developers.google.com/android/images

Scroll down and click on the hyperlinked flash link for the build that matches your device and it should walk you through from there. ***This process will wipe your phone*** But your bluetooth and other Android 11 woes will be gone.

wary_gary

I have a Pixel 3aXL and have been suffering from the same problems. I applied all the settings suggested in your post and it seemed to work. I was able to keep Spotify working on my bike ride into work and back. However in the evening, with my phone sitting still on the kitchen counter, playback stopped and stuttered when the phone went to lock screen. So, possibly an improvement but not a total fix for me.

stretchtack

I get the issue when casting to Chromecast.  It stutters and looking at the app on my phone it looks like it is going from Play to Pause over and over again.

 

Why haven't these issues (there are many with the Android 11 release) been addressed with a patch?  It has been a month!  

Chrishgy

I had this problem on Sony Experia One and managed to fix it by going into phone settings  >Battery > adaptive battery > off. 

ashleighpotter

Hi Xenia,

 

Thanks for posting all the troubleshooting steps.

 

I double-checked and implemented all the listed steps, and the solutions via joner847 and Mundiba that you linked.

 

Even after all of this troubleshooting the audio consistently gapped for the duration of a ten minute drive (audio would play for 3 seconds, gap for 3 seconds, and repeat, but usually in intervals of about 3 seconds) the audio would pick up where it left off, so the gap felt like a pause, but Spotify still showed music as playing.

 

The strange thing is that during my previous ten minute drive I had no audio issues (again, I was playing downloaded music on Spotify but the difference is I was using Google maps for navigation, so the screen was always "on", when I had the issues the screen was not always "on").

 

I have also tried connecting my phone to my car via aux cable and had the same issue with audio stuttering (though it was not as bad) so the issue isn't just on Bluetooth! Though I have not had any issues at home via phone speaker or bluetooth speaker.

 

Let me know if you need anything else!

just_lican

didn't work for me 😞

quoyle

Hi, I've had the same problem listening over bluetooth speakers, through the car, on wired headphones, and with phone speakers. The only other background audio I've listened to has been via chrome (i.e. basic html5 audio elements, and in-browser soundcloud) and I haven't noticed problems there.

 

Have tried all suggested solutions outlined by @Xenia, plus turning off 'Adaptive Battery' setting. Tried looking for a relevant setting in developer options too but ended up redirected back to battery optimisation.

 

My music starts stuttering about a minute after locking the device, with the pauses getting gradually worse over time . I'm on Pixel 3a and Android 11.