Playback issues: Songs going silent on Android app

[Yordan]

We've received reports from Android users that the progress bar of a song keeps moving but there's no sound coming out. When the app is restarted, the progress bar goes back to the point where the song went silent.

Some users noticed that the issue doesn't occur when the features below are toggled off:

• Gapless playback - found in the app's Settings > Playback
• Equalizer - also found in Settings > Playback

[d0ktorn]

Plan

Premium

Country

Sweden

Device

Sony Xperia 5 III

Operating System

android version 13 (currently 61.2.A.0..427A / kernel 5.4.210 - But had issues several versions back)

Version

8.9.14.543 (But had the issue with all versions last year)

Audio output

Bluetooth (I don't own any wired headset and never use built-in speakers)

Hi,

This problem has bugged me for over a year and I have googled this topic frequently in hope for updates. Ofc after ruling out nonsense advice such as rebooting the phone etc, I have rebooted my phone plenty of times during the year, as well as completely wiped the app etc.

I have always had the gut feeling that the update to Android 13 was the starting point of this issue. Some difference in the system, some permissions or setting that the Spotify app does not seem to control. Yesterday morning I digged into every setting I could find, and stumbled across something I haven't seen before.

There is a feature that seems to control how apps may use data in background. This setting was off for most apps except two. Spotify wasn't one of them. I toggled this to on and tried my luck. Spotify kept playing in background for all the remainder of my morning routine. Yay, success! Or too early to celebrate? The remainder or the day and today I've listened to spotify more than usual just to see if there is any improvement. It still goes silent intermittently, but my experience is vastly improved. I'd say that 85% of the problem is cured and I'm 85% less annoyed lol

I'm not sure when this feature appeared in Android OS but as I have never needed to toggle this before, I assume it's either a new feature or it's behaviour have changed between Android 12 and 13.

If this permission (Unrestricted Data) isn't toggled it seems that Spotify keeps playing (the app itself is allowed to run in background, hence not shut down by the OS). After a while, the OS cuts off its data stream. The apps happily continues to play what comes in in the stream, which is nothing. Zip, zero, nada. Like having a radio turned on but there is no transmission on the channel. Likewise, the audio is quiet while the spotify progress bar also just carries on, unaware that the audio stream has been dropped.

Perhaps Spotify developers easily can implement a check for this setting and request the user to grant it if it is not given. Or at least I hope this gives a clue about the actual root cause of the problem, perhaps it can be adressed some other way. Like monitoring the audio stream and restart it if it is cut off.

[jesperklang]

I just checked the setting d0ktorn mentions above, and for me I already had that setting toggled for the Spotify app, and the issue is as bad as it has always been from when it started for me 2+ years ago.

Considering taking my old Xperia 1 III up from storage again and having it play none stop in the background to give some more examples.. 🙂

[phpman]

I use a Google Pixel 7 Pro and Unrestricted Data is not activated for Spotify and I have no problems.

Only on Xperia 10 V the problem exists with the same account.

[live_d]

Sony Xperia 1 V (see my previous comment)

To me it seems that some tracks are more affected than others. Sometimes I can listen to a whole playlist without issues, but there are certain albums where the issue happens very often and (more or less) reproducible.

For example, when listening to this audio book, it happens around the 2nd or 3rd track on multiple tries.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0YxCsYuxgfp5ZHTmefwwXo?si=OCT8oVUnTkKSJrK3hmqcxQ

The other audio books of the series are equally affected.

Just open the album, start the first track, lay the phone on the table and don't touch it for 10-15 minutes.

[jesperklang]

I just tried activating the 'Stay awake' feature in the Developer settings that prevents the device to fall asleep, and then I had Spotify open and active in the foreground, playing with the screen constantly on. I still had the same issue, so I think that should rule out that it have something to do with Spotify being on in the background.

I agree with @live_d that it feels like it happens more with some playlists or albums than others.

I also tried turning off the Gapless and Automix settings in Spotify individually, but the issue persisted.

[d0ktorn]

My findings on the Xperia 5 III is that background or not is highly relevant. I can lock my phone and Spotify keeps working fine, if I just make sure to lock it while Spotify is open and present on the screen. But if I switch from Spotify to any other app and lock my screen from there, it takes 20-60 seconds typically before the sound goes silent.

This above is before toggling the setting in my previous post. After putting unrestricted data to ON I have been able to lock my screen several times with many apps opened after Spotify. It has only gone silent 2 or 3 times since yesterday after I changed the setting.

[gianlucacarlet93]

Anche a a me succede quando ascolto una o più canzoni la barra di avanzamento sulle notifiche popup scompare e il brano si mette in pausa da solo ma l'app è aperta.

[muffinland]

• your device's OS version

Sony Xperia 1 III, v. 61.2.A.0.472A

• the version of Spotify you're running

8.9.16.593

• whether this occurs when playing from the mobile device directly or when connected to another device (Bluetooth, headphones, etc.)

Unfortunately my headphone jack has broken, but the issue happens with both built-in speakers and Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth devices I've tried like a DAC, wireless earbuds, and cars. The issue also continues if the DAC is plugged into the USB-C port and switched into USB mode. The issue does not happen with Android Auto.

• the troubleshooting steps you've tried so far

I have cleared caches for device and app, reinstalled app, restarted phone, etc. but none have had any difference. I thought it would be better if the albums were downloaded, but the problem persists for downloaded albums, even when the phone is in airplane mode, so any issues with wifi/data connectivity are ruled out. The only way to bring sound back is to skip forward in the song. After that, I can restart that particular song and sound will continue for the duration.

[live_d]

This starts to sound a bit like an issue with the combination of the structure of certain audio files and the audio library used for playback... Especially if Sony would use some kind of a special version of that library and if that version had a bug. This would explain why it happens more often with some albums/tracks and mostly on Sony phones.

But I'm just guessing here...

[Angelica9]

iPhone 11 Pro Max 

Spotify won’t play music when playing on my phone, Bluetooth speaker, or in my car stereo. This is happening more than often than usual. The solution seems to be deleting the app. But if I wanted to use the app later, there’s no guarantee that music will play.