[WP8] App crashes when it stays in the background

[mazze_germany]

The app crashes when idle in the background. This seems to be a common windows phone problem as it happens with rdio and deezer as well but not with Xbox music or Nokia music, so it must be possible to fix this somehow.

The main inconvenience is that when listening to a playlist in shuffle mode you are constantly required to relaunch the

playlist thus ending up listening to the same songs over and over again. 

[DryMarker]

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@Prolek wrote:

Somehow Mix Music, Xbox music (which's API is publically available) don't do that. There's no excuse.

And I don't mind it closes down. If I want to browse the stations or artists, I can wait. The problem is I can't pause the music for more that 2 minutes, because then I have to wait for the app until it's restarted only to play it back.

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Both Mix Radio and Xbox Music are written by Nokia/MS so they can do things that other apps cannot.

There are apps that use tricks to keep running in the background forever but is this really a good idea? I would rather my phone got through the day without needing to be charged.

[Prolek]

I agree, Xbox music was written by MS, but Mix Music was developped by the Nokia team when it was not yet any part of Redmond. But they both acheived it, so it's doable.

I fear that the issue with the app closing in the idle mode is really caused by the wrong basis of the app. The other two seem to have 2 pararel modes. The 'player' itself is light and doesn't drain that much of the battery, but the graphic presentation is another story and can run slowly like the recent Xbox Music app.

Some have already said that the Spotify app for WP has to be completely rebuild, and that's maybe true, but will the developpment team be ready for this step?

[dhjgv]

Maybe it is hepful:

When Spotify plays locally stored tracks it works fine. Only when playing via Streaming (HSDPA/LTE) it crashes several times during the playback.

This is is just useless at the actual state. It simply does not make fun at all using your PAID service!

Please do something!!! PLEASE!!!

[DerDaUndKeinAnd]

On my device Spotify occasionally drains my battery down in a few hours (without being used at all).

It seems this always happens when Spotify crashes:

1. App crashes after being paused for several minutes - happens: always

2. App crashes when connecting to a bluetooth-device AFTER starting playback - happens: rare (better chance if bluetooth-connection is established/disconnected several times during the process)

3. App crashes 

The app really CAN be efficient on battery power when everything works fine.

After crashing, which can occur without perception of the user and because of several different reasons, the app can drain the battery in no time. After battery saving is enabled (Happens at approx. 15% if set correctly), the draining stops (of course).

Closing the app (holding the back key for one second and swiping the app top to bottom) does NOT always stop the drain, yet sometimes it does.

Sometimes it happens that only a restart of the device can stop the drain.

Additionally, the app sometimes SEEMS to work - You can do everything except start playback, so you perceive the drain just when your battery is almost empty.

If you try to start playback, you will see the track title and play-icon at the bottom but not hear any sound. The media-controls of the OS (that ones you see whan you change your volume) are disabled (not shown at all).

Device: 

Nokia Lumia 925

Software: WP 8.1/ WP 8.1 Dev Preview 

OS Version: 8.10.14192.280 (and previous Versions)

Firmware: 3051.50009.1424.0001

[quakeroatmeal]

Pandora runs in the background with no issue of draining the battery. I use both, but Pandora starts backup as soon as I get back in my car even if I've been out of it for hours. Windows has great power management, so I'd recommend testing with background idle enabled to test if its actual a strain on the battery. My guess is no and the dev team may have assumed it would be based on android and iPhone battery issues.

[Kargarov]

I may have stumbled across a solution to the issue of that Spotify app crashing on windows 8.1 devices. I’m currently testing this theory. Currently if you pin Cortana to the home screen she will cause lag and overheating, an issue that is supposed to be resolved when Denim is released. She may be causing the issues of Spotify lagging and saying “Resuming…”. As I mentioned, this is only theory. I’ll update with results of testing. Thanks!

[dhjgv]

I have Cortana on the Start Screen, I have Denim, I HAVE a crashing Spotify...

[Prolek]

I actually have Denim on my Lumia 930 and though I don't have any Cortana in Poland, still I have this annoying issue with Spotify. Seems like this iphonish interface was more important in the recent update.

[Kargarov]

Well that shot that theory. lol Thanks for the info though.