Audio Glitching / Stuttering / Popping

[Stephen0vick]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

(iPhone 13 Pro Max)

Operating System

(iOS 18.1.1)

My Question or Issue

I have a strange issue with my Spotify where it skips when connected via Bluetooth and my iPhone. The audio will glitch and stutter. It becomes extremely bad gradually, but the increase is rapid. This problem ONLY occurs when I have the app actively open and my phone is connected to a Bluetooth device. If I leave the app open it will begin the glitch within one minute and then get intense before a single song can finish. The only solution I’ve came up with is clicking play and then swiping out of the app. I can still skip songs from the iPhone drop down menu, but if I want to select a new playlist I have to open the app, select the playlist, close the app because the glitching begins, then re-open the app, click play, and swipe out the app. The problem persists regardless of my WiFi connection, phone battery, Bluetooth device, or any other connection issue that would commonly cause problems. I haven’t found any regular way to resolve the issue and trust me, I’ve looked. It’s so much that the issue becomes a major problem, I would just like to be able to surf through my Spotify app while listening to music without problems.

[Faketracker]

I have also been having this exact problem for literal months and this is the first post with the exact same problem as mine as I’ve seen

[Dessi]

Hey folks,

Thanks for reaching out!

@neyer mentioned a setting in Privacy and social -> Social features called Jam access with Bluetooth, can you check what it says next to it and let us know? Is it enabled and if yes, can you try disabling it to see if that makes a difference?

As mentioned in the thread, it'd be great if you can test this out with a different device, as well as ask a friend or relative to log in their own Spotify account on your device to see if the same thing happens. This way we can check if it's device- or account-related.

Keep us posted.

[neyer]

Hey Dessi

thanks for your reply.

I opened the settings but don’t see any option that I can enable or disable. When I click on ‘How it works’, I only get instructions but no settings options.

I’ll test it with another account at a later time, as I don’t have the time for it right now.

[mistermikey]

Plan: Premium

Country : UK

Device :iPhone 12 Mini

Operating System : iOS 18.3.2

My Question or Issue: 

Hi All, bit of tech help needed

Ive been using spotify for years with no issues on my iPhone 12 mini, however the last 2 weeks it's starting having some problems; it will sporadically glitch mid track and sounds like its either cutting out or acts as if i was trying to skim through a track, only for maybe a second or two, Does it repeatedly but there doesnt seem to be any pattern to what triggers it (sometimes can go maybe 15-20 mins no issues, and then it will do it several times.

It seems to do it only on my phone and not on desktop PC version; It happens using bluetooth connection for either earpods or my car stereo, however when I play audio from other apps (such as youtube) on my phone the fault doesnt replicate?

It was also happening in "offline" mode with downloaded playlists, so doesnt appear to be mobile data problem.

I have tried deleting and re-installing the app but doesnt seem to fix the issue. Any ideas what to try next?

[Dessi]

Hi @neyer,

Thanks for checking and for the info you've provided!

@Karofalbala @Faketracker, are you still experiencing this issue? Can you try the suggestions in this previous response and let us know what you see in the settings?

In case the issue persists afterwards, it'd be great if you can send us the following info:

• Make and model of your device 
• The OS version it's running
• The Spotify version you're currently on

Let us know how it goes.

[Karofalbala]

Hi, I tried what was suggested and the problem is still there.

[Dessi]

Hey @Karofalbala,

Thanks for the quick reply!

Could you send us the requested info so that we can report this further:

• Make and model of your device
• The OS version it's running
• The Spotify version you're currently on

We'll be on the lookout.

[Pugmartin]

iPhone 15 Pro Max

iOS 18.4

Spotify 9.0.24.661

Dacia Duster 2014 stock in car radio

Happens as far as I can tell only when in the car. 
DOESNT occur with ANY other app - YouTube, Apple etc…

Occurs with any quality level for me. 
Doesn’t occur from the off, but after 2-10 mins it’ll kick in and just randomly, sporadically ruin anything being played - I got home yesterday ready to cancel our family plan after having a car full of passengers (the family) absolutely demented with it. For the price, this isnt acceptable - I’ll be cancelling very shortly unless resolved. 
Skips and pops, no apparent pattern, but will stop and then speed up whilst it tries to catch up with itself, resolve for a time, before starting again. 
Again, to be clear - this DOESNT happen on other (some free…) services. 

[Jenji]

Plan

Premium

Country

US

Device

iPhone 16 Pro Max

Operating System

iOS 18.3.2

My Question or Issue

I was just driving and listening to spotify via CarPlay, and mid song, Spotify switched play back to another device with no input from me. Interacting with the controls via CarPlay did not change the device back. 

There are basically two issues: 

1. Changing playback device mid song with no input. 

2. Changing playback device from CarPlay, ever. 

If you are driving and connected to CarPlay (or AndroidAuto), I can think of no reasonable scenario where the playback device should be anything other than the car. 

[Joan]

Hi folks,

Thanks for all the replies and the information provided. It will definitely come in handy!

We've gone ahead and reported this issue to the appropriate team and will thus begin investigating this. We'll let you know about any updates if and when we have them. In the meantime, if you haven't already and for any new people coming in, please provide us the following details:

• When did this start happening?
• The exact makes, models and OS versions of all your affected devices (presumably iPhones)
• The exact Spotify Versions you use.
• If this happens when playing with specific Bluetooth devices, let us know the models of those too.
• If possible, make a video of the behaviour and send it to us. If the files are too large to attach here in the Community, you can send them to us via Google Drive or as unlisted YouTube videos.

The more info we have, the faster we can get to the bottom of this.

Cheers!

[Stephen0vick]

Good Afternoon,

The list below is the information for myself:

• This started happening in January 2025
• I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max, IOS 18.3.2
• My Spotify is version 9.0.32.638
• I have a JBL Charge 5 that this happens on. It usually only occurs on that and other Bluetooth speakers I’ve used. Mostly other JBL’s (I’m not suggesting it’s a JBL problem, JBL speakers are just common) and a Sony speaker my buddy has. However, I experience the same issues with my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee quite a bit within recent weeks. Inside that is a Uconnect 4 (8.4in) with version 18.13.17 installed
• The exact steps to reproduce this is to simply connect to Spotify and start playing with the app open for 1-10 minutes (1-10 minutes for my JBL speaker and around 30 minutes for my Uconnect display)

[monkye]

I'm having the EXACT same issue as @neyer is. Every time I'm driving or in traffic, my music will stop and I go to check my "bluetooth devices" and it says I'm connected to random people's iphones. Then they dissapear and my music starts back up again.

[Lykrain]

Also have been having similar issues for the past few months. Specifically when spotify on my iphone is connected to my car bluetooth. About every 10 seconds the bluetooth connection will drop out (my car says "bluetooth disconnected') then shortly after my phone will reconnect to the car again. This only seems to happen with spotify as I am able to use audible to listen to audio books with no connection issues what so ever. Even trying spotify once I know my bluetooth connection is stable with audible, the same issues occur with disconnects during music playing, then will work fine once I swap back to audible to continue with my book. 

Additionally, I do not have this problem when connecting to my airpods. Spotify works flawlessly with that. 

All apps and OS are up to date. Have tried repairing bluetooth, reinstalling apps etc. 

Plan

Premium

Country

Australia

Device

iPhone Xr

Operating System

iOS 18.4

[Jryan4]

My family and I have been paying for a family plan that doesn’t work. The songs constantly sounds like it’s a scratched CD and it’s irritating knowing I’m paying for it monthly and has been happening just shy of 6 months. We have cleared cache and cookies , we have deleted our play lists, we’ve deleted the app and re downloaded and I’m at a loss of how to fix this. 

Plan

Premium

Country

Canada

Device

iPhone 15 pro max

iphone 12 Pro max

And 2 iPhone 14 

[Sarahandcolour]

I have also been experiencing this when playing Spotify through my car. It constantly glitches, skips and stutters. The music will play faster too while it’s trying to catch up. This happens pretty constantly and has been happening for months now, not sure exactly when it started. There’s no issues when playing via any other Bluetooth speakers. I have cleared all cache and deleted and re installed the app and updated my phones software but nothing has solved this issue. It’s pretty annoying especially on long drives when the music is constantly interrupted. 

[Joey515]

I have the same issue when trying to stream Spotify in my truck (i.e. cellular). Doesn't seem to happen when I'm on WIFI but not sure since I mainly listen to Spotify while driving. It used to work fine, but now glitches like crazy. I've tried clearing cache, uninstall and reinstall Spotify, restarting phone and changing streaming quality to Low. Glitching is still severe. I haven't tried StephenOvick's workaround to close homescreen. Other music apps work fine.

iPhone 11

Spotify 9.0.32.638

[Stephen0vick]

PROUD OF THIS THREAD Y’ALL. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REPLIES. LETS GET THIS FIXED! 🙂

[Pugmartin]

Strange tonight, driving home from the beach and put the phone on the dashboard to charge. Didn’t bother connecting Spotify since… it drives me insane at the moment with the issues. 
Out of habit I swapped my radio over to Bluetooth so the phone connected and auto started Spotify playing - without opening Spotify, just the autoplay. It managed the whole journey without a hitch. 
Either there’s an update I’ve missed with a fix over the last few days or there’s a clue there?

[tonmbba]

Same issue here since january, when connected via bluetooth on any decive and app is open. Audio snapping / speeding up.

It is so lovely to pay +20e / month to use app like this.... NOT.

iPhone 13 pro max

ios 18.3.2

Spotify 9.0.32.638

[Stephen0vick]

Pugmartin,

My experience with the issue is only when I have the app actively open. When I’m listening without the app open I don’t experience it at all.