Playing pauses when screen is locked or when I switch to Home Screen or another app

[J9000]

Plan

Premium

Country

Belgium

Device

iPhone 11 Pro

Operating System

iOS17.4.1

My Question or Issue

Playing music pauses every time when I lock my screen or when I switch to Home Screen or another app.

[Ivelina]

Hey @J9000,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome!

Did you notice when this started happening for the first time and if it was after an update for example? 

If you've not tried any troubleshooting steps so far, I recommend clearing the cache within the app and then giving it a clean reinstall as this helps resolve different performance issues. You can check out the steps in this article. After that, restart your phone.

Keep us posted 🙂

[Hoser2525]

Same here but on android 14 pixel 7a. Reinstall doesn't help with playing downloaded playlists when the screen is off. All power settings set to allow Spotify unrestricted battery and data 

[Susan_GP]

Hi @Hoser2525,

Thanks for your reply in this thread.

Just to check, does this only happen with your downloaded music? Additionally, did you notice if it started happening after a change or recent update? And does this happen all the time?

In the meantime, we'd recommend performing a clean reinstall of the Spotify app by following these steps. This is a more thorough process and can sometimes help. 

Lastly, send over the exact Spotify version you have installed.

We'll be here.

[Hoser2525]

Hey there, thanks for the reply. For some reason the site isn't notifying me when threads are replied to.

Yes it has been happening for months, across different versions of android 13 and 14, and spotify app updates applied every few days via the play store. Not just with downloaded music, but also with streaming over wifi.

I've tried uninstall/reinstall the app, delete/re-download the playlist.

Spotify version 8.9.44.368 and it's currently happening as I type this...

[Yordan]

Hi @Hoser2525,

Could you check if Spotify is excluded from any battery- or performance-optimizing apps?  I recommend also making sure the app is allowed to use battery in the background.

If that doesn't do the trick, you might be experiencing the issue described here, so feel free to check it out and Subscribe to the thread from the three dots menu so you're notified whenever there are any updates on the matter.

Cheers 🤘

[Hoser2525]

Hey there, yes I definitely have Spotify set to enable "unrestricted" background usage as well as background data (although I'm normally playing downloaded playlists). I do not have "pause app activity if unused" enabled. Nor do I have any third-party apps controlling cache or awake apps.

I've been subscribed to the other thread you note for some time now. Unfortunately this has yet to offer a solution beyond what I would consider normal troubleshooting that I would do before bothering to post here, although the latest post notes that the issue has been "shared with the relevant team", so hopefully that will result in something.

[Hoser2525]

I realized today that when my phone is plugged into usb for charging i don't have this issue, but within seconds of unplugging my phone (at full charge) it's stuttering again.

So rage-inducing. No other audio app on my phone has these issues. Only spotify.

[Dorio08]

Bonsoir, 

Mon spotify beug.

Quand je mets de la musique et que je change d'application ou que je mets mon téléphone en veille. Ma musique ce coupe comme si j'avais ferme l'application alors que ce n'est pas le cas. Je me suis déconnecté de mon compte, j'ai efface les donnés de spotify mais cela n'aboutit à rien!

[Justsignmeinffs]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

Iphone 15 Pro Max

Operating System

17.6.1

My Question or Issue

Whilst playing my most liked playlist, my phone is locked. The song will stop playing after about 30 seconds and the app will need to be reopened. Initially I closed the app it did it again. Then I restarted the iPhone, issue persists. I then deleted the app, the issue persists. Only happened today but it super frustrating to run to music that stops every 30

seconds or so..

[aika270870]

Hi. After an update to IOS 18, i have a problem. When playing music from spotify and my phone close or open screen, the music stops for half a sekund. 

[Mlv2]

Same problem

[Mlv2]

iOS 18.0.1 updates tonight, w’ll see

[aika270870]

I made a hard reset on the iphone and that solved the problem.

[Mlv2]

No joy here

[manish_survey]

Recently spotify keeps pausing play after 60 secs when the iphone is locked. Issue started happenning around 3 weeks ago. Have tried updating the app, logging out/logging in. Has not fixed the issue. The issue does not happen if I leave the iphone unlocked. Please assist.

Plan

Preimium Duo

Country

Australia

Device

iPhone 14

Operating System

(iOS 18.1.1)

My Question or Issue

See above.

[funny_cat]

Maybe try turning on background activity for spotify in the settings. 

[Naadrengen]

Just as the title says my music stops playing every time I lock my screen or close the app, I’ve allowed everything in settings, tried closing all my other apps, reinstalled Spotify and restarting my phone but nothing seems to work

Plan

Premium

Country

Denmark

Device

iPhone 14

Operating System

iOS 18

[konto-por-rubo]

This is happening now to me, on 6/03/2025. Changing battery optimization and restarting the phone did work.