iOS App - Pause on bluetooth headphones not working

[gadamiani]

Device iPhone 13

Operating System iOS 15.5,

Hi, I've got Poly Backbeat 3150 bluetooth headphones. I have the most irritating problem with the Spotify iOS (iPhone 13) app. The button on the headphones works fine to start playing, but it does not work to pause playback. Seems to work fine in other apps (ie. Apple Music, Podcasts, etc). I've seen some people report a similar problem with Android, but not iOS. Any suggestions? This is driving me bonkers.

[OscarDC]

Hey @gadamiani,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and welcome.

This type of issue with the bluetooth connection, is usually related to some damaged cache stored on your app from previous updates. We'd first recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app. This is often an overlooked step, but it can be helpful getting rid of any corrupted files that might be causing issues. 

If the issue persists, could you try to pair your headphones to a different device to see if it makes any difference when you're trying to pause the Spotify app? 

Lastly, in case the issue is still persistent (and if possible); would you mind trying a different bluetooth headphones to see if it makes any difference? This will give us a better look at the issue to keep investigating.

Let us know how it goes. We'll be on the lookout. 

[gadamiani]

Thanks for your response Oscar.  To answer your questions:

I deleted and reinstalled the app.  Pause worked for the first 5 or 6 times I tried it, but stopped working after that (play works, pause doesn't).  Both play and pause works fine with other apps, just not Spotify. 

I have the exact same problem on both an iPhone XR and iPhone 13.  

I have the same problem with other Bluetooth headphones, but they are the same manufacturer.  Poly Backbeat 2100, 3100 and 3150.  I do not have the problem with a set of wired Apple headphones.

[Eni]

Hey there @gadamiani, 

Thanks for your reply. 

Would you mind trying if the same happens when using the app on an Android device or on the desktop app?

On another note, could you ask a friend or a relative to log in to their account in your iPhone to check if the same happens with a different account?

We'll be on the lookout.

[gadamiani]

Thanks.  It works perfectly on the desktop app.  I also created a new free account, and on the iPhone, it did roughly the same thing as what happened when I reinstalled the app.  Started listening to a podcast, worked perfectly.  Switched to a different podcast, stopped working (play works, pause doesn't), and not working subsequently. 

[AndresM]

Hey @gadamiani,

Thanks for the heads up.

Just to confirm, is this happening with any content you play on Spotify (or only with Podcasts)?

Changing tunes, let us know if the play/pause button works as expected when streaming directly from the phone.

Lastly, we suggest that you unpair your headphones and restart them (you can check this with the manufacturer as this process may change depending on the make and model). Once you do this, pair them with your phone and let us know if the behavior persists. 

We'll keep the volume down until we hear back from you.

[gadamiani]

Hi Andres, trying this out, it only happens with podcasts.  It appears to work normally for music.

I have paired and re-paired all of these headphones many times.

[OscarDC]

Hey @gadamiani,

Thank you for keeping in contact and for the info shared. 

We've tested this on our end using similar devices and we still couldn't replicate the issue. To keep investigating, would you mind testing it with a bluetooth device, but different from any Poly earphones you’ve tried before? 

Also, it would be great if you could try pairing your Poly Earphones with a different account -such as a friend or a family member, to see if the issue persists. This will give us a better look at the issue.

We'll be on the lookout. 

[gadamiani]

I've tried the different account - please see above.

I also recently got hold of a pair of PowerBeats Pro.  These work perfectly, so the problem seems to be specifically with the Poly Backbeat Fit series.

[OscarDC]

Hey @gadamiani,

Thank you for keeping us in the loop. 

We appreciate the time you’re taking following the troubleshooting steps and sharing the information with us.

In this case, as it could be related to a type of configuration or setting in headphones, we’d recommend contacting Poly Support for more information.

If anything else comes up, don’t hesitate to ask.