Spotify pausing randomly on Android

[VegasC]

Plan

Premium

Country

Device

Sony ZX505

Operating System

Android 9

My Question or Issue

Spotify pausing randomly on Android when screen off with downloaded files.

Tried delete all files and reinstall Spotify, turn off battery optimization, swap another SD card, logout everywhere, none of these works for me.

[trevortx]

This is happening to me too on Google's Pixel 4. Just started in the last couple of days. Android 10, Spotify Premium, happening with downloaded songs while offline.

[Thanatos1]

Same on Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro.
If I start to listen to an album, get a call and answer it, press play by using the notification icon/banner (whatever it is called), Spotify eventually just plays one song since it somehow empties all other tracks from the playlist.

[Scgana]

Mine too on Galaxy S9, but i'm not downloading songs. 

Version is current. It's quite annoying.

[Elena]

Hey there folks!

Thanks for reaching out, we'd be happy to help.

We'd just like to make sure that we're all on the same page when it comes to what exactly the issue seems to be.

@VegasC and @trevortx does this only happen when you're offline with songs you have downloaded? Do you only experience it only on mobile or on other devices as well?

@Thanatos1 do you just get this after your playback has been paused by a call? Does it make any difference if you're listening offline or not?

@Scgana have you noticed if there's any pattern with the pausing? For example if your screen if off, or after a certain amount of time has passed.

We'll be looking forward to your replied and we'll do our best to help you sort this 🙂

[VegasC]

Yes, when playing offline files(Very high quality) and with screen off, because I'm using SONY ZX505 player, didn't test with internet connection yet.

And it only happens on this device, my PC have no such issue so far.

I think the issue started with newer versions, it never happened before when I just bought the SONY ZX505(about Nov 2019).

[trevortx]

@VegasC and @trevortx does this only happen when you're offline with songs you have downloaded? Do you only experience it only on mobile or on other devices as well?

Yes, only happens offline with songs I've downloaded on my cell phone. Haven't experienced the same issue on desktop. Seems like it started happening very recently. Updated Android to the latest version and Spotify is always updated to the current version, still having this issue.

[Scgana]

It pauses about a minute after the screen locks. It will un-pause as soon as to touch the screen, but then do the same thing each time.

I notice that the above doesn't happen each time, but the stability isn't consistent.

[VegasC]

@elena

So I rolled back to the old version: com.spotify.music_V8.5.26.1031. (This match the day I bought the device)

The issue seems gone, will test more days.

[Elena]

Thanks for the info everyone, @VegasC @Scgana @trevortx!

From the extra info you provided it does seem like this might be linked to your battery saving settings.

Could you try putting Spotify as an exception in your battery saving/optimizing options in your devices' settings or any extra apps that you might have installed for that purpose? 

@VegasC I'm happy to hear that it's working better now but we don't recommend using older version of the app because we can guarantee that all features would work as intended.

We can suggest some further steps that might help in solving this. You mention that battery optimization is turned off for you, so could you let us know if notice any difference in playback if Airplane mode is on or off?

Keep us in the loop! We'll be here if you have any more questions.

[VegasC]

@Elena

I've already turned off the battery optimization, since the old version works fine, maybe something wrong with the new version. (I don't have time to test which specific version caused the issue yet)

I will keep the old version for now because the issue is so annoying.

Hope you guys can find out the cause ASAP.

I saw a lot of reports about this issue in this community and Reddit.

[iwatson2009]

1. First time posting her and first time verification failed, second time that was OK but when I tried to go and update my post it said it had gone. I'd given really comprehensive issue characteristics and don't want to fruitlessly retype it all.

Trying again... 

Screen active

Not on airplane mode

Version 8.5.51.941

Samsung S7

[Thanatos1]

@Elena

Sorry, for the delay.

No, I also get this "error" besides calls. Sadly, I can not reproduce it efficiently and it seems to have nothing to do with offline/online mode.

It looks like it has something to do with interrupts of the audio (e.g. when browsing and these annoying auto-start advertisments starts and Spotify auto stops) and/or changes in the audio output. When I get a call, I disconnect my audio jack, answer the call and after the call I put the audio jack back again.

E.g. today I got both: A song suddenly stops, I hit the play button in the notification bar, the song starts at the beginning (which is not correct either) and after the song Spotify stops because the playlist was emptied again.

[Elena]

Thanks for getting back to us!

@iwatson2009 and @Thanatos1 could you also let us know if you've performed any troubleshooting to try and solve this?

We'd recommend starting with a clean reinstall and a restart of your device. Is it possible for you to try logging on a different phone to see if the app behaves like that? 

Keeping an eye out for your answers!

[Thanatos1]

No, I did not perfom any troubleshooting at the moment. Especially since it started with one of the latest updates.

OK, I will try it with a clean reinstall.