App crashes if in background or phone locked

[Hortowe]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

iPhone 11

Operating System

iOS 14.8

My Question or Issue

Spotify crashes ~30-90 seconds after putting app in background or locking screen while app is in foreground. When I open the app again, it’s paused at the start of the song, not at the location in the song during the crash.

I have tried:

logging out and logging back in

uninstalling and reinstalling

updating operating system and then uninstalling/reinstalling

ensuring all permissions for Spotify app are on

ensuring no battery optimization is on

this happens while connected to wifi or not. The app is unusable in this state. Thanks.

[Hortowe]

Hey folks,

We'd like to take a closer look at what's happening, it seems that other users are experiencing the same issue. There's another thread here where we keep everyone updated, which sounds similar to what you're describing - please head over there to add your details, so we have all the info in one place.

Thanks!

[beesjess]

Experiencing the same issue rn 😕

[Novy]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community. 

@Hortowe, we understand that you reinstalled the app. However, it'd be helpful if you can confirm that you also went through the process of a clean reinstall. 

@beesjess, would you mind letting us know if you've already tried any troubleshooting steps? This will help us give you better suggestions.

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

[jpeez]

I am experiencing the same thing.

I tried the steps of the clean uninstall and after reinstalling Spotify and tried to play music, it started happening immediately. I’m on an iPhone 7 Plus 

[CC838]

I am also experiencing the same thing with podcasts crashing 90 seconds in since my upgrade to iOS 14.8 on the iPad mini. I’ve done the clean reinstall and the same thing happened again. Any help at all would be appreciated!

[Hortowe]

@Novy Thank you for the clean install information, but that didn’t fix the issue. It takes about twice as long to crash now (~3 minutes instead of 1.5), but still crashes with the same behavior as before. 

[beesjess]

Hi Novy,

Ive attempted a clean reinstall, logged in and out, restarted my device several times and even reached out to spotify support.

Thus far the issue has consistently persisted and I am unable to listen to music or podcasts for more than 40 seconds after leaving spotify in the background or locking my phone. I have an iphone 11 and it’s been quite frustrating:/

[Alxyssroseee]

Having the same issue. Using Iphone 12 pro.

[jpeez]

New update: I’ve come to realize that when I have low power mode ON, is when the app usually crashes. Whenever I have low power mode OFF, Spotify has been pretty stable and will operate pretty normally, and have only experienced one or two crashes as opposed to every single time like before. 

I have always ran my phone with the low power mode on, so why the all of a sudden constant crashes? Maybe something with the new iOS security roll out a week or two ago? 

[Hortowe]

It doesn’t work for me regardless of whether or not low power mode is turned on.

[CeeJay3]

I have the same issue

[CC838]

Same here, it doesn’t matter if it is low power mode. I’ve even updated to ios 15 thinking that may have been the issue, but it still crashes on the iPad.

[jpeez]

New new update: i’ve started experiencing similar things that everybody else has it been experiencing in that a minute or two and after locking the phone Spotify will crash now regardless of being in low power mode or not. It is becoming increasingly frustrating and has made Spotify borderline unusable. If we could try to figure this out soon collectively that would be awesome

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Thank you for your replies.

Can you confirm if you still experience this?

Also - can you let us know if you have noticed excessive battery draining?

We'll keep an eye out for your replies.

Take care!

[jpeez]

Hey Jeremy,

Yes, still experiencing the same issue of the continual crashing shortly
after locking phone. Yes, I am experiencing excessive battery draining when
using Spotify; this also could be that I am now having to operate and use
my phone with the low power mode off.

Could it be a hardware issue?

[CC838]

Hi Jeremy, 

Yes the app continually crashes on the iPad mini when locked after about a minute. While the app does not crash in the iPhone 12 Pro, I have definitely noticed overheating and massive battery drain while using Spotify in the background. Any help with this would appreciated! Thanks so much! 

[Hortowe]

It’s still happening for me.

I tried updating to iOS15, and that didn’t change anything.

I can listen indefinitely as long as phone screen is open and Spotify is in the foreground. As soon as I lock the screen or switch apps, it starts the ~30 second countdown until it crashes.

I listened to music for ~20 minutes with the app open and the screen unlocked and did not experience battery drain. I can’t speak to battery drain while in background because it crashes in the background!

[Vlad141]

Same here iPhone 13 Pro Max

[CarlosE]

Hey folks,

Thanks for keeping us posted.

Could you try disabling the Background App Refresh for now? This could be found under Settings > General > Background App Refresh.

Let us know if that makes any difference.

[jpeez]

Hello,

I have had the app background app refresh off for the last few days and am
still experiencing the random crashes.