How to listen to music and play games at the same time on phone?
Many people enjoy listening to music while playing games on their phone as a way to enhance their gaming experience. Music can help set the mood and make games more immersive and exciting. Some key reasons why someone may want to play games and listen to music simultaneously on their phone include:
– Music can help players focus and concentrate during intense or strategic games.
– Listening to upbeat, energetic music can boost motivation during action games or competitive multiplayer games.
– Background music can reduce stress and frustration during challenging games.
– Movie soundtracks or themed playlists can enhance the atmosphere and storyline of adventure, roleplaying or simulation games.
– Music adds extra auditory stimulation for idle games or games with repetitive grinding.
– Players enjoy customizing their gaming experience by choosing their own soundtrack.
Overall, combining music and mobile gaming creates a more engaging sensory experience for many players.
Enable Split Screen/Multi-Window
Most Android phones have a built-in split screen or multi-window feature that allows you to run two apps simultaneously side-by-side on the screen. This is useful for listening to music in one app while gaming in another app. To enable split screen:
On Samsung Galaxy devices, open the Recents/Overview screen and tap the icon above the app preview to enter split screen view (https://www.groovypost.com/howto/split-screen-on-android/). You can then select a second app to launch in split screen.
On stock Android 9 and above, open the Recents screen and tap the icon in the upper right to enter split screen. Choose “Split screen” and select the second app.
On Android 12, long press on the app in Recents and select “Split screen”. Pick the second app to launch split screen.
The first app will take up the top half of the screen, while the second app runs on the bottom half. You can adjust the divider and swap app positions as needed.
Use a Music Player with Background Playback
Many music apps like Spotify allow you to play music in the background while you’re using other apps. On both Android and iOS, look for music apps that specifically advertise background playback features. Popular options include Playback, Musi, Pandora, Spotify, and others.
These dedicated music apps are optimized to keep playing audio even when you switch over to your game. Just start up the music, open your game, and the tunes should continue uninterrupted in the background.
Keep in mind that background audio does use system resources and battery, so you may need to tweak quality settings for smooth performance. But with a good music app that supports backgrounding, you can easily listen while gaming on a smartphone.
Lower In-Game Music Volume
Lowering the in-game music volume allows you to better hear both your music and the game audio. Most games have audio settings that let you adjust the music volume, sound effects volume, and dialogue volume independently. Lower the in-game music volume to around 20-50% of maximum, so you can still hear some game music but primarily hear your own music playback.
For example, in Call of Duty Mobile, go to the Settings menu and select Audio. Here you can adjust the Music Volume slider to reduce the in-game music to your preferred mixing level with your own music. This allows you to hear game sound effects and voice chat while listening to your music app.[1]
The optimal balance depends on the game – more story-driven games may need a higher music volume to hear cutscenes, while multiplayer games require sound effects and voice chat to be audible. Experiment to find the right in-game music volume for each game.
Use Headphones/Earbuds
Using headphones lets you hear both game and music audio clearly. Headphones keep the sound from each source separate, so you can listen to gameplay and music simultaneously without audio interference. Choose a gaming headset designed for mobile use, like the Razer Kraken Kitty Bluetooth Mobile Gaming Headset, for optimum audio quality. Opt for wireless Bluetooth headphones to avoid getting tangled up in wires while gaming. Earbuds are also a compact option that won’t get in the way. Just ensure your earbuds or headphones are comfortable for extended wear. Having separate audio streams piped directly into your ears makes it easy to immerse in gameplay while still enjoying your favorite playlists or podcasts.
Connect Speakers for Music
One way to listen to music while gaming on your phone is by connecting the phone to external Bluetooth speakers. Streaming music to separate speakers frees up the phone’s headphone jack so you can plug in headphones or earbuds just for the game audio.
There are many portable, wireless Bluetooth speakers designed for use with smartphones. The FIFINE AmpliGame A16, for example, has a built-in rechargeable battery, RGB lighting, and volume/EQ controls that make it well-suited for gaming setups.
Pair your phone with the Bluetooth speaker via your device’s Bluetooth settings. Open your preferred music streaming app on your phone and start playing audio through the connected speakers. Then plug headphones or earbuds into your phone’s audio jack and launch your game to hear its audio separately.
With the music streaming wirelessly to external speakers, you can focus on the game audio coming directly through your wired headset. This setup prevents the two audio streams from mixing together or competing for resources.
Try Game Genres with Less Audio Dependence
Certain categories of games require less continual audio attention than story-based or action genres.
For example, puzzle, card, and casual games often have simple or repetitive sound effects that won’t interfere with listening to music. Some examples of these types of games include:
- Tetris
- Solitaire
- Bejeweled
- Word games
- Match 3 puzzles
These types of games often have more repetitive gameplay loops centered around shapes, colors, words, etc rather than complex narratives. As a result, the audio components are usually less essential compared to immersive story or action-adventure games.
Focusing on puzzle, card, casual, or other minimal audio genres enables enjoying music playlist without key story details or gameplay sounds getting lost. Just remember to adjust in-game volume if sound effects become distracting or overwhelm the music.
Use Voice Chat Apps Over Music
For multiplayer games, use voice chat instead of music listening. This allows you to communicate strategically with teammates for better coordination. Popular voice chat apps designed for gamers include Discord, Guilded, Rune, and Pinch.
Voice chat apps are optimized to reduce latency, enable clear communication, and run smoothly in the background during games. They provide features like configurable audio channels, voice activation, noise suppression, and servers specifically for different games and communities.
Compared to listening to music, using voice chat allows you to be more engaged with teammates, react and adjust gameplay accordingly, and gain a competitive edge. This is especially vital for competitive matches and tournaments. Simply listening to music can isolate you from vital audio cues and communication.
So when gaming with friends or random matches, use specialized gaming voice chat services. They outperform regular music players and deliver a better multiplayer experience.
Manage Notifications
Notifications from other apps can disrupt your gaming experience. To minimize this:
On Android devices, go to Settings > Block during game. Turn on the Notifications toggle to prevent alerts while gaming [1]. You can also enable Do Not Disturb mode before launching a game.
On iPhones, enable Do Not Disturb mode, which blocks calls and notifications. You can allow calls or messages from specific contacts if needed. Go to Settings > Do Not Disturb and customize the options [2].
With notifications disabled, you can enjoy your games without disruptive alerts. Just remember to re-enable notifications when you’re done gaming.
Conclusion
In summary, it is possible to enjoy both playing video games and listening to music simultaneously using a few simple techniques to achieve a quality experience. Some key tips to keep in mind are: keeping the game music volume down while toggling between headphones and speakers for music playbacks, managing notifications to minimize interruptions, using voice chat over loud music, and using apps or hardware like multi-window/split-screen to enable running both a game and music player.
The main benefits of successfully combining gaming and music listening include improved focus and immersion, due to how video game soundtracks enhance gameplay. But listening to music can also enhance the overall enjoyment. Using the tips in this guide, you can get the best of both worlds.