Why does my music stop playing on my Android?

One of the most frustrating issues many Android users face is when their music suddenly stops playing for no apparent reason. You might be listening to your favorite playlist or podcast when the audio abruptly cuts out, leaving you perplexed as to why.

There are few things more annoying than having your music interrupted when you’re in the zone and focused on something else. It disrupts your flow and concentration, especially if it keeps occurring consistently.

The purpose of this article is to troubleshoot the most common causes behind why music stops playing on Android devices. By examining the various reasons this can happen, you can hopefully resolve the issue and prevent it from occurring again.

Background on Android Audio Playback

Android provides several APIs and frameworks for handling audio playback, primarily based on the MediaPlayer class. MediaPlayer enables apps to play audio and video files from resources, local storage, or over the network. Under the hood, MediaPlayer uses native codecs for hardware-accelerated decoding and handles buffering audio streams for smooth playback.

Android also manages audio focus to determine which app should output audio at any given time. When an app wants to play audio, it requests audio focus from the AudioManager system service. This will pause playback in other apps and grant focus to the new app. Apps should be designed to properly handle gaining and losing focus per system guidelines.

App or System Issues

One common cause of interruptions in audio playback on Android devices is bugs, crashes, or glitches within the music app itself. For example, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, and other apps may sometimes freeze up or stop playing media files unexpectedly. This can occur due to problems with the app’s coding or issues with compatibility between the app version and your Android OS version.

According to a discussion thread on Google support forums, many users faced audio playback problems after updating to Android 7.0 on their devices, pointing to system-level compatibility issues that can disrupt audio.^[1] Reinstalling spotify or rebooting the phone did not resolve it, indicating an OS problem rather than an app problem in that case.

At the Android system level, audio architecture changes between OS releases may also introduce bugs that affect media playback across different apps. Android uses processes like AudioFlinger and MediaPlayerService to mix and output audio streams, so bugs in these core OS processes can cause widespread audio glitches.

To troubleshoot, try updating your apps and Android OS to the latest versions available. If the issues persist, it likely points to an OS or driver-level problem rather than just a single app.

[1] “I am having serious issues with audio playback on my …,” Google Support Forums, https://support.google.com/android/thread/27866858/i-am-having-serious-issues-with-audio-playback-on-my-android-7-0-device?hl=en

Interrupted by Other Apps

One of the most common reasons for music to stop playing suddenly on Android devices is interruption from other apps that take over audio focus. Android has a system for managing audio playback priority, and when another app like a phone call or notification grabs audio focus, it will pause any music or audio that is currently playing.

Notifications are a frequent culprit when it comes to interrupting music playback on Android. Many apps are configured to play notification sounds even when media is already playing. This automatically pauses the music while the notification sound plays. According to a Reddit thread, notifications can be controlled on Samsung devices by going to Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings > Media and turning on “Play media sound” [1]. This will redirect notification sounds through the phone speaker and prevent interrupting music playback.

Incoming phone calls will also cause music to stop on Android as the Phone app takes over audio focus. There is no setting to prevent this, as phone calls are seen as the top priority audio on the device. The music will resume once the call has ended and the audio focus returns to the music app.

Battery Optimization

One common reason music may stop playing on Android phones is due to battery optimization settings. In order to preserve battery life, Android can throttle background processes and restrict app activities like music playback [1]. This is controlled through battery optimization settings, which allow Android to limit background processes when the screen is off or the app is not in active use.

To prevent music playback from being interrupted, it is recommended to add your audio apps to the battery optimization whitelist. This will exempt them from throttling and allow continuous playback. You can find the optimization settings in Android’s Settings app under Battery > Battery Optimization. From there, select “All Apps” and choose the apps to exempt from battery restrictions.

Disabling battery optimizations can reduce idle battery life, as apps will have more freedom to run in the background. However a minor reduction in idle time is worth uninterrupted music playback for most users. Just be sure to only whitelist the essential audio apps.

Connectivity Issues

A loss of connectivity like Bluetooth or WiFi drops can make music stop playing suddenly on your Android device. These connections allow your device to stream music from the internet or from wireless headphones and speakers.

If the Bluetooth connection is suddenly lost, the music you were playing to wireless headphones or speakers will cease. Similarly, if your WiFi drops while you were streaming music from an app, playback will stop.

To troubleshoot connectivity problems:

Make sure Bluetooth is turned on and that your device is still paired with headphones or speakers. Go to Bluetooth settings and reconnect if needed (source).
Check WiFi is enabled and try toggling Airplane mode off and on to reset the connections.

Ensure no other apps are connected via Bluetooth and interrupting your audio.
Restart your Android device to refresh network connectivity.

If connectivity issues still persist, check your router, modem, and ISP for outages. Problems with the internet connection itself can cause streaming & Bluetooth music to stop.

Insufficient Storage

Low storage space on your Android device can cause music playback issues, as the system may lack space to store temporary music files during playback. According to Minitool, the Android system needs free space to temporarily save streaming music or download music files from apps.

To check your available storage space, go to Settings > Storage. Look at the available space shown for your device’s internal storage. If you have less than 500MB free, your limited storage could be contributing to music playback problems.

To free up storage space on Android:

Clear cached data and temporary files from apps and your browser using the “Storage” settings.
Uninstall apps you no longer use.
Move photos, videos and other media to cloud storage or an SD card.

Delete downloads and files you no longer need.

Freeing up internal storage space can help resolve sporadic music interruptions during playback. With more available storage, your Android system will have room to save temporary music files smoothly.

Corrupt Audio Files

Damaged or malformed audio files may fail to play properly on Android devices. This can happen if the file gets corrupted during download or transfer. According to this source, audio files can get corrupted due to unfinished downloads, device issues, malware, or abrupt disconnections.

If you have corrupt audio files on your Android device, try redownloading them if possible. You may also need to scan your device for malware to rule out corruption from infections. If the original audio files are no longer available, you can try using audio repair software like Wondershare Repairit to fix the damaged files. This can analyze the files, repair issues, and recover as much playable audio as possible.

To avoid corrupt files going forward, make sure your downloads complete fully before disconnecting. Transfer files carefully using proper cables, and frequently backup your audio library offline in case files ever do get damaged.

Summary

There are a few main reasons why music may unexpectedly stop playing on Android devices:

An app crashing or freezing
Battery optimization settings interrupting playback
Connectivity issues with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi

Insufficient storage space on the device
Corrupted audio files that won’t play properly

To troubleshoot playback issues, try this checklist:

Close and reopen the music app
Clear app cache and data
Check battery optimization exclusions for the app

Ensure your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connections are solid
Free up storage space on your device
Delete and reload troublesome audio files

If you continue experiencing problems, you may need to contact the app developer or your device manufacturer for further assistance. Issues like freezing, crashes, and connectivity can often be resolved by updates to the app, your device OS, or firmware.

Further Help

If you continue having issues with music playback on your Android device after trying the troubleshooting steps listed above, here are some additional resources to help resolve the problem:

Check out the community forums on sites like Google’s Android support page or the Emby Community. Many other users have likely experienced similar playback issues and discussions there may provide useful tips.

You can also try contacting your device manufacturer’s customer support for troubleshooting assistance specific to your phone or tablet model. They may be able to diagnose if it’s a hardware-related problem.

As a last resort, you can attempt a factory reset of your device to eliminate any software issues, but make sure your data is backed up first. This should fully clear out any corrupted files or weird settings that could be interrupting music playback.

Hopefully with some patience and testing, you’ll be able to get your Android device reliably playing music again through one or more of these suggestions!