Apple Music works amazingly well on the iPhone, but it’s not immune to problems. Rarely, you may come across instances where the audio cuts out randomly. This can happen when streaming music or playing downloaded songs for offline listening.
Below, you will find out a number of reasons that can cause Apple Music to hang continuously, along with solutions to help you fix the problem.
Force quit the Apple Music app
More often than not, simply force-quitting an app can end up solving many minor problems associated with it. The same goes for the Music app.
Start by swiping up from the bottom of the iPhone screen (or double-click Home button on an iPhone with Touch ID) to display the app switcher. Then, hold and drag the Music tab at the top of the screen to remove it.
Continue by restarting the Music app and start playing a song or album. If it keeps stopping a lot, go ahead with the rest of the fixes.
Check the status of the Apple music system
Problems with Apple Music servers can also cause sudden pauses when streaming music. To check if so, load Apple’s System Status page and check the status next to Apple Music. If you notice an outage, be patient until Apple fixes things. Usually, you won’t have to wait long.
Restart your iPhone
Sometimes, restarting your iPhone is enough to fix any underlying issues that cause songs to randomly pause in Apple Music.
Go to Settings > General > Stop to turn off the iOS device. Then, follow by holding the key Side button to restart it.
Troubleshoot Wi-Fi problems
If Apple Music keeps getting interrupted regularly over Wi-Fi, chances are you are dealing with an erratic connection. Here’s what you can do to fix it:
- Turn Airplane Mode on and off
- Renew the IP lease
- Reset the router
- Switch to another Wi-Fi network
- Switch to data network
If you switch to using cellular data, go to Settings > Music > Cellular data and make sure the Music app has permissions to stream and download songs via cellular data.
Disable low data mode
Low data mode on iPhone helps save bandwidth, but it can also cause problems when streaming content over Wi-Fi or cellular data. So if you have the feature turned on, try disabling it.
Here’s how to do it for Wi-Fi and cellular.
- Wifi: Go to Settings > Wifi and touch the Information icon next to the active Wi-Fi connection. Then, turn off the switch next to Low data mode.
- Cell phone: Go to Settings > Cell phone > Cellular data options and turn off the switch next to Low data mode.
Turn off low power mode
Power saving mode (which causes the iPhone battery icon to turn yellow) is another reason that can prevent apps from working properly, especially when they continue to run in the background.
If Apple Music pauses for a moment after switching to another app or turning off the display, go to Settings > Battery and turn off the switch next to Low consumption mode.
Disable automatic ear detection in AirPods
If you’re using a pair of AirPods, you may experience random pauses due to a feature called Auto Ear Detection. This is useful if you want the music to stop while you take off the wireless earbuds. But it can also work against you if you get very upset with them.
To turn off automatic ear detection, go to Settings > Bluetooth and touch the Information icon next to your AirPods (you must have them connected). Then, disable the switch next to Automatic ear detection.
Download the track or album
If the problem persists when streaming a song or album, downloading may help solve the problem. To save a single song to local storage, tap the three-dot icon next to it (or long-press the song) and select Download.
To download an album, tap the Download icon at the top right of the screen. Or, long press the album and select Download.
Delete and re-download the track or album
If a downloaded song or album ends up being paused randomly, it is likely damaged. Try deleting and re-downloading it.
To delete a downloaded song or album, tap the three-dot icon next to it and select To remove > Remove Download/Download.
Reset iPhone network settings
If none of the above solutions work, try resetting the network settings on your iPhone. To do this, go to Settings > General > Reset and touch Reset network settings.
After resetting the network settings, either reconnect to Wi-Fi manually (the reset procedure deletes all saved Wi-Fi networks) or use cellular data to listen to Apple Music.
Still having problems? Here’s what you can do
The above fixes should have helped you get back to chilling out on your favorite Apple Music songs without annoying pauses.
However, if Apple Music keeps suspending, check for any pending updates to the iPhone system software and apply them. To do this, go to Settings > General > Software update and touch Download and install. In addition to fixing any known audio issues in iOS, this should also apply the latest performance improvements to the Music app.
Additionally, you can choose to perform a hard reset to restore default settings of any corrupted or conflicting system configurations. To do this, go to Settings > General > Reset and touch Reset all settings.
If the problem only occurs when using Bluetooth headsets or headphones, try these additional troubleshooting tips.