Apple Music Glitching & Cutting Out? 10 Reasons (Solved)

By / Streaming / Last Updated: October 6, 2023

For many of us, Apple Music is the go-to service for our music streaming needs. Its vast library of incredible artists and its slick user interface has kept users happy for years.

However, there are times when Apple Music runs into glitches and even cuts out completely. In this article, we’ll look at why this may be happening to you and how to solve the problems.

A man hand holding screen shot of Apple music app showing on Android. Apple Music is the new iTunes-based music streaming service that arrived on Android.

Sometimes Your Apple Music Just Needs To Be Force Quit

If you’ve never had an app glitch out on you then you’re among the lucky few. Apps, including Apple Music, sometimes encounter minor issues that can easily be resolved by force quitting.

  • Apple Music will sometimes glitch out and that could mean that your music cuts out completely.
  • One of the quickest and simplest methods to stop an app from glitching is to force quit the app.
  • Force quitting stops the app from running and allows you to test whether the problem is just a minor issue.

To force quit Apple Music just follow these steps:

  1. Swipe up on your iPhone’s screen or alternatively, hit the ‘Home‘ button twice.
  2. Remove the app from the screen by dragging it upwards and off from the top.
  3. Re–open Apple Music and check if you encounter any issues.

If force quitting does not resolve the glitches that are plaguing your listening experience it’s time to look a little deeper into the potential problem.

Apple Music Is Cutting Out Because There’s A Server Issue

If you’ve had a problem with playback on Apple Music, such as a song suddenly pausing or cutting out midway through, then it could be a problem with Apple’s server.

Unfortunately, sometimes a server can go down and that has been known to affect Apple Music users having the ability to play their tracks.

Thankfully, server problems don’t last too long. It’s in everyone’s interest, including Apple, to get the servers up and running as quickly as possible.

However, you don’t have to sit and wonder whether the glitch you’re experiencing is a server problem or not. In fact, you can go online and check for yourself.

Just follow this link to access Apple’s System Status page. From here you can search through all of Apple’s services and see if it has a green circle next to Apple Music.

If Apple Music is accompanied by this green circle it means that all is well and that there are no server issues.

If not, and Apple Music is ‘Unavailable’, then you can be sure that the problems you’re experiencing are related to the server.

If this is the case, it’s a matter of sitting back and waiting for Apple to resolve the issue. As SwitchingToMac.com states:

“If you notice an outage, stay patient until Apple sorts things out. Usually, you won’t have to wait for long.”

Apple Music Is Glitching Because Your iPhone Requires A Restart

More often than not our frustrations with an app are unfounded and instead, the problem lies with the device itself.

Apple Music users have found that sometimes the reason why they are experiencing annoying issues such as songs cutting out can be easily resolved with a restart of their phone.

  • Restarting your device can prevent glitches from occurring in the Apple Music app.
  • Always try a restart of your phone to check whether the problems you’ve been experiencing can be resolved in this way.
  • You can turn off your iPhone by opening ‘Settings‘ followed by ‘General‘ and then tapping ‘Shut Down‘. Slide your finger horizontally across to power down the device.
  • Ensure you wait 1 minute before powering up and then you can relaunch Apple Music.

Data Saver Settings Is Causing Apple Music To Cut Out

It may be a good idea to have a little check over your settings if Apple Music keeps repeatedly cutting out on you, or even crashing.

In particular, the setting that may be causing this issue is called ‘Low Data Mode’.

  • Low Data Mode is a setting on the iPhone that will limit the amount of internet data that you can use.
  • Low Data Mode can be applied on both WiFi connections or cellular data.
  • With Low Data Mode activated, all auto–downloads will be switched off.
  • Any streaming of both video and music will be reduced in quality.

Due to the fact that Low Data Mode on iPhones restricts your device’s ability to use the internet, it is no wonder that it will have an impact on Apple Music and playback.

Low Data Mode is not a setting that will work well if you want to stream songs over Apple Music and so it’s worth knowing how to disable this setting.

How To Disable Low Data Mode:

If you’re on a Wi-Fi connection and need to disable Low Data Mode then take these steps:

  1. Access ‘Settings‘ from your iPhone.
  2. Open the options for Wi–Fi.
  3. Tap on the little ‘i‘ next to your network.
  4. Toggle Low Data Mode to off.

If Low Data Mode is running whilst you’re using cellular data then take these steps instead:

  1. Open ‘Settings‘.
  2. Find and Tap ‘Mobile Data‘.
  3. Open the ‘Mobile Data Options‘.
  4. Deactivate Low Data Mode.

Low Power Mode Is Negatively Impacting Apple Music’s Performance

Once again, it may not be your Apple Music app that is at fault, and instead, it could be that your device is hampering Apple Music’s ability to perform as it should.

Users have found that if their phone is on Low Power Mode it will prevent Apple Music from functioning normally. Therefore, Apple Music may glitch or cut out if your phone is currently on Low Power Mode.

If you want Apple Music to work at its best, disabling Low Power Mode is a must.

Here’s how to ensure Low Power Mode doesn’t interfere with your enjoyment of the Apple Music app:

  1. Access ‘Settings‘ on your iPhone.
  2. Select ‘Battery‘ from the list.
  3. Ensure that ‘Low Power Mode’ is deactivated by toggling it off.

Apple Music Is Cutting Out Because Your Phone Is Trying To Connect To A Bluetooth Device

Apple Music will cut off if and when your phone attempts to connect with a Bluetooth device. If you were not intending to connect to a Bluetooth device you might think that you have nothing to worry about.

However, iPhones will try to automatically pair with nearby Bluetooth devices if your Bluetooth is active.

It may well be the case that Apple Music is cutting out because your phone has detected a nearby Bluetooth device and wants to connect to it.

To ensure that your phone is not making this mistake you’ll want to deactivate Bluetooth on your device:

  1. Access your ‘Settings‘ on your iPhone.
  2. Tap ‘Bluetooth‘.
  3. Toggle Bluetooth off.

Read our blog here about 8 reasons people hate music.

Turn Off ‘Automatic Ear Detection’ On Your AirPods To Stop Apple Music Glitches

AirPods have a great inbuilt feature that pauses any music when you remove the earbud from your ear. This stops any frustration from having to find your device and pause your music or podcast every time you need to focus on something else.

However, some AirPod owners have noticed that the ‘Automatic Ear Detection’ feature is overly sensitive and will pause their music even when they are just fiddling with the position of the earbud.

If this is happening to you, it’s best to disable the feature altogether. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Begin by ensuring your AirPods are connected to your device.
  2. Open up the ‘Settings’ menu.
  3. Next, go to ‘Bluetooth’.
  4. Tap on the ‘Info’ icon located next to the AirPods.
  5. Scroll down and toggle ‘Automatic Ear Detection’ to the OFF position.

If Apple Music Is Cutting Out You May Have To Reset Your Network Settings

A working and stable internet connection is essential in order to stream music on Apple Music without the songs pausing or cutting out.

If you have switched networks, disconnected, and reconnected to airplane mode yet you are still experiencing playback issues, then it may be time to completely reset your phone’s network settings.

Doing so will clear all network-associated data previously saved on your device and will hopefully resolve any unwanted pausing or glitches.

To reset your iPhones network settings, begin by:

  1. Opening the ‘Settings’.
  2. Next, navigate to ‘General’.
  3. Scroll all the way to the bottom and you will see a ‘Reset’ option.
  4. Tap this and you will be given a list of all the resets available for your device.
  5. On this list scroll down to find ‘Reset Network Settings’.
  6. Enter your passcode if asked, and reconfirm your selection to begin the reset.

Download Songs For Offline Listening & Prevent Apple Music From Cutting Out

One simple way to solve any Apple Music that keeps cutting out during streaming is to download the song or album for offline listening.

This will stop any issues that are occurring due to a disruption in the WiFi or cellular connections.

Downloading content on Apple Music is incredibly straightforward, all you have to do is follow these steps:

  1. Open Apple Music on your device.
  2. Go to your library and find the song or album you want to download.
  3. Click or tap the 3 dots next to the song, and select ‘Download’.
  4. Alternatively, press and hold on the song and select ‘Download’ on the prompt.
  5. The music file will now begin downloading onto your device.

Read our blog here about is Apple Music dying along with iTunes?

Re-downloading Music Will Stop Apple Music Glitching

In the past, some Apple Music users have reported that certain downloaded songs or albums tend to glitch out when they are played.

If the majority of your library is playing with no issue, but you have a couple of songs that just cut out or skip, there may be an issue with the download itself.

Apple Music files can become corrupted during the downloading process due to a power outage or an unstable WiFi connection. It may sound disastrous, but you can easily delete the corrupted file and redownload a clean copy from the Apple Music store.

Here’s how to delete and re-download a suspected corrupt music file:

  1. Open up Apple Music.
  2. Navigate to your music library and find the specific album or song you are experiencing issues with.
  3. Tap the 3 dots (…) next to the song and select ‘Remove’.
  4. Here you will be prompted to either remove the song from just your library or from your device.
  5. Ensure you tap ‘Remove Download’.

The downloaded file will now be removed from your device. To re-download, simply search for the song or album again in the search bar and tap the download icon.

Sources

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