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Apple Music Pauses After Few Seconds? (30-Second Fix)

By / Streaming / Last Updated: October 6, 2023

Apple Music offers its users an incredible library of music to be discovered and enjoyed, but moreover, you can also listen to Apple Music wherever you go.

However, there’s nothing worse than finding the track, album, or playlist that you want to listen to, only to have the playback pause after a few seconds.

In this article, we’ll take you through a range of solutions to ensure your playback on Apple Music is uninterrupted:

Human hand holding smart phone with Apple Music open on screen

Fix Pausing Issues on Apple Music by Restarting your Phone

Restarting your phone is one of the first things to try if you are experiencing any issues with playback when listening to Apple Music.

Restarting your phone can fix many performance-related issues that may occur.

To restart your iPhone or Android, just read the simple steps below:

Here’s How to Restart an iPhone

  1. Open ‘Settings’
  2. Tap on ‘General’
  3. Scroll down to the bottom and tap ‘Shut down’
  4. Once your iPhone has been off for a couple of minutes, try turning it back on.

Here’s How to Restart an Android Device

  1. Hold the power button down for a few seconds.
  2. A pop-up screen saying ‘Power off’ will appear.
  3. Tap this and your Android will shut down.
  4. After a few moments, turn your android back on again.

Restarting your device is a good rule of thumb for glitchy apps, including the frustrating times when Apple Music stops playing songs randomly. 

Ensure Apple Music Status is Available & Not Causing your Tracks to Pause

If you are experiencing issues with Apple Music and the songs keep pausing, it is worth checking the status of Apple Music before you start delving into anything deeper.

It’s always worth checking first whether it’s to do with the server.

You can check the status of Apple Music by going to the Support pages, under ‘Systems Status’.

Here you will be able to see the availability status of all things Apple – from FaceTime to Apple’s Weather app.

These symbols indicate the status of Apple Music: 

  • Green indicates available
  • Yellow indicates there may be some issue
  • Red indicates there is an outage

Make sure to also check out our article about the reasons why Apple Music stops when other apps are open!

Check Bluetooth Interference is Not the Cause of Apple Music’s Pausing Issue

Apple devices automatically connect to previously connected devices via Bluetooth, which may cause Apple Music to pause or skip songs.

It’s great not having to reconnect your iPhone to your headphones every time you go to use them.

It can, however, cause problems when you have multiple remembered devices.

If you are finding that Apple Music pauses when you are listening to music, it may be simply because your iPhone is trying to connect with a Bluetooth device nearby.

To prevent this from happening all you have to do is turn your Bluetooth off for uninterrupted play.

Adjust your Phone’s Power Mode to Ensure Apple Music Won’t Pause

When your phone goes into ‘Low Power Mode’ or ‘Power Saving Mode’ it may hinder some apps’ ability to function at their fullest. 

Low Power Mode may also cause Apple Music to pause during playback. 

So if you are experiencing this issue when your phone is in Low Power Mode, it’s best to turn it off and return the battery setting to default.

To do this, simply follow the instructions below:

Disable Low Power Mode for iPhone

  1. Open ‘Settings’
  2. Scroll down and tap on ‘Battery’
  3. Here you will see ‘Low Power Mode’
  4. Ensure it is toggled off, indicated by a grey slider.

Disable Power Saving Mode for Android

  1. Tap on ‘Settings’
  2. Open up ‘Battery’
  3. Scroll down and you will see two options: ‘Power Saving Mode’ and ‘Super Power Saving Mode’
  4. Choose which battery mode you would like. Super Power Saving Mode will conserve much more battery than the normal mode.

Reinstalling Apple Music App to Solve Pausing Issue

If you have tried the previous solutions and are still experiencing pausing issues when using Apple Music, there may be a problem with the software of the app itself.

The easiest way to solve this is to delete then reinstall the Apple Music app.

How to Delete Apple Music & Reinstall on iPhone:

  1. Locate the Apple Music app on your phone by typing ‘Music’ in the search or swiping through your screens.
  2. Press and hold on the app until a menu appears.
  3. Tap on ‘Delete app’
  4. Next just go to the App Store and reinstall Apple Music.

How to Delete Apple Music & Reinstall on Android:

  1. Open up the Google Play Store.
  2. Navigate to your profile and tap on ‘Manage apps and devices’.
  3. Type in ‘Apple Music’ to locate the app.
  4. Tap on ‘Uninstall’
  5. Next, reinstall the Apple Music app by searching for it in Google Play Store.

Please also take a look at our article about all the devices that are compatible with Apple Music.

Disabling Automatic Ear Detection Could be just the Trick to Stop Irritating Pauses

Automatic ear detection can be a very useful feature that ensures that playback pauses when your device is aware that your AirPods are no longer in your ears.

However, the feature may be a little too sensitive for you and is perhaps interfering with playback.

If your Apple Music tracks are pausing after a few seconds it may be worth turning off automatic ear detection to see if this is what is causing the problem.

Here’s How to Disable Automatic Ear Detection:

  1. Open ‘Settings’ on your device.
  2. Tap ‘Bluetooth’
  3. Find your AirPods and tap the ‘i’
  4. Toggle ‘Automatic Ear Detection’ to its off position.

Clearing Space on your Device can Prevent Random Pausing on Apple Music

Internal storage is a big issue when it comes to your apps running as they should.

If your device is full to the brim with unnecessary data then this could result in Apple Music not performing properly – the classic symptom is playback pausing after only a few seconds.

Apple has suggested that users who have devices with full internal storage should make more space to ensure no playback issues.

Deleting large files such as movies and unwanted music files can free up this space quickly and efficiently.

Clearing temporary internet files is also recommended as these cached files can build up over time and should be cleared out.

iPhone users should take a look at the ‘Other’ section in their iPhone’s storage and check how large this segment is. If ‘Other’ is taking up a large amount of storage then consider backing up your device and performing a ‘Restore’.

Keep your device’s storage at a manageable level and playback on Apple Music should not be affected by lack of storage space.

Try Disabling your Low Data Settings to Ensure that Apple Music Doesn’t Pause During Playback

Low data mode on iPhone is a fantastic feature that allows users to conserve the data that they use when connected to the internet.

This can be an important consideration for those of you who are on a mobile plan that has limited cellular data. Low data mode prevents apps from performing certain functions or limits their effectiveness to ensure that internet data is preserved.

Automatic downloads will stop once low data mode is enabled and, crucially, in this case, streaming of video or audio will be of much lower quality.

Low data mode can be enabled on both WiFi and Mobile Data, and both can hamper your device’s apps from performing as they should online and this could explain why Apple Music pauses playback after only a few seconds.

If you’ve been experiencing pauses in playback on Apple Music you should check if low data mode is enabled, and if so, you should try disabling it.

Here’s How to Disable Low Data Mode on your iPhone

Disabling low data mode on your device is simple, just follow these steps:

  1. Open ‘Settings’ on your device.
  2. Tap Wi-Fi followed by the ‘i’ icon which can be found next to the WiFi network you are connected to.
    • You’ll now be brought to a screen which displays detailed data and options for your network.
  3. From here find the option to toggle ‘Low Data Mode’. Ensure that it is toggled off (grey instead of green).
  4. Next, ensure Low Data Mode is switched off for mobile data by returning to ‘Settings’
  5. This time tap ‘Mobile Data’ followed by ‘Mobile Data Options’
  6. Just like before, toggle ‘Low Data Mode’ to disable it.

Check out our article about why Apple Music is buffering to learn more about loading times!

Prevent Apple Music Pausing Whilst Streaming by Downloading your Music for Offline Listening

If you’re fed up with Apple Music pausing playback while you stream your favorite hits, then consider downloading the songs you love to listen to without interruption.

Downloading tracks on Apple Music allows users to store them directly on their devices.

Once the tracks, playlists, and albums are on a user’s device they won’t require an internet connection to play them.

Listening offline means a user’s playback should be uninterrupted, but remember, you do need enough space on your device to download from Apple Music.

Here’s How to Download Songs on Apple Music

Downloading songs on Apple Music is straightforward, just follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Apple Music app on your device.
  2. Find songs, albums, or playlists and add them to your ‘Library’ by pressing on them and then selecting ‘Add to Library’.
    • Alternatively, if you’re using a desktop computer, just click the ‘+’ icon.
  3. To download the content for offline listening, simply find the album, track, or playlist in your ‘Library’ and then press and hold.
  4. You’ll now see the option appear to ‘Download’. Just tap ‘Download’ and your device will begin the process.
    • For PC and Mac users the process is the same, but you’ll need to click on the down arrow (Mac) or the cloud with a down arrow (PC).

It is important to note that downloading songs from Apple music requires cellular data or an active internet connection. 

Redownload Tracks that Pause After a Few Seconds on Apple Music

Sometimes downloads don’t go according to plan: maybe your internet connection was interrupted during the process, you end up with a corrupted copy of the file, or the download is incomplete.

Whatever problem occurred, a bad download can result in a track that doesn’t play as it should.

  • If you’ve found that playback is pausing on an Apple Music track that you’ve downloaded, then it’s worth removing it and re-downloading again.
  • Removing a track is simple: tap the three dots beside the content that needs to be deleted and then hit ‘Remove followed by ‘Remove Download’.
  • Once the track has been deleted, you can re-download it from your library and see if the problem persists.

Sources

11 Best Ways to Fix Apple Music Keeps Pausing Error

Why Does Apple Music Keep Pausing? 10 Fixes to Try

How Low Data Mode works on an iPhone, and how you can use it to save cellular data or Wi-Fi bandwidth

Apple Music System Status | Apple.com

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