Level 1

37 points

Gapless Music Playback Issue

I feel like this issue began with iOS 13, and the update to iOS 13.1.1 did not address it. iOS 13 appears to not recognize when an album should have gapless playback. It appears to only have this issue with the MP3 files I’ve synced to my iPhone, but .m4a files playback just fine. These are the same MP3 files I’ve had no issue with in the past on an iPhone, and they play correctly in the iTunes Library I’m syncing them from. I don’t have the music synced to any other iOS 13 device to know whether or not it occurs with those, but the issue doesn’t happen with an iPod Nano I have a lot of it synced to. This also does not seem to be specific to the built-in Music app as I’ve downloaded a few other music apps and happens with those as well.

iPhone XS

Posted on Sep 29, 2019 8:26 AM

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61 replies

Dec 10, 2019 10:21 PM in response to Fraxis2007

That’s unbelievable. I’m sorry to hear that. Give VOX a go and maybe share a feedback template about the issue on this forum so we can all send it to Apple, I’ll happily help.

Sep 30, 2019 9:19 AM in response to djluis2k7

I had no problem in iOS 12 but now when I'm listening to a gapless album (like a concert, etc.) there are gaps between songs. Just as an aside I am manually syncing music to my iPhone via iTunes (not from Apple Music) and the albums in question play back no problem within iTunes. I am running an iPhone XS 512GB on iOS 13.1.1.

Sep 30, 2019 12:45 PM in response to djluis2k7

Yes, I am having the same issue! I posted about it last week but since I didn't label it "gapless playback" I didn't get any replies or responses. I'm kind of a music nerd when it comes to this stuff, and since I just got the Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Edition, it's driving me crazy that I can't properly listen to the long medley without split-second gaps in between the songs. These are mp3 files as well -- I haven't tested to see if m4a files play correctly, but I will. I'm hoping Apple resolves this issue soon in another update.

Oct 14, 2019 10:23 AM in response to djluis2k7

I’m experiencing the same gap issue but also something more: all my music is converted from cd to mp3 and since I installed iOS 13, something really strange is randomly happening. Some songs just...don’t end: instead if changing to the next one, the songs repeat about the last minute again, while the display shows -0:00.

Did someone experience the same issue?

I absolutely have no idea how to fix it. If I reset my iPod 7G and manually put the whole music collection again (a lot of work) some other different songs will be “randomly” affected.

Help :-(

Nov 17, 2019 1:32 PM in response to marcofromspoleto

From a Windows 10 user perspective with latest iTunes 12.10.2.3 [until now] and dealing only with ripped material; the problem definitely occurs both with .aac and lossless .alac files when you start playing a track approx. less than its last 8-10 seconds before the (supposedly gapless) flowing the next one; you notice a brief silence between tracks which shouldn't be there, as a spectral analysis and playing of the same files with e.g. Foobar2000 confirmed.

But, if you let iTunes play at least the last 10 seconds of the track the gapless transition is OK, and the more so when playing tracks seamlessly from start to finish. So it definitely seems to be a data buffering matter (?) Strangely, mp3 files (even very old ones) aren't affected by this bug. Long story short, will check next iTunes updates to see if the matter is addressed but from this side isn't that annoying when 'normally' playing a gapless album.

djluis2k7 Author

Level 1

37 points

Nov 23, 2019 9:45 AM in response to Lontananza

I have always noticed this to be the case, though. Whenever I rip a CD of my own, I test it out to make sure it is gapless, and if you do just try to play the last 10 seconds or so on an iOS device, you will hear that gap. Instead, I try to play the final 20-30 seconds, and it's almost always good. The only other times it is not good is, what I would think, is just a coincidence, because then I will play the entire song and have no issues smoothly going to the next track without a gap. And the same goes for when I would try to do the same in iTunes on a PC or Mac.

djluis2k7 Author

Level 1

37 points

Oct 15, 2019 4:57 PM in response to jerryh218

I tried a few 3rd party apps and had the same result with them all. I figured it was just an iOS issue and not app specific.

Oct 29, 2019 5:31 AM in response to marcofromspoleto

I believe it’s been fixed. I tried a live album that didn’t work before the update, and now it does.

Nov 25, 2019 5:28 AM in response to djluis2k7

Well I heard it was fixed with 13.2.2 but that it’s back to being an issue with 13.2.3

Dec 4, 2019 5:57 AM in response to dennyblokland

Do you know for a fact it’s 13.2.3?

13.2.2 got rid of the issue, but I heard 13.2.3 brought it back.

djluis2k7 Author

Level 1

37 points

Sep 30, 2019 1:15 PM in response to drawtheline

You’re noticing this with iOS 12? I feel like I only started having it occur with iOS 13. I also went ahead and updated to iOS 13.1.2 and the issue continues. I’ve also deleted an affected album from my iPhone, then synced it again, and the issue continues. The only thing I haven’t tried is removing it from the iTunes Library, then adding it back again. If that resolves the issue, I guess it could be worse.

Oct 1, 2019 11:29 AM in response to drawtheline

I’ve updated to 13.1.2, but the problem persists! All of my albums still have gaps between tracks even though they are meant to play through gaplessly. I did not have this issue until I updated to iOS 13. I’ve submitted this bug a week ago before 13.1.2, but they still haven’t fix this issue yet and it’s starting to get really annoying. I read on some forums from July that this problem already started in iOS 13 beta so they have had several months to fix it now. How can they screw up on such a basic and simple functionality and not fix it in the public release?

djluis2k7 Author

Level 1

37 points

Oct 3, 2019 12:27 PM in response to rmhunt1970

Same here. I rip CDs in the iTunes Plus format now, but I have a number of CDs I’ve converted to MP3 I no longer have. If I knew for sure they didn’t plan on fixing it, then I would go through all that work. But I don’t want to first and then it’s fixed the next day.

Oct 4, 2019 12:43 PM in response to djluis2k7

The release notes don't state anything about resolving a gapless playback issue. In fact nothing about music is even mentioned. "Overview

The iOS & iPadOS 13.2 SDK provides support for developing apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS & iPadOS 13.2. The SDK comes bundled with Xcode 11 available from the Mac App Store. For information on the compatibility requirements for Xcode 11, see Xcode 11 Release Notes."

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/ios_ipados_release_notes/ios_ipados_13_2_beta_release_notes

Oct 22, 2019 7:48 AM in response to DJ Jose B

Any idea when 13.2 will be available? Can’t wait for this to be fixed.

I’ve also had issues with songs repeating 3 to 15 seconds of the song before going to the next one. Hoping this will somehow be fixed too

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Gapless Music Playback Issue