Apple Music gapless playback not working in iOS 17

Question

rmhunt1970 Author

Level 1

51 points

Apple Music gapless playback not working in iOS 17

For several months now, going back at least to iOS 16.5, gapless playback is not working in the Music app on my iPhone. This goes for my iPhone XS this summer and now iPhone 15 Pro. I was hoping iOS 17 would fix the problem, but it remains. I mainly have my own personal (ripped from CD) mp3s synched to my phone, but it's also disappeared when streaming from Apple Music (for example, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd). This is very annoying when listening to albums designed to flow continuously (Abbey Road, various Pink Floyd albums, live albums, etc.). Gapless playback on iTunes on my PC works fine; it's the Music app on my iPhone that's the problem. I reported this to Apple a few weeks ago, but iOS 17.0.3 still has the issue. Does anyone know if Apple is working to fix this? It's getting kind of ridiculous that several iOS updates have come out in the past few months but the problem still exists. In the meantime, are there any solutions or workarounds that anyone has come across?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone 15 Pro

Posted on Oct 11, 2023 9:32 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

llucero9848

Level 1

21 points

Dec 6, 2023 9:32 AM in response to rmhunt1970

It's been almost 3 months since iOS 17 launched. And Apple can't even be bothered to make a simple fix for gapless playback.

That's just pathetic.

In the meantime, I've been using foobar2000 to listen to my mp3 files on my phone. It may take a while to get used to after being so familiar with the Music app, but it gets the job done.

Reply

Answer 2

rmhunt1970 Author

Level 1

51 points

Dec 14, 2023 3:10 PM in response to weespecky

I can confirm this is still an issue with 17.2. Again, my main problem is with synched music - music I've ripped as mp3s and synched on my IPhone. Ridiculous that it still hasn't been addressed.

Reply

Answer 3

scampooo

Level 1

27 points

Jan 24, 2024 12:53 PM in response to rmhunt1970

Gapless playback still not fixed in 17.3. This is this ridiculous and not acceptable for a product in this price range. Apple are you listening?

Reply

Answer 4

Jan 26, 2024 5:01 AM in response to rmhunt1970

Yep still not working in 17.3

Reply

Answer 5

Jan 24, 2024 4:10 AM in response to rmhunt1970

Jan 24, iOS 17.3 and guess what….still no fix. What a joke.

Reply

Answer 6

rmhunt1970 Author

Level 1

51 points

Oct 12, 2023 3:11 PM in response to mikeg28806

mikeg28806, I haven’t downloaded an album or individual tracks, but the gap is there whether I’m streaming an album or listening to music I’ve ripped from CD and synced to my phone. I’ve only had Apple Music since early September (6 month free trial) but the issue existed before that. It’s a shame because my albums used to play correctly, but the gap showed up after one of the iOS 16 updates this year.

Reply

Answer 7

AlexMel

Level 1

10 points

Nov 19, 2023 6:23 PM in response to rmhunt1970

The problem (at least mine) is that I use tracks ripped from a CD, all in the same format, same bitrate etc. And yet, iPhone cannot play them gapless. The gap is small (probably 0.2 sec) but still audible.

ITunes play gapless ok. And so does my old iPad classic. It is really the iPhone that has this problem lately. No tricks or hacks helped so far.

Reply

Answer 8

Nov 17, 2023 2:53 PM in response to DaCarny1

Once again gapless playback is not working on albums which are exclusive to Apple Music. Really poor service but I’ve spoken to an “expert” and they are escalating the issue

Reply

Answer 9

KuniaKid

Level 1

14 points

Feb 6, 2024 9:41 AM in response to rmhunt1970

Still an issue. iOS 17.3, iPhone 14 Pro Max

Reply

Answer 10

rmhunt1970 Author

Level 1

51 points

Oct 12, 2023 2:29 PM in response to Sparks0829

Thank you for your reply Sparks, but that is not the issue. Crossfade works just fine in my playlists; I'm talking about playing a single album, for example, Dark Side of the Moon, where every song flows right into the next one, with no 1 or 2 second gap between songs like most albums. Listening to albums like these should be seamless, however, there is a noticeable gap of silence between each song, and it has been there for the last few iOS updates.

Reply

Answer 11

Mar 30, 2024 11:33 PM in response to rmhunt1970

I just installed IOS 17.4.1 and the gapless playback issue got EVEN WORSE! People pay a lot of money for your products so the least you can do is make sure they work right. FIX THIS

Reply

Answer 12

Sparks0829

Community Specialist

Oct 12, 2023 8:50 AM in response to rmhunt1970

Hi there rmhunt1970,

You would need to be sure Crossfade is turned on in Settings > Music to play music without any gaps.

In iOS 17, you can crossfade songs in a playlist, which creates a listening experience with no audio gaps between songs.

1. Go to Settings > Music, then turn on Crossfade.

2. Drag the slider to choose the length of the crossfade.

Learn more here: Change the way music sounds on iPhone - Apple Support

Take care.

Reply

Answer 13

lpagno

Level 1

18 points

Mar 8, 2024 5:03 AM in response to rmhunt1970

still not working on ios 17.4

this is ridiculous.

Reply

Answer 14

Apr 26, 2024 12:01 AM in response to rmhunt1970

Still an issue in iOS 17.4.1. when playing mp3 files. AAC audio files play just fine.

Reply

Answer 15

Avery79

Level 1

5 points

Jan 28, 2024 9:36 AM in response to rmhunt1970

Got fed up listening to the gaps in the second half of Abbey Road so I started looking for a solution. Couldn’t find one online, but I was able to fix it by turning off Dolby Atmos. I thought “great, problem solved”. Tested it with Dark Side of the Moon. No gaps with and without Dolby Atmos. Seems like a very unpredictable problem. Maybe why they are having trouble fixing it 🤷‍♂️. MacOS music works fine, though, so why can’t they reproduce it on phone?

Reply

Apple Music gapless playback not working in iOS 17

Similar questions