ALL music stuttering while connected to cellular data (Apple Music/Spotify)

Question

ALL music stuttering while connected to cellular data (Apple Music/Spotify)

When using Spotify or Apple Music while connected to cellular data, the songs constantly stutter and skip (like CDs used to do back in the day). I have tried EVERYTHING and nothing will fix it. It doesn’t happen while connected to WiFi.

It was a problem with my iPhone 12 and it is also doing it with my new iPhone 15 Plus - so it’s not the device.
It happens while streaming songs and with downloaded songs on Apple Music & Spotify. I can even turn on “offline” and it still happens, which is bizarre, unless it’s somehow still trying to communicate with a server somewhere?
It happens regardless of the audio or playback settings (I’ve tried them all)
It happens while connected to T-Mobile, Verizon, and Boost cellular data services - so it’s not carrier related
I’ve tried resetting and erasing my iPhone 12 when I had it and I did the same with my iPhone 15 plus and it doesn’t help
I did a fresh iOS install with no backup and it doesn’t help
It has been a problem with multiple iOS versions, but I’m currently using iOS 17.4
I have 64.82GB available on my device, so that’s not the issue
All data saver settings are turned off, so that is not the issue
I’ve removed unnecessary apps and stopped background processes
Restarting the device will help for a few minutes sometimes, but it’s hit & miss
The cellular signal is full on LTE/5G/5Guw
It happens while listening through the iPhone speakers, Bluetooth connected to a vehicle, and through Apple Airpods
It doesn’t matter if Apple Music or Spotify is open or running in the background
It is not isolated to a certain city. It happens where I live now, it happened in Iowa and it happened in Arizona. It also happened during both of my moves driving from Iowa to Arizona and Arizona to Kansas.
All apps and everything on the device is updated

Doing a Google search reveals numerous other people complaining of similar issues, although explained differently since it’s difficult to explain. Many describe it as glitching, stuttering or skipping like a CD.

There’s clearly some kind of problem and it seems from all of the replies I’ve read, no one seems to know why, nor have a fix, and Apple doesn’t acknowledge anything.

Can someone shed some light on this please before I dump Apple and switch to Android, because it’s maddening being unable to listen to music without it glitching/stuttering/cutting out constantly!

Thanks

iPhone 15 Plus, iOS 17

Posted on Feb 3, 2024 12:05 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

GriffinBW

Level 1

21 points

Mar 11, 2024 5:03 PM in response to steveneonline

Wanted to chime in and say the same. iPhone 12 Pro Max, resisted updating to 17 for a long time but things are starting to require it for those vague "reasons."

Streaming music on Bluetooth was fine on 16 and below, but it's totally useless on 17. Cuts in and out constantly, and it's not notifications that interrupt it. I figured something would break with with the updates eventually, I'm just unhappy that it's one of the more useful features of the device.

I'm not going to wear out my cables and connectors plugging and unplugging the thing a dozen times a day.

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 27, 2024 7:37 AM in response to steveneonline

im having the same issue. Seems it’s definitely an iPhone Bluetooth issue. It was fine on my 12 but as soon as I switched to 15 it started. Apple needs to fix this.

Reply

Answer 3

May 17, 2024 8:00 AM in response to steveneonline

05/17/2024 Update

This bug has returned. It went away completely in iOS 17.4.1.

As soon as I updated to iOS 17.5 the stuttering, skipping, and glitching started again just as previously described.

I’m not sure what the deal is, but it’s incredibly annoying and frustrating.

Reply

Answer 4

May 21, 2024 8:47 AM in response to steveneonline

Still happening in iOS 17.5.1

Reply

Answer 5

Feb 14, 2024 10:58 AM in response to steveneonline

02/14/2024 Update

After some additional research, it appears that this issue is related to Bluetooth. It seems to be something with iOS because this glitching and stuttering is happening when connected to my vehicle and also when connected to my Airpods, although it's much worse with my vehicle. I'm assuming my vehicle has outdated firmware which could be part of the issue, but that doesn't explain why it happens with the Airpods.

I tried disconnecting and deleting all Bluetooth devices from iOS and my vehicle to reset everything, but it is still a problem.

I discovered it was Bluetooth related because I bought a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter and didn't have the problem in my vehicle.

Reply

Answer 6

Jun 20, 2024 11:45 AM in response to steveneonline

06/20/2024 Update

This issue is still present on the latest version of iOS. On 06/19/2024 at 1pm (CDT), I attempted to get assistance through Apple Support Chat for 53 minutes. I provided all of the information that I've posted here, yet the representative continued to ask questions and suggest things I've already tried multiple times. After realizing they were unable to help, I was assured the issue was being escalated and that I would receive a phone call that evening at 6:30pm (CDT). No phone call was ever received and there's been no further contact by Apple as of 06/20/2024 at 1:40pm (CDT).

I have an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, AirPod 2 Pro, and AppleTV 4K. I also had a MacBook Pro that recently had to be recycled. Between the poor customer service received with this issue, the poor customer service received recently in regard to my MacBook Pro, and the poor customer service around the shipping of my AirPod 2 Pros, it is becoming obvious that a change is needed. I feel like concerns aren't important or valued because they think we're so deep in the Apple ecosystem that we won't take our business elsewhere. This entire thread is going to be published online as well since Apple deleted my last update on 06/19/2024.

Reply

Answer 7

Nereruo

Level 1

8 points

Jun 20, 2024 5:06 PM in response to steveneonline

I've been facing the same issue with Apple Music since my iphone 13, am now using a 15 pro and I don't think it's bluetooth or iOS related. I've encontered the same problem while streaming songs on Apple Music on my windows device and using a wired IEM. I've noted that some songs I only have this problem while streaming and the issue goes away if I download it. Tried several possible solutions and the only one that worked was to start using other services. It's clearly an apple music problem and either the team are not aware or simply don't care enough to work it out.

Reply

Answer 8

Jun 20, 2024 6:25 PM in response to Nereruo

Interesting. I'm not sure if that's the same issue we're having. This is happening on any audio service (Spotify, Apple Music, iHeart Radio, Tidal, Deezer, Twitch, Maps, or anything with audio). It's been strictly limited to Bluetooth and happens with streaming audio, downloaded audio, and offline.

It's possible I stumbled upon a solution while browsing all of the other complaints about it. It may be triggered by an app or apps installed on the iPhone.

I tried going into Settings > Privacy & Security > Bluetooth and then turned off all of the apps on that list. Some have said Amazon Alexa is the culprit, others have said health apps for weight scales did it. I have Fitdays installed. I haven't turned them back on one by one yet, but while out driving around this evening, it didn't glitch or skip at all.

Reply

Answer 9

Jun 20, 2024 6:27 PM in response to lyndsie176

Can you try something? Go into Settings > Privacy & Security > Bluetooth and then turned off all of the apps on that list. Some have said Amazon Alexa is the culprit, others have said health apps for weight scales did it. I have Fitdays installed.

I drove around after shutting all of them off and none of my audio skipped or glitched. My next step is to turn them back on one at a time and figure out which app might be causing the issue. I just want to see if anyone else has any luck after changing those settings.

Reply

Answer 10

Jun 20, 2024 6:28 PM in response to GriffinBW

Can you try something? Go into Settings > Privacy & Security > Bluetooth and then turned off all of the apps on that list. Some have said Amazon Alexa is the culprit, others have said health apps for weight scales did it. I have Fitdays installed.

I drove around after shutting all of them off and none of my audio skipped or glitched. My next step is to turn them back on one at a time and figure out which app might be causing the issue. I just want to see if anyone else has any luck after changing those settings.

Reply

ALL music stuttering while connected to cellular data (Apple Music/Spotify)

Similar questions