My iPhone suddenly begins playing audio at 2X speed.

Question

Level 1

11 points

My iPhone suddenly begins playing audio at 2X speed.

I have an iPhone 3 (I'm desperate for the iPhone 5!), and for about two weeks now, it will suddenly change the music or the podcast that I am listening to into 2X playback speed. I will be listening to something as I walk (this is the main use I have for the iPod feature on the phone), suddenly it will double the speed at which it's playing. I don't jostle it, it's in a safe case (and usually locked) when this happens, so nothing is getting touched by accident. I'll just be walking along, at a good clip, and suddenly, for no apparent reason, it will change my audio over to 2X. When this happens, the only way I've been able to stop it playing at 2X is to switch to a different tune manually for a bit. You cant hit the pause or stop butten, touching the speed butten at the top doesn't work at all (and it always says "1X" when this happens, but I still try, and it doesn't budge). A couple of times I've pulled my earbuds out of the jack to try and just stop it, and instead of turning off (which it should do), it just switches to "Speaker" and blasts out my audio at 2X speed. I walk a lot, and I've taken to cradleing the phone in my hand as I walk, so that I can quickly switch to another song in another playlist or a different podcast. I'd hoped the new iPhone would be soon enough that I could just live with this, but I'm seeing now Sept. 30 for pre-order. I didn't do anything unusual, didn't drop it, it hasn't gotten wet, my software is up to date....Any suggestions or am I just in misery until October? Thanks for any suggestions.....

Posted on Aug 31, 2011 10:23 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

whatheck

Level 5

4,131 points

Aug 31, 2011 10:44 AM in response to MHny

The iPhone does let you change the playback speed for audiobooks and podcasts, heres a pic from the iPhone Users Guide.

So, something is accidentally triggering this feature. Try testing the iPhone without the case, then try testing it without the headphones or with a diffrent set of headphones. Also, try removing any dirt or lint that might be in the headphone jack, you should be able to see that liquid contact indicator in there. I believe the iPhone will play in fastforward when you doubleclick and hold the mic button, lint could make it think this is happening.

Reply

Answer 2

MHny Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 2, 2011 8:31 AM in response to whatheck

Well, I've done two things and it seems to be working (I'm still a bit dodgy about it though....). I did the dreaded reset (I know two people who lost everything during a reset, so I made extra backups, but all went smoothly), and I dug out the original earbuds and used those (uncomfortable buggers). Thank you all for the help.

Note - the earbuds alone were not the problem - there were times I pulled them out, and the music or podcast would keep playing, at double speed. At those times, the only way I could get it to stop was to move to another tune. Couldn't even turn the phone off. I think the reset may have fixed it - at least for now.

Reply

Answer 3

MHny Author

Level 1

11 points

Aug 31, 2011 3:07 PM in response to JimHdk

Thanks for the quick responses! Jim, I have restarted (forgot to mention it), that didn't help. My next move is to restore factory settings, I was hoping something less drastic would work.

Whatheck - the truely weird thing is, that playback speed button is always on 1X, even when it's playing at 2X, and, unless I switch to another song, nothing will even turn the iPod off. It seems electrical, I fear. I tried other headphones, same problem.

The only thing that seems to work remotely well (meaning I'm able to listen to the iPod all the way through a 30-45 min walk) is when I hold it in my hand, close to my clavical. I had been wearing a Tune Belt Sports Belt for iPhone - so I'd kept everything pretty stable. I'm not looking forward to looking weird for at least another month...I'll let you know how the reset works.

Reply

Answer 4

JimHdk

Level 7

28,898 points

Aug 31, 2011 10:38 AM in response to MHny

Have you tried restarting or resetting your iPhone?

Restart: Press the On/Off button until the Slide to Power Off slider appears, select Slide to Power Off and, after the iPhone shuts down, to restart press the On/Off button until the Apple logo appears.

Reset: Press the Home and On/Off buttons at the same time and hold them until the Apple logo appears (about 10-15 seconds).

If neither of these works you could try a Restore to Factory Settings followed by a restore of your data from backup.

Reply

Answer 5

whatheck

Level 5

4,131 points

Aug 31, 2011 3:23 PM in response to MHny

Are you always testing with the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic, the headphones that came with the iPhone?

Try playing a track in the iPod app on your iPhone, then double click and hold the mic button. It will play like its 2x, maybe thats what your hearing. You could be sweating into the mic controls or somehow clicking and holding the button, which is causing the iPod app to fast forward. Try testing with a set of headphones that doesn't have mic controls or find a way to rule that out.

That would help prevent you from running in to the same problem with a replacement iPhone too.

Reply