Music skipping on iPhone

UPDATE

I am updating my response to tho thread. Did a full backup to computer, then wipe out and restore, with 11.14 update and so far problem solved. (Previous backup and restore from iCloud did not work for me)

I also have this issue after the last update. I have experienced stuttering when listening to audiobooks and even on phone calls. Funny thing... this doesn't happen all the time, but when it does (While listening to an audio book), it immediately recovers if I unlock the phone again.

For calls, I found that sometimes the audio stops and then "slows down" for a few seconds before recovering. Almost like listening to a song and playing it at 1/4 speed for a few seconds. I work for a network operator so we actually investigated this only to find that it was not network related. Interestingly when this happens, it affects both parties on the call. The person on the other side of the line also hears this irrespective of who initiated the call or what phone the other party is using.

I hope this get fixed soon. It's really annoying.

Dear Apple, how long must the user community wait before the audio issue is resolved? I'm on iPhone 7 w/11.4. I would take my old iPod over this thing for tunes now. Simply insane that this wasn't part of the regression testing for 11.3. Generally, you guys are pretty good but this is pure hackville.

Still a problem for me on 11.4 unfortunately. Really frustrating, don’t his time for a full restore before leaving for hols so I’m stuck with rubbish music playback on my travels. Apple really need to fix this.

I did what "alanfromberkeley" suggested.
(1) making a backup to disk, not icloud (2) erase completely to factory settings and then (3) restore from disk backup.

It's been several days now and no skipping.

Same problem on iPhone 6, usually after about an hour or so of play.

My solution has been to upload my music to Google Play and use that app instead. It means I am streaming the music, rather than playing from the phone, but it is issue free.

Update - 22/06/18

Having done a full reset and resynch'd all the podcasts, I appeared to have overcome the skipping issues.

But, several weeks on (and after another Apple update), they are back. What is more, podcasts routinely stop 3" from the end of each episode, meaning I have to press play again several times before replay continues and it moves to the next podcast; infuriating and not always practicable if driving, etc.

It beggars belief that these audio playback issues have not been addressed, indeed have deteriorated further over recent weeks.

Apple, I don't want much - a phone that does email, calls, a bit of online surfing and audio playback of music and podcasts. Stop adding no-value add-ons and fix the BASICS that every phone user expects, or lose us forever.

Ever since I updated to 11.3 I have had this very same problem. I don't use the lightning headphones, I use the AirPods with my iPhone 7 Plus. The sound just stops, but the Music App shows my headphones as connected and as if it was still playing. At the beginning it only occurred occasionally and during the first 20 seconds of a song. But now on iOS 11.4, I feel like the problem has worsen. There was a point where it would do it on every single song and it is beyond annoying.

I have noticed now that it only happens when the phone has been just locked. I have also noticed that when charging the iPhone while playing music, the iPhone does not stay awake and now it locks, which it didn't use to happen before, hence causing the problem.

The issue has also extended to other Bluetooth devices, or at least I just realized about it. So now I am assuming this has nothing to do with the AirPods, but it's more like a Bluetooth connectivity issue. Somehow when I lock the phone the signal is interrupted, or I don't know.

A quick solution on the fly for me is to invoke Siri and immediately close it. That brings back the sound at once, but I hate to do it every time.

I have not tried the full restore like you guys, I was avoiding it on purpose because I don't really want to do it. I don't even like to sync my phone, but I don't see any other option left.

If not Apple, I hope that at least one us find a solution.

This issue started happening to me a few days ago.

I am using iPhone SE 11.4, the latest available update I believe.

But to be clear, the issue was occurring both before and after I updated to the latest software.

It was in the native music player I first noticed. I thought maybe some of the music I transferred from iTunes had a bug or something! But then, I tried Spotify and noticed it was happening while playing music on this app too.

What is so infuriating is that it seems like music playback is working totally fine - then, I lock the iPhone and put it in my pocket, and begin walking/going about my business, and then the start/stopping begins happening. As well as this, Siri is appearing on and off though I haven't requested her!

Currently disappointed and disgusted with Apple. (Have been an iPod user for years - but this is my first iPhone)

Have an upcoming trip this weekend and not looking forward to being unable to enjoy music while travelling. 😟

We are suffering with this in group fitness classes. We can’t even exercise without the music skipping like crazy and throwing off the dedicated people that showed up to the gym to take our classes.

Strangely enough, I feel more ashamed than Apple probably should about this. Shame shame shame!!!

In an attempt to keep this topic relevant, I am having this issue as well.

Audio skips/pauses after 30 seconds of starting Apple Music or Podcasts over my bluetooth headphones. The problem can be worse in with CarPlay. Using a Apple connection, the same skip/pause happens, but if I am trying to use another app, like Maps or sending a text the audio will sometimes completely degrade, and start crackling, like static. Unplugging my phone from my car and waiting 5 seconds before plugging it back in usually fixes the crackling issues, bu the audio will then skip again.

I did the back up and restore as suggested. First thing I noticed was my free space went from 400 MB to about 2GB. All my music, apps and photos/videos appear to still be on, so this was a welcome change.

Taught a one hour class today using the iPhone native Music app, no skipping. I hope the issue does not return. If it does, I will probably try the restore again just because it did help.

There was a small scare where I wasn’t sure I remembered the password used for backup, so just be careful and make sure you remember yours so you’re not truly left with a phone fully restored to factory settings.

I actually plugged my phone in this morning to do the restore, and I was actually promoted to update to 11.4.1, and the two audio issues (CarPlay and Headphones) are listed as bug fixes. The install hasn't completed yet, but I am hopeful.

Update:

I seem to be free of this horrendous issue for over 1 week now.

I did 2 x iPhone restore using iTunes, and syncing backed-up iCloud data (The first restore/sync did not resolve the problem), and since this playback on Music/Spotify/Youtube has been totally normal as it should be, and Siri has not been randomly appearing.

Crossing my fingers it stays this way!

It’s July 2018 and my phone has been doing this since I updated it to 11.3 and I am about at my wits end. I’m about two seconds away from going android. I thought I had too much stuff on my phone so I deleted many of my photos. Removed most of the music so that it just streams what’s in my cloud. Still skipping, double streaming, or chopping up. I’ve also noticed that my calls drag ever so often. I’ve complained to Verizon about it but they point back to my phone. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one but ****** to see that Apple hasn’t issued a fix yet.