Distorted Audio Playback on iPhone 6 Apple Apps After Installing iOS 11.3

Distorted Audio Playback on iPhone 6 Apple Apps After Installing iOS 11.3

Ever since I downloaded iOS 11.3, audio playback on my iPhone 6 (64gb) is distorted, pausing, stuttering, and crackling. I noticed it happens with both the Apple Podcast and iTunes apps (it may happen in other apps, but these are the only two I noticed). The issue occurs when the screen auto locks. Shortly after that, it starts pausing and playing back distorted.

I have not narrowed it exclusively to the lock screen, however; sometimes it does this even when unlocked. When it happens, it seems to stutter intermittently for the first 2-3 mins of playback and then it begins to sound normal. Also, this bug happens both with the audio jack headphones and without headphones when playing aloud. Further, the podcasts and songs were downloaded and saved to the device and the playback issues are not due to lagging internet or wifi.

See an example of the audio distortion bug here:

iPhone Audio Issue in iOS 11.3 - YouTube

The following link from Apple provides some possible fixes for audio distortion but none of them helped me.

If you hear no sound or distorted sound from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch speaker - Apple Support

1. Make sure "Do Not Disturb" is Off - It's Off

2. Does sound work in Control Center? - Yes

3. Do plugged in headphones work? - Yes

4. Turn off Bluetooth - Bluetooth, whether on or off, had no effect

5. Restart the device. - Did not help.

I have submitted a few bug reports to Apple. Hopefully it is fixed in iOS 11.3.2. Anybody else have this issue or a fix?