Level 1

117 points

Audio playback stuttering/skipping iOS11.4

I have an issue with my iPhone 7 where during audio playback, whether that be podcast, music or while on the phone, audio will drop out for approximately 1 second. After the dropout, the audio will stutter, much like a CD skipping. This is with the display off, waking the phone will change the issue to where the sound becomes very distorted and will repeat sections of what was just played.

I, and many others, have seen this issue since iOS 11.3. iOS 11.3.1 has not corrected it, nor has the recent release of iOS 11.4. From other people with the issue, closing the app in question, rebooting the phone, nor resetting the phone corrects the issue.

Please correct this as soon as possible as having dealt with it for two months is unacceptable.

iPhone 7, iOS 11.4

Posted on May 30, 2018 1:30 PM

Top-ranking reply

dkentley

Level 1

24 points

Posted on Jul 23, 2018 5:48 AM

Just a general observation; I'll update if something changes.

A few days ago I turned off "background App Refresh" in Settings -> General -> Background App Refresh. This has serious drawbacks, no doubt. But so far I have not had the problem when this feature is disabled. This dovetails with what I had figured it was since it started happening: background tasks locking up the CPU (or the sound subsystem) such that it can't continue to feed the output buffer fast enough, so the DSP repeats the last buffer (since it would just run in a continuous fast loop).

I reported the problem - with OS logs - at developer.apple.com in the bug reporter. There are instructions on how to generate the log, do it as soon as possible after the problem occurs (press both volume buttons + lock, you should feel phone vibrate; don't hold or the phone will reboot). After 10-20 minutes, sync the phone with your computer and a diagnostics file will be copied to your hard drive:

On a Mac it's here: ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/[Your_Device_Name]/sysdiagnose

On a PC it's here: C:\Users[Your_User_Name]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\Logs\CrashReporter\MobileDevice[Your_Device_Name]\

Seems like a good thing to know in general for any iOS bug you come across.

[Edit: switched the labels for Mac and PC locations, but that was probably obvious, lol]

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429 replies

Jul 21, 2018 3:11 PM in response to fromer_13

Well, that didn't take long at all. Re-applying of iOS 11.4.1 did absolutely nothing at all, as the audio glitch occurred within 10 mins.

What a futile and pointless exercise and frustrating experience Apple are putting everyone through. iPhone X's cost almost $2000 in Australia and you have to go through this.

[Edited by Host]

Jul 21, 2018 6:33 PM in response to Alexsallery

Also... how is there no Apple rep on these forums? Surely there should be someone in here to help! Or Atleast to report the problem.... it only started happening to me the day after I updated to 11.4.1! So seems very softwarey to me

Jul 22, 2018 12:27 AM in response to Boywatson

I am also on IOS 12 public beta 3 (8 Plus), but the problems have not disappeared. From the podcast app it switches to other podcasts, different speeds and regularly to Siri - without me doing anything.

There are 1000's of Apple employees, I am sure that they must experience the same problems. Incredible that there is no statement that they are working on the issue!

Jul 22, 2018 5:14 PM in response to BirdsFlyHigh

Hey mate, missed my appt by 10 minutes so they cancelled on me! Got another appt booked for today so I’ll let youse know what they say! Did a hard reset this morning and still happening just as frequently. Realllllly testing my patience

Jul 22, 2018 5:21 PM in response to Alexsallery

It's all extremely disappointing and very poor form from a global company. When I sent a blunt post yesterday, I received notification that it was edited by the forum host. It may have been a robot, it may have been a human but, either way, it looks as though that's the only kind of involvement we're going to get on this matter.

Still testing at the moment, from my previous post this morning re charge, so will see what happens with that.

Good luck at your appointment, although me thinks it may prove futile.

Jul 22, 2018 5:23 PM in response to BirdsFlyHigh

I’m honestly dreading it more than looking forward to it. Are you one of the guys who has updated to the iOS 12 beta?

That’s my next step after I get home from Apple because to be honest I’m not expecting much help

Jul 22, 2018 5:55 PM in response to BirdsFlyHigh

It’s impossible for me at work to keep my phone above 90% charge though, o just don’t understand how they have no answer, a multi billion dollar company who prides itself on ever updating software is falling down on its software, the irony

Jul 23, 2018 3:22 AM in response to Alexsallery

See that’s interesting... when I went to the Apple store, they ran a diagnostic and sound test on my phone, and they said it was 100% working fine and arranged for me to have a call center tech call me to figure out my problem because they couldn’t figure out what was going on... but then again I guess I’ve never done 4 panic restarts (also not sure what a panic restart is)

dkentley

Level 1

24 points

Jul 23, 2018 6:36 AM in response to Alexsallery

The positives ARE better battery life and less data usage. I'm not sure if disabling it disables any system level features (which I believe "low power mode" does). The drawback is that apps that legitimately could be doing stuff in the background won't be doing them - for example just this morning I realized my podcasts weren't downloaded when I got in my car, and I don't download them over cellular because I'd kill my data plan. Normally it happens automatically when new episodes come out.

A small example, but there are many others. I'll be interested to hear what your results are.

dkentley

Level 1

24 points

Jul 23, 2018 10:27 AM in response to dkentley

Follow up to my "Background App refresh" test - after several hours of podcasts & music, it started doing it again. My battery was at 57% when the problem started (I started listening this AM at ~95%), but I'm sure it's happened before when it was charged and playing plugged into my car. I switched back to my normal Bluetooth listening now, which DOES have some issues, but they don't sound the same.

Jul 23, 2018 5:21 PM in response to Bunny3987

The more I look, the more people I find with this issue, there’s thousands on twitter too! And Apple support are actually replying! Surely they have to be working on a new update??? Or do you think that’ll be it until ios12 in September?

Jul 23, 2018 6:15 PM in response to Bunny3987

I hope my music isn’t corrupted since most of it was downloaded through iTunes. I’ve noticed that I have doubles of a lot of the songs because iTunes Match decided I needed two versions of the same song 😑

Jul 23, 2018 8:47 PM in response to Alexsallery

How do we save PDFs in iBooks? I lost them the last time I did a backup. Has anybody ever tried the USBs that work on iPhones? (Although saving everything on a USB would probably put the bug right back on the phone).

Jul 25, 2018 9:41 AM in response to fromer_13

I took my phone to apple and they recommended I buy a new phone because of this issue. I did and now I still have the issue with my new phone. I feel this was deceptive - and for that reason, I will be buying from your competitor next time. Also, how is this not resolved still? I've had the issue since April and use my phone for business calls. Unacceptable.

Jul 25, 2018 12:42 PM in response to bryanambition

for me too, I went to the authorized assistance of Apple and my iPhone 7 did not present any problem in the tests they did, but the problem continues, I upgraded to iOS 11.4.1 and nothing has changed, so it blocks the screen of the mobile phone it starts stuttering/skipping playback. I'm inclined to exchange my phone for a Samsung S9+ or LG G7 Thinq, as far as I look are phones for those who like to listen to music.

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Audio playback stuttering/skipping iOS11.4