Why Does My Apple Music Keep Stopping?

How come my Apple Music keeps pausing? That’s a question too many users are asking, and usually at the worst possible time.

And, once they’ve hit play over and over again, many of them find themselves stumped as to what to do next to keep the music going.

So, why does Apple Music keep pausing?

Your Apple Music keeps stopping likely because of one or more of the following issues:

• Hardware conflicts
• Software glitching
• User errors
• Settings

When you’re asking why Apple Music stops playing, it may take a little investigating to find the solution. These are the most common issues Apple Music users face that cause the music to stop pumping.

Read on to find out the specific issues that may cause your Apple Music to pause and how you can solve them.

Reasons Your Apple Music Keeps Stopping

AirPod Ear Detection

Apple AirPods are incredible for listening to just about any kind of music. One of the unique features is ear detection, which helps save the battery by turning them off when you remove them from your ears.

However, some users experience the feature randomly triggering, even when the AirPods are still firmly in their ear. 

Try turning the feature off and see if that resolves your problem.

Go into Settings > Bluetooth and then tap the “i” icon next to your AirPods. Toggle off Automatic Ear Detection.

Incidental Screen Contact

There’s the old joke about butt dialing one of your contacts. 

However, with smartphones and watches, it’s easy to accidentally tap a screen that’ll pause your Apple Music, and it’s not always how you might think.

Start by considering if you may have been accidentally activated your watch by your wrist, the back of your hand, or even sweat.

Next, look at where you keep your phone and consider whether something in a pocket might have touched your screen. 

You may need to consider facing the screen the other way or using a phone holder other than a pocket.

What you may not think of is your screen protector. 

You’ll know this is an issue if you experience random screen taps, even outside of Apple Music. 

Poor Internet Connection

Most Apple Music users stream their music rather than download it.

A poor internet connection will cause your music to pause while you’re listening.

If you do a lot of streaming using your cellular connection, your provider may be throttling your data.

You may also have a weak data signal, even if you have full bars. 

Test your internet connection speed using a tool like Speedtest by Ookla. 

Look at both your ping and your download speed. 

A high ping means that communication between your phone and internet servers is slow. 

Low download speeds cause you to wait forever for your files to cache and play.

If you’re using a cellular signal, try connecting to a WiFi network and see if your performance improves.

Likewise, if you’re using WiFi, turn it off and see if you have better performance with your cellular data.

You may also wish to download the music files you’re trying to play when you’re connected to WiFi.

Then you can put your phone in Airplane Mode and see if the issue resolves.

Bad Bluetooth Connection

A bad Bluetooth connection may also cause your music to pause randomly. 

This most normally manifests as skipping rather than full-out pausing. 

However, if the connection is dropped to your device entirely, it’ll pause your music.

The most common cause of a bad Bluetooth connection is too much distance between your Bluetooth device and your phone.

Try setting them right next to each other and see if it continues happening.

It can also be caused by a low battery in your Bluetooth speaker or headphones. 

Check the battery indicator when the issue happens to see if your device has a low battery.

Finally, it can be a conflict caused by switching where your Bluetooth device connects.

Try unpairing your device from everything, and then pairing it to only the device you’re using to run Apple Music.

Cache Problems

Whenever you stream media, it caches on your device to allow for more seamless playback. 

It’s not uncommon to have cache issues that cause playback issues, especially if you have countless songs you play constantly.

All of these cached files take up room on your device and can eat into your available storage. 

Try clearing up the music cache on your iPhone. Go to Settings > Music, then toggle off iCloud Music Library. 

Wait a few minutes, then you can toggle it back on.

Sometimes cache problems aren’t corrupted files, but just too much demand on the device. 

Try simply restarting your phone and see if that resolves the issue.

The Apple Music Servers Are Down

Most streaming services have experienced some downtime. 

This happens for a variety of reasons, including equipment failure and software updates, in addition to server attacks.

If your music suddenly pauses, check to see if the service is up and running.

You can always do a search at the Downdetector, or check the status reported directly by Apple support.

You’ve Enabled Low Data or Low Power Mode

There are two settings on mobile devices that prove to be problematic for streaming services. 

The first is Low Data Mode, which reduces network consumption by apps.

The second is Low Power Mode, which serves to reduce battery consumption.

You’ll have two different locations you’ll need to adjust to turn off low data mode. 

First, go to Settings > WiFi, then tap the “i” icon next to your connected wireless network.

You’ll then toggle off the Low Data Mode.

Now, go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options, and toggle off the low data mode here as well.

Turning off Low Power mode is much simpler. 

Simply go to Settings > Battery, and toggle off Low Power Mode.

Your Virtual Assistant Is Going Rogue

Ok, Siri may not actually be going rogue, but it can cause problems while listening to your music. 

Any time that Siri activates, your music pauses. 

This activation can happen because of an incidental pressing of the crown on your Apple Watch, or your pocket holding the power button on your phone.

Try turning off Siri, and see if you continue having issues. 

Go to Settings > Siri and Search.

You’ll want to toggle off “Listen for Hey Siri” and “Press Side Button for Siri.” It’ll then ask you if you want to turn Siri off, and simply tap Turn Off Siri.

Keep in mind that if you do this and decide to turn back on the “Hey Siri” feature, you’ll have to go through the simple setup again.

There’s a Software Glitch

Software glitches on apps and even operating systems are a common occurrence, especially if you’ve had a recent update.

First, make sure your iOS is up-to-date, which also updates your Music app.

If this doesn’t solve the problem, delete the Music app and then reinstall it from the App Store.