Music through bluetooth skipping - the biggest mystery of Android!

[Astral69]

So to start i must sya that i face problem with music skipping while playing through bluetooth since at least 2 years.
And now to clarify few things:
1. I play music from phone memory of SD card (never some stupid streaming crap) to my bluetooth headphones.
2. It happens on Lg g2 g3 and now g4, also in the past on One Plus One. An all Android versions starting from 4.4.2 to now 6.0.1
3. Doesnt matter if phone is rooted or not, bootloader locked or unlocked, screen off or on, cpu/gpu freq raised = still the same.
4. I also tried few different types of bluetooth headphones from different companies.
5. Also versions of Bluetooth doesnt matter. 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 - same problem all over again

I did everything i possible could to fix this damn annoying problem. Music skips randomly, usually in certain places like crossroads where there is plenty of electrical lines (does that matter ?). It never happens when im out of city (village or something).
My conclusion is that it is fault of Android system. I never heard anyone complaining about this issue on iOS or windows phone.

Any ideas what else can i do ? I cant imagine to listen to music being wired to cable. Its uncomfortable, It's nightmare

 

[yubeie]

all Android versions starting from 4.4.2 to now 6.0.1
3. Doesnt matter if phone is rooted or not, bootloader locked or unlocked, screen off or on, cpu/gpu freq raised = still the same.
5. Also versions of Bluetooth doesnt matter. 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 - same problem all over again

absolutely agreed.. I think starting kitkat Google changed the bluetooth stack and since then there is a lot of stuttering, crackling.. until Jelly bean everything was fine.

AC@OPO

 

[jeffmd]

Exactly how many different BT devices have you tried? My shiat tier mono speaker will skip once every 8 songs or so. My BT receivers ( 2 inexpensive chinese made units, but they are the higher end ones that support AptX, cost $20-30) rarely skip. When it happens it comes at a surprise.

Non BT related, my HTC 3d would skip all the time, my LG Volt was better but not immune, LG flex and G4 have been rock solid. I use poweramp with ~300kbit AAC files.

 

[lostchild]

I was reading somewhere that the BT skips because the CPU is running really really slow when you are only playing music. If you keep the screen on (even with the brightness turned to extremely low) it will keep the CPU running and avoided the skipping. I only listen to the BT in the car and in the car I would have the screen on with WAZE app running. I don't remember ever hearing any skips.

 

[Mdgolf775]

I found the issue in my case (on a TMo Note 5) to be absolutely related to proximity to my body and the phone or holding the phone in a certain way...almost as if the electrical energy in one's body was interfering with the BT connectivity. First time I had ever encountered this issue was the Note 5. I had a G4, and Note 3 with no issues.

I too discovered this at the gym (with the same BT earbuds I'd used on the previous devices). If I put the phone in my pocket, or waistband...it would stop playing. I actually did some tests using a UE Mini Boom at home. I could connect it via BT and have the phone 100 feet away, not touch the phone and it worked fine. The second I picked it up, it would stop. I also tried having the mini boom 2 feet away from the phone on the counter. I'd pick up the phone and put it behind my back (making sure it was still playing the way I was holding it), and the connection would drop as soon as my body was between the phone and the speaker.

I called Samsung and disclosed these and the other tests I'd done to isolate the issue, including a hard reset, and their care factor was minimal. After reading that it seems to be an Android issue on multiple phones, I went back to an iphone 6s. (I hate it, but everything works as advertised and Google runs far better on it than ever) I can Jump again with Tmo in June.

If they ever resolve this issue I'll come back to Android, but right now it's a deal breaker.

 

[Astral69]

I was reading somewhere that the BT skips because the CPU is running really really slow when you are only playing music. If you keep the screen on (even with the brightness turned to extremely low) it will keep the CPU running and avoided the skipping. I only listen to the BT in the car and in the car I would have the screen on with WAZE app running. I don't remember ever hearing any skips.

I already said that raising CPU values higher than stock doesnt help. I dont drive, only take public transportation plus all other circumstances when i can listen to music via bluetooth. At gym, when im riding a bike, anywhere i can basicly...

Exactly how many different BT devices have you tried? My shiat tier mono speaker will skip once every 8 songs or so. My BT receivers ( 2 inexpensive chinese made units, but they are the higher end ones that support AptX, cost $20-30) rarely skip. When it happens it comes at a surprise.

Non BT related, my HTC 3d would skip all the time, my LG Volt was better but not immune, LG flex and G4 have been rock solid. I use poweramp with ~300kbit AAC files.

If you are asking for headphones i tried 4 different ones. I had beats, bluedio highest model, some sharp and my fav ones Ausdom M04. 2 of them suppported aptx. It's not the matter. Ive already investigated this sibject. Tried to disable aptx on headphones and phone to see what will happen. Well, nothing good...Also it doesnt matter if smarthone and headphones both works under aptx codec at the time. Skipping always occurs.
As i already said - MYSTERY

 

[Astral69]

The problem might be raido waves. What do you think. "Our" bluetooth phone/headphones interfere with other BT waves around us ?

 

[mikeytg1024]

I find that turning off WiFi when I'm moving will stop this problem. Original WiFi and BT use the same frequency band (2.4 ghz) and I think that when a new WiFi is detected the phone makes BT skip for a second to process it. This happens randomly when you are moving and passing random WiFi spots. WiFi is useless when you're moving anyway so why not turn it off? I use BT to stream music in my car so I use tasker to turn off wifi when my car BT connects.

By the way, this problem seems to occur in other phones too.

 

[Deepcuts]

Indeed. Play through BT has become problematic.
I sometimes try to play youtube or locally stored media through BT on my car navigation.
It does not matter the phone model or even OS.
iOS and Android behave he same, skipping a lot.
In the past, 4-5 years ago, I had the same setup and BT wouldn't skip a beat. Of course, far crappier phones back then, yet no problems.

 

[Darrell Cyphers]

I've also have this issue. I have gotten it to stop dramatically but not totally by turning off cache (if your player has this option). I use Play Music almost exclusively and it is or was horrible for me using my BT headset. But just trying some of the suggestions others have told me didn't work. Then i just turned off cache one day and the skipping was reduced. I get a skip or pause after about every 3-4 songs instead of almost every song. It's almost gone if i use normal quality. Skips every 7-8 songs on low. I use high quality while streaming at the moment. Btw.....i do have a download only playlist in Play Music and it still does it.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Im Broken]

I find that turning off WiFi when I'm moving will stop this problem. Original WiFi and BT use the same frequency band (2.4 ghz) and I think that when a new WiFi is detected the phone makes BT skip for a second to process it. This happens randomly when you are moving and passing random WiFi spots. WiFi is useless when you're moving anyway so why not turn it off? I use BT to stream music in my car so I use tasker to turn off wifi when my car BT connects.

By the way, this problem seems to occur in other phones too.

It's related to the wifi/cellular radio for sure. Idk if it's the radio hardware or software but I've tested this extensively and anytime the cellular or WiFi radio needs to reacquire a signal the Bluetooth skips. You can recreate it yourself. Unplug a wifi router you are connected to and start playing music. While the music plays plug the router back in and when the phone finds the SSID and starts to connect the music will start skipping. Just another "wonky" (I hate that term) problem we accept while singing the praises of Android. Personally I'm getting fed up with the 9000 "tiny" problems of Android that never get fixed.

 

[Astral69]

Check this out
Review of some high-end bluetooth headphones Bose AE2. The Guy wrtites:

Like most Bluetooth headphones, these have a range of about 30 feet, and they will cut out from time to time due to interference (Bluetooth signals actually don't pass through the human body as well as you'd think),
So it would mean we shouldnt blaim, per se, android or any device with it on board, right ?

And guys, listen, i never use Wi-Fi when im outside home. Inside i use wifi of course, but then i never listen to music throught BT, whem im on streets i only use 4g LTE and WiFi is always OFF. So how does that affect bluetooth ?

 

[majorsladt]

My phone was working fine until a new android update. So the newest android is not going to help. The only other thing that changed is I started wearing a mi band. It's sort of like a Fitbit. I'm suspicious that it's happening because the band is sending data to the phone. Any thoughts on that theory and does anyone else with this issue wear a Bluetooth fitness tracker?

 

[tlisbon]

My phone was working fine until a new android update. So the newest android is not going to help. The only other thing that changed is I started wearing a mi band. It's sort of like a Fitbit. I'm suspicious that it's happening because the band is sending data to the phone. Any thoughts on that theory and does anyone else with this issue wear a Bluetooth fitness tracker?

Yes I have a LG G4 and my wife has a G5 both are skipping. I carry a Samsung galaxy for work at the same android level and it doesn't skip at all. In my opinion it is a LG thing.

 

[SuperSmith]

Yes I have a LG G4 and my wife has a G5 both are skipping. I carry a Samsung galaxy for work at the same android level and it doesn't skip at all. In my opinion it is a LG thing.

I think the same thing, also it looks like it started around the LG G4 time. I never really had this with my G3 but when it died my insurance replaced me with a G4. I think a LOT of the issues I've had since I got my G4 are created/exacerbated by how hot the phone runs. The only time I use my phone for audio is via my car's bluetooth while driving. I'm using PowerAmp (2.0.10-build 588 full version) and Waze. Since these both draw a lot of battery power I plug my phone in.

The G4 seems to suffer a ton from overheating, especially with how I use it (2 apps + white fullscreen app + charging batter + sun) but I may be an unusual case. This is my 2nd one as my first bootlooped within 8 months of getting a NEW one via insurance (free upgrade sorta). I have a 1-hour commute and the audio doesn't tend to skip until about 25-35 minutes into the journey. Typically it isn't that bad but there are times when the phone gets super hot to the touch and it skips 4-5 times in a minute. I notice the performance just takes a dive after it gets to a certain temp (I don't have temp monitor active right now), caused mostly by the screen being on so much.

 

[Coraya]

This happens with my Note 4. Glad to know I'm not the only one

 

[jeffmd]

I thought I had updated to this post but I too have this issue. Bt music gets skippier and skipper and I do a cache wipe and it is all fixed for a month or so.

 

[Sam san]

I have a Note Edge, with BT 4.1. It NEVER skipped when connected with an older BT 3.0 stereo in my car. The highest android version I had was Lollipop when driving that car.

Then, I got a new car, and it has BT 4.0. That's when my skipping nightmare started. I was still on Lollipop, but held out hoping the upgrade to Marshmallow would resolve something. It finally happened for (verizon) Note Edge on Dec 6th. No dice. Still skipped.

So, desperate because I LOVE google music in my car (I commute about 90 min each day) and thinking it might be my car's stereo, I tried a USB headphone dongle that had 4.1. Maybe the same version as my phone would fix it?! Nope... Skipped more.

Tried a 4.0 dongle... Could still be the car right? Still skipping...

Read up on forums for hours. Didn't want to root or install modded or vanilla roms... SO, I tried system cache wipe, factory reset... STILL SKIPPING.

So.. just this week, I got a new line for one of my kids and Verizon had a decent free phone to boot. A Moto Z play w/Marshmallow. At the time I wasn't thinking that might be my solution... But then I noticed that Moto just stared manufacturing this phone within the last 6 months. Poking around some more, I noticed that the BT version on this phone is 4.0,? NOT 4.1? I hadn't tried a 4.0 phone, so sure.. why not.

At this point I was desperate for any hope that some new combination would resolve the skipping. So I paired up to my car, and... NO SKIPPING! I nearly cried with joy. Then tried it on my dongles and old car. No skipping. HalleFLIPPINGlujah!!!

I don't care whatever voodoo was done by BT, Android or Moto, but I'll take it! Oh, and I don't care if my Note Edge is a 'better' phone. I'm swapping sim cards!!!

So, just from shear deduction after having tried so many combinations of devices, I think it's something buggy about BT 4.1. After all the crazy solutions I've seen that worked for some and not others and none of which worked for me, I don't really know, but that's my best guess.

Anyway, just wanted to share my story, because It nearly drove me insane and I hope it helps someone

 

[JRDEMASKUS]

This happens on both my HTC M9, Android, and Microsoft 950XL, Windows phone.
Turning off WiFi resolves 99% of the issue.
The rest is related to the location of the phone on my body to the BT. Pants pockets put the 2 devices on the wrong "plane" to each other.
Or inside breast pockets on a thick jacket, have trouble trying to get through all the layers.

 

[Mike Aldrich]

I have the same problem since the latest Android update. I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (SM-G935T) and songs skip anywhere from every 6 seconds to 13 seconds.

I have tried the following with no resolution:

• Turning on/off cache
• Changed location of cache (SD/Phone)
• Turned on/off wifi

I run the Waze app while driving. That's the only app I use while it's skipping.