Fixed Bluetooth Audio Skipping

[Cyco9]

I recently noticed a pretty annoying pause / skipping in audio played over bluetooth and it took some troubleshooting but I've seemed to find a fix. I'm hoping this thread can be helpful to lurkers trying to find a solution so here goes:

I'm pretty sure the issue was triggered by an update but I could be wrong. I never had this issue before but after at&t's latest update I've experienced brief stuttering during songs. For me it could be just a skip or two a song but sometimes it's more, either way it's super annoying.

After researching it it looks like this is an Android / Bluetooth issue and it spans across several brands and models (including the Note 4 and Note Edge). There are several theories on what actually causes the skipping (btw there seems to be differing degrees of pause and frequency) and I'm not going to try and pinpoint the root cause or act like I could, but I just wanted to share the method that fixed mine.

Several posters have mentioned that the issue has to do with idle power draw when the screen is off. For some the work around is an app that keeps the screen on. That seems to work for some but I didn't want to have my screen on just to Bluetooth some music.

What worked for me is:

Not optimizing the battery usage for that specific app.

Go into settings > battery > three dot menu in the upper right > optimize battery usage

Then uncheck the specific apps you don't want the audio to skip on. For me it's Slacker radio and the music app.

And that should fix it. At least it did for me.

I hope this helps some poor soul scouring the internet looking for a solution to this issue.

 

[anon(238680)]

Thank you for posting your solution! That particular trick also works for apps that send out notifications. Glad you got your problem solved

 

[Velin Penev]

It worked for me for a few hours on my brand new Huawei P10, and I was just about to post a big thanks, but then the annoying skipping problem came back again... that's so frustrating... Any suggestions? It's a dealbreaker for me as I listen to Spotify in my car every day.

 

[daniel58]

I recently noticed a pretty annoying pause / skipping in audio played over bluetooth and it took some troubleshooting but I've seemed to find a fix. I'm hoping this thread can be helpful to lurkers trying to find a solution so here goes:

I'm pretty sure the issue was triggered by an update but I could be wrong. I never had this issue before but after at&t's latest update I've experienced brief stuttering during songs. For me it could be just a skip or two a song but sometimes it's more, either way it's super annoying.

After researching it it looks like this is an Android / Bluetooth issue and it spans across several brands and models (including the Note 4 and Note Edge). There are several theories on what actually causes the skipping (btw there seems to be differing degrees of pause and frequency) and I'm not going to try and pinpoint the root cause or act like I could, but I just wanted to share the method that fixed mine.

Several posters have mentioned that the issue has to do with idle power draw when the screen is off. For some the work around is an app that keeps the screen on. That seems to work for some but I didn't want to have my screen on just to Bluetooth some music.

What worked for me is:

Not optimizing the battery usage for that specific app.

Go into settings > battery > three dot menu in the upper right > optimize battery usage

Then uncheck the specific apps you don't want the audio to skip on. For me it's Slacker radio and the music app.

And that should fix it. At least it did for me.

I hope this helps some poor soul scouring the internet looking for a solution to this issue.

I also have been experiencing the same audio bluetooth stuttering problem on my Motorola Moto G5 Plus smartphone; typically the audio symptoms I have experienced is that the audio programming I am listening to skips up to a much higher audio volume level for a period of time and then also skips to a much lower audio volume level for a period of time;

I have set the "non battery optimized" settings for all listed android applications in a desperate attempt to finally stamp out this very maddening and persistent problem indeed; I am literally at my wits end trying to troubleshoot this persistent ongoing Android bluetooth audio stuttering problem with no ultimate resolution in seeming sight?

 

[Randomdude1337]

I also had the issue for some days, tried the solution posted here but it didn't help. After backtracking to the point when it started i figuered it was when i connected the bluetooth box of a friend. I just kicked that connection (which wasn't in range anyways) and it works fine again.

 

[Jason Holbrook]

Re: Fixed Bluetooth Audio Skipping - It was my Pebble Smart Watch!

I struggled with this for a while on my Galaxy S9. Resetting the cache usually worked for a few hours, and sometimes didn't fix the problem. It was getting frustrating having to try to "fix" it almost every day and not knowing if it would work. It occured in both my BMW 535 and VW Jetta.

And the end of the day, it was my Pebble smart watch causing the issue. If i had the pebble app installed and the watch connected to the bluetooth it would skip, clearing cache helped for a bit, but it would always come back. After removing the app and unpairing the watch I've had absolutely no skipping issues at all.

 

[hybucket]

Re: Fixed Bluetooth Audio Skipping - It was my Pebble Smart Watch!

Sorry...the fix didn't work for me.

 

[kingen502]

I've been having this issue with car FM transmitter/Bluetooth Device. I have a Google pixel. Running Android 8.1 so I know it isn't my software. I honestly thought it was my car Device. Seeing this makes me think otherwise. I tried the fix two seconds ago and haven't been able to see if it works. But while I was trying it I saw I could also choose not to optimize the Bluetooth software itself! So I did that and Bluetooth MIDI which allows communication to other devices. I'll update tomorrow.

 

[MJ_Morgan]

I recently noticed a pretty annoying pause / skipping in audio played over bluetooth and it took some troubleshooting but I've seemed to find a fix. I'm hoping this thread can be helpful to lurkers trying to find a solution so here goes:

I'm pretty sure the issue was triggered by an update but I could be wrong. I never had this issue before but after at&t's latest update I've experienced brief stuttering during songs. For me it could be just a skip or two a song but sometimes it's more, either way it's super annoying.

After researching it it looks like this is an Android / Bluetooth issue and it spans across several brands and models (including the Note 4 and Note Edge). There are several theories on what actually causes the skipping (btw there seems to be differing degrees of pause and frequency) and I'm not going to try and pinpoint the root cause or act like I could, but I just wanted to share the method that fixed mine.

Several posters have mentioned that the issue has to do with idle power draw when the screen is off. For some the work around is an app that keeps the screen on. That seems to work for some but I didn't want to have my screen on just to Bluetooth some music.

What worked for me is:

Not optimizing the battery usage for that specific app.

Go into settings > battery > three dot menu in the upper right > optimize battery usage

Then uncheck the specific apps you don't want the audio to skip on. For me it's Slacker radio and the music app.

And that should fix it. At least it did for me.

I hope this helps some poor soul scouring the internet looking for a solution to this issue.

You are an absolute legend!

I was using aux because I really didn't know what the cause of this was. Googled it just to see if anyone knew, this was the first result that came up, solved it in a second!

I really couldn't be bothered to register on this site but had to just to say thanks for the post! Strangely, I just googled 'why is my bluetooth audio skipping', nothing to do with Moto g5, even though that's what I'm using!

Thanks again...I can now listen to psytrance while doing my work without my phone having to be halfway across the room!

 

[dxdave007]

You are an absolute legend!

I was using aux because I really didn't know what the cause of this was. Googled it just to see if anyone knew, this was the first result that came up, solved it in a second!

I really couldn't be bothered to register on this site but had to just to say thanks for the post! Strangely, I just googled 'why is my bluetooth audio skipping', nothing to do with Moto g5, even though that's what I'm using!

Thanks again...I can now listen to psytrance while doing my work without my phone having to be halfway across the room!

I am experiencing this issue with my Samsung J7. I use the Samsung Music App and am hoping this works. The pathway listed above to check the battery is a little different on my older phone, but I sure hope this works! Had my car at Best Buy the other day and was pretty much advised to get a new phone. Ugh.

 

[xlne]

THANK YOU!

I got a Samsung S10e recently to replace my old phone and this fix works perfectly for me. Like the other bloke in the previous comment, I sign up on here just to say thank you. Know that your thread is still helping poor souls in 2021, 3 years after it's posted. Know also that for every one of us who took the trouble to sign up and say thanks, there are countless lurkers who've benefited from your sharing without anyone knowing. So it wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that THE INTERNET THANKS YOU!

It's guys like you that makes me love the internet : )

 

[sergionee]

Hi @Cyco9, many thanks! Just registered to thank you. Your solution worked great for me (Baseus BT 5.0 AUX Adapter and Samsung Galaxy A41).
Cheers!

 

[mustang7757]

Hi @Cyco9, many thanks! Just registered to thank you. Your solution worked great for me (Baseus BT 5.0 AUX Adapter and Samsung Galaxy A41).
Cheers!

Welcome to AC!
Glad this thread helped you.

 

[Mina Monsef]

Hello, I know this thread might be old I tried every solution wriiten here but nothing seemed to work out
but all I had to do is turn ANC off in my car player
"Auto Noise Cancelation"
now it works even if i have notifications