It's not just Spotify. It happens with other media apps too

I'm not sure if this will help but it certainly helped me.

ive been having the same problem. its not a problem with spotify (happens with bandcamp too) and i dont think its because of notification controls or app settings. the music plays for a moment, then starts getting choppy (not fully pausing music where you need to hit play, and not skipping forward like its a connectivity issue, if you pull down the notifications bar to view the media player in the settings section, which is another bad change imo, youll see that the music isnt paused and is sometimes advancing the songs progress bar. ive had songs that were one and a half minutes long show being 4 minutes in because of the glitch), and even just double tapping the screen to show the clock will make music play clearly, but once it locks it starts glitching again. i got a pretty serious crash error once after unlocking my phone to see what the problem was (along the lines of "system.ui has stopped working"), and after restarting it spotify had forgotten where i was in my podcast and started from the beginning. i think this audio glitch is because media controls are no longer in the notifications bar. i wish there was a way to toggle where the media player ends up at, because i sincerely think that this switch in location (and subsequent relying on a different part of the phones os to support it) is causing the glitch. i hope it gets resolved soon, because i can only listen to audio some of the time when the screen is locked.

Same here. Since installing Android 11 on Pixel 3a, Spotify cuts out intermittently or stops playing altogether when connected to Bluetooth. This was not an issue before Android 11 and no other settings have changed on my phone.

I got similar problems with the combo pixel 3a, android 11, bluetooth and spotify. When streaming spotify doesn't seem to know what is playing and interrupts streaming often. This is not only when streaming over bluetooth, also wired with headphones. However turning bluetooth off on the phone seems to fix all problems.

I am also having this issue on my Google Pixel 3A, since I updated to Andriod 11. Any help will be much appreciated.

Same here. Pixel 4a. Almost all bluetooth devices (my taotronics headphones work fine for some reason) and multiple media players (most prominently spotify and youtube music) start pausing randomly and the apps sort of freeze up and then it just stops entirely when the phone is locked.

I have this issue as well

Same issue for me. Very dissapointing

Hey y'all, not sure if this is a fix—still waiting to see if it's going to act up—but so far, turning off the Google Assistant seems to have fixed the problem for me.

This is happening for me too, would love a fix!

This is happening to me as described with both audible and Spotify - it started as soon as I updated to Android 11 on my pixel 3a. Sometimes it will play properly while the screen is off, but eventually it will stop and I will need to keep the screen on to keep listening. It's incredibly aggrevating.

I'm so disappointed, i justgot a Google pixel 3a xl and have the same problems.

Same here, i'm downgrading back to Android 10 till they launch a major update on Android 11

Mine is happening too since Android 11 install...

I am also having the problem of stuttering music since updated to Android 11.  Media Apps have also started to crash more frequently.

I am having this exact same issue, none of the previous fixes recommended by other users have worked decisively.

I've started having this problem as well.

same issue, noticing it with both wired headphones OR bluetooth audio, seen with spotify (might just be based on frequency of usage though, it can take many minutes to occur). if i force stop spotify app and open it again, the problem won't reappear for a while

Same issue here - Intermittently occurs when screen is on or off. No Bluetooth being used with the app.

Same issue here. I went through 20+ emails with Spotify support and they were completely useless. 

I too have this issue, with Bluetooth on, in my car or just connected to my speakers, music gets choppy and stops when the phone locks, this makes Bluetooth basically unusable, started happening when I updated to Android 11.

Android 11, was beta tester, pixel 3a. When screen is off, spotify and other media stops. Extremely frustrating.

I am having this same exact issue too, pixel 3a. Glad to know I'm not alone

Agreed. Same problem with spotify playback since upgrading to 11. Although it happens with all spotify media (songs, playlists, podcasts), but it does seem to be worse with certain podcasts.

Having the exact same issue with both Spotify and my podcast app. 

I also have this issue with any media apps.

I have exactly the same issue.

Same issue here pixel 4a

I also have this issue on pixel 3a

I'm am getting this issue. Spotify intermittently stops playing, when the screen is locked, until it stops playing altogether...

Same issue with Pixel 3a. Only workaround I've found is to keep the phone unlocked by turning on Maps navigation which is unnecessary drain on battery.

Turning off google assistant seems to have helped, even turning it back on the problem seems to have gone for now.

Same problem here. 

This is also happening with my google pixel 3a, even when I download the music from spotify and turn off wifi and data..

Same issue. When screen is on music will play, but gets choppy when locked. Doesn't matter if data resides on phone or not.

Same issue on pixel 3a xl. Annoying enough to consider downgrading.

No fix then? It's happening in tiktok too.

I have the same issue on my Google Pixel 3, whenever i lock the screen while playing music it starts to glitch, no matter if i'm using a bluetooth device or an aux cable. Please fix it :C

My pixel 3a was doing this with Amazon music and Google Podcast.  I turned off battery optimization for both and it seems to be working now.  I just did this today so we'll see what happens. Weird that it doesn't happen when connected to bluetooth earbuds though.

I've been having the same issues on my pixel 3a when using spotify, netflix, and youtube. I thought I could ride it out til there was a fix and just use my laptop instead but then the windows 10 update completely killed my computer. I was able to restore but there's still problems and it seems that the phone issues haven't been resolved yet either. I'm seriously considering switching all my devices to apple which I didn't want to have to do but this is too many device issues because of update failures.

pixel 3a here,

I'm having the same issue and it's driving me nuts! Pixel 3A as well.

Same here but with my SiriusXM radio app.   Continually stops playing on my 3XL.    #disappointed.

I found that turning off "Hey google" voice detection in assistant settings solved this for me.  It's mildly inconvenient to not be able to voice activate assistant, but far less annoying that podcasts and audiobooks cutting out all the time.

Exactly the same issue with pixel 3A. as soon after updating to latest android version. its basically unplayable. please fix this all-mighty Google/Spotify

I'm having the same issue. It's a complete deal-breaker as streaming music is one of my main phone functions! Pixel 3a running android 11.

Same here pixel 3a , Spotify stops everytime phone goes into sleep mode.. so annoying and frustrating, I've tried everything going apart from wiping the phone and downloading the os image and installing.. which I shouldn't have to do. Phone worked perfect before this latest 11 update.. come on Google sort this out !!

My Pixel 3A also has this issue. Its extremely infuriating. I cannot run and listen to music without waking up my phone every 30 seconds. It cuts off once the screen goes to sleep. Google needs to fix this asap. Makes me contemplate my choice of phone.

I'm having the exact same issue with my pixel 3a. Since the update music or sound on Spotify and YouTube both pause and jitter constantly. I found this sometimes happens even when the phone is unlocked (not nearly as much as when it is locked though).

This is happening on my Pixel 3a for both YouTube Music and regular YouTube... started after Android 11 update. First thing I did was make sure battery optimization wasn't the problem. They seem to have killed Android with the 11 update >=|

Same for Pixel 3a. Seems to correlate with the screen-off feature. Each time screen is switched-off BT based audio connections run into trouble. As workaround increase timer in Settings- > Display to 30 min. until screen is switched off automatically. Nevertheless Google has still to provide a bug fix.

Same here, i cant listening music while i take a shower :(

I've had the same issue and tried this: Sound -> Do Not Disturb -> Apps -> add spotify  to the list of apps that can interrupt.

This seems to have worked even though I had do not disturb turned off 

Adding spotify to do not disturb exceptions worked for me as well.

Found this on another site that has useful peers.  Tried it for 15 min on Bluetooth playing in my car, no issues.  Haven't tried it with AA yet. YMMV: https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/iq7ogn/pixel_4a_android_11_car_streaming_issues/g83sy0w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

I've also had this issue since last update and it's very frustrating... Has Google offered any fix for this?

This keeps happening on my pixel 3a xl as well. Ive done a factory reset and did not fix the issue. Ive also completely turned off adaptive battery. Really need a fix for this asap, music is a big part of my phone use.

Same issue with pixel 3a

Same issue here.

Ditto. Same problem.

Just discovered that if I lock the screen manually (power button) the problem doesn't occur. Only happens when screen locks with timeout.

I had this same problem with my Pixel 3a and eventually found a solution that worked for me. Try disabling "Hey Google" voice activation for Google Assistant under Voice Match settings.  That fixed the issue for me, although I'm not pleased that I had to disable a feature of the phone to get basic media functionality back...

Glad it's not just me, it's driving me nuts.

I am also having this issue - very frustrated.

Pixel 3a and having the same issues with Spotify being choppy and shutting off when screen turns off since 11 update. Tried all the suggestions and no luck.

Having the same issue on Pixel 3a. Happens with streaming and local content. This has been known for at least a month. Hard to believe they haven't fixed it yet, but here we are.

I was using Spotify to play backing tracks into my new guitar amp and it kept on pausing, I was going to send the amp back, glad I didn't, very frustrating.

I'm another one with the same issue. Spotify pauses seconds after screen off. Highly irritating how an update has downgraded my phone.

Same problem/phone. Would love to hear about a fix. This is super frustrating.

Same issue (pixel 3a), Spotify randomly stops , Tune in gets stuck. Same with other music apps. Seems to be related to lock screen but not consistent. Tried battery saver disable which worked for a day, now back to same problem. It's ridiculous that Google hasn't solved this issue already. Next phone will not be android.

I am also having this problem recently. It is driving me nuts. As soon as I put the phone down it will start to stop and start music in choppy way. If u pick it up and the phone is lit the music plays fine.

This is a bug with hey google. Disable it and the problem will go away.

I've had this issue as well. Tried many things but what helped in the end was to turn off Google assistant completely.

Similar problems with YouTube Music on Pixel 3a since I updated about a month ago. It happens with anything connected via the 3.5mm jack too so it's not limited to Bluetooth.

I am also having this problem and its pretty annoying. Any Solutions?

Same issues here, system wide across all audio apps since the update. Pixel 3XL is now unusable for listening to anything which needs fixing asap.

I'm ready to smash this pixel 3a with a hammer since this android 11 update, nothing but problems.

Same issue here and it is beyond infuriating. The suggestion to switch off battery optimisation for Spotify app worked for me until I downloaded android 11 this week. I basically have to keep moving my phone/keep the screen live while I'm on a walk to ensure consistent music play, which is so annoying. Look forward to any suggestions.

Same here. Both bluetooth and the headphone jack are a complete mess on my Pixel 3a after the Android 11 update. Music is choppy as soon as the lock screen comes on...

I have been following this thread and having the same issues. It doesn't look like Google is even trying to solve the problem anymore. I guess we all need to buy an I Phone next time. Come on Google, get on this, and quick.

Me too, google pixel 3a

Same issue, constant interruptions.  Google Pixel 3A.  It's making Spotify useless to me.

Same here, pausing everything my screen locks

This happens to me as well. I use Napster music streaming (similar to spotify) and I have seen if with youtube. It started to happen after android went to 11. Music intermittently freezes and then resumes. It happens every few minutes when the screen is left on. It happens every few seconds if the screen is off. I just restarted and then I set Napster to be allowed to run the background and I'm 10 minutes in with the screen off and so far so good, we'll see how long it lasts 

Same issue. Happens with Pocket Casts, Audible and Youtube Music. Pixel 3a.

Similar issue. Audio will play in background for about 15 minutes. Then starts to stutter and shut off. Same issue in Spotify, YouTube Music and Audible.

I have also been having this problem for a few days, any resolution been posted or made available or do I have to downgrade to android 10?

Metoo please fix it

Same here. My music can be playing on my headphones for an hour sometimes and then suddenly starts jumping/slipping and then goes off altogether 

I forced stop spotify and cleared the cache. Worked for me.

I've done what others have suggested and turned off Google voice match (hey google) feature and my audio no longer pauses or freezes with Bluetooth devices. Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon. Google app- more-voice-voice match

same here, issues with amazon music and spotify...