Media cuts out when screen off

[robablob]

For some reason when I use certain apps to play video/music on my s23 and then lock my phone, after 2-3 minutes the video/music stops. This for apps like YouTube (premium) and TuneIn radio. As soon as I unlock the phone it starts playing again. Samsung music and Spotify seems to work fine. Multiple apps are affected in the same way so it's not just an issue with YouTube. 

I've changed app battery settings for individual app to never stop running in the background but that didn't help. Also checked the apps were not on list of sleeping apps.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

[robablob]

Thanks. Both settings already follow what you've mentioned here.

[PaulC59]

I think I might know the problem but not the solution. I think the problem might be the phone doesn't recognise YouTube and certain other apps as media players so will treat them as web pages. I've not used YouTube as a media player but if the is a solution it will probably be either within the settings of the app or possibly media player settings in the phone? A work around may be to run the services through Spotify etc that are recognised as media players as I'm sure you can stream content and run other external content through Spotify etc or alternatively there may be another media player that everything can run through. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful but some ideas to chew over.

[PaulC59]

Quick update. I've just done a test on my phone and played a video on YouTube. I pulled down the drop down notification menu on the phone and nothing was displayed whilst the video was playing. I did the same whilst a track from Spotify was playing and there is a notification at the top showing the media that was playing. So on this basic test it probably confirms what the problem is i.e YouTube is not being recognised as a media player so could be same with other similar apps. Still not sure of a solution but if I find one I'll update

[PaulC59]

Another quick update. If you run YouTube from your browser desktop site and not the youtube app it continues playing after the phone is locked. Just tested it on my phone. It seems to be an issue with the YouTube app. Hope this helps

[PaulC59]

This is a solution from another phone, might be worth a try

[robablob]

Thanks for all the help PaulC59. I've checked the solution you suggested from one plus but was already set like that on my phone. You might be right about media but apple music appears on always on display when it is on and has a similar problem - for me that means it's treated as media - so I'm not sure it's media related. However I have noticed that in YouTube premium if I download a video rather than playing live it does not cut out. I'm going to try the same in apple music and will try YouTube in browser. I had already been using apple music in browser as figured that it doesn't cut out there but I always assumed it was an apple music app problem until I noticed it in other apps. I'll also try downloading apple music songs to device and see if they cut out. If not then it makes me think this is something to do with using wifi/mobile data

[PaulC59]

I think it is probably something in the phones firmware that prevents the phone from seeing activity in YouTube etc as media files as it seems different on different phones. Downloading files should definitely stop cut outs and it also avoids blackspots when no signal but it comes at the price of using your storage. I have disabled YouTube and uninstalled the YouTube music app. Streaming via your browser definitely works as I've tried it. If I stream from sources regular I put the web shortcut on my home screen, which saves keep opening the browser I.e go to YouTube.com log in to your account then click 3 dots top right and click add to home screen just make sure it doesn't install the app again as it will keep trying as they want to record your activity. Hope this helps

[robablob]

Thanks. I also tried YouTube in browser with screen off and it worked fine with no outage. Also apple music works fine if the music is downloaded. So I think there must be something which has a problem with data continuing to be downloaded when the screen turns off. The phone continues to play what is buffered from streaming, but once it runs out of content it stops. Saying that, live radio continues to stream for a couple of minutes and as it's live, it does seem perhaps my theory is wrong, but it definitely only seems to be a problem with apps that stream data. I've tried multiple browsers and they all continue to stream content with screen off without a problem. This is definitely either and android or one.ui issue but I'm surprised if hardly anyone is affected. I'm going to try to raise with Samsung. I also have another brand of android phone which I will try on too to prove if it is one.ui/Samsung related

[robablob · Accepted solution]

Final update: After much umming and aahing, figured it out... I had duckduckgo app tracker blocking enabled. When I switch it off, the problem goes away. DDG do say enabling for YouTube can create issues but I totally forgot about that. Thanks for all the help and sorry for taking your time on this when the problem was caused by me! Hopefully this might help other in the future at least

[robablob]

Final update: After much umming and aahing, figured it out... I had duckduckgo app tracker blocking enabled. When I switch it off, the problem goes away. DDG do say enabling for YouTube can create issues but I totally forgot about that. Thanks for all the help and sorry for taking your time on this when the problem was caused by me! Hopefully this might help other in the future at least