Podcasts have become common because you can listen to them while your phone’s screen is off.
Popular platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music let you listen to long hours of podcasts without keeping the phone’s screen on. However, many users encounter a common problem where the podcasts stop playing as they put their phones on the lock screen.
So, how to stop podcasts from stopping when the phone locks? This blog will cover Android and iOS podcast apps that stop when the screen gets locked.
Why Podcasts Stop Playing When My Phone Locks?
Podcasts stop playing when the phone screen locks due to low power or battery saving mode, background restrictions, bugs, application cache, and more. While different people encounter problems with podcasts stopping playing on the lock screen, it’s often due to the abovementioned reasons.
However, we must understand that the two most common operating systems, Android and iOS, encounter the podcasts stopping issue. We have applications like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify that this issue can corrupt. However, the road to fixing podcasts to stop playing is similar in both operating systems.
Low Battery Mode usually stops the background activity for iPhones to preserve battery life. On the other hand, Androids have a similar option which always restricts an application’s access to the battery to save battery.
So now, let’s talk about how to stop podcasts from stopping when the phone locks on Android and iOS.
How To Stop Podcast From Stopping When Phone Locks
You need to apply different fixes to stop the podcast from stopping when the phone locks. First, try turning off the low battery mode on iPhone and Android. Secondly, you can turn on the background app refresh on your iPhone and turn off background restrictions on Android.
These two main issues cause your podcasts to stop playing whenever your screen turns on. Moreover, some brands of Android phones, like Infinix and Xiaomi, have aggressive RAM management options that kill applications in the background. For these situations, you need to manually turn off background restrictions on the podcast applications and ensure that the RAM management won’t turn off the applications automatically.
With the basic fixes aside, let’s talk about how to stop podcasts from stopping when the phone locks step by step.
1. Turn off Low Battery Mode
One of the most common reasons podcasts stop playing on Android and iOS is the low power or low battery mode. To understand it, you must understand what low power mode does. A low-power mode’s main responsibility is to preserve as much battery as possible.
Hence, you need to turn off low battery mode in both Android and iOS for podcasts not to stop playing when you’re on the lock screen here. The method is the same with iPhone and other iOS devices; however, it will differ with most Android devices. But here’s a step-by-step method to turn off the power-saving mode on both devices.
For Android:
- Locate the “Settings” app and open it.
- Scroll down till you see “Battery and Device Care,” and select it.
- Tap on “Battery” till you see the Power Saving mode.
- Turn off the Power Saving mode.
- Alternatively, most Androids also offer to turn off the power-saving mode directly from the notification panels.
Once you’ve turned off the power saving mode, close the podcast application and re-open it. Now try playing the audio once your phone is locked to see if the issue has been fixed.
For iPhone:
- Locate the “Settings” app on the home screen and open it.
- Select “Battery” and locate “Low Battery Mode.”
- Turn off Low Battery Mode
After you see the battery indicator returning to black, you should close your podcasts app and try to run podcasts again to see if the issue has been fixed.
2. Turn on Background App Refresh on iPhone
iPhone has a fairly simple system of managing background apps compared to Android. There’s an option called Background App Refresh, which ensures that all the applications you’ve selected have permission to run in the background, especially when your screen is turned off.
Sometimes, we accidentally turn the option off or a specific app, so in that case, the applications on the iPhone stop working as soon as the phone thinks you’re not using them. It is the most common problem that stops your podcasts from playing when the phone screen locks. To fix it, you must turn on the Background App Refresh and ensure your podcast application is turned on. So, if you’re using Apple Podcasts, you must ensure it has permission to access data and run in the background. Here’s how you turn on Background App Refresh:
- Locate the “Settings” app and open it.
- Click “General” and locate the “Background App Refresh” option.
- Turn on the Background App Refresh option and locate your podcast app to ensure it’s enabled.
3. Turn off Background Restrictions on Android
We have background restrictions on Android that restrict the applications from taking the battery in various situations. Like iPhone, you must ensure your phone is not restricting your Podcast app. Turning your app’s battery option to optimized allows you to play podcasts even with the screen off.
There’s another battery setting called “Unrestricted,” in which the selected app is not to be restricted. Hence, the application will always be opened in the background with priority. In most cases, the application’s battery mode to “Optimized” works just fine. However, if it doesn’t work, you can try the unrestricted mode. Here’s how to turn off background app restrictions:
- Locate the “Settings” app and select “Applications or Apps.”
- Locate the application that you want to be unrestricted, like Google Podcasts, Spotify, or more.
- Click on the app and scroll down to find “Battery.” Click on the battery option.
- If the application is in “Restricted” mode, put it on “Optimized.”
- Now your podcasts should be playing even on the lock screen without interruptions.
4. Clear the App’s Cache on the Android
Cache build-up can also stop the podcast from playing when your phone locks. The primary function of a cache is to speed up applications’ loading times by storing additional data. Sometimes, the data can be corrupted, or the code becomes unoptimized after a few updates.
In that case, the podcast applications must be fixed on your phone. Thankfully, Android phones can clear the cache, but it’s done manually. So here’s how you can clear the cache of your podcast application:
- Locate the “Settings” app and select “Applications or Apps.”
- Locate the application you want to clear your cache of, like Google Podcasts, Spotify, or more.
- Select the application, and click the “Storage” option.
- There, you will see an option called “Clear Cache.“
- Click on Clear Cache and run the application again to see whether the issue has been fixed.
5. Reinstall or Update the Podcasts App
If all the methods fail and your podcast application stops when your screen turns off, then the only way to fix it is to reinstall it. Whether on Android or iOS, you can reinstall the app from App Store or the Google Play Store. The reinstallation method will refresh your application, making it normally work.
Alternatively, if your app gets any updates, then you should update the app without a second thought since a bug might have caused the problem in the first place.
- First, uninstall the podcast application that’s on your phone.
- Go to the Google or App Store, and in the search bar, type in your podcast app name.
- Click on Install and wait for the app to be downloaded.
- Sign in again and see whether the podcast still plays on the lock screen.
Final Verdict
If everything fails, try resetting your Android or iOS device to eliminate the problem. Resetting will bring your phone back to its default settings, and if you’ve ever tinkered around with the settings, it will fix everything. Podcasts stopping when your phone locks is a problem many users encounter.
However, with the abovementioned tips, you can enjoy your podcasts without interruption.
I’ve always been passionate about tech (specifically audio). Even as a kid, I’ve been tinkering around with different techs like mobile phones, audio devices, gaming devices, and much more. I started listening to Rap, Rock, and Metal music at 12, which developed my love for headphones, speakers, and more.