How to Stop Earbuds from Pausing

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For many individuals, smartphones are the perfect devices for listening to music and watching movies. The exceptional experience and convenience that these mobile devices offer make them a great choice for everyone. However, they are not immune to having problems while using them for these activities. One of the most frustrating issues that anyone can deal with is using earbuds that pause from time to time while watching movies or listening to music.

This issue disrupts the flow of what you are doing on your mobile device and forces you to play the music or video again and again. If you are facing this problem, you should understand that you are not alone as it is a common problem for a lot of individuals using earbuds with their mobile devices. Take your time to read this article to learn how you can stop earbuds from pausing any music or video.

Is this Problem Peculiar to Certain People or Operating System?

Android logo figure

Whether you are using an iPhone or an Android device, you can have issues with an earbud that pauses your video or songs. On different online forums, there are lots of people who have complained about this same issue. For example, this Android user complained that his earpiece was skipping or pausing whenever he moved the cord. This user also had a similar issue

iPhone users are also not left out of the complaints about earbuds pausing their video or music. This iPhone user, as well as this other user, complained about the same problem. So, this problem is not peculiar to certain people or operating systems.

What are the Possible Causes and How to Fix Them?

To have a better perspective of this problem, it is imperative to understand that earbuds may be pausing your music or video due to a result of a hardware or software problem. However, whatever the problem may be, you can fix it.

Check ill-fitting connector

In some cases, the earbud pauses a song or video because the connector is ill-fitting. This is usually a result of the auto-pause function that might have been triggered. IPods, iPhones, and many android devices are known to have this issue. You are likely going to experience this problem when you are utilizing a third-party earbud with your mobile device.

Fix:

To fix this problem, you should get the earbud recommended by your phone manufacturer. As an alternative, you can try out a couple of third-party earbuds to find one that works perfectly.

Fix earbud jack with auto-pause function

Lots of mobile devices are designed to pause any music or video if you remove the connector. As long as this function is still enabled, the earbud will continue to pause your video or audio media. 

Fix:

This is easy to deal with as you only have to insert the earbud jack and press the “Play” button to continue playing the video or song each time it stops. You can also disable the Auto-pause function to fix this issue.

Change worn-out jack

Another possible cause is that the jack of the mobile might have experienced wear and tear. Hence, the jack does not work properly with the earbud any longer.

Fix:

To deal with this particular problem, you should get in touch with the customer care center of your device so that the worn-out jack can be replaced. Or you can fix it yourself.

Clean the dirty earbud jack

Sometimes, the problem is just that the earbud jack is dirty. As a result of this, the auto-pause function of your mobile device may be triggered by your earbud’s dirty jack. 

Fix:

This hardware problem can be easily dealt with by utilizing a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol to clean the jack. Once it is clean, you should try the earbud again. Check out more info about cleaning your earbuds here.

Disable the Smart Pause function

One of the default functions of many android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy series is Smart Pause. This function enables your mobile device to pause itself when you make certain motions or gestures. To fix this problem, you need to disable the Smart Pause function.

Fix:

On your android device, go to “Settings” and navigate to “Motions and Gesture”. Under the “Mute/Pause” section, look for the “Smart Pause” option and disable it. If other gesture settings are enabled on your device, disable them. Notably, the settings may be a bit different on your device, but if you look closely and carefully, you should be able to find it. If this function is responsible for the problem, disabling the Smart Pause function should fix it.

Uninstall and reinstall any updates

This is meant for certain applications that may be pausing and playing due to any new updates you have installed. This may be because the new update has a bug or is simply incompatible with your device. All you need to do is to uninstall the updates and use an older version of the same app.

Fix:

To uninstall the update of any app, go to “Settings” and navigate “Applications”, then “Applications manager”. Look for the app that you want to uninstall its update, click “Uninstall Updates”. After uninstalling the update, the problem should be fixed.

Solve internet buffering and connection problems

If you are streaming a song or video online, internet connections and buffering can be an issue that may pause the video or song. It is important for the internet signals to be strong if you are going to enjoy the streaming without pausing the song or video.

Fix:

Pause the song or video for some minutes. After buffering the video for a few seconds, you should be able to watch the video without pauses again.

Another way to fix this is to reconnect your modem if you are using it. Pull off the power cable of your modem. This should be done gently to prevent any damage. Hold both ends of the cable and wait for one minute. Reconnect the cable and continue using the modem.

Use another video player

In a few cases, the problem with earbud pausing your video is the video player you are using. The media player may have certain bugs that are preventing it from working perfectly.

Fix:

If you have tried various options listed above and the problem persists, you may have to consider using another video player. Check the app store of your operating system to find a replacement. One of the best app players for android users is MX Player. So, you can download it and see whether the problem still continues or not.

If you are certain that the problem is the video player, you can learn more about how to deal with it here:

If you are still unable to fix the problem, you can check this video for more solutions:

Popular Apps that Have Issues with Pausing and How to Fix It

YouTube, Spotify, Chrome Browser, and Netflix are some of the most popular apps that usually have issues with pausing when you are listening to music or watching videos.

How to stop YouTube from Pausing any video

Youtube app on phone

One of the most prominent ways to fix this problem is to update the app. Open your “Google Play Store” app and click on the three horizontal lines to view the menu. Click “My Apps & Games” to check all your installed apps. Move to “YouTube” and click “Update”. If YouTube videos are pausing because of update problems, this should fix it.

Alternatively, you can uninstall the YouTube app and reinstall it. Go to “Settings” and navigate to “Apps”. Select “YouTube” and then click “Uninstall”. Go to “Google Play Store”, search for “YouTube” in the search bar and install it.

If the problem is because of a bad internet connection, you need to find a better connection. Notably, YouTube has recommended that you need a good connection to be able to watch their videos. So, if you are watching YouTube videos with a network connection that is not up to 2 Mbps, you may have issues with pauses.

How to stop Spotify from pausing any song

Spotify logo

If you are streaming songs on Spotify, you may experience occasional pauses. Sometimes, you may listen to 2 or 3 songs and then there is a pause that requires you to press “Play” to resume the song. You can fix this problem by navigating to “Settings” and then move to “Apps”. Find “Spotify” and tap it. Clear the cache of the app and launch it again.

Another way to fix Spotify if the app is pausing songs is to sign out and then sign in again. Foremost, log in your Spotify account at www.spotify.com and then go to the Account Overview page. On this page, you should click “Sign Out Everywhere”. Once you have clicked this, your Spotify account will be signed out of all devices you have signed in. Open the Spotify app again and sign in. This should fix the problem.

Get more information about how you can stop Spotify from pausing any songs on your mobile device here.

We hope this article has been able to help you stop your earbuds from pausing when listening to music or watching videos on your devices.

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