Are you playing music in your car, and Bluetooth music keeps skipping? Now, you want to know what you need to do to fix it? You’ve come to the right place, for we have researched this question, and we have the answer for you.
There are several reasons why Bluetooth music in your car would skip. Here is a list of the usual suspects:
- Phone memory problems
- Bluetooth connectivity issues
- Internet connectivity issues
- Software problems
- Power issues
Learn about each possible cause in the succeeding sections. We also have fixes for these issues that you can do to get rid of the skipping whenever you play your music in your car. Read on!
How do I fix the low memory on my phone?
Your smartphone has two types of memory. The type of memory that most smartphone users know about is the one where you store your programs. This type of memory is called a ROM (Read-Only Memory).
ROM is commonly known as internal storage. Although it is called a read-only memory, specific operating system files and processes can write on the ROM of your phone or tablet.
RAM (Random Access Memory), on the other hand, is the type of memory where running apps and data that you are currently using are stored. This makes it faster and easier for the phone’s processor to run those apps and access the data it needs to function.
Running Out Of RAM
All apps and programs need a minimum amount of RAM to run properly. Once the available RAM falls below the minimum requirement, the program starts to run sluggishly. For example, music will start to skip or pause intermittently.
Music apps will often cache your music in the available RAM to be able to play it seamlessly. The music app will download the parts of a song in advance, store it in the RAM, and play it. This makes streaming music seem like playing a local CD or listening to the radio.
However, if the available RAM drops below the minimum that the music player needs, then its ability to cache music in advance also drops. This causes skipping, or the music will stop for a few seconds and then continue. The more music you’re playing, the more memory the music app needs to cache everything it needs to play.
Additionally, the Bluetooth connection that your phone maintains with your car also requires a minimum amount of memory. If your Bluetooth cannot get the minimum among of RAM that it needs, it will not be able to create a buffer for the files that are being transferred to your car.
So, how do you free up RAM on your phone or tablet? Follow the simple steps below:
- Restart your phone. Restarting your phone or tablet will close any app that is running in the background. Even though these apps are not in the foreground, they can reserve RAM for their own use. This reduces the amount of RAM available for your music app to use.
- If your music app is still skipping after you restart your phone, reduce the number of apps that automatically load when your phone starts. How to do this is different between each smartphone model. However, modern smartphones all have a memory management app that allows you to manage the apps that consume a lot of memory and apps that run automatically when your phone starts.
Running Out Of ROM
Some apps use ROM or Read Only Memory to cache their files. This allows them to run more effectively even with little free RAM available.
However, if your ROM is also low on space, then the app will not be able to get the minimum ROM space it needs to create a cache of data. This can cause your music to skip while playing.
Luckily, it is simpler to free up ROM on your phone or tablet. All you need to do is to uninstall some apps—especially the ones you no longer need—and more ROM will become available for apps to use. What might become difficult for this solution is deciding which app to uninstall.
Follow the steps for uninstalling apps on your phone. Uninstall as many as you need. Some apps consume very little ROM space, and uninstalling them will get you back a small amount of ROM only.
How to fix Bluetooth connectivity issues on my phone?
We already mentioned one of the common problems with Bluetooth connectivity—no or very little available RAM. If you’re wondering what Bluetooth is, it is a wireless connectivity technology that allows Bluetooth-enabled devices to connect wirelessly.
Another common cause of Bluetooth connectivity issues in your car is if there is more than one device that is trying to connect to your car via Bluetooth.
For example, your wife’s phone is automatically trying to connect to your car’s Bluetooth. Or perhaps your kid’s phone is also trying to connect to your car via Bluetooth. You might have a second phone, and it might be doing the same thing.
When another device tries to connect to your car via Bluetooth, the connection that your phone is using to connect to your car and play music experiences connectivity interruption. This can cause skipping.
Determine if other Bluetooth-capable devices are trying to connect to your car via Bluetooth. Do not limit your search to just mobile phones and tablets. Bluetooth headphones can also try to connect to your car via Bluetooth.
Disable Bluetooth on those devices or disable the ability of that device to automatically connect to a Bluetooth device like your car.
Aside from giving you a skip-free audio experience while driving, disabling the auto connection in your family’s smartphone or tablet makes them safe from malicious Bluetooth sources.
How to fix internet connectivity issues while driving?
Let’s face it, a huge amount of music that we play daily comes from the internet. Music streaming has become so popular that it has become a large and profitable industry.
Income from music streaming in the US in 2017 almost doubled in 2020. Globally, the revenue from music streaming in 2017 grew by almost 200% in 2020.
Music streaming has become so common that some people forget that a stable internet connection is necessary to stream music. However, if the phone signal suddenly becomes weak or unstable, then your mobile internet will also become weak and unstable. An unstable internet connection will cause your music to skip and stutter.
Using A Mobile Wi-Fi Router
A mobile Wi-Fi router can provide you with a more stable internet connection while inside your car. It serves as a local Wi-Fi hotspot that your phone or tablet can use to connect to the internet.
It needs a standard SIM card to connect to your mobile internet provider, using the same mobile internet service. However, the difference between your phone and a mobile Wi-Fi router is that it can provide a more stable internet connection because it does nothing else but get an internet connection and distribute it via Wi-Fi.
Your phone and tablet can connect to it like it is your Wi-Fi router at home. The only difference is that you can carry it with you in your car.
You can connect it to any USB port in your car to get stable power.
NETGEAR Nighthawk M1 4G LTE Wi-Fi mobile router is available on Amazon through this link.
How to fix software problems on my phone?
It is not uncommon for the apps on your smartphone or tablet to have a memory leak. A memory leak is an app error that causes the app to continuously consume memory space without releasing what it no longer needs.
Music apps that get this error will keep building a cache for music but will not delete the cache for music that you’ve already played or removed from your playlist. In effect, this causes the app to consume a lot of memory and eventually run out of it.
Once it runs out of memory, it will experience the problems that we described earlier when your smartphone or tablet runs out of available RAM.
To fix this, you need to restart your smartphone or tablet. After restarting, check for available updates to your phone’s operating system and apps and run those updates.
How do power issues affect music apps?
Playing music on your phone may seem like you’re only running one app. However, in truth, you’re running multiple apps.
Bluetooth is an app that maintains the connection between your smartphone and your car. Your phone runs another app to maintain internet connectivity.
All these apps running at the same time can consume battery charge. When the battery charge of your phone becomes too low, the app that you’re running will start to slow down, skip, or stutter.
Battery Overheating
Skipping can still happen even when your phone is connected to the USB port of your car. Using multiple apps while charging your phone can cause the battery to heat up. Once the battery becomes too hot, the stability of your apps can also be affected.
Thus, it is best to use your phone while not on a charger. Once it gets a low battery charge, charge it. You can use another device to play your music while your phone or tablet is charging.
Conclusion
There are different reasons why your Bluetooth music is skipping in your car.
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