How to Keep Spotify Playing in the Background for Desktop/Mobile

"Spotify keeps giving me a notification when I open it saying it needs permission to run in the background, and gives me the option to go to settings and change it. However, there isn't any background permission setting. Any idea how to allow Spotify to play in the background?" - from Reddit

It happens to many smartphone users that you open Spotify and start playing music, and then you switch to other apps to check the weather or see what's trending on Twitter. But all of a sudden, Spotify stops playing in the background until you move back to the app. Why is Spotify not playing in the background? It would be caused by lots of reasons.

Today, here we are going to show you how to fix Spotify not playing in background and how to keep Spotify playing in the background as well as a trick to play Spotify without worrying about any glitches.

Part 1. How to Allow Spotify to Play in the Background

Spotify may require permission to play in the background because some mobile operating systems, such as IOS and Android, have default settings that limit the behavior of apps running the background to conserve battery life and prevent performance issues. These restrictions may prevent Spotify from playing music when the app is not actively in use or when the screen is locked.

Fortunately, you can bypass these restrictions by granting permissions or enabling settings for the Spotify mobile application on your iOS or Android devices.

On Mac & PC

1. Open Spotify on a computer and click the profile picture.

2. Head to Settings > Show Advanced Settings and turn Close button should minimize the Spotify window off.

3. After saving the settings, then start to play your liked songs in Spotify and quit the Spotify app for playing in the background.

On Android

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Manage Apps and find Spotify.

2. Tap battery saver and set the background settings of Spotify to No Restrictions.

On iPhone

1. Go to Settings > General and tap Background App Refresh.

2. Turn on the button next to Spotify, and then Spoity can work in the background.

Part 2. How to Play Spotify in the Background for iOS/Android

If you're using the Spotify app on your mobile device, you can easily play Spotify in the background by following these steps:

Step 1. Start Playback Spotify on Your Mobile Phone

1. On your iOS or Android device, open the Spotify app.

2. Go to what you want to play in the background on Spotify, such as a song or playlist.

3. Press the Play button to start the playback.

Step 2. Play Spotify in the Background

1. Then, press the home button to exit the Spotify app.

2. The music should continue playing in the background even when you're one the other pages of your screen.

Step 3. Control the Spotify Playback

1. If you want or need to control the playback, you don't have to return to Spotify but access the playback control on your screen.

2. For iOS, open the Control Center by swiping down from the upper-right corner of the screen or swiping up from the bottom edge of the screen. For Android, open the Control Center by swiping down from the top of the screen.

3. From here, you should access the basic playback control of the Now Playing to pause, skip, forward, or adjust the volume of the Spotify playback.

Part 3. How to Play Spotify in the Background for PC/Mac/Web

If you're using the Spotify app or the Spotify Web Player on your computer, you can also play music in the background while using other applications by following these steps:

Step 1. Start Playback Spotify on Your Computer

1. On your PC or Mac, open the Spotify app or Spotify Web Player.

2. When you're logged in, play what you want to play in the background by pressing on the Play button.

Step 2. Play Spotify in the Background

1. Simply minimize the Spotify window by pressing on the Minimize button in the top-right corner of the window (Windows) or the yellow minimize button in the top-left corner of the window (Mac).

2. The music should continue playing.

Step 3. Control the Spotify Playback

1. To control the Spotify playback while using other applications, you can either use the playback controls on your keyboard to control the music without having to switch back to the Spotify window.

2. On Windows, hover your mouse over the Spotify app in your taskbar and you should see the simple playback control that allows you to pause, skip, or forward.

3. On a web browser, you can enable the MiniPlayer function for convenience.

Note: The MiniPlayer is officially available on Spotify Web Player only. If you wish to enable it for your computer application, you should get the alternatives in another post, such as Spotify widget in Xbox Game Bar:

Part 4. How to Fix Spotify Not Playing in the Background

Spotify music may cut off when you exit the app on your mobile phone for a few reasons such as battery optimization, data usage, app settings or technical issues. If you still have no luck with the steps above to play Spotify in the background, please try these fixes:

Way 1. Turn off Battery Saver for Spotify

Everyone wants to save battery and use the phone as long as they can on a single charge. So, to be able to achieve that, the phone will automatically think that apps that are "sleeping" in the background are not important and should be shut down.

But apps like Spotify or other streaming music software don't need to be always on screen to perform their full functions. So to solve the problem, the easiest way is to make your phone think Spotify is important and doesn't need to be turned off even running in the background. You can adjust the background settings for Spotify to fix the problem.

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Manage Apps and find the Spotify app then tap on it.

2. Scroll down to choose battery saver and set the background settings to No Restrictions.

Way 2. Allow Spotify to Use Data in the Background

Sometimes, the background data settings can also stop Spotify playing in the background. To prioritize Spotify, you can follow the steps below.

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Manage Apps and select Spotify then tap on it.

2. Tap Data Usage and then toggle the Background Data Setting on to allow Spotify to use data in the background.

Way 3. Check the Ongoing Apps

Some apps will occupy the audio output channel even when they are running in the background. So, when you want to play Spotify in the background, close as many apps as possible if you find some of them are using the audio output.

Some Spotify users have reported some driver apps like Waze, Google Drive, and Uber will stop Spotify while they are opened. That's because these apps are using the voice prompt which will block other sounds on the phone. So, if you want to stream Spotify songs while driving, turn on Car Mode in Spotify and toggle the Keep app open on screen to green.

Way 4. Use the Suggestions from Spotify

Spotify also gives some official suggestions for dealing with this issue. To allow Spotify to play in the background, follow these three steps.

1. Log out of Spotify and go to Home then tap Settings.

2. Scroll down to the bottom of the Settings page and hit Log out then restart your device.

3. Log into your Spotify account again.

Way 5. Reinstall the Spotify App on Your Device

If you have tried all these solutions above and still can't fix the problem, uninstall the Spotify app and reinstall the latest version of it. Then do the steps above again to allow Spotify to run in the background.

Part 5. How to Keep Spotify Playing in the Background

Up to now, there still are users reporting Spotify can't play in the background issue. For Spotify's frequent users, this could be devastating. But there is a way to get rid of any glitches and restrictions to play Spotify songs in the background while you are using other apps on your phone or locking your phone's screen. That is to use a Spotify downloader to download Spotify songs.

Then you can load these Spotify songs to your phone and play them in the background with a built-in media player, and you'll never get interrupted by other apps on your phone. With ViWizard Spotify Music Converter, you can download all your favorite Spotify songs to MP3 without Premium. After that, you can play Spotify songs anywhere and anytime.

 

1Import Spotify Songs to ViWizard Program

The Spotify app will be launched automatically after you open ViWizard Spotify Music Converter on your computer. Find an album or a playlist you want to download in Spotify and add them to the conversion list. To add them, there are two methods: drag and drop them to the converter or copy and paste the music link into the search bar on the converter.

2Set up the Audio Parameters for Spotify

After successfully adding Spotify songs to the converter, you can set the output audio parameters for Spotify. Click the menu bar at the top right of the converter and select the Preferences option then switch to the Convert tab. Here you can select the output format and change the bit rate, sample rate, and channel.

3Start to Download Music from Spotify

Once all the setting is finished, click on the Convert button to start downloading Spotify songs. After the conversion, all the converted Spotify music files will be saved to your specified folder. You can browse all the converted Spotify songs by clicking the Converted icon and navigating to the output folder.

4Play Spotify Songs in the Background Offline

After downloading these Spotify songs, you can transfer these Spotify songs to your phone via a USB cable or wireless connection. These Spotify songs can be played through any media player on your phone in the background without interruptions.

Conclusion

When Spotify stops playing in background, you can follow five solutions on how to make Spotify play in the background again. If none of them work, contact Spotify. You can also use an alternative way - use a media player on your phone to play Spotify music in the background, after downloading Spotify to MP3 without Premium via ViWizard Spotify Music Converter. Try ViWizard Spotify Music Converter now!