In short: Turning on notifications and social features on Apple Music often interferes with the buffering process. Dramatically reduce buffering time by deleting your Apple Music profile.
You are getting constant buffering on Apple Music. You’ve restarted your phone, signed in and out of Apple Music, and turned Siri on and off, but nothing works.
What you’re getting is a spinning wheel as the music plays for a few seconds then buffers, then picks back up again. Don’t worry, I’ll share some tips to reduce Apple Music buffering.
Why is Apple Music buffering so much?
Common wisdom would suggest that your internet connection is to blame. Indeed, weak Wi-Fi signals or poor data service can cause Apple Music to buffer so much.
First, try moving your device closer to the router. Next, close down any other bandwidth-heavy applications, and make sure you’re not downloading something in the background.
That said, if you are able to stream media from another app without issue, like watching videos on YouTube for example, then you’ll know the Apple Music buffering is not a network issue.
Nine times out of ten, the source of the problem is Apple Music’s social and sharing features. Sharing your activities online interferes with Apple Music’s buffering process.
Instead of the usual advice of restarting your iPhone and making sure your iOS version is up to date, I’m going to share with you practical tips on how to eliminate buffering on Apple Music.
How to make Apple Music stop buffering so much
If your Apple Music is buffering so much, don’t worry. Here are four tips on how to vastly improve Apple Music’s performance (in terms of loading times and buffering):
1. Disable notifications on Apple Music
The first thing you can do to reduce Apple Music’s buffering is to disable notifications. You can do this directly from the Apple Music app and from your iPhone’s settings.
- Launch the Apple Music app.
- Select the For You tab at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap Notifications.
- Toggle both the “New Music” and “Show in Library” off.
Alternatively, you can also turn off all notifications from the Music app from the iPhone’s Settings. Tap Notifications > Music, then switch off the toggle next to Allow Notifications.
2. Disable “See What Friends Are Listening To”
The next step is to disable the “See What My Friends Are Listening To” option on Apple Music. Disable everything there, including your playlists.
To hide your playlists, tap Edit at the top of your profile. Deselect every playlist. You don’t want to share anything on your profile. Once you’re finished, tap Done.
To hide all of the music that you’re listening to, tap Edit at the top of your profile. Scroll to the bottom, then turn off Listening To if you are using an iPhone or an iPad.
On your Android device, tap Additional Privacy Settings, then turn off Listening To.
If you don’t see your name, you haven’t created an Apple Music profile yet and therefore won’t have to change any settings since no one can see your profile, let alone your listening history.
3. Make sure you are followed only by people you approve
Third, you want to make sure that your privacy settings are set to only allow people you approve of. Basically, you are preventing Apple Music from broadcasting your activities to others.
- Tap Listen Now.
- Tap the My Account button or your profile picture.
- Tap View Profile.
- Tap Edit.
- Tap People You Approve if you want to be followed only by people you choose.
- Tap Follow Requests, then decline the requests.
After you’ve set up your privacy settings, you can now allow only the people you choose to view your activities. You receive follow requests only if you choose who can follow you.
4. Delete your Apple Music profile
The fastest way is to delete your Apple Music profile. It will dramatically reduce buffering time, especially if you don’t care about Apple Music’s social and sharing features.
To delete your Apple Music profile, go to Listen Now. Then, tap the My Account button (looks like a photo or monogram) in the top-right corner of the window, then click Edit.
Click Delete Profile, then click Delete Profile again to confirm.
According to Apple, your Apple Music subscription, library, and playlists aren’t affected if you delete your profile, but you’re no longer able to see what your friends are listening to.
Disabling social features on Apple Music reduces buffering time
Done. And just like magic, Apple Music will now be much faster and more responsive on all devices, including loading and buffering times. This also affects HomePods, weirdly enough.
For some inexplicable reason, tracks on Apple Music will start playing instantly, including lossless ones (a thing that was already improved with the release of audioOS 16).
As crazy and ridiculous as it sounds, disabling social features is the key. The improvements have been DRAMATIC in loading sections of the app and buffering when playing songs.
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