In short: If Apple Music is skipping songs, switch Dolby Atmos from Automatic to OFF, turn OFF Lossless Audio, and make sure Sync Library is turned ON.
Some people are having a repetitive issue with Apple Music where it’ll automatically skip through a bunch of songs and eventually land on a song that plays.
This issue occurs on both Wi-Fi and cellular data, and with both streamed and downloaded tracks. I’ve done my fair share of research and discovered the most common reasons.
A bug in the Apple Music app
Whenever Apple Music is skipping songs, I would often consider it as a bug. Indeed, Apple Music is known for having short-lived errors and temporary malfunctions in the system.
A simple fix is to fully close the Apple Music app and open it back up again. It’s the equivalent of unplugging a computer and plugging it back in.
I know I sound like the stereotypical customer service, but it’s often the best way to fix a misbehaving app – Apple Music or anything else. And it doesn’t take much of your time either.
If Apple Music is still skipping songs, you may need to restart your device. And if restarting your device doesn’t work, then you may need to force a restart.
You’ll often get the error 42670, where Apple Music skips about 20 to 50 songs ahead repeatedly until it plays. Avoid pressing the next button repeatedly in the future.
Believe it or not, many Apple Music users no longer experience skipping songs after restarting their device, whether it’s an iPhone or Mac. Give it a try, maybe a restart is all you need.
Your iOS version isn’t up to date
If a simple restart does not help, check whether your iOS version is up to date. Older iOS versions are often littered with glitches and bugs that cause problems for Apple Music.
Software updates offer many upgrades, new features, and bug fixes. So, if Apple Music is skipping songs due to a bug then updating your iOS version should help.
To check for updates on your device, open Settings and go to General. Then tap on Software Update. After updating your iOS version, give Apple Music another try.
You’re not using the latest version of the app
Another possible reason for skipping songs on Apple Music could be that you’re not running the latest version of the app, whether you’re using your iOS or Android device.
On iPhone, for example, the iOS 14.7 update fixed a bug that caused Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos songs to randomly stop in the middle of playing them.
To check for an update on iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app.
Next, tap “General” then tap “Software Update” and it’ll check to see if an update is available. If there is one, download and install it to get on the latest version of iOS/iPadOS.
For Android users, checking for an Apple Music update is a bit different.
Open the Play Store app, tap the profile icon in the top-right corner, tap “Manage apps & device” and tap “See details” under the “Updates available” section.
If there’s an update for Apple Music, tap the “Update” button.
For Apple Music users on Windows using the iTunes app, click “Help” from the menu bar at the top of iTunes, click “Check for Updates” and download any that are available.
The internet connection is unstable
Check is the internet connection of the device streaming Apple Music. If listening to songs on an iPhone, iPad, or Android device, check to see how strong or weak the signal is.
If there are only a couple of service bars, there might not be enough data to stream a song — thus resulting in Apple Music skipping to the next track if the current one can’t be played.
An unstable internet connection is often the culprit behind many Apple Music issues, such as buffering and songs playing at a slower speed, so it’s wise to check the internet connection.
Connecting to a Wi-Fi network might do the trick. If you’re already connected to a Wi-Fi network, disable the Wi-Fi connection and then turn it back on again.
If Apple Music is still skipping songs, it may be worth rebooting the entire router. If you are in a public place, try connecting to a different network, then try Apple Music again.
Your Dolby Atmos is set to Automatic
Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to move on to the more complex part of this troubleshooting guide. First, let’s take a look at the Dolby Atmos setting.
If you notice Apple Music skipping songs, go to Settings and switch the “Dolby Atmos” from Automatic to OFF, especially if your setup isn’t compatible with Dolby Atmos.
I discovered this solution after many trials and errors (when I was looking for the Lossless Audio setting), and I noticed that I had the Dolby Atmos toggle set to Automatic.
Since I don’t have a setup that’s compatible with Dolby Atmos, I disabled it. My main speakers are Logitech Z200s plugged into a SteelSeries Arctis 7 dongle.
After disabling Dolby Atmos, the skipping seems to have stopped.
I’ve been playing Apple Music for about an hour and haven’t noticed any skipping, and I even rewind to a song that skipped before turning Dolby Atmos OFF and it no longer skipped.
It looks like the issue is with Dolby Atmos or at least the “Automatic” Dolby Atmos playback setting. Turn it off and Apple Music should not have issues with skipping songs.
It also helped me solve the Apple Music stopping after 15 seconds issue.
You’re streaming lossless audio
A common reason why Apple Music keeps skipping songs is that you’re streaming lossless audio over a cellular or Wi-Fi network, which consumes significantly more data.
Additionally, downloading lossless audio for offline listening uses significantly more space on your device. Higher resolutions use more data than lower ones.
To enjoy lossless audio, you’ll need a wired connection to headphones, receivers, or powered speakers. If you’re a casual listener like me, chances are you don’t need lossless audio.
Here’s how to turn off Lossless on Apple Music:
- Go to Settings > Music.
- Tap Audio Quality.
- Tap Lossless Audio to turn it off.
However, if you want to keep listening to lossless audio, you can simply toggle between the two lossless audio quality. Switch from Lossless to Hi-Res Lossless, then back to Lossless again.
For some inexplicable reason, toggling the quality between Hi-Res Lossless and Lossless seemed to fix the Apple Music skipping songs issue for a lot of people.
However, please keep in mind that toggling between the two lossless audio quality settings will delete all of your downloaded songs. You will need to redownload them again.
Sync Library is turned off
Last but not least, Apple Music is skipping songs because “Sync Library” is turned off.
When it’s turned off, you won’t see your Playlists and any changes you make in Apple Music will not sync across your devices, which means some songs can become skipped.
Although you’ll have access to the music that you own on your device, any music that you’ve downloaded using an Apple Music subscription won’t show up in your Music app anymore.
To prevent songs from skipping on Apple Music, turn on Sync Library.
It syncs your music library across all of your devices and gives you access to your music library on any device that has the Apple Music app and is signed in with the same Apple ID.
You’ll want access to all of your music on all of your devices, wouldn’t you? For example, I’ve had songs just randomly glitching and cutting out on me and somehow a sync magically fixes it.
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