If you’re a frequent visitor to the Blog, I’m sure you’re aware that my wife is the owner and artistic director of a ballet and voice studio. I don’t tell you this to brag (well, maybe a little). Recently, she’s encountered an issue with iPhones and streaming audio to Bluetooth speakers. It’s audition season, and in the world of dance that means choosing music and choreographing dance moves to that music. Because there’s only so much time during the audition, the selected music needs to be edited down from its original length to around 60-90 seconds. Often, the girls will ask my wife for help in editing the music tracks, which she will (usually) gladly do, and then send them as MP3 files via e-mail. They will then use their iPhones to practice the many hours necessary to perfect the dance, and, more and more frequently at the audition to avoid having to burn and bring CDs with them. CDs are so 2008. This is all well and good until the music suddenly stops playing at 30 or 60 seconds into the song. If you’ve ever played music or a podcast from an e-mail, you’ve probably encountered the same thing. Let’s investigate.
Security is at the forefront for every iPhone user. These devices have moved so far beyond being just phones that it’s amazing how much sensitive, personal information is stored on them. Because of these concerns, Apple has stepped up their game, and given us the option of a Passcode and/or Touch ID (fingerprint scan) to unlock our phone each time it’s “woken” back up. By default, if the phone isn’t actively in use, it will lock after one minute. By now I’m sure you’ve gotten the connection with the audio stopping after a given period of time. If you guessed, “The music stopped playing on the Bluetooth speaker when the phone locked,” give yourself a pat on the back! Simply extend the length of the Auto-Lock period, and your music will continue uninterrupted. On your iPhone, tab “Settings” then “Display & Brightness”. To the right of “Auto-Lock” you’ll see a settings such a “1 Minute” written in gray with an arrow next to it. Tap “1 Minute” and tap your desired time on the list. You can choose from 30 Seconds, 1 Minute, 2 Minutes, 3 Minutes, 4 Minutes, or 5 Minutes. You’ll notice a checkmark to the right of your selection. If you’re concerned about security, or wish to put your phone to sleep in order to save battery life, press the button on the side or top of your phone (depending on the model) to lock the phone and make the display fade to black.
If you change the length of your Auto-Lock setting, you’ll be sure to never miss a beat of your music again! Typically, a setting of five minutes would be enough to get through an average song. Personally, I change the setting back to the default 1 Minute setting for normal usage. The good news is that this is easy to change as needed. I just want to point out that if you’re using an app to stream music such as the Music app, Sirius, Spotify, or Youtube, you won’t run into this issue, and your music listening won’t be interrupted.