Android: Persistent player notification / Background activity when app is closed

[Phantomstormy]

Hello,

I've had a similar problem a few weeks ago (Pandora unpausing when I didn't ask it to), but it didn't happen as often as others commented above. However, I think it stopped on its own but with with a new problem in its place. When I have Pandora closed, a notification saying, "Unknown by Unknown" pops up on my notification screen and I cannot get rid of it. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, and it still persists. How may I solve both of these problems should the both continue?

Thank you for your time.

Moderator Edit: Changing title for clarity

[Gogo94804]

When I start up my phone, it starts playing music from pandora.. How do I Prevent that from happening?

[adrnln8]

I've had enough, I've been trying all of these suggestions for months and all the suggestions on the other thread related to this issue - https://community.pandora.com/t5/Android/RESOLVED-Android-Pandora-Starts-Playing-After-Being-Closed/... - Pandora is uninstalled from all of our devices and we're unsubscribing. You just lost customers.

Pandora Engineers:

1. I never want Pandora to run in the background
2. I never want the Pandora App to be open unless I physically open it on purpose
3. Pandora should never auto-play on it's own - especially at 2:15am when my phone does it's scheduled restarts! 
4. When my phone connects to a bluetooth device, Pandora should never start Auto-playing music!  Do you know how ridiculous this is when we have a meeting room full of people on a conference call, my phone connects to the bluetooth speaker and Pandora start auto-playing music, over-riding the conference call software?! 

Simple - I'm not using Pandora again until all 4 of the above items are permanently resolved.

[monkeycsk]

this is totally not acceptable. how difficult is this not to show notifications when the app is not running? any other Apps out there are doing that. so i question what kind of engineers they hired at pandora.

It is terrible customer support from Pandora, even after so many complaints and unhappy customers, to claim this is phone-dependent and not a flaw in their app.

while i do not have the paid version (thanks goodness) and if Pandora refuses to take responsbility of this mess soon, i would also uninstall and look for another app.

mod edit: merged comments

[Karena60]

Unable to remove Pandora notifications on home page

[TannerPandora]

Pandora Update (02/22/24):

Hey everyone 👋

Thanks to all for bringing this to our attention and for providing information regarding your experiences.

Following a thorough review by our engineering team, we've determined this behavior is not exclusive to Pandora app and is instead dictated by the Android operating system as of Android 13, part of an effort by Google to allow users to resume playback more easily from their most-used media services.

As always, we encourage you to keep an eye out for any app or OS updates as this is how an improved experience may be delivered at a future time.

While we understand this may be disappointing, we appreciate your outreach and patience.

---

Pandora Update (10/13/23):

NOTE: This message has been Accepted as a Solution to flag the current steps and/or status of this thread. This post will be updated with more information as it is provided to the moderation team.

Hi, everyone! 👋

Thanks for posting your experiences. We understand how frustrating this issue can be and we're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

We'd like to confirm that Pandora playing audible music at restart has been resolved with the release of 2308.1.1. This release is available to all Android listeners. If you haven't yet updated, please see the steps below to update to the latest version.

On a separate, but related note, we are aware of an issue where the player notification may appear even when the app is not open. We'd like to clarify that the player notification is a separate issue from the music audible playing from above. We'd like to stress that while the player notification may appear, the Pandora app may not be open or playing music.

If you're experiencing the player notification, we're happy to pass this along to our engineering team who are investigating this problem.

Please let us know the following information:

• Make and Model of your device:
• Android version (Settings > About Phone):
• Pandora version (go to Profile, then select Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the screen for the version number):

We appreciate your understanding and patience.

---

In the meantime, after further investigation, we've found a forum on the Samsung Community where users were having a similar issue with the player notification. This may be a common issue among Samsung users. Some users were able to resolve this issue by adjusting their notification settings on their Samsung. You can view the solution by visiting the Samsung Community to see if these changes will help you.

---

Updating the Pandora App:

If you haven't already, we recommend updating the Pandora app to ensure you're on the newest version 2308.1.1.

Here's how to update the Pandora app on your Android device:

• Tap your profile avatar in the top right corner.
• Select Manage apps & device.
• Then tap Manage and scroll to Pandora for updates.

Tip: In some cases, you may need to restart your device to update an app.

[Braaainz]

• Make and Model of your device: LG V20, LG V60, SAMSUNG XCOVER 6 PRO
• Android version (Settings > About Phone): ANDROID 8, 12, & 13
• Pandora version (go to Profile, then select Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the screen for the version number ALL RUNNING ON LATEST UPDATE AVAILABLE ON PLAYSTORE

[LadySilence]

Samsung Galaxy s20 FE

Android 13

Pandora 2308.1.1

Player notification is still popping up silently at random times. I don't see it until I open the notifications area to dismiss other notifications and then it's sitting there on top waiting in ambush.

I tried the "solution" in the Samsung forum and the steps do not match my OS. Pandora already has no permissions and no notifications enabled.

[Serenity0725]

Does anyone have a fix for this yet? So frustrating!

[KAUTULOOKN]

same issue s23 ultra on verizon  unlocked  just started doing it about 2 months ago everytime i reboot the phone it starts pandora automatically

[Prplppletr]

My pandora turns itself on in the middle of the night. Even, after I've exited out of the app completely. Every night, it does this. Just a sudden burst of music at midnight or 1 am...etc. I'm getting ready to delete the app myself. My battery life cannot handle pandora trying to play all night because, at this point, I've had to remember to make sure my volume is down before I go to sleep or else it's a rude awakening. Please fix this idiotic issue. 

[Kskauffman]

How can I get Pandora to stop auto starting on my Samsung Galaxy S22?  I've tried all the obvious things. I'm ready to delete the ap. 

[DenaW]

Why does music continue to play in the background?  I will log out of Pandora, and yet I still get notifications that a song is playing, downloading or it will show "unknown."

This has been happening for the last 3 months and truly, I'm ready to end my subscription.

[Braaainz]

Alyssa, you've merged two different issues.
One is Pandora playing music out loud, the other is Pandora playing
"unknown" without music being heard and eating battery.

I'm leery of these two separate issues being merged because they seem
different. I worry that if the prior one is"fixed", then both issues will
be closed out.

Seeing the latter issue has been going on for MONTHS, and that I'm about
one inch from canceling my subscription, if this thread announces my issue
fixed when it has not, i will back up my opinion by indeed canceling my
Pandora subscription.

[SgtJohnMStryker]

Same issue with my Samsung S9 ultra tablet. Pandora continues to run in background and will not close when I manually turn off/close.  No solution. 

[TannerPandora]

Hi @Prplppletr 

We're aware of this issue and believe it to be resolved with Pandora version 2308.1.1. I checked your Pandora account and it looks like you're currently on 2308.1.

I recommend updating to the latest version of Pandora and see if you continue to have trouble. You can update with the following steps:

• Tap your profile avatar in the top right corner.
• Select Manage apps & device.
• Then tap Manage and scroll to Pandora for updates.

Tip: In some cases, you may need to restart your device to update an app.

[TannerPandora]

Hi @Kskauffman 

Can you clarify your experience a bit more. To confirm, when you open the Pandora app on your Samsung Galaxy the music will automatically being playing a station or does music start playing randomly without your interaction?

Thanks for  the help.

[Bprob]

I'm out! This whole thing has been rediculous. Tried to maintain loyalty but after 4+ months of Pandora taking over my phone and seeing endless excuses, it's time to move on. "Other service(s) offer same service with additional features.

[DenaW]

Same here!  Pandora reached out and asked me all kinds of questions about my phone and I've tried explaining it cannot be the phone because this just started a couple months ago and I've had the same phone for 3 years!

[rreyes]

Hi, I'm also having the same issues with Pandora turning on in the background after closing the app. It's beginning to get annoying! Please resolve this annoying problem. 

Thank you,

Annoyed user

[Starnewc08]

This continues to happen on my phone. 

• Samsung Galaxy s21+ 5g
• Android version 13
• Pandora version 2308.1.1