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

[Darkie5000]

I read your post about it starting on its own and the persistent notifications. You fixed the starting on its own problem and you said you were going to fix the persistent notifications but instead now they are bigger. And it still says Unknown by unknown after you've already removed it and it literally comes back seconds later even though the player is not running in the foreground or background. Are you working on this problem? has it been resolved? Because so far it's gotten worse and you haven't addressed it since October of last year. Otherwise it's annoying enough to uninstall this app and use a different one. Because if you do accidentally click the notification when you're trying to do something else then it still starts. So the starting on its own problem is basically still there. I feel like you're not trying to fix this. Are you just trying to have Pandora running constantly on my phone no matter what?

[elk00747]

I read somewhere in this community that if you swipe right on the
notification it will stop reoccurring notifications. It worked for a few
days but they started again. I switched to Spotify but haven't removed
pandora app yet. Probably will soon.

[MarkPav]

I'm wishing you luck with the swiping technique.

Since fall of 2023, Pandora seems to be unable to fix, or they just don't care.  Either way, I was forced to delete the Pandora app as my only answer.  Sadly, I had 14+ years of shaping several stations, that are now gone.  Spotify is the only answer until they break their app like Pandora did.

[MarkPav]

I'm wishing you luck with the swiping technique.

Since fall of 2023, Pandora seems to be unable to fix, or they just don't care.  Either way, I was forced to delete the Pandora app as my only answer.  Sadly, I had 14+ years of shaping several stations, that are now gone.  Spotify is the only answer until they break their app like Pandora did.

I hate that you're facing the same issues I've faced.  Pandora broke their app, and either won't fix their app or they don't care about fixing the problem.  Deleting Pandora resolved my battery problem instantly.  I had 14+ years of effort on stations I'd honed in Pandora, and ended up starting over and switching to Spotify.  I didn't get the force stop issue to resolve my battery drain.  The only way I found was to delete Pandora and move on. I wasn't able to get the issue resolved until I went with the nuclear option: delete Pandora.

mod edit: merged comments

[caseybea]

Based on feedback here, and how long this has apparently been going on (*), I too have gone with the nuclear option, said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, and have deleted Pandora.   

Sorry pandora employees, you had your chance and you are losing dozens of advertisement-listening-people by the day, which now includes myself.    I didn't want to do it  as I had some favorite channels all set, but I'm done.   Pandora is gone, HELLO spotify.

(*) The problem is NEW to ME, since I JUST switched from my S9 to a new S24.   But history and threads reveal this has been going on since LAST YEAR.     Nope.   Done.

[MarkPav]

It's been sad to see that Pandora was such a great app that I enjoyed for so many years get broken back in the fall of 2023.  The notifications are relentless and cause rapid battery drain.  Pandora won't or can't fix it so there's no option but to delete the app and save battery life.

Pandora broke their app late summer of 2023.  They either can't or won't fix it, so there's one option - Delete Pandora.  Due to relentless running in the background, deleted and immediately fixed my battery drain.

mod edit: merged comments

[AlyssaPandora]

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 the 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. 

[maskedcipher]

I am having this same issue and have been for months. Pandora will launch automatically in the background (no audible music is playing).

I have already tried the following.

Open your device Settings

Tap Apps

Scroll down to find Pandora

Select Storage

On the storage details page tap Clear Data.

[pyroboarder]

I'm now like 99% sure (for me at least) the problem is spurring from searching for a specific song, I watch the 15 second ad (I don't pay for premium), and move on with my life, listen while I'm in the car, then pause the music. Somewhere between 1 and 3 hours later, pandora will start randomly on it's own with the little ding ding. 

I have seen that any day I don't 'search a song' on my way to work in the morning and just listen to my normal stations, pandora does NOT auto start/play randomly. 

[Tkeman77]

Not the case for me...I don't ever search for specific songs I just keep it
on the same channel...it now gets to the point where it wont even advance
to the next song or reply at all....I have to reboot app for it to work
properly.

--
Stephen Abell

[Jamesmcintosh53]

 Ok time to delete this app every time the phone starts or connect to a Bluetooth Pandora opens in the background eating data. I have the selection saying don't allow background plays but it still does. What a hack app.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hi there, @Jamesmcintosh53. 👋

Thanks for posting about this. I moved your post over to this existing thread: Android: Persistent player notification appears when app is closed

Please check out the accepted solution for the app player notification here. 🎧

[Peiradox]

When I close pandora on my Samsung. It keeps a notification up saying  unknown. How do I fix this issue.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hi there, @Peiradox. 👋

Thanks for visiting the Pandora Community! To keep everything organized, I moved your post over to this existing thread: Android: Persistent player notification appears when app is closed

In the meantime, please check out the accepted solution here. 🎧

[Rickdizzle]

I have an S23 and Pandora is constantly reopening itself in the background. Even if I close the app...a few mins later..its back on and running in the background. Some times I won't catch it and boom 10 hours later it was running in the background. 

It's not audibly playing music..just shows it running, pulling data. 

I am about done w Pandora and ready to switch to another music provider. 

Can anyone tell me how to fix this..if not..im done and deleting my account.

[Jess14]

My pandora app started running in the background (after opening the spp) even with this feature is off since 2/1/24. It looks like this has been an issue with other prescribers since 9/2023. Why hasn't this issue been fixed already? It's really annoying to manually stop it everyday. 

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @Jess14. 👋

Thanks for posting on the Pandora Community! I moved your post over to this existing thread to keep everything organized: Android: Persistent player notification / Background activity when app is closed

Please check out the latest update from 02.22.24 here. 🎧

[ccgilbertjr]

It keeps starting in the background.  I'm going to persist with goggle play store to have the app removed since you aren't doing anything to fix it. 

[69tr6r]

Does it to me too. **ahem**?

[AdamPandora]

@69tr6r I'd be happy to help with any questions you have, but I will need additional information to do so.

Can you explain your issue a bit further?

When the app starts in the background, does music begin playing with sound?

The more details you're able to provide, the better equipped I'll be to help.

I look forward to hearing back.