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

[JLBell]

The last song a searched for keeps showing up in the pull down menu of my phone. Driving me crazy! Does anyone know how to make this app be dormant unless i need it. If have been shutting off settings at random just to try and make it stop. Very irritating! Any help would be appreciated 

[AdamPandora]

@JLBell To clarify, does it still show even after you exit the app?

You can exit the app by navigating to the Recent Apps menu, finding the Pandora app and then swiping it away. 

If so, can you please send me a screenshot of what you're seeing?

(Please note you won't be able to attach images via email - you will need to open this Community link in a web browser in order to provide attachments)

Thanks for working with me on this.

[pbconder]

Pandora keeps playing in the background, whether I swipe it to close, or if I log out. I have Uninstalled, then installed again. Someone please help me out. 

[Tkilgore25]

The same thing is happening to me as well. It's so annoying. 

[Streetsweeperz]

Same it's being doing it for 2 months now on my s23 ultra it ether just starts playing music or it runs un the background 

[JLBell]

Dang, i got your screen shots of what it doing but i cant figure out how to send the pictures on here. Its now showing songs that i was only thinking of and have never searched for. Weird haha. And one of the last times it just showed a blank, with the title "unknown"

[JLL989]

I'm having problems with the app playing at random times after closing the app. My phone doesn't need to be restarted for the app to randomly play. My phone has been on since this morning, and the app just acted playing at 9pm... no phone restart. I was scrolling Facebook. I've had it start playing loudly while I was grocery shopping and my phone was in my purse. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app... same thing. I have the updated version

[AdamPandora]

@JLBell To attach an image, click on the camera icon located in the Reply box:

 

[AdamPandora]

@Streetsweeperz @JLL989 If you haven't already done so, I recommend running through the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Open your device Settings
2. Tap Apps
3. Scroll down to find Pandora
4. Select Storage
5. On the storage details page tap Clear Data.

Please note, that after completing these steps, you will be logged out and will need to log back into Pandora. 

If that does not resolve the issue, can you please confirm if sound actually play from your phone when Pandora opens? Or does the app just open automatically when you restart your phone (however no sound plays)?

Thanks for working with me on this.

[JLBell]

This is not helping. I do not have that screen. Im on a cell phone. I dont understand why you cant just provide an email that can accept pictures or something. This community site here does not have any screens that resemble what you showed me. And im not sure what good a picture is gonna do here. Its just exactly as i described it. It looks just like the app is on and has the option for the contols on the pull down menu. Thats what its doing when the app is completely closed out and off. And now its just random music or completely blank other than the play button and the word " unknown" . I would send you a picture if there was a way. I dont understand why pandora makes this so complicated.  But its the same thing you and everyone else sees in the pull down menu when useing the app. Thats what it looks like

[AlyssaPandora]

Thanks for your reply, @JLBell. Sorry for the continued trouble around this. Based on your message, it sounds like you're running into this issue due to on the "unknown" notification you're seeing so I moved your post here: Android: Pandora player notification appears when app is closed

You can view the most recent update for this thread here. 

I've added your report to an internal ticket we have open with our engineering team. We appreciate your patience during this process. 🎧

[aaaaustin]

Same problem, same phone, same version as Mjv5864.

Every reboot, Pandora shows in notifications that it is playing a song, though no music plays.

Every time I turn on Bluetooth, the same thing happens.

Clearing cache does not fix anything.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hi, @aaaaustin. 👋

Thanks for sharing these details about your experience. Based on your message, it sounds like you're encountering the notification. This is a separate issue and I moved your post over to this existing thread: Android: Pandora player notification appears when app is closed

While I don't have new information to share, you can find the latest update in the accepted solution.

In the meantime, I've gone ahead and shared this with our engineering team on an internal ticket. Thank you for reporting and for your patience during this process. 🎧

[Tkeman77]

Do better pandora! Everyone is having the same issue. Fix your app. I pay u guys every month. I should not have to deal with this. Im about to cancel my subscription and go elsewhere!

And no clearing my data from storage didn't work.

Moderator Edit: Merged posts and format

[pgrondin]

I just removed Pandora from my Galaxy S21. Reason: It had this exact same problem and, according to the play store, I was running the latest version.  Obviously, based on your answer, one of two things are incorrect. Thing 1 -- the latest version of Pandora for Android did not fix the problem.  Thing 2 -- Pandora didn't put the latest version of the app into the Google Play Store.

In either case, it means that this issue is not resolved.

[TannerPandora]

Hi @Tkeman77 and @pgrondin 

Welcome to community.

To clarify, the previous issue with Pandora beginning to play was specific to Android devices that were restarted. When the device was restarted, Pandora would automatically launch and begin playing audible music.

If you're experiencing an audible playback after your Android has been restarted. I'm happy to pass this along to our engineering team. This was believed to have been resolved with version 2308.1.1.

However, if you are seeing a player notification, that may or may not include track info, this is a different experience. The notification may appear while the app is open, in the background or not open at all.

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

Note: For free ad supported listeners, keep in mind, when launching the Pandora app, it is expected that music will begin to play at launch.

[MusicFan5427]

I cleared the data. It's still opening itself several times a day silently, but instead of showing a song it just says "no content added." 

[AdamPandora]

@MusicFan5427 Can you please send us a screenshot of that error you are seeing when the app opens?

(Please note you won't be able to attach images via email - you will need to open this Community link in a web browser in order to provide attachments)

Thanks again for working with us on this.

[as6]

I literally just uninstalled the app from my phone because of this. The idea that any app can just start itself without your permission is bonkers.

[AdamPandora]

@as6 I definitely understand your frustration.

Please check out @TannerPandora's message above and confirm with us your exact experience:

To clarify, the previous issue with Pandora beginning to play was specific to Android devices that were restarted. When the device was restarted, Pandora would automatically launch and begin playing audible music.

If you're experiencing an audible playback after your Android has been restarted. I'm happy to pass this along to our engineering team. This was believed to have been resolved with version 2308.1.1.

However, if you are seeing a player notification, that may or may not include track info, this is a different experience. The notification may appear while the app is open, in the background or not open at all.

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

---

In the meantime, I've enabled a trace on your account to help us better understand what's happening.

For this trace to be useful, we'll need you to run through the following troubleshooting steps:

I recommend running through the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Open your device Settings
2. Tap Apps
3. Scroll down to find Pandora
4. Select Storage
5. On the storage details page tap Clear Data.

Please note, that after completing these steps, you will be logged out and will need to log back into Pandora. 

Thanks for working with me on this.