YouTube Music Playback Pauses Briefly When Locking/Unlocking Screen on Brave Android

Brave Browser Mobile Support
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1

Subject: YouTube Music Playback Briefly Pauses When Screen State Changes on Brave Mobile Browser

Hello Brave Team,

First, I would like to thank the Brave team for creating an excellent browser. Brave’s built-in ad blocking, privacy protections, and background playback capabilities make it one of the best mobile browsers available. I especially appreciate being able to enjoy YouTube Music with fewer distractions while maintaining privacy.

I would like to report an issue that I am experiencing while using YouTube Music through the Brave Mobile Browser.

Issue Description:

When playing music on YouTube Music in Brave Browser, the audio briefly pauses for approximately one second whenever I:

• Return to the home screen

• Lock the device screen

• Unlock the device screen

The music automatically resumes after the brief interruption, but this behavior occurs consistently and affects the listening experience.

Expected Behavior:

Audio playback should continue seamlessly in the background without interruption when switching to the home screen, locking the screen, or unlocking the device.

Actual Behavior:

Playback pauses momentarily (around one second) whenever the screen state changes or when navigating to the home screen.

Device Information:

Phone:

• iQOO Z10 5G (Vivo/iQOO)

Operating System:

• Android 16 (OriginOS 6 Public Beta)

• Build: BP2A.250605.031.A3_V000L1

Brave Browser:

• Brave 1.90.128

• Chromium 148.0.7778.217

Hardware:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3

• Adreno 710 GPU

• 8/12 GB RAM

Display:

• 6.77-inch Curved AMOLED

• 1080 × 2392 Resolution

• 120 Hz Refresh Rate

Additional Notes:

The issue appears consistently when YouTube Music is playing in the background. The brief pause occurs specifically during screen lock, screen unlock, and when returning to the home screen.

This may be related to media session handling, Android 16 compatibility, background playback management, or power optimization behavior.

I would be happy to provide additional information, logs, or assist with testing if needed.

Thank you again for building a browser that prioritizes privacy, performance, and a cleaner web experience. I look forward to seeing this issue resolved.

2

Please edit your original post and remove your real name and email address for privacy. We don’t need that info.

Also, does this happen when using any other mobile browser? This could be “expected behavior” due to how Android handles background play.

3

@winui64 Thank you for your reply and for taking the time to investigate this issue.

I performed additional testing on the same device (iQOO Z10 5G running Android 16 / OriginOS 6 Public Beta).

Chrome Mobile: Background playback does not continue, so I could not compare the behavior.

Firefox Mobile: Background playback does not continue, so I could not compare the behavior.

Microsoft Edge Mobile: Background playback works correctly. I do not observe any audio interruption when returning to the home screen or when locking/unlocking the device.

Brave Mobile: Background playback works, but the audio briefly pauses (approximately 1 second) when returning to the home screen and when locking/unlocking the device.

Since Microsoft Edge is also Chromium-based and does not exhibit this behavior on the same device and OS version, this may indicate an issue specific to Brave’s background playback handling.

Please let me know if there are any logs, settings, or additional tests that would help diagnose the problem.

Thank you.

4

Try this?

Add this filter at : Settings → Brave Shields & privacy → Content Filtering → Create custom filters

youtube.com##+js(brave-video-bg-play)

Then restart Brave.

5

@winui64

Thank you for your continued assistance.

I updated Brave to the latest version from the Play Store, added the suggested custom filter, restarted the browser, and tested multiple times. Unfortunately, the issue still persists.

Device: iQOO Z10 5G (Model I2407) Android 16 OriginOS 6 Software Version: PD2456F_EX_A_16.1.15.2.W30

My findings:

• Brave Mobile: When YouTube Music is playing in the background, audio pauses briefly (about 1 second) every time I lock or unlock the device.

• Microsoft Edge Mobile: On the same device and OS version, YouTube Music continues playing smoothly without any interruption when locking or unlocking the device.

• Redmi A5 (Android 15): I installed Brave on another device and tested the same scenario. Brave works perfectly and there is no audio interruption during lock or unlock.

I also tested after:

Updating Brave to the latest version.

Adding the custom filter suggested in this thread.

Restarting the browser.

The issue remains unchanged.

Summary:

Redmi A5 + Android 15 + Brave = No issue.

iQOO Z10 + Android 16 + Microsoft Edge = No issue.

iQOO Z10 + Android 16 + Brave = Audio pauses for about 1 second during screen lock and unlock.

Based on these tests, the issue appears to be specific to Brave on my iQOO Z10 running Android 16 / OriginOS 6.

Please let me know if there are any additional logs, settings, or tests that would help identify the cause. I would be happy to assist further.

Thank you again for your time and for investigating this issue.

Brave is my primary browser, and I genuinely appreciate the work your team does to provide strong privacy protection, excellent ad blocking, and a great browsing experience.

Once again, thank you for existing. :heart::melting_face::sparkles:

I would be happy to help with any additional testing if needed.

6

As I do not currently have an Android phone, I’d ask @Mattches to see if he can be of assistance - could easily be a Brave or OS issue based what you’ve said so far. Thanks for the detailed report!

7

Can you please try updating to the latest build (1.91.171 at the time of writing this) and test to see if the issue persists? I don’t have YT music but I’ve asked someone on our team who does to test.