I have set up a listener that tracks modifications to the Player object and prints out details about the current track that’s playing to the console.
The functionality works perfectly when I navigate away from the application initially, but after approximately 60 seconds, it stops working completely.
I’m wondering if there’s a method to prevent the application from going dormant or being suspended by the system? I need the monitoring to continue running even when the app isn’t in the foreground. Has anyone encountered this issue before and found a reliable solution?
Any suggestions on how to maintain continuous background processing for this type of music player tracking would be really helpful.
That 60-second cutoff is just how the OS handles background apps - totally normal. I ran into the same thing building a music analytics tool last year. Don’t try to fight the system suspension. Instead, use Spotify’s Web API with periodic polling from a lightweight background service. Set up OAuth and hit the currently playing endpoint every 30-45 seconds. This bypasses the app lifecycle completely since you’re making direct API calls instead of keeping listeners active. Yeah, polling isn’t as elegant as real-time monitoring, but it’s way more stable and won’t kill your battery like trying to keep an app alive would. Just watch the rate limiting, though the API’s pretty generous for personal projects.
yeah, totally feels like a pain. using Spotify’s web API with some kind of sched task is kinda clever. def beats trying to keep the app alive and the system fightin ya!
Every platform encounters this background suspension issue after about a minute, which can indeed be frustrating. I faced a similar challenge while developing a scrobbler app. The solution that worked for me involved combining system-level media session hooks with the Web API as a backup. Utilizing MediaSessionManager notifications ensures that you receive Spotify track changes even when your app is in the background, as these events are managed by the operating system. You can rely on the Web API to retrieve specific track details that system notifications may not cover, allowing you to balance real-time updates with battery efficiency effectively.
Your app’s getting suspended after 60 seconds - that’s the system killing background processes to save battery. I’ve run into this exact problem with tracking apps before. You can’t rely on keeping your app active, so you need to work around it. Try registering for audio session notifications directly through the OS instead of monitoring the app itself. This’ll keep working even when your app gets suspended. Another option is setting up a background service that talks to Spotify through system-level audio APIs instead of app-specific listeners. You’ll need different permissions, but it’s way more reliable since it doesn’t get killed with normal app lifecycle stuff.
