Playing audio while using another app on mobile devices

Please allow audio from Dropbox to be played/listened to while using another app please, and thank you. Allow audio to be used in the background.

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Walter

This idea is open.

If you like this idea, please share how this would help you, and vote to show your support.

Our top-voted ideas are shared with our product teams to investigate in our regular reviews.

MisterGrimm

iPhone users can preview (play) audio files in dropbox while doing other things on their phones - Dropbox handles this in the background.

Android users have no such ability. This isn't seemingly a switchable function either. Android users should have the ability to initialize playback of an audio file, and allow Dropbox to run in the background while it's doing so in order to allow the user the ability to utilize other features of their device, or even shut the screen, without disrupting playback functions.

It would be great if Android users could do this, as it's not an issue for iPhone users

Hannah

Hey @MisterGrimm, thanks for taking the time to post your idea.

Since an idea that reflects yours already exists, I moved your post under it, so please make sure to up-vote it, to show your support.

Let us know if you need anything else!

djsober

Audio or music only continues playing on iOS, this a must-needed feature for Android as well.

When you switch apps or lock the phone, the audio stops playing.

You need to download another media player, and import it there, really not user-friendly.

Any chance us Android users could have this in the future?

djsober

Feature supported on iOS but not on Android.

Dropbox is used for private audio/music files, especially used by musicians/artists/producers to share between them during the creation process.

Having to export the audio to a third-party app to continue listening is risky for us. (leaking, privacy, etc). Thanks for taking it into account.

Boyd C.1

Just like other audio players

Mfwinter

As a musician and a music producer, I paid for Dropbox primarily to be able to review audio on my phone in different listening environments (car, home stereo system, etc) with clients. But it appears that there is no possibility to have audio playing in the background, which literally every other media player app I use on Android does as a default. If there is no plan to either develop this for Android or enable Dropbox to utilize other apps (VLC) to play audio in background then I have wasted my money and will no longer be using Dropbox, nor recommending it for use to other producers.

Angusbeef

I suggest the ability to play audio from dropbox, in the background on android. As i very frequently listen to my own music on there.
I have wanted this change for years! Shouldnt be too hard to implement. Much appreciated

JimmyFontanez1969

I don't understand why can't we play audio in the background on Android. Hopefully this feature will be added soon. iOS has it, so should Droid.

Angusbeef

Besides making the audio be playable in the background, also make the audio files play in consecutive order, like a playlist. (Or allow a button/slider for this) So you can listen while driving/working etc.

bhargava_086

Cannot run Dropbox media in the background. For example if we play some Audio from Dropbox and switch to another App or press Home, the audio stops playing

wolfward

As I also shared that idea, I'll leave this here:
Make dropbox musician friendly

Dear dropbox community,

I switched from iphone to android. And for years I'm using dropbox with my band mates.
But we now are thinking about switching, because we cannot review our audiofiles and demos anymore, when we switch to other apps or turn off the display.

Its such a tiny little thing, but creates a big unnecessary issue for me.

Also for years I wished I could skip through my audio files. It would also be much savier while driving! (And I know my bandmates. They still use their phone while driving when a new demo lands in the box!)

Please help us and make dropbox musician friendly ♡

let us play audio files in the background (saver for drivers)
let us skip some tracks that are in the same folder

Hannah

Hey everyone!

The Dropbox team is currently reviewing this idea. We will share any updates with you, when we have them.

Thanks!

jeroen platenburg

I got the Samsung S23,

I tried the music player in Dropbox for the first time today.

Dropbox won’t play music while I’m in other apps or lock the phone.

What is the solution for this?

It is now only possible to select 1 music track to listen to. I would like to see that many music tracks can be selected for play at the same time.

In the cloud service MEGA you can set whether or not you want to allow the music player to continue in the situations mentioned.

That would also be a desirable situation for Dropbox.

Graham

Hi @jeroen platenburg,

Thanks for posting this idea here on the Dropbox Community. I've just moved it here to this thread as both ideas seem to be the same. This one is currently being investigated. don't forget to give the original a vote to give it another boost!

Thanks again, and have a great day!

Graham

JoPe

This is something I find extremely annoying: it is possible to play video or audio files directly from Dropbox storage (which is good), using the Android Dropbox app, but as soon as the screen locks up or another app goes to the foreground, playback stops. Why can the app not behave like a proper media player which will continue playing and show playback controls even on the locks screen?

Rich

@JoPe wrote:
Why can the app not behave like a proper media player which will continue playing and show playback controls even on the locks screen?

Because it's not a media player? The ability to play a media file is meant as a way to preview the file. If a media player is what you need, there are far better options available, some of which can link to your Dropbox account, such as CloudPlayer.

Jay

The team is working on this idea!

Thanks for sharing your suggestion with us and to everyone for supporting it. We’ll update you when we know more!

24karrotts

The possibility to listen to music with screen off on android phones as well as while other apps are open, and the ability to make the music player cycle through songs in folders and even shuffle songs in folders within a folder would be a nice addition to the application. This way artists who back up their music to this platform can stream and don't have to download to their phones if the resources or phones music player has issues with the files.

DAPH

I have an android and i think all of us would like to play music on dropbox while locking our phone or doing something else on our phone.

OceanM

Yes - this gets my vote as it is the feature I would like the most

Neal

Hi @JayJayPayDay!

I'm happy to announce that we have rolled out background audio to all of our users now.

Thank you for helping deliver this idea and please reach out further if you have any more feedback!

Neal

JoPe

This is great news and a really great improvement!

wolfward

Wow!! Awesome news!! Finally after years! Thank you Dropbox