It’s quite nice to be able to listen to music without getting any interruptions but if I go into do not disturb mode it turns the music off, which seems a bit much. Is there a way that DND mode can allow apps which produce sounds?
Do Not Disturb does not mute media by default on stock Android, so this is almost certainly one toggle rather than something you have to live with.
Look for the interruption exceptions inside the Do Not Disturb settings. Depending on which Android version your phone is on, you will find it as either Settings, Sound and vibration, Do Not Disturb, then “Alarms and other interruptions”, or, on the newer versions where DND became a Mode, Settings, Modes, Do Not Disturb, then the same list of allowed interruptions.
Inside that list there is a switch called “Media sounds”, alongside Alarms, Touch sounds, Reminders and Calendar events. If “Media sounds” is off, DND silences anything playing on the media stream, which is exactly what you are describing. Turning it on lets music keep playing while everything else stays quiet, which is what you actually want from DND.
One distinction worth making, because it changes the answer completely: does the sound go silent while the app still shows it playing, or does the app genuinely pause? If it goes silent but the track keeps advancing, it is the Media sounds toggle above. If the app actually pauses, that is not DND muting a stream, it is something taking audio focus, and the cause is usually another app rather than DND itself.
Thanks, Rotem! One of my issues was actually finding where the DND menu was (mine was in Modes) and I think something that could be fixed in is that if you enter ‘disturb’ into the search bar in Settings, it finds ‘bedtime mode’ but nothing else - which is not helpful if you are looking to adjust your DND settings