So when I ride with Zwift I like to listen to music. Should not be a big problem I think. But if I am pedaling happily on my way and want to open Spotify to play music, or read an iMessage, Zwift pauses when I switch apps. Is this me or does this happen to everyone? I’m still pedaling, still breathing…
Thanks
Hi @Austin_Powers welcome to Zwift
That’s how iOS works (Android too). Mobile OS’es are engineered to prioritize battery life over multitasking. One of the ways it saves power is to divert resources from apps that get put in the background.
My suggestion is to fire up Spotfiy first and leave it alone. Also don’t text and Zwift. 
Or you can run Zwift on a laptop / desktop OS, which allows other apps to fully run in the background.
Thank you for the answer, not really happy with the reply since trying to get Zwift to work on my AppleTV is almost as fulfilling as banging my head against a wall. But at least now I know its not possible not something I am doing wrong. Thanks again
Can you explain the issues you are having with running Zwift on ATV? I have been using ATV for well over a year and find it to be a very simple setup, so perhaps myself - or other users on the forum - can provide some tips to get you on your way.
So if I am running Zwift off my iPhone or iPad, using a TACX Neo trainer and an optical heart rate monitor (so you know all the sensors) and I start riding all is well and good. But if I start getting bored and want to listen to music or open any other app other than Zwift I can but when I go back to Zwift the timer starts up again even though I have not stopped pedaling. While the app was not front and center it goes into pause mode I reckon.
So in effect you “lose” the ride time while Zwift is not open. So lets say I hit the “power” button once just to darken the screen and save battery life, Zwift will stop recording the ride until I open the phone and open the app.
What you explain is correct about running on a iPad or other iOS device, as Shuji explained. What I am curious about is what issues you are having with running Zwift on Apple TV, since you indicated it was like banging your head against a wall.
Ah, apologies. The past two days I cannot log in, the app opens, I select my use name then it won’t accept it. I tried resetting my password, (developers this is annoying) then trying to sign in again and nothing. It asks me to check my internet connection, funny because how would I get this far if I did not? The deal breaker is when the little beaver asks if I just want to watch.
You can get this far because the app is installed locally on your ATV. Everything up to this point can be done without being connected to the internet.
You can see this prompt for several possible reasons. Please see this support article. It’s a good idea to power cycle your ATV regularly.
If that alone doesn’t do it, power cycle your modem, followed by the WiFi router, then your ATV to reset the whole network.
In addition to what Shuji mentioned, also make sure that both your Zwift app and Apple TV are updated to the latest versions (TV OS had and update from last week that I had to install ‘manually’ this morning, as the auto-update had not happened.)
Also, if you’re running your ATV on a wireless network, I have found it very helpful to update the WiFi settings in the router so that it runs on a fixed channel (generally 1 or 11) instead of trying to search for the ‘best’ channel (which it might do in the middle of a ride, causing a potential drop out while your ATV tries to figure out what’s going on).
I hope you find some success in this! If it’s still not giving you joy after these steps, come on back to the forum with your findings and we’ll see if we can find some other options. 
Thanks for the advice. I just reset the power I will try the updates on the TV and Zwift although for the life of me I don’t know why its like an escape room exercise.
Well, technology still isn’t perfect. Power-cycling your electronics every so often is always a good idea. As for the updates, you might check your ATV settings just to see if it is set to install them automatically (both for apps and TV OS). If so, they should generally happen without your intervention. Sometimes, though, it still doesn’t happen so it’s good to check.
Okay, I will give this a try right now, maybe send a photo if the bug rears its ugly head again.
Hurrah! It worked! Thanks! You solved this problem, what’s next?
Uninstall the Zwift game app from your iOS device, and in its place install the Zwift Companion app. Companion will provide you more information about the ride you’re doing, and also let you participate in the game chats by using Siri to dictate your chats.
You might consider installing the Apple TV keyboard app on your iPhone. This makes it much easier than using the awful ATV remote to enter your username and password.
Austin, I have the same exact problem and sentiment about Zwift on my Apple TV and also opening other apps while I’m trying to Zwift using my phone, which is way more boring than when it’s on the Apple TV which makes me want to do other things even more. 
I learned this the hard way the other day after I was on my trainer for an hour and then Strava only showed me doing 20 minutes! It’s hard enough to make myself get on the trainer…
Newest iPad release, have the same bug. It pauses / interrupts when I switch the app on iPad Pro.
Companion is open on iPhone 13 mini In parallel. Pretty disappointing because I lost now a lot of training data.
Hi there, I have read all the correspondence. I have the same zwift pause problem when switching to a another app on my iphone. Zwift’s answer to this issue; “this is IOS and Android operating system to save battery life” is totally wrong. I use wahoo app and while I am on it I switch to apple music, then to my emails then come back on wahoo trainer app, all while cycling, WAHOO NEVER PAUSES/INTERRUPTS. This is a ZWIFT issue not an IOS/ANDROID issue…
I agree it seems to be a Zwift issue as I can leave music running in the back ground and use any other app.
I believe it depends on memory and CPU power used - Zwift needs much of it and that can cause this behaviour.