Podcasts freeze and stop

[Darrickprp]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States 

Device

Samsung Galaxy S10

Operating System

Android one UI version 2.1

My Question or Issue

My podcasts keeps freezing and stopping for no reason. The only way to fix it is to close and re open the app. Occasionally after I pause a podcast it will start playing again on its own.

[mcginter]

I am also having the same issue but it seems to happen with any and all podcasts (not just video). I listen to podcasts daily in the app on my phone and it doesn't happen ever day by any means, but it is very noticeable when it does happen. Restarting the app or just letting some time pass seems to get it to work eventually, but this is an ongoing issue for me. Im commenting now because it happened 10 mins ago.

Long Term Premium User
Device: Samsung S10e running V10

[Elena]

Hey there @mcginter!

Thanks for letting us know about the issue you're experiencing.

Does this happen with downloaded playlists or when you're listening online? Does it make a difference you're using Wi-Fi or 3/4G?

It's possible that the issue might be with your internet connection if it's happening with all podcasts.

We can also recommend that you check the phone's battery settings and make sure that Spotify is set as an exception if you're using the battery optimization option.
  
We'll be on the lookout for your answer and we'll see what we can suggest next. Let us know if there's anything else we can do for you in the meantime.

[Darrickprp]

They are all downloaded podcasts. JRE podcast has by far the most issues so
I'm not sure if the video component is the source or not. I have more
issues when trying to fast forward through the commercial in the middle of
the podcast. This often causes a freeze and I have to force the app to
close and re open, often times finding that it lost my place in the
podcast. The app is exempt from power save mode so thats not whats causing
it. I have never had any of these issues when listening to music on spotify.

[Darrickprp]

It almost exclusively happens with the JRE podcast and I mostly listen and only watch for short segments. I have not had any issues while watching to date.

[Darrickprp]

Pick any JRE podcast.  I have had it happen with all of them. Sometimes it plays for a long time and I think its fixed then starts acting up again. One of my co workers is having the same problem. We both download them at home and listen at work.

[Darrickprp]

I download each episode either at home or mobile over 4G. I have not streamed any of them yet.

[Novy]

Hi again @Darrickprp, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Just to confirm, is the same thing happening when you stream the podcast online?

Also, is it making the app crash or is it simply stopping the podcast from being played?

Keep us posted.

[anjoid3]

Same is happening to me super frustrating! Did you find a solution? 

[Novy]

Hey there @anjoid3, 

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community. 

Would you mind letting us know if you've already tried performing a clean reinstall of the app? This can help clearing any corrupted files that might be causing the issue and it's more thorough than a regular reinstall. 

If this doesn't do the trick, could you send over your device's make, model, OS version and Spotify version? We'll take a deeper look.

Keep us posted!

[Darrickprp]

I dont stream podcasts as downloading should be the best option. I stream most music and have no problems when listening to music that is either streaming or downloaded. The app usually freezes and occasionally will completely crash. Even when it freezes it preforms best after closing and re opening the app. That doesn't stop the freezes or crashes but once it starts, it becomes more frequent. Its just crazy to me that the free app i was using before had no problems and I pay for Spotify premium and have had so many issues with ads injected into the podcast as well.

[Novy]

Hey @Darrickprp, 

Thanks for your reply and the info.

If possible, could you ask a friend or a family member to log into their personal account using your device to see if the issue persists?

Additionally, keep in mind that Spotify doesn’t play or include ads that interrupt the listening experience of Premium subscribers. However, some podcast creators may include third-party advertising, host-read endorsements, or sponsorship messages in their episodes.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[user-removed]

It happens so frequently, spotify just isn't worth it. Just drop spotify until they figure out how to fix their problems...

[Darrickprp]

Yeah I'm done with spotify. I have a free app that works great and I can watch JRE podcast clips on YouTube. The biggest thing with this is the appearance of lack of effort on Spotify's part to rectify the problems. I have ahad issues with free apps in the past but usually in two emails to them they locate the issue and send out an update. Doesn't anyone that works at Spotify own a phone? My issues are not exclusive to me or my phone. Just a huge embarrassing fail on Spotify. 

[Kdem94]

I am having the same issue, specifically with JRE Podcasts. And this is on a brand new pc. I have a very stable internet and the podcast still pauses, both video and audio. It seems to be consistent with episodes that have high profile individuals on which (assuming) would have much more Spotify customer engagement.

All other Spotify features, outside of the podcast environment, are functioning fine.

[Ver]

Hey folks,

Thanks for getting back to us 🙂

We'd suggest you give these steps a go and run a clean reinstall. This one is more thorough than the usual one.

If the issue persists, it's a good idea to try with another account on the same device. That way we can see if it's an account-related issue.

In case the issue persists, could you share with us the following? We'll investigate this further.

• Does the issue persist with other podcasts?
• The troubleshooting steps you've tried so far so we can avoid repeating steps.
• Device + OS version
• Exact Spotify version
• A video recording of what you're seeing.

Keep us in the loop! We'll be right here if you have any questions.

[sarcasmsign]

Mines started doing this in the last month or so. It'll stop playing and if I hit play to start it again, it starts the episode over. I have to restart and then it magically picks up where it left off when I hit play that time. It's also not displaying the correct episode when it starts playing the next one. Happens on my phone and tablet. Both Galaxy devices. Pretty irritating. 

[Eni]

Hi @sarcasmsign, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this.

Could you let us know which troubleshooting steps you've already tried? This will help us to avoid any repeating steps.

Additionally, could you let us know the exact make/model, operating system and Spotify version of your devices?

Keep us posted.

[veetisinisalo]

I've been having problems with all podcasts and episodes. So everytime I want to listen to any podcast the spotify app decides to freeze and completely stop working. And every time this happens it wont start working again and I have to delete the app and reinstall it and its very frustrating. This has been happening to for almost a week now and I mainly listen to podcasts on your platform. Mu device is oneplus 8 pro

[Mihail]

Hi @veetisinisalo,

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the Community!

The situation you describe is indeed very frustrating and we hope we can help you in resolving it. Could we ask you for the current version of Spotify you have on your device?  When re-installing the app we recommend to perform a so called clean reinstall which is a bit more thorough and involves clearing of cached files.  Also if there are pending updates for your mobile phone operating system, we advise you to run them as well.

If the above steps do not help in resolving the issues, could you also include a screen recording of the situation, so we can use that for further investigation.

Let us know how you get on. We'll be keeping an eye out for your reply, thanks!

[veetisinisalo]

Hi. Thanks for the for the help, unfortunately I've done all od those solutions and none of them helped:(. I'm should be running on the latest update 8.6.66.1238.