Podcasts skip forward and back ~10s

[ralphatobe]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Pixel 7

Operating System

Android 14

My Question or Issue

When I listen to podcasts, the playback will occasionally skip back ~10 seconds and then skip forward ~10s later. The skips occur at the same timestamps when I replay the podcast. This happens for downloaded episodes and this issue has been ongoing for years.

Clearing my cache and reinstalling Spotify fixes the issue temporarily, but for me it starts again in less than a week.

I am using Spotify version 8.9.78.513

[Ivelina]

Hey @ralphatobe,

Thanks for posting this thread in the Community and for the included details. It really helps with the investigation.

Does this behavior only happen on one device or across devices? If you're having issues specifically with downloaded episodes, then let's concentrate the troubleshooting there.

If you're using an SD-card I recommend removing it and giving Spotify a clean reinstall with the steps here. After that, don't put it back in the phone and make sure to download the podcast episodes with a stable internet connection. 

If you're still experiencing the skipping, you can also test by downloading the episodes with a different internet connection (mobile data/Wi-Fi) to check if this will make any difference. 

Lastly, it'd be great if you could send us a screen recording of how things look like from you end and you can attach it via the Insert Video option in the post editor. In case the attachment's too big, then you can upload it to Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it).

Hope to hear from you soon 🙂

[ralphatobe]

Does this behavior only happen on one device or across devices? - I only use Spotify on one device.

If you're using an SD-card - I am not using an SD card.

If you're still experiencing the skipping, you can also test by downloading the episodes with a different internet connection (mobile data/Wi-Fi) to check if this will make any difference. - I've downloaded on many different Wi-Fi networks and on mobile data.

Lastly, it'd be great if you could send us a screen recording of how things look like from you end - Unfortunately this is an audio issue and it seems that Spotify doesn't allow Android devices to record the device audio of the app. I agree that it would be helpful for demonstrating this bug that has been ongoing for years now. If you know of a way I can record Spotify audio, let me know and I will happily send you a an example of this lovely feature in action.

[Dessi]

Hey @ralphatobe,

Thanks for the reply!

Is your device connected to an external one when this is happening (let's say via Bluetooth to headphones, speakers, etc.)? I know you mentioned using Spotify only on your phone, but it'd be great if you can ask a friend or a relative to log in their account on your device and for you to log in your account on one of their devices and test this out to check if this is account- or device-related.

Keep us posted.

[ralphatobe]

Is your device connected to an external one when this is happening (let's say via Bluetooth to headphones, speakers, etc.)? - It's unclear what you're referring to here. If you mean 'does the audio skip forward and back when connected to an external device?' then the answer is yes. The audio also skips if it is not connected to an external device. If your question is about screen recording, then I cannot record audio on the app while connected to an external device. I also cannot record audio on the app with no external device connected.

I know you mentioned using Spotify only on your phone, but it'd be great if you can ask a friend or a relative to log in their account on your device and for you to log in your account on one of their devices and test this out to check if this is account- or device-related. - This bug is only consistent as I'm listening to a podcast episode or after downloading a podcast episode, so it will take time to reproduce. I'd appreciate it if you could explain how this issue could be account-related; why would audio skipping be caused by my account?

[Eni]

Hey @ralphatobe, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

When we mentioned that the issue might be account related, we meant that the issue only occurs with your account, but not because of any specific settings, it may just be a technical issue with the account. That's why it would be useful if you could test whether the same issue happens with a different account.

On another note, does the same happen with all podcasts or only with a specific one? We'd also like to know if it occurs with all downloaded episodes. If it happens with a specific podcast, make sure to send us its URI so we can take a closer look. 

We'll be waiting for your reply. 

[ralphatobe]

Hi Eni,

I did manage to reproduce the error while using someone else's Spotify account on my phone.

On another note, does the same happen with all podcasts or only with a specific one? We'd also like to know if it occurs with all downloaded episodes. If it happens with a specific podcast, make sure to send us its URI so we can take a closer look. - I've experienced this error with many podcasts. The bug doesn't happen on every downloaded episode, but that may be because it happens randomly. The bug also happens on episodes that I have not downloaded. These are the podcasts I listen to that have skipped:

https://open.spotify.com/show/3m9c2ibJOYiigvVuswYSgU?si=12d22ccfa6d14fde

https://open.spotify.com/show/0rOatMqaG3wB5BF4AdsrSX?si=e78433804ffc43da

https://open.spotify.com/show/3NSQr9NRnYxFhyCLt3i6Hg?si=bfbf14886634406d

Some shows that I listen to that have been spared this bug so far:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6hK78c5u6Bscdz0HCDeFLn?si=81b7b781f37f4471

https://open.spotify.com/show/2khJBoF73ujIATWUFtSxLD?si=77f4b95b026f4c7c

https://open.spotify.com/show/3rDR8CfpIEMpITG2UC3w5W?si=90b793009d6d4e1c

I should also note that the duration of the audio skip is not that consistent. Lately I've experienced jumps closer to 30 seconds that are much more frustrating.

[ralphatobe]

Hi Eni,

When we mentioned that the issue might be account related, we meant that the issue only occurs with your account, but not because of any specific settings, it may just be a technical issue with the account. That's why it would be useful if you could test whether the same issue happens with a different account. - I was able to reproduce the bug using someone else's account on my phone. 

On another note, does the same happen with all podcasts or only with a specific one? We'd also like to know if it occurs with all downloaded episodes. If it happens with a specific podcast, make sure to send us its URI so we can take a closer look. - This bug tends to happen with some of the podcasts I listen to, but it's a random bug so that could be a coincidence. The bug happens both with downloaded episodes and episodes that I am streaming. I responded yesterday with links to the shows, but my post was deleted by a moderator. Any idea why that might have happened? I assume because I posted links.

[OscarDC]

Hey @ralphatobe,

Thank you for keeping in contact and for the info shared. 

We've already restored the message with the links back into the post. It looks like it was automatically moved to the Spam section by the system, probably because it was edited many times, or due to the links as you mentioned. Thanks for the heads up. 

In order to continue investigating this issue, since the version of the app has changed during this time, could you include the Spotify version you're currently running on your device? 

Also, it would be great if you could check if the jumps happen on a different device, using your own account? If you don't have another one available, you can borrow one from a friend or family member to test it out. 

We'll be waiting for your response.