Skipping to ads in podcasts crashes playback

[Aubreydav]

When I start a podcast it plays fine, but if I skip forward into an ad break the playback stops completely and the play banner disappears like nothing was playing at all. Restarting the podcast plays from the last skip before the ad break. If I let the pod play into the ads it works fine, it's the skipping action that crashes the play.

Android version 8.7.90.544
Google pixel 7

[AlejaR]

Hey @Aubreydav,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome.

In this case, we'd recommend to start with a clean reinstall of the app on your device to check if you notice any difference. If you haven't yet, you can do it by following the steps in this article 🙂

If that doesn't do the trick, is this happening when you try to play a specific podcast or is it happening no matter which podcast you're trying to listen to? If this is just happening on one specific podcast, it'd be awesome if you could send us the link to it. You can do that by following the steps in this article.

Lastly, we'd suggest to check if you notice any difference by changing the streaming quality. Could you try setting it to high? You can do this on settings> Audio quality. Give it a try and let us know how it goes. 

Keep us in the loop!

[bn94c]

This is causing issues on any Ringer Network podcast. Skipping from the first few seconds of the episode into an advertisement causes the player buttons to completely disappear. On iOS and even in CarPlay. 

[AlejaR]

Hey @bn94c,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared.

Would you mind sending us a video recording of this behavior? It'd be really helpful if you sent it to us. You can attach it in your next reply in mp4 format, or you can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and make it public, so we can visualize it.

On another note, is this happening over WiFi? 3G/4G? Both? Do you notice any difference if you switch the internet connection you're using? Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

Lastly, would you mind sending us the make/model and OS along with the exact Spotify version you're running on the affected device?

Keep us in the loop!

[bn94c]

Thanks AlejaR. I've attached a video. This is of two screen recordings showing the same behavior on both WiFi and 5G. 

The playback buttons completely disappear, and only reappear when force-closing the app. 

It happens when hitting the "15s" forward jump button, from a podcast episode into an embedded ad. I've never tried it in the middle of an episode. And it doesn't seem to occur when jumping forward from one ad into another ad, or from one ad back into the episode. 

I am on:
iPhone 13 Pro Max
Model MLKR3LL/A
iOS 16.2 (20C65)
Spotify version 8.8.8.688 

[OscarDC]

Hey @bn94c,

Thank you for keeping in contact.

We appreciate all the info you've included and the screen recordings, it's very helpful. In order to continue investigating this, would you mind checking on a different device (using your own account) to see if it makes any difference? If you don't have another one available, you can borrow one from a friend or family member to test it out. 

Also, it would also be great if you could have someone log in with their account on your device (it could be the same friend or family member), to see if the issue persists. This will help us understand if it could be account-related or not.

We'll be on the lookout. 

[bn94c]

Just tried it on my iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (5th generation) on iPad OS 16.2. And on Windows 10 desktop app. Both crashed. 

I will follow up later with an update after trying my wife's account on my iPhone. 

[Eni]

Hey @bn94c, 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Take your time to test with your wife's account and let us know how it goes. 

We'll be waiting for your reply.

[keyp1163]

Hi, I am also having the same issues with the Ringer Network podcasts crashing when ads play. I have tried on Android, Windows, and IOS devices. I have also tried two different accounts.

[Redfire53]

Same issues for me since later part of 2022. iPhone 12 Pro. Have a friend who also is having issues android galaxy Z fold. 

[Eni]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this. 

We'd like to look into this further. In this case, would you mind sending us the following info?:

• Device model + exact OS version
• Spotify app version
• What troubleshooting you've tried so far?
• Does this happen across devices? 
• Does this happen with every podcast? 

We'll be waiting for your replies.

[bn94c]

Happens to my wife on her phone for Ringer podcasts. Happens to my wife on her account on my phone. It always happens on Ringer podcasts. The Big Picture, The Rewatchables, The Bill Simmons Podcast etc.

I have not found another non-Ringer podcast with embedded advertisements to recreate this issue.