Podcasts skip when played through Alexa

[Kerri78]

Plan

Premium

CountrT

UK

Device

(iPhone 14. iOS 18.3.1. Spotify version 9.0.22. Alexa Dots 11040830340)

My Question or Issue

for the past few weeks, any and all podcasts played via the Spotify app streamed to any of my Echo Dots or Spot all skip and jump. When played via the Alexa app they don’t; other streaming services don’t either (Amazon, Wondery, etc). Music absolutely fine. Podcasts played direct through the phone don’t skip either.

Have seen other similar issues and tried following fixes:

Restarting router and Alexa device

clean reinstall of Spotify and Alexa appa

clearing cache

only way is to clean reinstall Spotify ant and every time I want to listen to a podcast. The problem starts again next day. 

[MihailY]

Hey @Kerri78,

Thanks for reaching out.

I've tested this on my Echo Dot, but couldn't reproduce the issue. Can you send me a few examples of podcasts where this happens so I can check again?

In the meantime, see if you get the same behavior when casting through the web player and also let me know if this happens when starting the playback with a voice command.

Keep me posted.

[Kerri78]

Mr Ballen
Mr Mallen Medical Mysteries
Red Handed
Killer Queens
True Crime and Cocktails
Ologies
This Podcast Will Kill You
Infinite Monkeycage
Science Vs
Uncanny
All killa, no fills

Anything I select at random to play

[MihailY]

Hey @Kerri78,

I've tested again, still nothing on my end. Can you send me a video of the issue so I can forward it to our tech team?

Also, please let me know if it happens with the web player and when using voice commands to start the playback.

Cheers,

[willmanning]

I have the same issue for about a month, it’s absolutely maddening and makes me want to ditch my Echos. Here’s an example podcast I usually play while sleeping — the skips and jumps make it unusable: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ULfNCewhWTktAANIjFD5e

This happens on all podcasts, though, not just this one. They play perfectly fine on my phone or anywhere else. Just the Echos do this.

[willmanning]

@MihailY it happens when using the controls in the iOS app to select a podcast and my Echo is selected as the output device. Regular songs do not do this, just podcasts. I can repro it 100% of the time.

[Kerri78]

So, discovered something. I created a playlist for things I listen to for sleeping; podcasts and sounds. When they’re played DIRECTLY through the podcast it’s fine. It’s through the playlist I created that seems to be the issue. I’ve deleted all the podcasts I had in it, but I can’t delete the actual playlist. Tried app, website and web player but it won’t delete

[Yordan]

Thanks for the replies, folks!

@willmanning, could you confirm if the issue occurs only with playlists as well? Have you tried playing from Your Episodes to see if it's still the same?

@Kerri78, as for the playlist not deleting, do you get an error message when trying to remove it? With the desktop app / Web Player, you can use the Tab key to navigate to the playlist then press Delete/Backspace to remove it from Your Library.

In case the playlist is gone from Your Library, but still shows up on your Home page, then don't worry - the Home page updates frequently, so just keep listening to the stuff you enjoy and in time the playlist will disappear.

Let us know how it goes 👍

[Kerri78]

It happens in Your Episodes too, but again, not when played directly

[Dessi]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the cooperation so far!

@willmanning, can you let us know the make and model of your device and the Spotify version you're currently running? 

@Kerri78, are you still on the same Spotify version you mentioned in your original post?

We'd like to forward this to our tech folks for further investigation, so this info would be highly appreciated.

Keep us posted.

[Kerri78]

Yes, I’m still on the same version.

I’ve discovered that it’s only happening when I’ve added podcasts or sleep
counts to a playlist I made. They’re fine if played direct. Once added to
my playlist, they don’t work. Tried making a new playlist and have same
issue

[Dessi]

Hey @Kerri78,

Thanks for the confirmation and the info!

There is a new version available, so can you update your app and check if the issue persists afterwards?

@willmanning, we'd like to report this to our tech folks for further investigation, so it'd be great if you can send us the make and model of your device, as well as the Spotify version you're currently running.

We'll be on the lookout.

[Kerri78]

I’m currently running 9.0.26, updated 4 days ago. This is the only version
available here in UK currently

[Dessi]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the patience and cooperation!

We've reported this onto the appropriate team. Be advised however that we cannot say for certain at the moment when or if this is going to get implemented.

Cheers and take care!

[ari208]

I’m having the same issue! Podcasts played through Spotify app on my phone but choosing my echo dot as the speaker - skipping to the next episode randomly.

[Polts]

I have this same issue when playing a podcast on an Alexa speaker, I have not yet experienced it whilst listening to local device. 
Specifically it skips to the next track in the queue and marks the episode as watched. 

Ios18.5

Version 9.0.50.511

[Stl_jh25]

I use this exact same podcast to play 12 hours of deep brown noise. I open it in Spotify, fast-forward for the first couple minutes when the man is talking, and then I play it through to my Alexa speaker in my bedroom. it should play for 12 hours, but somehow it will only play for eight and I am woken up with a man's voice talking at the end of the podcast, thanking me for listening, and when I play this, it's at a volume eight super loud and it scares the **bleep** out of me. Alexa only plays it for eight hours instead of the full 12 and I am beyond ticked off about it. But yet Spotify says it's still going. I'm tired of being woken up in eight hours with this man's voice, even though Alexa does not play it for the full 12 hours. And this is the only one I could find that plays a full 12 hours without any delays in loops. Why doesn't Amazon fix this? And I cannot figure out the title or how to add this to my routine because it never plays the right podcast. I have to manually do it every single night.

[Nifharv]

I also have the same issue with podcasts only, no issue with music. The skipping only happens when streaming the podcast from either an Alexa device, or, my Denon DRA800H streaming amplifier. I have no issues when using my smartphone (Samsung S22) on its own or when connected via Bluetooth to the same devices - it is only when connecting using the 'Connect' function within the Spotify app, and only podcasts (but all podcasts, irrespective of whether they're in a playlist or not). All of this on the same WiFi network / Internet connection. 

[ari208]

I have the same issue - when playing any podcast through spotify on my echo dot it will randomly skip to the next podcast and mark the episode i was listening to as finished. I then have to go back and find the spot I was up to in the episode to keep listening.. super annoying!