Video Podcast stops playing when backgrounded

[Nephylym]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Pixel 4a

Operating System

Android 12

My Question or Issue

I recently tried to watch a podcast episode with video on it (The Rooster Teeth Podcast #605) and it worked great! However as soon as I locked my phone or changed the active app on my screen, the podcast stopped playing and couldn't be restarted unless I re-opened Spotify.

I tried everything I could think of to fix this, including allowing unrestricted background battery usage and data usage--even though I'm on wifi--and nothing worked. The only thing that fixed it was downloading it as audio only, which allowed it to be played like other podcasts. However, now I can't even watch the video again, it only plays the audio.

Hopefully someone else will have more insight into this!

[MafeG]

Hi @Nephylym,

Welcome to the Community and thank you for posting!

Certainly, when you minimize the app the audio should keep playing, even if it's a video podcast. To begin, we'd like to confirm if that's the only podcast you're having issues with or if the same happens with any show you play. 

Also, does the same happen when you download the podcast (as video) and play it while being offline? 

Keep us posted.

[Nephylym]

Hi!

Yes, it is the only podcast that I experience this issue with, and it persists even if it is downloaded with video. The only way I could fix the issue was downloading only the audio, so that the video didn't factor into it. But that's more of a workaround than a solution.

Thank you!

[CarlosE]

Hey @Nephylym,

Thanks for your reply and the extra info.

We checked on our end and could replicate this. We've gone ahead and reported it to the right teams. We can't commit to a timeframe for when this will be fixed, but in the meantime, make sure to keep the app always updated.

Feel free to reach back out in case you have any questions.

[Dmoney67]

Was this ever resolved? I am having this problem.

[Alex]

Hi @Dmoney67,

Thanks for the post.

The right folks at Spotify are aware of this issue, but we don't have official information regarding a fix for this.

Here are some troubleshooting steps that you can try in the meantime:

• Perform a clean reinstall of the app on your phone. This process will make sure that all possibly corrupted app data and cache is cleared before reinstalling the latest version.
• Go to your phone's settings and make sure that the Spotify app is granted all Permissions, and that no Battery Saving or optimization is enabled for Spotify.
• Try changing the Video Quality settings from the Spotify app settings. 

Keep us posted on how you get on with this.

[alinpopa]

Did all the recommended "troubleshooting", having the same problem. This is very disappointing, not that someone really cares by that; but sure, "someone" is looking into that...

[Dian]

Hey @alinpopa,

Thanks for the reply and the troubleshooting you've already tried.

Out tech team is currently investigating the issue. We can't give you an exact timeframe of a possible fix, but we advise you to keep your app updated in the meantime, so you don't miss out on new features.

Hope this helps,

Cheers!

[occulteclectic]

Having the same problem with rooster teeth podcast 629

[Dian]

Hey everyone,

We've passed your reports along and we're aware that some video podcasts pause when put in the background.

At the moment, there's no clear cause identified for this and it might be related to some device specific battery optimization processes or specific podcast episodes. We can't say when or if there's going to be a dedicated fix on this, but we are continuously optimizing the app.

According to reports in other threads, there already seems to be an improvement since v. 8.7.32. For the time being, if you don't plan on viewing the video part of your podcast, one thing you could try is  enabling the "Stream audio only" option in the app's settings. At the moment, this is the best option to avoid encountering the issue mentioned.

[Tektas41]

Hi, 

• I have the same issue, when choosing stream audio only thr podcast does not play and prompts me to change my setting to allow video again...