Podcast Video Freezing

[nVizzle]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone X

Operating System

iOS 15.6.1

When playing a video podcast, the video freezes after a few seconds and never starts playing again. This has been happening for weeks now. Any help?

[nVizzle]

Hey folks,

Thanks for reaching out the Community.

Note: If you're new to this thread and you noticed this behavior recently, be aware, we’ll need every single detail in the following list, so our tech team can investigate further. If perhaps you already posted, but you didn't send all this info, no worries, please reply again with the remaining details, along with the Spotify version you have currently running.

We understand we’ve asked for several details, so let us gather them all in the following list:

• The exact Spotify version you're running.
• The make/ model and OS of the affected device.
• Is this happening with all video podcasts?
• What happens if you download the podcast for offline listening - does it play fine?
• When did you first notice this issue?
• Have you activated the data saver in your app settings?
• Did you activate the option to download only audio for podcasts with video?
• If you skip ahead by 3 seconds, the video launches or it continues to freeze?
• When and what time you tried to download and play the video podcast (please include the date as well as the time zone).
• Screenshots with the storage available in your device.

We really appreciate your cooperation on this matter.

Keep us in the loop, we’ll always be here!

[Hey546746]

No data saving settings on here. Definitely downloading the video and audio too. Regardless of where you start the video, 3-5 seconds in it will freeze. Latest app too.

[Lyubka]

Hey @Hey546746,

Thanks for the info you've shared. 

Would you mind leaving the details that @Alex requested? This way our tech folks will have the particulars they need in order to continue investigating this issue.
 

Cheers! 

[lhutsal]

Hi Dian,

The download audio only is turned off so it is downloading both audio and video. It will freeze after 3 seconds no matter what part of the podcast I start it at. 

Thank you 

[Tjimenez7801]

Same problem. 

• Device model and OS version
  iPhone XR, iOS 15.6.1
• Spotify version
  8.7.66.438
• Is this happening with all video podcasts?
  Happens with all video podcasts
• What happens if you download the podcast for offline listening - does it play fine?
  Only happens when downloaded plays video for 3-5 seconds and freezes 
• When did you first notice this issue?
  At least a month ago

[AgKitsune]

I am having the same problem. I have a Spotify premium account. When I’m streaming via wifi or cellular I can watch the videos ONLY if they are not downloaded. But once I download the video to my phone, I can no longer watch the video. I’ve tried switching to another podcast then back to the original and the video will work for about 10 seconds before freezing. It almost seems like a purposeful issue to prevent people from downloading videos. Deleting and reinstalling the app does not work. What I am most confused about is that in the past I have been able to download and watch videos on multiple occasions through 2021. Suddenly during 2022 that changed. My current version is 8.7.68.568. 

[Hey546746]

Any update? It must’ve been 2 months by now. 

[Alex]

Hey everyone,

We've done some more digging and troubleshooting with the tech teams handling podcasts, and it looks like the issue occurs when you have less than 1000 MB (1GB) free space on your device. So, please make sure that you free up at least 1000 MB of memory on your devices and let us know if the freezing continues. 

In order to looks further into this can you please check and send us the following info:

• What date + time you tried to download and play the video podcast. Please include your Timezone. 
• Link/ URI to the podcast episode and did it play normally or not.

We're requesting this info, so that we can check specific data logs from that time.

Looking forward to your replies.

[nVizzle]

I have about 50gb of free space on my phone so I don’t think that has anything to do with it.

[Hey546746]

Well it’s not, seeing as I’ve 13gb of free space left on my iPhone. Secondly, it’s everyday. Every video podcast Spotify has, at anytime NZT. As I’ve already mentioned, I’m mainly watching Lex Fridman and Joe Rogan Experience. Regardless of the episode, it still does the same thing.

[cool259]

Had the same problem still occurred when redownloaded and restarted phone 

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Can you confirm if you're trying to download with cellular data? If so, can you make sure that you've enabled this option in the settings?

We'll keep an eye out for your replies.

Take care!

[chudder52]

I’m having the same issue. Reinstalled app, have plenty of space left, video been freezing for a couple of month now

[MrFranks]

Hello,

I have had these types of issues for a while now.

When I download a video podcast, the video will freeze after a couple of seconds playing. When I do not download and stream a video podcast, it will play as expected.

I’ve attached a video of the behavior to this post. The first Joe Rogan podcast shown is streamed, the second Lex Fridman podcast is downloaded on my device.
EDIT: After watching the recording, I found that the podcast that freezes doesn’t even show up moving on screen. You’ll have to take my word that it did show up on my screen though, and froze after about 3 seconds of playing.

I had to upload it to Youtube because it's too big to attach: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7xT_i8vKMdw

I’ve already completely deleted Spotify and redownloaded everything. I have over 50GB left on my device. No idea why this keeps happening.

• Device model and OS version
  iPhone 11, iOS 16.0.2 (20A380)
• Spotify version
  8.7.68.568
• Is this happening with all video podcasts?
  Happens with all video podcasts
• What happens if you download the podcast for offline listening - does it play fine?
  Only happens when downloaded plays video for 3-5, sometimes 10 seconds and freezes. Streamed video poscasts work fine.
• When did you first notice this issue?
  At least 2 months ago

[natedogg420]

I have the same problem currently going on with my phone as well. I also have had a problem with my samsung TV where i can’t watch the JRE videos on it, and it’s been weeks for that problem. It is quite annoying to be paying for Spotify premium (i strictly only got premium for access to JRE) and I can’t watch the videos on my phone or on my TV… what a joke.

[Vasil]

Hey folks, 

Thank you for the additional feedback on this!
Following up on @Jeremy's request, could you also let us know if you're trying to download with cellular data?
If so, can you double-check if you've enabled this option in the settings?
Many thanks!

[MrFranks]

Hello Vasil,

Nope, I only download on WiFi (disabled the cellular option in the settings)

[Alex]

Hi there @MrFranks,

Thanks for the reply.

Can you let us know how much free space you have on your device? You need at least 1 GB of free memory for the Spotify app to run consistently. 

Cheers.

[12101001214]

MrFranks description of the problem is the same as mine. I too have tried all of your troubleshootings with no luck. And if you read his response, he said he has 50GB of storage. That is clearly not the issue, please stop suggesting it and get back to the tech team to figure out a solution.

[Yordan]

Hi everyone,

In order for our tech folks to properly look into this we'll need the following details:

• Your device's make, model and OS version
• The version of Spotify you're running
• When and what time you tried to download and play the video podcast (please include the date as well as the time zone)
• A confirmation that you have more than 1GB of free space on your device

Please make sure to include all of the above in your replies as the information would greatly help in finding a solution to this issue.

Thanks and cheers!

[Hey546746]

How many times do we need to that? Multiple responses have included all of those details, including my own. Seems like we’ve been going around in circles for months.