Podcasts looping/repeating every second or two when Google Casting from Spotify on iOS

[jackarandah]

I'm having a repeated issue where, when I'm playing podcasts through Google Cast via Spotify, the podcasts just start looping and repeat constantly. This is via iOS.

It resolves itself if I quit the Spotify app (and it's already casting to the speakers) - this is the only way I can continue listening without it looping (seems like an issue between iOS and Spotify fighting over / keeping track of the point in time the podcast is up to).

Something is happening with my Spotify app over recent years, as this keeps happening repeatedly - and just with podcasts only - not with music. I am able to permanently resolve the issue by reinstalling the app, or clearing the Spotify app cache - however it seems to re-emerge within a few days.

This doesn't happen to my partner (same phone, same account) - interestingly who's casting UI is strangely different.

Please can you advise if this is a known bug, and/or what is the fix?

Plan

Premium

Country

Australia

Device

iPhone 16 Pro

Operating System

iOS 18.4.1

[MihailY]

Hey @jackarandah,

Thanks for reaching out.

We've checked on our end but couldn't find any similar reports about this behavior. Is the Google speaker registered on your phone or your partner's? Have you tried resetting it and connecting it again?

Also, does it make a difference if you're playing the episode from the podcast page or from a playlist? If possible, send over a short video of the issue so we can investigate further.

Keep us posted.

[jackarandah]

Thank you. I just unlinked my Spotify account from Google Home and reconnected (my partner was connected separately) - and that seems to have worked (for now at least).

Here is a video of it happening though, before I did that - for reference, and in case this issue emerges again: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0eexSebxb48Qkx413pTZgBrdw

[Ivelina]

Thanks for the response @jackarandah.

Happy to hear that you managed to solve the issue for now and we appreciate you sharing what worked in the situation.

We were unable to open the link with the video you included, however, if the behavior resurfaces then feel free to reach out again and resend it. You can either attach it via the Insert Video option in the post editor or we recommend uploading it to Google drive instead (only make sure to share the link with us).

We're here in the meantime if anything else comes up. Cheers 🙂

[jackarandah]

Hi again, unfortunately the issue very quickly returned, even after unlinking Spotify in the Google Home app, and previously reinstalling the Spotify app / clearing cache. Here’s the video of the issue for your review:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A3GEtN6FnlGfInW4ftsRYUPZ9P_YdZ2e/view?usp=drivesdk

[MihailY]

Hey @jackarandah,

Thanks for the video. I'm sorry to hear the issue has returned.

Can you try unlinking your account in the Google Home app again but this time connect your partner's account so we can narrow down the possible cause? 

Also, check out my previous question about playing from the podcast page vs. from a playlist and send us a couple of screenshots showing the differences in the Spotify Connect menu between your account and your partner's.

Appreciate your cooperation in this!

[jackarandah]

Hi again,

I’ve just tried as you suggest going direct to the podcast itself, then finding the episode and playing from there - and it works completely fine.

But if I play via the Your Episodes playlist, the stuttering/repeating continues. 

Replicated the same behaviour on my partners phone with his account.

Glad to have a workaround for now - but is this a known issue? This has been an issue that has been traumatising me for months! When is a fix on the way? The Your Episodes feature is core functionality, and how I keep track of my episodes. Seems like a pretty major bug that needs resolving ASAP.

[Yordan]

Thanks for testing, @jackarandah.

We haven't seen any other recent reports about this behavior.

You mentioned that your partner is unable to reproduce it using the same device/account. By that, do you mean the speaker/Google Cast setup, or your iPhone + Spotify account? If it's the former, the issue might be isolated to your mobile device. It's worth checking if logging in to another one makes a difference.

Something else you can try is using a different Wi-Fi network. You can also ask your partner to create a mobile hotspot for you to test with. If you have a VPN/proxy set up, I'd suggest disabling it. Lastly, try resetting your iPhone's network settings.

Keep us posted! 👍

[jackarandah]

Hi Yordan, seems strange that you haven't seen other recent reports about this, as @MihailY suggested that playing from the podcast page vs. from a playlist might behave differently?

I've checked - it's definitely not just my phone or account. I can replicate the exact issue on my partner's iPhone 16 Pro. Stuttering via Chomecast when playing a podcasts from the Your Episodes playlist, but no issue when casting from the podcast page directly.

Could you please raise a bug around this?

[SamClo]

I can attest that this annoying behaviour is also an issue for me. It started recently. Interestingly, I can circumvent the stuttering by temporarilly turning off the WIFI connection on my phone, after casting of the podcast started. But as soon as I reopen spotify while on wifi, the issue tends to come back.

Android version: 13

Spotify version: 9.0.42.529

[Eni]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for your replies. 

@jackarandah, just to confirm, have you tried with a different network? It'd be helpful if you could give another internet connection a go as @Yordan mentioned preciously, as this will help us narrow down the possible root cause of the issue. Also, could you let us know if you're using any VPNs?

@SamClo, could you let us know which troubleshooting steps you've already tried? That way we can avoid repeating any steps. Also, could you try with a different internet connection to see if the same happens? You can try creating a hotspot on your phone and using that.

We'll be on the lookout for your replies. 

[jackarandah]

Hi Eni, I can't try with another network - this is just the network at my home. Maybe you guys can try on your end with Chromecast.

Thanks SamClo for sharing also. It's clear this is an issue, and it's obviously not just an iPhone thing. SamClo's workaround of temporarily disconnecting Wifi is similar to me quitting the app after playing via Chromecast to break the connection between the app and the Chomecast stream - but as they say, as soon as you open the app again, it resumes.

The only workaround that works consistently is NOT playing the stream via the Your Episodes playlist, and playing directly from the Podcast page itself (which is bizarre - this is clearly a bug).

[MihailY]

Hey @jackarandah,

Thanks for the additional info.

We've forwarded this to our tech team for further investigation. We'll keep you posted on any updates in this thread.

Cheers, 

[SamClo]

If the problem reoccurs I will try these suggestions and report the results here. However, my news podcasts casted perfectly this morning. No stutters and no need to quit the app/disconnect from wifi. I suspect this is just a fluke and since the issue is inconsistent it will reappear soon. Keeping on the lookout for Spotify patches. Thank you

[jackarandah]

Out of interest SamClo, did you listen to the news podcasts from the podcast page directly, or from the Your Podcasts playlist?

[SamClo]

Hi Jackarandah, here is how I use the app and create a podcasts playlist:

1. Home / Followed podcasts page

2. Play the first unlistened podcast first, cast to my TV

3. For each new podcast, use the context-menu to add-to-queue.

The stuttering and repeating starts on step 2, and stops only when I kill the app process on my phone or cut the Wifi connection. Having Spotify run in Android background apps keeps the issue present.

Note: I have been away-from-home this weekend and tested on a different network & speaker device. The issue is still present then, narrowing it to my phone/app version. If I dont start casting the playlist runs just fine on phone.

I joined a screenshot of my home screen. Your previously uploaded video looked like what I see as well.

[jackarandah]

Thanks for that. Yeah this checks out. I've found the Podcasts>Following, or the Queue feature, both act as playlists (where the Chromecast stuttering issue occurs).

The workaround is to go to Home>Podcasts, click the small tile of the podcast you're wanting to listen to (top of that screen), then when you can see the podcast info and a list of all the latest episodes (see attached), and play from there - then cast to Chromecast, the issue doesn't occur.

This is very strange behaviour, and completely unintuitive and clearly a bug - so glad they're looking in to it.

[rachaeltb]

Hi all!

I'm having the exact same issue. When I try to queue up podcasts from my Your Episodes page & cast to my Google speakers (nest Minis), the audio is stuttering/repeating. It's verrrrry frustrating.

For reference, I'm on a Google Pixel phone, with Spotify premium.

As with the OP, this only happens with podcasts, and only on Spotify. Listening to music doesn't seem to cause any issues, and streaming books from Audible is also fine. 

Any insight would be much appreciated!!