Podcast episode won't play

[janissima]

Plan

Premium

Country

Brazil

Device

iPhone 7, Dell Inspiron notebook

Operating System

iOS 15.6.1, Windows 10

There is this specific podcast episode that won't play. I can listen to music and to other podcasts normally, but this one won't work. I press play and it keeps stuck at "00:00"  and doesn't change.

I already had this problem with others episodes, but usually I press pause and play again and it will play. Or else I give up. However, this one is in a series, and I'm really curious about it.

I searched a way to inform this error and couldn't deal with the support, so I ended up here.

Press, help me learn more about Caravaggio!

The episode in question: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1R5pvvnP97oF4Ac8G1WKxZ?si=c0ddd62b41024247

Thank you very much!

[Lyubka]

Hey @janissima,

Thank you for reaching out here in the Community!
 

We've tried playing the podcast and haven't encountered any problems on our end. This suggests that there might be an issue which is specific to your account.

Could you try to log out > restart your phone > log back in to see if that makes any difference for you?

On another note, have you tried recreating this on another device with a different account?  If a friend or a family member has Spotify account you can send them the episode and they can try play it to see if they'll experience the same.

If that doesn't work as expected on their account as well, we'd recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app. It'll get you the latest app version with all necessary updates and fixes and remove any corrupted files from previous installations.

Let us know how things work out, we'll be keeping an eye out for your reply.

[diotapio]

Environment: Premium Spotify, app version 8.7.88 on iPhone 13 Mini, first iOS 15.7 and now 16.1.

Problem: For the past 2-3 days the app stops playing after a podcast episode ends. It shows the next episode in the screen with the bar stuck to 0:00. It will not start playing it and sometimes stops responding altogether. I have to kill the app by swiping up and then swiping the Spotify app away. After I restart Spotify I can play again one episode after which the problem reappears as the episode ends.

However, if I skip with the "+15 seconds" button to the next episode while the current episode is still playing, I sometimes manage to get the next episode to play normally without restarting Spotify.

The problem started when I was using iOS 15.7. I updated to iOS 16.1 but that had no effect on the playing.

Any ideas?

[merinuh]

i have performed a clean reinstall on the app on both my mac and my phone (it is happening on both). my friends with different accounts are not struggling with the same issue. i've restarted both devices and tried logging out, both before and after the clean reinstall. this has been happening to me for years and I usually either give up on the podcast or try a month later and then it works. but ive been trying multiple episodes for days and am having no luck. both my mac and phone are updated to the latest versions, as well as my spotify app

[Alex]

Hi there @merinuh, @diotapio,

Thanks for the posts.

Can you let us know which podcasts don't work for you and whether it's all episodes or just the most recent ones? It would be great if you can send us links to the episodes in question.

Cheers.

[diotapio]

This has happened to me with this "Death In Ice Valley" podcast with all the episodes from episode 5 or 6 onwards: https://open.spotify.com/show/5jcmS0ntSsxOrDUcK5N6LL?si=dce3a6ad02414034

It also happened with some other podcast last week, but can't remember what I was listening to then. 

[Alex]

Hi there @diotapio,

Thanks for the post.

I tried playing some of the episodes from "Death In Ice Valley" on multiple devices and they all work. Even though on my PC it took a few seconds for some episodes to load and start playing. Can you check if you're still having issues with the podcast and let us know if they're not playing only on your iOS devices or on the web player as well, for example. 

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[christinaesmith]

Hi, Im having the same issue, its with multiple devices and multiple podcasts. One episode will finish and the next one will display, but wont start unless I close Spotify and re-open it. Anyone found a solution other than "log out and log back in again"?

[MihailY]

Hey folks,

Can you please also check if the issue persists when using another connection by a different provider?

Cheers,

[mrferriswheel]

I have the same issue. Currently listening to the BBC The Lovecraft Investigations. Right as the app goes to auto play the next episode, it stops at 0:00 and I can not get it to play. Skipping 15 sec used to work but does not work now.  I'm able to get it to work by closing and restarting the app, but would like a more long term solution since I will be listening while working out in the back yard and I have to leave my phone closer to the house for it to connect to wifi. I am on an Android Motorola Oneusing the current version of Spotify 8.7.82.94

[AlejaR]

Hey @mrferriswheel,

Thanks for your reply and for all the info shared. 

In this case, would you mind sending us the link to the episode in which you noticed most recently this behavior on the mentioned podcast? You can do that by following the steps in this article.

On another note, did you notice is this happening when you're listening a different podcasts? It'd be awesome if you could check.

Lastly, was your mobile connected to a Bluetooth device such as a speaker? Did you notice if this started to happen after a specific event such as an OS update? If yes, please send us the details.
 

Keep us in the loop!

[janissima]

Hello @Lyubka!

Yes, I tried restarting my phone, tried on my computer and asked friends to try to play it. Nothing worked.

I even forgot about it and only remembered today, leaping through my bookmarks...

Thank you!

[AlejaR]

Hey @janissima,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared.

In this case, would you mind sharing with us the exact Spotify version you're running on the affected devices?

On another note, we'd like to gather some additional info. Is this happening if you change the internet connection you're using? Is this happening over WiFi? Ethernet? 3G/4G? If possible, you can create a hotspot from your phone and connect your computer to it, to see if you notice any difference. Give it a try and let us know if changing the connection makes any difference.

Lastly, can you send us a video recording of what you see? Please attach the video 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.
 

Keep us in the loop!