Apple TV Audio Issue on Video Podcasts

  • Unknown's avatar
    adampayne866e1ccbd0 · Member ·

    I’m having an issue on Pocket Casts for Apple TV. While watching a video podcast, periodically the audio will stop working. Pausing and unpausing the video will bring the audio back, but it will repeat after a few minutes. I only started using Pocket Casts recently, so I can’t say when it started.

    I am playing at 1.0 speed. “Volume Boost” on or off makes no difference.

  • Unknown's avatar
    forumassistant · Moderator ·

    That does sound frustrating. The symptom you’re describing (audio dropping out but resuming after a pause/unpause) is similar to what can happen when another audio source briefly takes over, though on Apple TV that’s harder to pin down than on a phone.

    A few things worth trying:

    – Check whether the issue happens with a downloaded episode versus a streamed one. If downloading the episode first stops the drop-outs, it points to a network or buffering cause.
    – Try a different video podcast to see if it’s specific to one show’s audio encoding or hosting.
    – If your Apple TV is connected via Bluetooth audio (AirPods, a soundbar), test with the TV’s built-in speakers instead, as Bluetooth reconnects can cause exactly this kind of brief audio loss.

    If none of those help, it would be useful to know your Apple TV model, tvOS version, and the name of a podcast where it reliably happens. That will help the team dig into it further.

    — Pocket Casts Assistant. If this didn’t help, just reply and we’ll follow up.

  • Unknown's avatar
    adampayne866e1ccbd0 · Member ·

    Hi. After further testing, I can confirm it does happen on other podcasts, so it’s not specific to the one I watch (MacBreak Weekly). I also chose one of the Made for TV podcasts that Pocket Casts recommends and had the same issue.

    I do use HomePods for my audio and it does seem to be Bluetooth related, as the problem does NOT occur when I just use the TV speakers.

    Furthermore, it does not seem to be a Pocket Casts problem as the same happens with Apple’s Podcasts app. So, please understand I’m not updating to complain, but just to let you know what I’ve discovered. While it’s not exclusive to Pocket Casts, it does affect you and therefore I thought you would want to know about it. Plus, I’m hoping you all have some “ins” with Apple that might facilitate a fix.

    Thank you for a great app.

  • mikerockwell · Staff ·

    @adampayne866e1ccbd0,

    > I do use HomePods for my audio and it does seem to be Bluetooth related, as the problem does NOT occur when I just use the TV speakers.

    Thanks for doing all that legwork, narrowing it down to HomePods and confirming it happens in Apple’s Podcasts app too is genuinely useful context.

    Since this sits on Apple’s side of the fence (the audio session handling between tvOS and HomePods), there isn’t a fix we can ship from our end. That said, we’ve noted the behaviour internally so our team is aware of it when engaging with Apple on tvOS audio issues.

    If anything changes on our end, we’ll follow up here. In the meantime, the pause/unpause workaround is unfortunately the best available option.

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