Downloads over WiFi have stopped working
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After many years of functioning, downloads over WiFi are now sporadic at best, and totally non-functional at worst. Even when connected to WiFi, the download either refuses to start and just says “queued for download” or sometimes says “waiting for WiFi”; or starts and then just arbitrarily stops and returns to “queued for download”. Sometimes it eventually changes to “Download failed”.
My device is a Pixel 8 running Android 14 using Pocket Casts 7.80.
This has happened over multiple WiFi connections in multiple places, all of which work fine for other functions on my phone.
I have disabled the ‘only download on metered wifi’ setting (although I want this enabled, I don’t want to be downloading over mobile data) and other troubleshooting tips on here, to no avail. I also uninstalled and reinstalled it.
Any help would be welcome – this must be an issue with the app, as everything else on the phone works perfectly, on any WiFi connection it connects to.
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@jacklewars Since you mentioned that the issue happens regardless of which connection you use, can you let us know if you have a firewall, VPN, or ad-blocker active on your device that could interrupt your network connection?
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I am having this problem too (Google Pixel 8, ver. 7.83 (9315)). It’s possible that a filtering software VPN is involved, but can that be worked around?
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Hi @speedilypatrolbd8eaf1d62
You’re right, it’s very possible that a filtering software VPN is contributing to the download issues. VPNs can definitely interrupt your network connection and sometimes prevent our app from accessing the internet properly, effectively blocking downloads.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a workaround within our app to bypass these VPN restrictions, as they are designed to control network traffic.
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so… since you’re suggesting that the issue resides with the VPN. Can you provide any specifics on URLs, addresses, or whatever else could be provided to the VPN provider to allow proper access and functioning of the app?
Thanks.
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Hi @speedilypatrolbd8eaf1d62,
We can recommend that you ask your VPN provider to whitelist the Pocket Casts domain.
For more information, see our support guide here: https://support.pocketcasts.com/knowledge-base/how-to-check-my-network-connection/
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Is this the same error as when I connect to my home Wi-Fi, Pocket Casts warns me that I’m on a metered Wi-Fi connection – when I’m most definitely not? I also use a VPN.
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@ebroder2014 this is generally how VPNs show up to the Operating System (OS), and the OS reports that to the apps on the device, such as Pocket Casts.
You’d need to contact the author of the VPN app to see if they have any solutions to ensure it does not show up as a metered connection.
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I did contact VPN support and am awating their reply.
So when I’m on such a Wi-Fi connection that Pocket Casts sees as metered, I have the option of:
You're on metered WiFi. Streaming this episode will use data. Stream AnywayI was about to get in the car. So what I really wanted to do is force it download a bunch of episodes from my (alleged) metered connection. But I couldn’t find a way to do that. Is there?
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I found that I have to disable the “Only on unmetered WiFi” in my Auto Download settings before I get the “Download Now” option.
Pocket Casts could help us out by splitting the settings to “Allow on Cellular” and “Allow on metered WiFi”. That way, I wouldn’t have to worry about using cellular data when I am using WiFi, regardless of its reported “metered” condition.
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…And I have to cancel a “pending download”, and click Download again, before I get it (the option to Download Now)
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Hi @pcjcs13 and @reblazer – please can you replicate the behaviour again, and then contact us via the app, so we can get access to your app logs.
You can send those to us by reaching out through the Pocket Casts app — Profile > Help & Feedback > Get in touch. Please include the link to this forum thread: https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/downloads-over-wifi-have-stopped-working/
Once done, please let us know here!
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