Episodes go silent halfway through playing.
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I regularly have podcasts that start playing no problem but at some point the playback goes silent. The timer is still counting up like the episode is still playing but there is no sound. I can skip through the rest of the episode and it’s completely silent. It happens randomly, different podcasts, through Bluetooth or my earphones.
I have tried deleting and reinstalling the app but it doesn’t fix it.
I’m in an iPhone with iOS 18.4.
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Could you also check if this issue happens when using your phone loudspeakers?
What earphones or bluetooth device did this issue happen on?
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It happens when connected by Bluetooth to either of my cars. It also happens when plugged in to the standard Apple EarPods. I will try to test using the phone speaker but at the moment I can’t replicate the issue – the episode I was having the problem with seems to be working now.
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I have the same issue on a Google Pixel Android phone. Been happening from about 10ndays ago. Podcast stops playing part way through. PocketCasts still shows as playing. Pausing/restarting does not work. Exiting the app and restarting it does not work- same podcast still stuck at same spot.. Happened with different podcasts. Happened with earphones, headphones and Android auto. Sometimes restarting the phone works but today that didn’t do it either. Been a user for several years and this is the first time I’m experiencing this.
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@bjallardyce thanks for the update. To rule out a bluetooth issue, please confirm with us if it also happens with your phone speakers.
The next thing I’d try is to check if it happens with downloaded episodes, maybe by enabling auto-downloads of your Up Next Queue.
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@bjallardyce can you also try putting AirPlay on/off within the app to see if it helps when this happens?
Also, and this applies to @vkrishan, could you try marking the episode has played and the open it again to see if it helps? That help determine if it might be due to a corrupted episode file
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thanks @staff-joey8. Tried that but it is not episode or even podcast specific. Same behaviour today on an episode of a completely different podcast. And this after I installed and reinstalled PocketCasts from the Play store 🙁
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Hi @vkrishan,
I understand that the issue persists even after reinstalling Pocket Casts and that it’s not specific to a single episode or podcast.
To help us further narrow down the cause of this behavior, could you please confirm the following:
- Phone Speakers: Does the issue also occur when you listen to the podcast using your phone’s speakers instead of Bluetooth?
- Downloaded Episodes: Does the problem happen when playing downloaded episodes?
- Mark as Played: Have you tried marking the episode as played and then opening it again to see if that makes a difference?
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I turned on the option to download shows in my up next list and so far podcasts have been playing fine. If the problem comes back I will try your suggestions to play through the speaker.
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Thanks @staff-frank I’ve tried all three suggestions of yours and the App works file. The issue is that this ‘going silent’ happens only after some time of playing and I’ve not been played the episode for 5 to 10 minutes when testing. BTW in my case I’m always listening to episodes queued and downloaded earlier…
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@bjallardyce yes, please let us know if the problem returns at all!
@vkrishan could you let us know a bit more about your setup? What version of the Pocket Casts app do you have installed? And what version of Android your device is running?
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Hi @vkrishan,
Thanks for providing that additional detail.
To help us narrow down the cause of the ‘going silent’ problem, could you please provide some more information about your usage?
Specifically, when you’re listening via Android Auto:
- Does the audio go silent only after turning off your car’s audio system, and then turning it back on?
- If so, is there a difference in behavior if you unlock your phone screen and bring the Pocket Casts app to the foreground before you turn on your car’s audio system?
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Hi @staff-frank, I’ve only experienced this going silent issue once using Android auto- it has happened sever times when using a couple of different Bluetooth headsets/earphones. I can’t recall what happened when I had an incident while using Android Auto so will keep an eye out for it the next time it happens. Haven’t had an issue for about a week now….
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this appears to still very much be an issue. Any update on a fix? It’s annoying enough that I’ve had to switch h back to using Apple Podcasts
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@nwhdkk6b7t So far we haven’t been able to reproduce the issue, so we need some more details before we can work on a fix. Could you answer the following questions?
- Which app/device are you using and which version of Pocket Casts?
- Does the occur when you listen to the podcast using your phone’s speakers, or only when using a Bluetooth device?
- Does the problem happen when playing downloaded episodes, or only when streaming?
- Have you tried marking the episode as played and then opening it again to see if that makes a difference?
If you can also send us your device’s app logs via https://support.pocketcasts.com/contact-us/ and provide details of the affected podcasts/episodes, that would help us narrow it down.
Collecting App Logs
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SAME HERE. Issue appears randomly. Could be in car, using earbuds, via phone speakers. The time counter continues making progress but the sound goes silent. The following do not fix: Restarting episode, restarting phone (iPhone 16 Pro Max), disconnecting and reconnecting Bluetooth device, downloading episode (I usually stream w/out downloading), turning Bluetooth off and then on again….
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Same here. With or without Bluetooth. iPhone 14 Pro. Random episodes – skip to another podcast and it’s fine but even days later I can’t go back and replay the frozen episode. I’d prefer to stick with Pocketcasts but like others it’s annoying enough I will need to switch back to Apple Podcasts.
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Hi everyone,
I’m bringing this topic back to the top of the list, I also experienced the problem of muting in the middle of an episode even though the timer continues to run, Usually I would restart the phone or delete the app’s cache and that would solve the problem.
The problem would occur at least once or twice a week.
An important point to note, in my playback settings, I set a playback speed of 1.1 and a silent cutoff on medium mode. A week ago I decided to turn off the playback speed and silence cut, and it seems the problem hasn’t recurred at all since then.
Maybe I managed to get around the bug?
The question is, did you (the forum members) also have playback settings similar to mine, and maybe that’s really the problem?
I invite you to check and get in touch, thank you.
Pocket Casts Forum 