Safety Issue with Android Auto “Safety Pause”
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Anytime I scroll in PocketCast with Android Auto while driving, the Android Auto “Safety Pause” interrupts the scroll (like it’s designed to), however – the PocketCast App RESETS to the beginning of the list that I’m scrolling, so I have to start over.
Example: Scrolling to Episode 33. Scroll starts at Ep1. I get to Ep 12 *SafetyPause*, Resets to Ep. 1. I can’t get there. I have to try to preempt the Safety Pause after noting when it triggers after a few times.
The whole point of the safety pause is to give you a break to refocus on driving, rather than scrolling. By starting over, I spend MORE time and cognitive load scrolling than is necessary. -
Hi there, @markgreenewi! That sounds really annoying! We can certainly check into this further. When you say “list that I’m scrolling”, do you mean items in the Up Next queue, in Profile > Downloads, or perhaps a playlist? Or does this affect all episode lists in general?
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It happens with all lists that I can see in the interface – podcast lists, episode lists, new releases lists.
I only listen in the car with Android Auto and there’s not a ton of functionality from that interface in terms of creating playlists or whatever. Generally, I’ve selected some podcasts that I like and choose from the “New Releases” list in Android Auto when I’m driving.So, I’ve only seen this issue in the functions that I have. Scrolling the “New Releases” or scrolling to or within a specific podcast.
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Thanks so much for those additional details. I’ve shared this with the developers to find out if that is expected behavior or not. Once we have more information we can share an update here in the thread.
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Thanks, I’d be interested to hear what they say.
This is the only app I’ve used in Android Auto that treats the “Safety Pause” as a menu reset. Other apps I have don’t allow you to scroll during the pause, but after the pause period, you can continue scrolling from where you left off. I’m afraid PocketCasts is unique in this aspect. -
@markgreenewi still no word from our development team on this, but we’ll follow-up here once we have more to share!
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Thanks. I’ve also noticed that it also resets any lists I’m scrolling when a podcast ends (usually I’m looking for the next podcast in the last few minutes of a podcast). And it’ll reset the list as it autoplays whatever’s next in the queue (which is usually the last few seconds of the last podcast I listened to.). Not as annoying of an issue, but it’s consistent behavior.
If I had a vote, the app in Android Auto would AUTOMATICALLY play the next podcast episode in that same podcast…as a default. That would be my number one feature request. That’s how Google’s Podcast player (it was excellent) treated the end of an episode. In fact, as an episode was ending the >| symbol would display and, if pressed would automatically go to the next episode in the series. I know there’s probably a way to set up a playlist and such. But I usually don’t know what podcast I like until I hear it in the car…then I’m hooked wish it would autoplays the next episode in the series. I guess like Netflix does… Podcasts adds friction and setup requirements, where they should not exist. I know it’s a tangent from the last issue. But I guess they are similar in that “when something in PocketCasts ends” the wrong NEXT thing happens, and you lose momentum.
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@markgreenewi it sounds like you’re looking for our Autoplay feature. You can find more information about that here:
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