Skip and rewind using Sony XM5 earbuds pause playback on Android

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  frelnik · Member · March 25, 2025 at 10:25 pm

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  For at least the past few weeks, using the double and triple-tap functions on the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds to skip forward or rewind result in the podcast being paused on my Pixel 8 Pro. It does properly go forward or back the correct amount of time—it’s just that it’s paused once it does that. I’ve seen similar issues recently reported here for the Pixel Buds, which apparently were fixed, but the problem persists with the Sony earbuds even with version 7.84.2

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  staff-eleanor · Staff · March 28, 2025 at 3:15 pm

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  Hi there @frelnik! Thanks for your feedback regarding the playback on the Sony earbuds. This does sound similar to the issue with the Pixel Buds. Could you provide the additional information below:
  – Android version:
  – Pocket Casts app version:
  – Headphones firmware version:
  
  Does this error happen when using Google Assistant on the device, or perhaps Gemini (if available on your device)?
  

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  frelnik · Member · March 30, 2025 at 2:43 am

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  Here’s some additional info…

  Android version: 15 (Build BP1A.250305.019)
  Pocket Casts app version: 7.84.2
  Headphones firmware version: 4.0.2

  i don’t recall exactly when the problem started, but it has been several weeks at least, so it started with earlier versions of Pocket Casts.

  I do have Google Assistant activated in the Sony Connect app for the headphones and it does indeed appear to be a factor in this issue. I’ve now tried setting the Voice Assist setting in the Sony Connect app to Do Not Use and the skip and rewind functions no longer pause Pocket Casts. When I reactivate Google Assistant, the problem returns. So it seems that’s the trigger of the issue.

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  staff-joey8 · Staff · April 1, 2025 at 9:48 am

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  I do have Google Assistant activated in the Sony Connect app for the headphones and it does indeed appear to be a factor in this issue. I’ve now tried setting the Voice Assist setting in the Sony Connect app to Do Not Use and the skip and rewind functions no longer pause Pocket Casts. When I reactivate Google Assistant, the problem returns. So it seems that’s the trigger of the issue.

  @frelnik great detective work!

  I was having a hard time replicating as I have the same earbuds. I see what you mean, though, and see a bug report already here: https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-android/issues/3539

  You can keep an eye on that bug report to see when a fix will be out :)