Background Player buffers frequently

[g1t3m]

Newpipe Version: 20.2
Device: Pixel 4 XL
OS: Calyx OS on Android 10
System Webview: Android System Webview
Network: Wi-Fi

Description: When playing audio in the background, either of a single video or playlist, the audio track will buffer frequently at random intervals. Audio sometimes does not continue playing until I return NewPipe app to foreground. This has been an issue since app version 20.1. This also may be an issue with my OS or device, as I've also had this issue with YouTube Vanced.

I really appreciate everything you all do to bring us this fantastic app, and I especially appreciate the quick turnaround from version 20.1 to 20.2. I cannot use anything else because NewPipe is that awesome! Thank you all for making an outstanding app.

[opusforlife2]

Please use a template in the future. https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/issues/new/choose

Can you try this with another service, like Soundcloud or Peertube?

[g1t3m]

My apologies for not using the template. I just started testing this with Soundcloud, and the issue seems to persist when turning my phone screen off, switching to another app, or just exiting the NewPipe app. Even playing YouTube videos and immediately putting my phone to sleep doesn't place the video/audio in the background as quickly as before, as the media starts buffering immediately or after several seconds.

[opusforlife2]

This is only with the background player? Not popup or main player?

[opusforlife2]

Could you also see if your issue is the same as #4209?

[g1t3m]

This issue is the same as 4209, except it only occurs when using the background player. The videos I play in the foreground at all resolutions work just fine, even in popup. It's only when playing the audio in the background or placing a video/audio track in the background or video popup in the background does this happen. I tested Peertube as well, but I don't think that's an issue since there's no global option to play Peertube videos in the background unless I am mistaken.

[opusforlife2]

Alright, thanks for testing!

By the way, your email client is adding pointless extra text to your comments.

[aladar42]

Im not sure if this belongs here or as a separaye issue, but I am also getting frequent buffers, except for me the buffering gets stuck and does not resume playback until i close the player and restart the video. It happens mostly during minor network hiccups, but also when the system performs some heavier operation, like opening a browser with a lot of tabs.

[g1t3m]

Edit:I just tried this with my Bluetooth earbuds on the Galaxy Express phone, and I have not had any issues with the Background Player. So this may be an issue with my Pixel phone and/or its OS/Webview. This might also not be specific to my phone if @aladar42 's comment is anything to go by.

Okay, I just tested this on my Samsung Galaxy Express phone running Android 7.1 with the same Newpipe version and system webview, and this issue does not occur on that device compared to my Pixel 4 XL. I did this with wired earbuds, so I'll try again with Bluetooth and see if the results are similar.

[opusforlife2]

@g1t3m Newpipe has nothing to do with Webview.

[Moon-Palace-16]

I've been experiencing the same problem with the background player, and, like @aladar42, I have to close the player and restart the video. I have a Samsung Galaxy S5, running Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop). I was also having some trouble with this in 0.20.1, too.

[fihe]

I have also been having this problem with the background player. It only happens when I have a queue, never when I am playing only one song. The rotating circle or hourglass will come up but the song will never resume. The only way to fix it is to clear the queue and play only one song at a time.

[Stypox]

Could you all test if this is fixed by #4562?

[fihe]

I downloaded the new version of the app and I'm still getting the same problem. When I download the app-debug.zip and use the version of the app installed from that, I just can't open any videos at all.

[PrSunflower]

Hi, I am having exactly the same problem, very good description by @g1t3m . For me it started in version 0.20.0 and issue is still present in 0.20.2.

Device info

• Android 10
• Nokia 7.2 ("stock" Android like Google Pixel)

Screenshots

Additional info

• Only occurs with background player, "live" player unaffected.
• Can happen with every content, YouTube videos and YouTube Music songs.
• When playback stops it never resumes, it is stuck buffering.
• Two solutions: skip to the next item in the playlist OR switch to Main > press Play > then press Background
• I couldn't find any pattern for the issue to happen, it seems strangely random:
  • Some days ago I was adding multiple songs to the queue one by one while the first item was still playing, playback stopped at ~3/4 of the song. I skipped and for each item in the playlist the playback stopped during the last half.
  • This morning I launched a playlist in the background, playback stopped at ~2/3 of the first item but after that every item played correctly without stopping.

[opusforlife2]

For me it also started in version 0.20.1

@PrSunflower Sure it's not there in 0.20.0?

[PrSunflower]

@opusforlife2 I can't remember exactly...

I think the bug happened in the version where the UI changed. Was it 0.20.0?

[Stypox]

When playback stops it never resumes, it is stuck buffering.

@PrSunflower This part is fixed by #4562, included in 0.20.3

[opusforlife2]

Was it 0.20.0?

@PrSunflower Yes.

[fihe]

I'm on 0.20.2 and no more buffering problem with the background video in queue Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android On Mon, Nov 9, 2020 at 11:36 PM, opusforlife2<notifications@github.com> wrote: Was it 0.20.0? @PrSunflower Yes. — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.

[PrSunflower]

@opusforlife2 Ok, my bad. I edited my previous comment and wrote 0.20.0.

@Stypox Oh yeah that's cool! Do you know approx. when will v0.20.3 stable be available?

[opusforlife2]

@PrSunflower The release candidate is already out for you to test! See the pinned issue.

[PrSunflower]

@opusforlife2 Alright that's cool thanks! I am receiving NewPipe updates via the F-Droid upstream repository and I don't want to break it so I'll just wait 😉

[opusforlife2]

@PrSunflower All the test APKs you'll encounter in this repo will install separately from the main app. This was done deliberately to ensure that testers don't have to take pains to backup and restore stuff all the time.

[opusforlife2]

Guys, could you all test the APK in #4562 once again? We need confirmation on whether or not this issue is fixed.

Closing until someone replies.

[PrSunflower]

@opusforlife2 I have been using the APK for some days now, the background buffering works really well.

In my opinion this issue seems to be fixed.

[opusforlife2]

Thanks for testing!