Can't pause for more than a minute

[biz]

I open an .mp3 file in Android from the file browser and everything plays fine. Then, I pause playback. Things work fine until the pause gets greater than a minute or two if VLC is not in the foreground. Once you bring it back as the active app, it displays the name of some file I haven't listened to for months.

I'm not sure of the proper term for foreground/active but click the three vertical bars, Android displays the currently running apps and you can click on an app and make it the active one.

This pausing behavior is regular and consistent and has been happening for as long as I can remember. Ideas?

[YodaTheWeeb]

Aha....I can confirm this.

I followed the steps biz laid out:

1. Went to file browser in VLC Media Player on Android (my version is on Samsung Galaxy S10, version 3.5.0 I think according to info. Should be the latest on this device)

2. I played one of my mp3 songs, then clicked pause on it. Then left the app sitting while I did other things on my phone

3. Waited approximately 6 minutes just to test estimates

4. Came back and found the song was no longer showing as able to click play on it, despite not closing the app at any time.

4a. When I came back the app still showed the same folder I played from. I dont know if I was able to replicate:

"Once you bring it back as the active app, it displays the name of some file I haven't listened to for months."

Biz, we're you playing this from within a folder in your media file? I want to ask how you got to the song you were playing to replicate those steps and see what may have landed you on that last part

5. When I click play on the song again I am starting back from the beginning, no timestamp saving (I will admit it depends with me, on if I'd rather listen from the start again. I would say in this scenario of stepping away for a second I'd prefer to play from where I was if possible. You know how it is, good song, good part)

[Spike1]

I concur, when pausing a podcast and checking something on the web, VLC abandons the play queue: status otherwise unchanged. Currently I have disabled the "Show last playlist tip" option; last time I reported this bug, it was suggested use of this option could simplify things.

[YodaTheWeeb]

Hmm...if I may ask, as they said it should simplify things, what does the "show last playlist tip" do?

Can confirm, especially if listening to something like a podcast, or an mp3 file that's similar, getting sent back all the way to the beginning would be very annoying

[biz]

Yoda, thanks for being thorough. I'm a software person and should have known better and do what you did.

I am starting the .mp3 by clicking on it from the downloads folder on the internal storage module. I'm usually playing longer podcasts and didn't know that it should be playing from the last point it was at in the .mp3 but yes, I get the same behavior of starting from the beginning. So, whenever I'd pause, I'd have to note the time in case it flaked out. In fact, I avoided a two hour podcast because trying to find the last point was harder with a multi-hour podcast

I don't know if seeing the name of the .mp3 I hadn't played for months is significant or not but thought it worth mentioning because it was consistent and unexpected. That long gone .mp3 would have been played in a similar fashion but could have been in a different folder or on a secondary microSD card.

[YodaTheWeeb]

No problem

I wrote out my response that way as I wanted you to be able to know if my steps were in line with your description or if you saw something different than what I was seeing

Mainly I addressed that last part as I didn't know for sure if it was landing you somewhere random, like in another folder, or just adjusted the folder itself that you were in, such as the files being jumbled

The last part about the files becoming jumbled, such as reversing alphabetical order has been occurring more and more with the current update that i am on, so it could be the same for you. I believe it's currently being worked on

Mainly I want to address any issues that you're seeing. However, if that isn't too important right now, then we can move on from that.

And yeah, long podcasts, honestly even shorter ones, let's say 10-20 minutes, being mp3 format and not having timestamps does hurt

Understandable usually for most music listeners why a timestamp may not be necessary, but as we are talking of mp3 files in general, I can understand the need for them

Currently there's a few options under settings that may help for a couple issues. If there isn't one for this, it may be a good idea to have one, just for users that are listening to podcasts, or even some rare ones that want it for music, as it would solve both issues

[Spike1]

Biz, when you tap an object (and rely on file type association to start VLC), VLC gets the contents but not complete information on the file. This is why, for instance, you don't see the file's real name but something like fd://57.

This is how I start podcasts too. It may be a clue as to why VLC kills the play if it loses the foreground. (Perhaps it tries to reopen the medium when it regains foreground—because it never had the filename.) Confirmation will require a developer.

[Spike1]

No, bug is still present in RC2 2022-07-09.
•Start a podcast, even from Browse (filename is displayed).
•Pause it.
•Press the middle button and use the phone to write a tweet.
•Go back into VLC via home-screen icon: It has reverted to Browse main screen (list of media and favorites), podcast has to be restarted manually then fish for location at which paused.

Desired behavior: Status unchanged, currently queued medium ready to be un-paused.

[YodaTheWeeb]

Thank you for all your help Spike

[Aza]

Sorry, I've been off a few days. There is a lot to unpack here as there are multiple issues, with some of them fixed in the latest beta. So let's try to clarify it all.

Biz: what version are you using?

Here is what I get with the latest beta:
- clear data
- don't let VLC index files in the onboarding
- open a podcast in the browser
- seek to a time and let it play for 5 seconds (I'll talk about that later)
- pause it
- don't close VLC but leave it
- wait (or directly kill the service)
- go back to VLC -> the player is gone (this is the normal behavior: I'll explain why)
- the browser is still displayed

Here, I tested different things:

- click on the podcast again without doing anything before -> the podcast starts over. This is definitely a bug !
- close the browser, reopen it, open the podcast again -> the podcast is resumed
- close the browser, open the audio tab, resume playback -> the podcast is resumed


Now, I will explain some (technical) things.

Why is the mini player lost when the playback is paused and the app left for some time?
The playback is done in something called a service. A service is a piece of code running in the background. While it's playing, the app is telling the system that the service is running and that it should not be cleared. When the playback is paused, the app lets the system kill it if needed. When you open the app again, if the service is killed, the mini player is closed.

What is a podcast for VLC for Android?
As you know VLC for Android has no power on the media files as they are provided by the user. So it tries to assume things given multiple variables. A media is considered a podcast if:
- it's an audio media (see next point to see why it's not important for video podcasts)
[AND)
1. the media length is over 1 hour
[OR]
2. the media genre metadata is either of these words: podcast / audiobooks / audiobook / speech / vocal

What does it change when a media is detected as being a podcast?
VLC for Android has different resuming behaviors between audio and video medias. By default, videos are resumed (some settings can change that) while audio media are never. It's because it makes no sense to resume a music track in the middle. There are two exceptions to that:
- if you use the "resume playback" feature in the audio screen. This feature saved the current play queue and when used will resume it with all the tracks and the progress
- if the last played media is a podcast. In that case it's always resumed (hence the comment I made before "This is definitely a bug !")

My advice for you all
Always use the "resume playback" feature when you can. It will make sure that the media are resumed from the last point

To go further and try to fix all the issues you reported
Biz, can you please tell me exactly what you are able to reproduce with the latest beta version? You can find it here: http://get.videolan.org/testing/android ... 64-v8a.apk

[Aza]

By the way, the issue I confirmed is now tracked here: https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc- ... ssues/2601

- seek to a time and let it play for 5 seconds (I'll talk about that later)

I didn't explain that part. Starting with the 3.5.0 version, the app is saving the media progress every 5 seconds. It prevents a progress loss if something bad happens (such as an app crash). So if it happens, you will, at worst, resume 5 seconds before the time you were at.
This is valid for:
- video medias
- audio medias
- the resume playback feature

[Spike1]

> When the playback is paused, the app lets the system kill it if needed.

If needed? If Android needs its resources? This would explain why the bug doesn't always occur. However, it still seems like a bug. VLC may tell Android it is free to kill the player service, but the user expects VLC to pick up where he left it.

The algorithm for deciding whether an MP3 is a podcast seems sensible. But is it working? The file I observed this bug with is 2h09 long.

[Aza]

If needed? If Android needs its resources?

Yes

However, it still seems like a bug. VLC may tell Android it is free to kill the player service, but the user expects VLC to pick up where he left it.

Even after an hour? A day? A Week? We cannot discriminate why the service has been killed and have different behavior then.

The algorithm for deciding whether an MP3 is a podcast seems sensible. But is it working? The file I observed this bug with is 2h09 long.

If your media is 2h09 long it is considered a podcast. If you are having a bug with it (and with 3.5.0 RC), feel free to open an issue in our tracker or explain reproduction steps here.

[Spike1]

Even after an hour? A day? A Week?

There may indeed be cases where the user forgets he has paused a podcast. There is no way for VLC to guess how long it will take for this to happen. Therefore, VLC should be ready to resume in all cases, rather than discarding state.

If you are having a bug with it (and with 3.5.0 RC), feel free to open an issue in our tracker or explain reproduction steps here.

I explained reproduction steps and desired behavior above in my post of Jul 2022 09:15. The only thing you don't have is the medium; it is the complete "Larry Kudlow Show" from wabcradio.com —Does not seem to have ID3, but shouldn't matter due to its length.

[Aza]

There is no way for VLC to guess how long it will take for this to happen. Therefore, VLC should be ready to resume in all cases, rather than discarding state.

That's exactly the point of the "resume playback" feature.

I explained reproduction steps and desired behavior above in my post of Jul 2022 09:15.

Go back into VLC via home-screen icon: It has reverted to Browse main screen (list of media and favorites), podcast has to be restarted manually then fish for location at which paused.

I am not able to reproduce. If you go back to the browse main screen when you reopen the app, it means that your device was in such a great memory pressure, VLC has been killed (not just the service). In that case, you should at worst lose 5s. I just tried with your sample and it works great.

[YodaTheWeeb]

I'm unsure how to quote properly but I will reference my question to this quote:

"Always use the "resume playback" feature when you can"

May I ask for clarification on where to find the "resume playback" setting

I tried looking for it but could not find it in VLC Media Player

[Spike1]

May I ask for clarification on where to find the "resume playback" setting

It's at More... > Settings (Extra settings) > Interface (Audio) > Show last playback tip

Later, when you restart VLC, a pop-up will ask you if you want to resume play from the point of stoppage.

(To quote someone else's post, tap the icon at the upper right corner of the post. As you see, I delete text from your post to show only the part I'm replying to.)

[Spike1]

I am not able to reproduce. If you go back to the browse main screen when you reopen the app, it means that your device was in such a great memory pressure, VLC has been killed (not just the service). In that case, you should at worst lose 5s. I just tried with your sample and it works great.

Very possible; my Samsung J3 and J7 have only 2 Gb and usually have a browser running. VLC is still in Recents; it has merely forgotten it was playing a podcast. I don't "lose" anything except the saved position.

[YodaTheWeeb]

"It's at More... > Settings (Extra settings) > Interface (Audio) > Show last playback tip"

Afraid the quote thing isn't working for me. Not sure where to delete to show up like you and Aza

Anyways, so I tried the steps you listed. The last step, "show last playback tip" does not appear among the settings listed under audio

I am using version 3.5.0 on beta for VLC Media Player, as well as the Nightly Mode, both do not show a setting written as "Show last Playback Tip"

Is it perhaps under another name?

[Spike1]

I'm baffled. It's there for me, third from the bottom on the Interface page. (Says "playlist" not "playback".) I don't think it has moved anywhere else in a long time.

[YodaTheWeeb]

I've been very curious with your version. It operates differently on a couple things we've discussed before

May be the type of phone differences

[biz]

I've been gone for few days myself and for some reason, notifications aren't working. A few things:

* "When the playback is paused, the app lets the system kill it if needed." It's not killing the program when I select VLC from the running applications. It is still running but it loses the current podcast and returns to a more or less blank screen.

* I'm running version 3.1.7 with latest Android version. I will install the beta that you linked to and let you know.

* This is opinion but I don't know if the 1 hour threshold is a good metric. I don't listen to daily talk show type podcasts but 90+% of the podcasts that I encounter are 20-50 minutes long. I think that starting over on a 3-4 minute track makes sense but if I'm listening to an entire album that is 30-60 minutes long, I'd probably want to resume rather than start over and certainly that on a 45 minute pretty-much-everything also. Will take a look at the mode you mentioned. Thanks for the detailed response.

[YodaTheWeeb]

"I'm running version 3.1.7 with latest Android version. I will install the beta that you linked to and let you know."

My apologies, I meant towards Spike. I lined up alright with you on issues, so I think I can replicate your issues

It's more off and on with Spike for me, as his version tends to operate differently. That's the reason I ask him

[Spike1]

Another difference is that my phones run "armv7a". But that shouldn't make the menu options different.

[Aza]

May I ask for clarification on where to find the "resume playback" setting

When you are in the "Audio" screen (be sure to be in that screen or it won't work), you should get a message at the bottom allowing you to resume. If not, you also have a menu item at the top right corner. Depending on your device size, it can be a play button inside a round arrow or it can be in the overflow (3dot icon) > "Resume playback"