Android: Ads Cause "Unexpected Technical Difficulties" Error

[ZyderZee]

on my android phone, when ever an ad comes on i get error message "we are experiencing technical difficulties" and then app will pause for a second or up to a minute or so

Moderator Edit: Changed title for clarity

[AdamPandora]

@75mopar The Unexpected Technical Difficulties error message you receive after an ad plays is still being investigated by our engineering team, so you may still see that pop up occasionally.

If you are seeing an additional error message on top of that one, please grab an additional screenshot and send that over to us.

Thanks for the help!

[AdamPandora]

@blockocheese Check out the accepted solution to this thread for more information around Spanish ads.

Hope this helps. 

[75mopar]

Adam, the other error message I get is "Something went wrong in the app. Please try Pandora again." or something to that effect. It only pops up once in a while and disappears after less then a minute. I've only ever seen it when my phone is locked, but my phone is set up so I can see notifications/messages on my lock screen. Because my screen is locked I can't get a screen shot and it seems to disappear when I try to unlock, but that may well be because I don't see the message soon enough to try unlocking phone before it disappears.

Adam, I saw the error message again and I believe the correct message is "Something went wrong in Pandora. Please try again in the app.".

[AlyssaPandora]

Hi, @75mopar. 👋

Thanks so much for getting back to us with that information. We've gone ahead and shared this with our engineering team on your behalf. Thanks for your patience during this process. 🎧

[jsettecase]

For the past several weeks I have been getting the same " pandora cannot play music at this time because it has experienced an unexpected error" after playing just one song on my Android phone or thru my Ford Sync3 and even on my Roku at home. It all started about the time Pandora said it was performing server maintenance.  What's the status of correcting this? I have Verizon for my phone and WOW internet at home. I've Uninstalled and reinstalled the app on my phone, cleared the data but nothing has helped. 

[AlyssaPandora]

Hi there, @jsettecase. 👋

Sorry to hear that you're having trouble with this error message. On 04/27/22, we did have an issue with station playback across multiple devices (and with error messages). Some listener did report a similar error message about the "server maintenance" but this issue has since been resolved. 

++

Are you still experiencing this issue on your Roku device?

Or does this issue mainly occur on your Android device?

Can you send over a bit more info about your Android device?

• Model:
• Carrier:
• Android version (Settings > About Phone):
• Pandora version:
  • If you can open Pandora, go to Profile, then select Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the screen for the version number.
  • If you can't open Pandora: from Android Home screen > Android Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Find Pandora
• Are you connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data when this is happening?

Thanks for your help, and for reporting this. 🎧

[jsettecase]

My answers in caps:

Are you still experiencing this issue on your roku device? - yes, and also through my ford sync3 while driving.

Or does this issue mainly occur on your android device? - I do listen more on my android with headphones, but all 3 have the same troubles

Can you send over a bit more info about your android device?

Model: galaxy s21

Carrier: verizon cellular - wow home internet/wifi

Android version: 12

Pandora version: 2203.1

Are you connected to wi-fi or cellular data when this is happening? - both doesn't matter

Again, I have tried clearing the pandora data - no help.

Then after uninstalling pandora and reinstalling it, the very next car ride home it played without the error. I thought it was fixed, but then the next day, the 'unexpected error' returned after the first song and continues to occur everytime I launch pandora & play the very first song followed by an ad then the error happens. The app continues to play songs but without the artist and song title info and no pic image for the track. I still can 'thumb up or down 'and it will tell me which song I did that to, but if I want song title/artist info, I have to connect to my ford sync3 as my s21 phone instead od the pandora app.

Noticed yesterday that the error happens every time a commercial is played. Usually the very first break, but can reoccur on the next few commercial breaks. Pandora announces thru my ford sync3, " pandora has experienced and unknown error and can no longer play music at this time." yet it does continue to play, but without track title artist name and album picture. My android phone, when listening thru headphones, just displays a graphic saying that "An unknown error has occurred."

mod edit: merged comments + format

[75mopar]

I take it they are still working on the problem?

[AlyssaPandora]

Thank you for the follow up, @jsettecase. I've gone ahead and shared this with the team investigating this issue. 

@ZyderZee At this time, I do not have an update for this issue. However, I can confirm that all reports have been shared with our engineering team on an internal ticket for investigation. All updates for this issue will be posted on this thread. We appreciate your patience during this process. 🎧

[tvieno]

I would like to throw my hat in the ring with this issue. Like the others, the error occurs when an ad tries to load.

While on BT, it does not disconnect from my ear buds, or if i am connected to my car BT audio. But if i am connected to my car's Pandora app, it will close the car's app and i am forced to restart it.

However, if i am connected to my car via Android Auto, i am not aware of any crashes.

• Model: Galaxy 21+ 5G
• Carrier: Sprint/T-Mobile
• Android version (Settings > About Phone): 12
• Pandora version: 2203.1
• Are you connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data when this is happening? Cellular

[AlyssaPandora · Accepted solution]

Pandora Update (05/05/2022):  Hi everyone 👋

Thanks for your patience while this was being worked on. We believe this issue has now been resolved.

Would you mind trying once more?

If the issue persists, please let me know. 🎧

[ZyderZee]

this morning i did not get any error message, thanks for resolving this

[AlyssaPandora]

Thanks for letting me know and sticking with me during this process, @ZyderZee. 👍

If you notice anything else, please tag me so that I may pass it along to our engineers.

In the meantime, happy listening! 🎧

[jsettecase]

No errors on commercial breaks today while listening on my phone thru headphones and then later thru my Ford Sync3 system. I have yet to try my Roku. I'll be using that tomorrow morning. I'll let you know, but it appears you've solved the issue. Thanks for the quick work! Another reason I LOVE my Pandora!

[AdamPandora]

Happy to hear that, @jsettecase. 😁

Please keep us posted if you continue to experience issues with this down the line.

[jsettecase]

Ran Pandora on my Roku for 4 hrs. this morning with not one single error. Looks like you fixed the bug! Thanks so much!

[AlyssaPandora]

Awesome! So glad to hear it, @jsettecase. Enjoy the tunes 🎶