Android TV: Playback Stops

[Edddd]

After years of playing my collections continuously via the app for my smart tv, the app now only plays one song and then stops. I haven’t changed any settings in the TV.

Any one- Help me

mod edit: changed title for clarity & format

[MarkKitson]

It happens on two different TVs, a Samsung and a Sony, not a TV problem. I
am certain it is an interface issue between Pandora and Google in my case.
I have seen others mention it happens using Roku as well.

Please work with your partners to resolve this issue

Thanks

[AdamPandora]

@MarkKitson Thanks for providing that info.

I've passed this along to the appropriate parties for further investigation. We'll follow up with you if we need any additional details.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

[BobR1]

To be clear, my playback does not stop after one song. It stops after an indeterminate number of songs. It has yet to happen on my Roku premiere after many hours of play. 

And force stop no longer works to fix it on my Sony TV.

[Edddd]

Mark, you surely understand these issues better than me with your IT background, BUT…you’re saying it’s the interface controllers, Google TV in your case, and ?? In my case- I guess my ISP who delivers my internet and streaming to my Sony Smart TV. But they came out to my home spent almost two hours running diagnostics and determined the problem was a WI-FI board and a Network board. A new WI-FI board corrected the problem for one day, then it failed. I’m guessing another hardware malfunction in my Sony tv fried the new Wi-Fi board. So the failing Pandora music app can not be Pandora or my ISP or a controller because installing a Roku stick resolved all my issues.

Does this make sense to you? Or do you still see it as a controller issue I.e. my ISP.?

[MarkKitson]

I Believe that Pandora's interface to the Google TV operating system is
the issue. It is possible that something in the network connection is
hanging. I've found, so far, that exiting Pandora in their settings menu
seems to have resolved the issue. That tells me that something either
Pandora or Google is doing is hanging the app if it isn't gracefully
exited. I have had times when it worked fine for days, then hung with 00 in
the song time. Sometimes force stopping the app helped, sometimes
restarting Google TV helped. Sometimes not. I did once have to reboot my
wifi router to get it running.

I also had a Sony TV, that died the other day. I switched to an older
Samsung, still using the same Google dongle, and the problem occured on
that TV as well, but again, so far, if I exit the Pandora app, when I start
it again it works.

I don't think it was your TV. My ROKU stick worked fine last time I tried
it. If I see it happen again, I'll switch to ROKU to test it.

Thanks for sharing!

[Edddd]

Ok, this makes sense. I understand that Google is your partner, I.e. Google TV.

WHO IS MY PARTNER? I don’t use Google. I use a ISP a local Fiber company for internet.

or is my partner EERO whose mesh router system I use for streaming. Thanks.

by the way, to be clear- I have two TVs, a Sony  Smart tv and a Samsung - old 48” flatscreen that I use a Firestick to get the apps. All apps work on both tvs except Pandora, iHeart and Amazon Music. Since only Music apps don’t work that tells me it’s a porting problem. Right? ISP says it’s not them creating the issue. They say it’s the TV HARDWARE.  EERO says it’s not the router because they’re not aware of the issue with thousands of other customers. I think everyone is trying to be honest and helpful but I’d really like my tvs and apps to function properly but they don’t.

So I have resorted to Roku and Firestick and everything works. What’s my takeaway?

[BobR1]

I have a (probably wrong) theory about this. Since a number of people have mentioned Roku, I wondered if all of us experiencing this problem have a smart TV and a Roku connected to the same network. A possible explanation for those of us who have both is that the music stream at some point is being directed to the other device. On the device we're watching, the Pandora app is still active, but the actual audio is going somewhere else.

I guess even without a Roku involved, the music output could be going to another output channel on the TV, or to another device on the network.

If the Pandora engineers are ever able to duplicate the issue, they could probably test this theory.

[Edddd]

Just curious y’all- is the problem software or hardware??? ( no Roku involved, just the tv and Pandora).
My ISP diagnoses this issue as a hardware problem, I.e. bad WI-FI BOARD and bad port.. I have the same problem with all the MUSIC APPS only. What is it about MUSIC APPS that differentiate them from streaming movie channels. I get all the movie channels, YOUTUBE TV content, etc. This is hurting my little brain!

Sent from my iPad

[Smarc1214]

Sony smart TV uses Android system.  I play one song and Pandora stops until I manually skip to the next song.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey, @Smarc1214. 👋

Sorry for the continued trouble.  Let's try clearing the data and cache to see if that helps.

You should be able to use the following steps to do this:

1. On the supplied remote control, press the HOME button.
2. Select the Settings Gear icon  ⚙️
3. Follow the steps according to your TV menu:
• Select Apps → See all apps → Show system apps.
• Select Apps.
4. Under System apps, select Pandora.
5. Select Clear cache, then select Ok.
• If the issue still occurs, move on to the next step.
6. Select Clear data, then select Ok.
• If displayed, select CLEAR ALL DATA, and then Ok.

++

If the issue persists, let's power cycle your TV by unplugging it from the power source for at least 5 minutes and then plugging it back. 

If that did not resolve your issue, can you please share the model of your Sony TV?

Let me know how it goes. 🎧

[brl]

I'm having the same problem on my Nvidia Shield TV. This is most definitely not a solved issue. And it's pretty clearly related to Pandora's app.

[MarkKitson]

Still the same issues. Different TVs, different platforms.... it's a Pandora issue. Or at least a music streaming issue. On my older Samsung every morning I have to restart Google TV to get Pandora to not show 00 and start playing...... 

[BobR1]

It's interesting, Pandora is on at my place about 8-hours every day. I switched to going though the Roku before Christmas and it hasn't given me a bit of trouble since then.

[MarkKitson]

I haven't used ROKU for some time. Perhaps they updated? I'll give it a go. Thanks

[BobR1]

I have a Roku Premiere. It hasn't failed me yet.

Moderator Edit: Link sharing

[Edddd]

I’ve sorted through this problem for over a year and even replaced the WI-FI board in my Sony Bravia. Then my Music apps worked one day. Then on day two the Music apps stopped again. Hardware malfunction in my opinion.

so I get the Roku 4K for the Sony tv in Nov. everything works perfectly once again.

I also use a Firestick on the old Samsung 46” tv in the basement and it is a beautiful thing too.

Heres a curiosity question- do any of you have a Roku tv. They’re relatively cheap compared to Sony and Samsung. How does it perform, picture/ clarity/etc. to the name brands?

[brl]

Forgive me, but I'm really not sure how a discussion about Roku is relevant to the Pandora problems that many are experiencing with Android TV.

I've had a Roku before and I vastly prefer Android TV for my needs. I enjoyed Pandora on Android TV for many years without a single problem. Recently, something has changed and now there are problems. And it seems my recent experience is shared by many others.

The purpose of this discussion is to try to address and resolve the Android TV issue. I hope we can stick to that topic.

[BobR1]

You replied to me, not sure if you meant to or not. My mentions of Roku as a solution to the problem, and the possibility that the problem is caused by an interaction between multiple streaming devices (e.g., Sony and Roku), was definitely on topic. 

I agree that a general discussion of Roku TV vs Android TV belongs somewhere else.

I am curious, though, about whether the problem we're discussing has ever occurred on a Roku TV. I think that's also on topic, since it would be another data point for the developers who are working on the problem.

[Mr_Fantastic]

While listening to Pandora via my sound system, going through the app on my Sony Bravia TV, I can manually push to the next song, but at the end of the song it doesn’t automatically play the next song that’s in queue for whatever station I’m listening to. This only seems to be happening on my television app. 

[brl]

So, this is still happening. Is Pandora ignoring this because this thread is erroneously marked as solved?