Chromecast - Pandora crashes when connecting

[johnnyrook]

Every time I try to connect to any of our Google Home speakers Pandora immediately crashes. Anyone else having this issue?

Moderator Edit: Changing title for clarity

[AdamPandora]

@kccoolguy I've passed your feedback along to the appropriate parties for further investigation. In the meantime, please keep an eye out for future updates to the Pandora app, it's likely how this issue will be addressed. 

We really appreciate your patience in the meantime!

[TannerPandora · Accepted solution]

Pandora Update: 9/20/22

Thank you for confirming that this has been resolved with version 2209.1.

As this is now resolved, I am closing this thread from further comments. If you experience this issue again in the future, please create a new post and reference this existing thread.

Thank you for being part of community!

---

Pandora Update: 9/19/22

Hi all! Thanks for posting your experience.

We wanted to follow up regarding the recent issue with casting on the Pandora app. Our engineers have been working diligently, and we believe the problem has now been resolved in our latest app version, 2209.1.

Please try updating the app on your device and let us know if you continue to encounter trouble.

We apologize for any inconvenience and greatly appreciate your patience. Thanks for listening!

+++

Here's how to update the Pandora app on your Android device: 

1. Tap your profile avatar in the top right corner.
2. Select Manage apps & device.
3. Then tap Manage and scroll to Pandora for updates.

Tip: In some cases, you may need to restart your device to update an app.

[Usysinc]

Congratulations Pandora on your software engineering fix for Pandora over Chromecast. Loyal Pandora fans rejoice. Yeah!!!!!

[CyberRiot]

The new update is working for me.

[Mmiii]

Thanks for your hard work! Issue is solved with Pandora Update: 9/19/22 👍

Please optimize your quality management. 
The basic functions should be checked several times before an app is rolled out in the Play Store.
Pandora remains my favorite streaming service!

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything."
- Plato

[Usysinc]

Dear Pandora,

                 IT appears you still have severe software quality control issues with app version 2209.1. Find below just a few of the more egregious software errors I have noticed. I would be happy to assist your software development team learn proper verification procedure.

(1) Problem: User termination of Pandora while actively Chromecasting results in loss of the "handle" to the active Chromecast session, resulting in complete loss of control of the then, "ZOMBIE" Chromecast session. The only way to terminate a ZOMBIE Chromecast session is to physically disconnect the Chromecast master device from it's power source. How many users will know which Chromecast device is the master? 😉 ha ha ha

Solution: When an application is terminated, it is customary to delete all dynamic structures and objects created during runtime including in the Pandora case, sending a message to the Chromecast master to terminate the session. That's not too much of a difficult task to ask for, is it?

(2) When Pandora plays an advertisement, it pumps up the volume. After the advertisement ends, the volume is left at the then elevated level. What a nuisance.

Solution: How about politely reverting to the user supplied volume setting after the add? Better yet, stop pumping up advertisement volume in the firs place. It's rude and compels Pandora users to switch to YouTube, Spotify and other streaming apps.

Best wishes - Usysinc

++

Dear Pandora,

                On further analysis re, "User termination of Pandora while actively Chromecasting", it appears that Pandora indeed spawns a "headless Pandora instance" on user app termination during a Chromecast session. It often takes quite some time for the Google Home app to eventually re-connect with the "headless Pandora instance". In the mean time, the user is left with an uncontrollable ZOMBIE Chromecast session. Of course when Google Home does eventually re-connect to the "headless Pandora instance", the user can then control volume and speaker group individual elements, pause the "headless Pandora instance" or terminate the instance by terminating the Google Home app.

Moderator Edit: Changing title for clarity

[Usysinc]

Dear Pandora,

                On further analysis re, "User termination of Pandora while actively Chromecasting", it appears that Pandora indeed spawns a "headless Pandora instance" on user app termination during a Chromecast session. It often takes quite some time for the Google Home app to eventually re-connect with the "headless Pandora instance". In the mean time, the user is left with an uncontrollable ZOMBIE Chromecast session. Of course when Google Home does eventually re-connect to the "headless Pandora instance", the user can then control volume and speaker group individual elements, pause the "headless Pandora instance" or terminate the instance by terminating the Google Home app.

Moderator Edit: Changing title for clarity

[Mhof]

Thank you developers at Pandora for getting that pesky chromecast issue resolved for all of us android users.  It's nice to know you care

[eprintz06]

Pandora is crashing whenever I try to connect to chromecast. It started out of nowhere today after it had been working fine.

I've tried multiple different Pandora App versions (2204, 2209, 2210) and multiple different chromecasts with different firmware versions (1.36.159268, 1.56.275994, 1.56.291998)

This is the primary way we use our Pandora Premium account in our house so it's really difficult when it's not working.

@TannerPandora - I see you helped on the other thread ... can you or someone on the Pandora team help look at this? I'm happy to share any additional information I can to help debug the issue.

For whatever it's worth, my wife has an iphone with app version 2211.1 and has the exact same issue

Thanks,

-Eric

[eprintz06]

@AdamPandora - I see you helped on the other thread as well ... can you help here?

Other info: I'm connected via WiFi in our house. After it happened last time, I downgraded the app on my phone to 2204 and that seemed to solve the issue at that time. Now even with the downgraded 2204 version, it's still happening.

Thanks,

-Eric

[GeraldPandora]

Hi @eprintz06 

Please check out our Accepted Solution to see if this helps with the crashing issue when casting on your Chromecast.

However, if you're still experiencing issues when casting let's try an alternative troubleshooting route by clearing the app data on your mobile device:

• Please try clearing the Pandora app data using the following steps (not to worry, we'll keep track of your profile and collection for you):*
  • Open your device Settings
  • Tap Apps
  • Scroll down to find Pandora
  • Select Storage
  • On the storage details page tap Clear Data.

Once you have done that, restart your Chromecast device by unplugging the power source and plugging it back in. Then, restart the Pandora app on your device and try connecting back to your Chromecast device.

Hope this helps and let us know how it goes! 🎧