Time Limited Playback for Offline Listening

[hendric5]

I typically only have 2 or 3 stations downloaded for offline listening with my Apple Watch but this would be enough to listen for several hours.  I use this feature mostly while jogging and this will last anywhere from 30-60 minutes per day.  However, in addition to offline mode repeating the same song several times during this span, it simply stops playing after about 30 minutes, like its come to the end of the playlist, so to speak.  Again, I have enough downloaded music to play for several hours if left uninterrupted but this 30 minute cutoff has been consistent.  I can't find a setting to change.  I just removed and reinstalled on the Apple Watch so I'm hoping that fixes it.  I've noticed the Apple Watch user interface had been updated but the problem has continued.  Any help gals and guys?

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey, @hendric5. 👋

Sorry to hear that your tunes are playing for a short amount of time. I haven't seen any other complaints about this on the community.

If you haven't already, I would recommend trying out these steps.

Let me know if you still have trouble with this. ⌚

[hendric5]

Thanks for your help, but I've traded one problem for another, it seems.  My use of the downloaded stations to the watch for playback now seems to at least get me 40-45 minutes but would still cut off after that time; however, since my last watch OS update, Pandora will not play through my Jaybird bluetooth headphones.  It asks to switch to watch mode, but then nothing happens.  I can control iPhone playback using my watch app, but if I leave the phone home and go for a run just as I've always done, it not longer makes the switch over to headphone playback.  Other apps are heard normally through the headphones.  I've disconnected the headphones and repaired them with the watch just to make sure it wasn't my bluetooth headphones.  The Apple Watch will show the "Bludebuds" headphones as connected, but I cannot initiate playback of my downloaded stations.  I removed the app from both phone and watch and reinstalled.  I also removed the downloaded stations and then redownloaded them.  Still to no avail.  I'm hoping there is either an easy quick fix for this that I'm missing or a patch/update on the way to get this corrected.  Help please!

[TannerPandora]

Hi @hendric5 thanks for following up. I'd like to gather some additional information about your device from you.

Can you let me know:

• iPhone Model: (e.g. iPhone 5c, iPod 6th gen, iPad Air2, etc.)
• iOS version: 
• Pandora version: 
• Apple Watch Model: 
• WatchOS version:

Let me know if you have any trouble finding this info. Thank You!

[hendric5]

Thanks for the super quick reply.

I have a Pandora Premium account but cannot find a version number.  I uninstalled and redownloaded the Pandora app for iPhone this morning.

iPhone 6s with iOS 13.4.1
Apple Watch Gen 4 (44mm) with OS 6.2.1

Greg

[TannerPandora]

Thanks for the info @hendric5.

You can find thePandora version: (Pandora > Profile tab > Settings gear & scroll to the bottom of the screen)

Thanks again!

[hendric5]

Oh my gosh....how did I not see that!

Version 2003.2

[TannerPandora]

@hendric5 Perf! I'm going to follow up with some engineers, and I'll get back to you when I hear back.

Oh, it just occurred to me, do you know how much storage is on your Apple Watch?

Thanks for the patience in the meantime!

[hendric5]

8.4 GB available out of 12 GB capacity.

Thanks so much for the help!  I just started having this problem earlier this week.  Been using for over 15 months without any significant issues.  All your help is much appreciated!

Greg

[hendric5]

An update to the situation....I uninstalled the app from the watch and then powered down the watch.  I deleted the app from my iPhone and then powered down the iPhone.  After 15 minutes, I powered on both devices.  I reinstalled the Pandora app, made sure it was installing on the watch, made sure Background App Refresh was set to On and I waited.  BTW - this is the exact same procedure I tried late last week that did not work.  But today, I was able to power up my bluetooth headphones and launch Pandora from the watch.  I asked me to choose my device (headphones) and within just a few seconds began Playing from Watch.  I was able to listen uninterrupted during the entire 1 hour job.  Other than 4 or 5 songs being repeated, it worked great.  I noticed, however, that only Thumbprint Radio was showing in my DOWNLOADS section, so that's what I listened to.  However, since then, the other stations I've asked to download will not show up in the DOWNLOADS section.  As a Premium member, I used to have about 7 stations in my DOWNLOADS.  Does the app now stream my stations [when the phone is not near] making DOWNLOADS defunct?  If not, why can't I get my other downloaded stations to show up.  I keep trading one problem for another.  At least at this point, I've got uninterrupted music for at least an hour.

[TannerPandora]

Thanks for the follow up @hendric5. (Thanks again for your patience too.)

Do you have cellular on your watch? Or is it WiFi/Bluetooth only?

If you do have cellular, Pandora does support standalone playback for the Apple Watch. 

[hendric5]

I have cellular so I am able to play strictly from the watch when the phone is not near.  For that reason I've typically kept about 5-7 stations in my DOWNLOADS section.  Since my last post, I have had a new station show up in my DOWNLOADS.  But it seems to take a long time.  Do both the phone and the watch need to be plugged in and charging for the download to occur?  I usually keep them side-by-side as the watch will tell me "Pandora will download your stations when your phone is near."  Just curious to know how long to expect it to show up in my watch after I've selected DOWNLOAD on the station from my phone app.

[RoyalFlush67]

I'm having the same issue with the same song being repeated in offline mode with my Apple Watch.  It will play a song, they play a couple of new songs, then repeat the song again.  If I skip the song, it will then play a new song so it's not like I have limited songs download and it's just cycling through a few songs.  This is not the case - it just chooses at random to repeat a song 2 or 3 songs later.

[TannerPandora]

Hi @RoyalFlush67, thanks for posting to community and sorry to hear this.

Have you tried any offline troubleshooting yet?

If not, can you please try following steps to reset the download process on your Apple Watch:

• Power off and restart your iPhone and Apple Watch.
• Confirm your iPhone and Apple Watch are connected via Bluetooth and to the same Wi-Fi network.
• Allow Pandora to refresh in background (Watch app on iPhone > General > Background App Refresh).
• Dock your Apple Watch on its charger.

If the issue continues after waiting some time for the download process to begin, try uninstalling and reinstalling the Pandora app using the Watch app on your iPhone.

To do that:

1. Go to the Watch app on iPhone.
2. Scroll down and find Pandora.
3. Tap Pandora and then disable the Show App on Apple Watch toggle.
4. Finally, switch the toggle back on to begin reinstalling the app.

If the issue continues, could you provide me with a bit more information about your devices?

1. What iPhone model do you have?
2. What version is your Apple Watch on? (Open the Watch app on your phone and go to General > About> Version)
3. Which Apple Watch Series do you have?

Let me know how it goes.

[RoyalFlush67 · Accepted solution]

I had done everything except the uninstall/reinstall prior to your post.  It took 2 days for all 4 offline stations to re-download after reinstall on AW (only 2 showed up next day), but now it seems to be working.  I’ll keep testing and let you know if it happens again.  I live stream much more often.

I have an iPhone 7, AW series 4 and running watch os 6.2.6 in case you need this in the future.    

[AlyssaPandora]

@RoyalFlush67 Thanks so much for letting us know.

Please don't hesitate to let us know if anything else pops up, you can reply directly on this thread.

In the meantime, hope you're enjoying the tunes! 🎶⌚