Pandora is now working again for me. I don't know if it was the steps I performed, or if the issue has been fixed in an update. ... View more

My Model is TCL - 50" Class Q6-Series 4K UHD HDR QLED Smart Google TV (purchased Dec. 2024). This was not a problem until recently. It appears that an update to the TV has broken Pandora.  When I open Pandora, I see a blue, white, and black screen, sometimes it's strobing. It's a little different each time so I don't think a picture would help. There are no controls on the screen and no text. The music plays, but I can't change stations or pause it. There is no error message. ++  This solution did not work for me, and several of the instruction steps did not match the menu options on my TV. Casting works, but it's draining my phone battery. I will probably cancel Pandora if this is not fixed soon. Moderator Edit: Merged posts   ... View more

Found this. Haven't tried it yet. A recent update has broken the Pandora app on TCL Google TV. I've tried all the solutions and they solve that problem temporarily, but the next time I open the Pandora App, it's broken again. If standard troubleshooting only works temporarily, your TV is likely hitting a persistent memory conflict or a broken system-level web component introduced by the recent firmware update. [1, 2] Several user reports on the Pandora Community Forums confirm this exact looping behavior where the app plays audio but glitches or freezes within minutes. [, 2] Try these deeper, system-level workarounds to break the cycle. 1. Disable Google TV Picture Processing Glitches Recent TCL updates have caused a known bug where the TV’s background video/image smoothing conflicts with music app visualizers, causing them to freeze or crash. [1] Go to Settings > Display & Sound > Picture. Select Advanced Settings > Clarity. Turn OFF Motion Smoothing (MEMC), Dynamic Contrast, and Noise Reduction. Change your overall Picture Mode to Standard. [1, 2, 3] 2. Clear System-Level Cache (Not Just Pandora) The bug might live in the Android system components that feed the app, rather than Pandora itself. [1] Go to Settings > Apps > See all apps > scroll to the bottom and select Show system apps. Find Google TV Home (or Android TV Home) and select Clear Cache. Find Google Play Services and select Clear Cache. Restart the TV by holding down the remote's Power button until the "Power Off" menu prompts a full reboot. 3. Uninstall Android System WebView Updates Pandora uses an internal Android tool called "WebView" to render its user interface. If a system update broke WebView compatibility, Pandora will crash every time it reloads graphics. Go to Settings > Apps > See all apps > Show system apps. Locate Android System WebView. Click Uninstall updates. This rolls it back to a stable factory version. Note: Go to the Google Play Store settings and temporarily disable "Auto-update apps" so the TV doesn't reinstall the broken WebView version overnight. 4. Cast from Your Phone (The Reliable Alternative) Because this is a verified compatibility bug between the current TCL firmware version and Pandora's app build, the permanent fix requires a patch from either TCL or Pandora. Until that patch drops, you can bypass the TV's broken interface entirely:  Open Pandora on your phone or tablet. Tap the Cast icon (the small TV/Wi-Fi wave symbol). Select your TCL Google TV. The TV will stream the audio directly through your speakers without relying on the glitchy on-screen app menu. Would you like instructions on how to report this bug directly to Pandora's Android TV development team so they can fast-track a fix? (Go to the TCL site and ask for the instructions).   ... View more

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.   ... View more

I have a Roku Premiere. It hasn't failed me yet. Moderator Edit: Link sharing ... View more

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. ... View more

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.   ... View more

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. ... View more

Brilliant solution. I actually have a Roku and never thought of trying it. I'm not convinced, though, that's it a problem with the board. I've got solid-state boards that are 30-years old and still working fine. I suspect that it's a problem with the Sony software, like the many issues with search and the inability to keep proper track of the shows I've been watching, which keep getting worse and worse. I think the software hasn't been kept up-to-date because they want us to buy new TVs.  My computer works fine, but not always with older software. ... View more

I'm guessing that your engineering team does not have an older Sony smart TV to test things on.    ... View more

No effect. Still freezing.   ... View more

Done. I'll let you know. Bob ... View more

I have the same problem with my Sony TV. Doing A force stop fixes it, but only temporarily, usually for one day. I am on the free version of Pandora. I was thinking of subscribing, but not to an app that doesn't work. ... View more