Android: Pandora Voice not responding to Hey, Pandora commands

[MusicFan78989]

All of a sudden, voice search has stopped working. It will respond to, "Hey, Pandora" and open the search screen. When I speak, "Play...", the microphone icon pulses to the rhythm of my words, showing that it hears them. But nothing else happens. Then it usually returns back to the homepage. Yesterday, it crashed and restarted instead.

This is the same non-response, whether I am using wifi or cellular. 

I have double checked that the app has permission to use my mic and the voice search is on (again, this started on its own, without having made any changes). I tried clearing all the app's data, updating the app, completely uninstalling and reinstalling, and double-checking it can run in the background without optimizing the battery. I just cleared out more memory on my phone too.

Still no change. Texting and emailing support just sends me back the same response on how to turn on Voice Search. It's on. I never turned it off. Now what?

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

[AdamPandora]

@MusicFan78989 I do see you have an open case with our support team regarding this issue.

If you have any additional questions, please make sure to reply back directly to the email they sent you, and they will be happy to further assist.

Thanks for being a part of the Community!

[Nicki9252]

I am having this same issue. The issue remains after an app update and clearing the cache. Seems to be a new bug (android device, issue is exact same as posted original issue)

[AdamPandora]

@Nicki9252 Sorry to hear those steps didn't help.

I'd like to report your issue to our engineering team. Can you send over a bit more info about your device?

• Model:
• Carrier:
• Android version (Settings > About Phone):
• Build number (Settings > About Phone):
• Android Security Patch Level, if noted on your device (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?

Have you identified any other patterns or notable information?

Let me know what you can find out.

[Nicki9252]

Android security patch level
January 1, 2023

Build number
TP1A.220624.014.G988USQS3GWA1

version: 2401.1 (ANDROID-TUNER 24011009)


I randomly and unexpectedly had the voice command work today just now. I
was having the aforementioned issue in my vehicles bluetooth and
disconnected from Bluetooth the issue had continued. I will be prepared for
it to stop working again and have screen recording ready to go.

Thank you

[JasonZitt]

I have the exact same issue. 

Was there a resolution? Im using a Samsung A53. I have tried clearing data, uninstalling and reinstalling. rebooting the phone. 

Still getting the same issue.  

 It will respond to, "Hey, Pandora" and open the search screen. When I speak, "Play...", the microphone icon pulses to the rhythm of my words, showing that it hears them. But nothing else happens. Then it usually returns back to the homepage. or playing the song it was already playing

[TannerPandora]

Hi @JasonZitt 

Welcome to community!

Sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with 'Hey, Pandora'. I'm happy to pass this along to our engineering team for further investigation.

Can you please confirm:

• Android OS:
• Pandora version:

Thanks!

[JasonZitt]

Android 14

Pandora version 2401.1 

tuner 24011009

The only time I really use pandora is when Im driving. If the voice feature doesnt work it isnt useful at all.  This has been doing this for a couple of months. Is there a way to just roll back to the older version that actually works? 

mod edit: merged comments

[AlyssaPandora]

Thank you for the follow up, @JasonZitt. 

We do not offer previous versions of the Pandora app to download. If you are using an Android device that is not able to upgrade to Android 7.0 or higher, you should be able to download a previous version of the Pandora app from the Google Play store. 

In the meantime, I've shared this device details and feedback with our engineering team. We appreciate your patience during this process. 🎧

[Tscarafiotti]

Having exact same issue. I have literally mirrored this post in my issue and what ive done.

It does work in my home network area, but outside of that... nope.

No sense in keeping my subscription if this is not resolved soon. 

[AlyssaPandora]

Thank you for sharing your experience, @Tscarafiotti. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. I've added your feedback to the internal ticket we have open for this issue. Your patience is greatly appreciated during this process. 🎧

[chz5150]

I finally found a forum that describes the issue better than me. I have been having this problem since, what I feel, was a User One update, one which seemed to istaul their AI software because I got a prompt almost immediately after. I have a Samsung S21+ and most likely the most recent version of Pandora because I have reinstalled it several times and it finally took an update last week but it didn't solve the problem. I called T-Moble and they forwarded me to Samsung support but Samsung support isn't what it used to be. It's very frustrating I use the Pandora everyday on my phone and PC Even with the glitch I like it better than Spotify. I hope they find a fix soon. Thank you.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey, @chz5150. 👋

Your feedback means a lot to us, thank you for taking the time to report this. I definitely understand how frustrating this can be.

We've received reports from other community friends about similar experiences after that update. In the meantime, our moderation team is sharing all feedback with our engineering team. That being said, I have shared yours as well - thank you for including your device info.

We appreciate your patience as navigate these issues. 🎧

[SirMatthewKBE]

Add me to the list! It JUST happened to me.  IF I ask Google Assistant to ask Pandora to play a song, it does but that's the ONLY way, and it is a bit sloppy. 

Samsung Galaxy A13 5G 

Android Version 13 

Pandora Version 2403.1 

Oh, forgot to add I did submit a formal support request and if I get a solution, I'll post it.

Moderator Edit: Merged posts

[Tscarafiotti]

I canceled my premium account until they resolve it. I wont pay 1.00 more for an app that now does less. 

[JasonZitt]

I did the same

[Nicki9252]

And it started up again yesterday. I have yet to update pandora, unless it has done so without my permission according to my settings. 

[Awwcool22]

I'm having the exact same issue. The app responds to "Hey Pandora" then I can see that it hears my voice. It then just returns to the app home page. No "I'm sorry i didn't hear that" no nothing. I use this app every day, and this is very frustrating.

Pixel 7 Pro

Android 14 Build: AP1A.240405.002

Verizon

Pandora Tuner 24031003

[SirMatthewKBE]

As far as  I know, there have not been any updates because I have specifically excluded updating MOST apps since all it seems to do is decrease the performance of my phone.  When I had the issue, the ONLY thing I had updated were a few Google apps that basically told me if I didn't update them, it would involve some sort of chaos on my phone.  Pandora had no pending updates at that time.  I am wondering if one of those Google updates, perhaps with speech recognition, is the reason for this issue? I wish we could roll back updates and see IF that is the issue.  I thought about restoring a few to their original settings to see.   

Yes, that's exactly what mine does.  It acts like it is hearing me but it just disappears after.  If I tell Google to tell it to do something, like play a specific song, then the Pandora app does, but it doesn't do it by voice, but software.   I hope they come up with a fix for this soon.  It's ironic that something I didn't often use is now something I really want to have working! I started walking again and it's a pain to have to play with the phone every single time I want to skip a song, etc.,  and so I could just ask it to do it, but now, I'm back to fiddling with the phone.  If I DO go the Google assistant route, it takes it a bit longer, and it doesn't always work the way I want.  Ah, technology.  It makes me miss my old cd-walkman!  

I can certainly understand that.  I hope that seeing people drop the paid plans will make them act faster.  It's apparently been going on for a while now.   I was thinking it could be a Google update that caused the issue, but I know iphone users use it as well.  I wonder if there are any iphone users in this thread? I looked at the Pandora app's ratings from the apple store and couldn't find any mention of the issue there.  

mod edit: merged comments

[SirMatthewKBE]

I can certainly understand that.  I hope that seeing people drop the paid plans will make them act faster.  It's apparently been going on for a while now.   I was thinking it could be a Google update that caused the issue, but I know iphone users use it as well.  I wonder if there are any iphone users in this thread? I looked at the Pandora app's ratings from the apple store and couldn't find any mention of the issue there.  

[SirMatthewKBE]

I JUST got an email from support asking me to do the VERY THINGS I told them I had ALREADY DONE and DID NOT WORK!  I was just a bit annoyed before but now I'm a rather ticked! WHY can't they just fix this????