Automattic / Automattic/pocket-casts-android

Casting to Google Speaker Group: Playback Speed: 1.5x and above causes degraded audio

Open
#3,329 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
[Area] Chromecast [Priority] Low [Type] Bug
Dominant language
Kotlin
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
1d 13h
Merged PRs (30d)
143

Description

### Description

I looked into other reports like https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-android/issues/154, and this seems unique since the user confirmed it does not happen when they use the phone speakers or a Bluetooth device and also when casting to a single Google Nest device.

The issue occurs when casting to a speaker group at 1.5x speed and higher, which results in choppy playback. No other playback effects are enabled, and the issue persists.

They also confirmed that other apps like YouTube or Smart Audiobook Player at 1.75 and 2x speed do not have the issue.

### Step-by-step reproduction instructions

1. Set your playback speed to 1.7x
2. Cast to a group of Google Nest devices or similar: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7174267?hl=en
3. Notice the audio is choppy, but if you cast to a single device, it isn't choppy

### Screenshots or screen recording

_No response_

### Did you search for existing bug reports?

- [x] I have searched for existing bug reports.

### Device, Operating system, and Pocket Casts app version

Google Pixel 9

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reproducing the issue on a Google Pixel 9 using Pocket Casts for Android: set playback to 1.7x and cast to a Google Nest speaker group, then compare with a single device and local or Bluetooth playback. Trace the Android casting and playback-speed entry points, and consider the issue done when high-speed playback is no longer choppy for speaker groups while the comparison cases remain unaffected.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
kotlin
Domain
mobile
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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