Automattic / Automattic/pocket-casts-android

Video Pauses when Orientation is set to Landscape while in Picture-in-Picture mode

Open
#3,807 20 comments 3 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
[Area] Player UI [Priority] Low [Type] Bug
Dominant language
Kotlin
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Forks
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Avg merge
1d 13h
Merged PRs (30d)
143

Description

### Description

When playing a video podcast in landscape mode the video appears blank (black screen) or the video pauses while the audio of the video continues to play in the background.

This is an intermittent error that seems to be triggered when a video podcast enters Picture-in-Picture mode. Exiting picture-in-picture returns the user to the view with the podcast player controls and the video resumes playing normally. Then, during the same session entering landscape mode again, may result in a blank screen while audio continues to play. To resolve the error the user needs to restart the app.

### Step-by-step reproduction instructions

1. In Android app, play video Podcast in the view with the player controls.
2. Note video plays normally, video and audio are working.
3. While in portrait mode, tap the video to hide player controls.
4. Note the background is black and the video continues to play.
5. Rotate the mobile device into landscape mode.
6. Tap the landscape icon to expand the video in landscape mode.
7. Note the video and audio continue to play.
8. Tap the video in landscape mode.
9. Select picture-in-picture mode.
10. Note that the video pauses, and the audio continues to play.
11. Tap the video again, then select the portrait mode icon.
12. In portrait mode, note that the video is paused while audio plays.
13. Tap the X to exit portrait mode and return to the view with player controls.
14. Note the video resumes playing and audio continues.
15. Try landscape mode again, a blank screen may be shown while audio plays.

Might be related to: https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-android/issues/165
9559011-zd-a8c

### Screenshots or screen recording

Podcast player controls view showing a video podcast at the top, playback is normal.
Image

Video podcast in landscape mode and full screen after tapping on the icon to change the orientation:
Image

### Did you search for existing bug reports?

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

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

App version (7.84.1)
Device: Samsung S22
Android: version 14

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Reproduce the issue on a Samsung S22 running Android 14 with app version 7.84.1, following the listed portrait, landscape, and picture-in-picture transitions. Trace the Android video podcast player and orientation/PiP handling from that reproduction; done means video remains visible and continues playing with audio after exiting PiP and repeating landscape mode.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, kotlin
Domain
audio-video-rtc, mobile
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
50/100

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