soundcloud / soundcloud/api

Let us change playback speed on embeds (playbackRate)

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widget
Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
254
Forks
53
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Hey SoundCloud team,
Can we please get a way to change the playback speed on embeds? Right now, there’s no way to do it through the Widget API, and CORS completely blocks us from forcing it with standard JavaScript on our own sites.
Adjusting playback rate is pretty much an industry standard at this point. YouTube has ytPlayer.setPlaybackRate(speed), and honestly, any major streaming platform with an embed API should have this out of the box. It’s a massive missing feature for anyone embedding podcasts, educational tracks, or tutorials where users need to speed things up or slow them down.
It would be awesome if we could get a method like SC.Widget.Method.SET_PLAYBACK_RATE or even just a simple URL query parameter like &speed=1.5. (And honestly, while you're at it, adding a speed toggle to the main desktop site would be incredible too 🙏).
This feels like a relatively straightforward feature that would open up a ton of value for developers trying to use SoundCloud embeds in their apps instead of migrating to other players.
Appreciate the consideration, hope this can get on the radar soon!

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
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Research direction

Start with the Widget API entry point and the requested playbackRate capability. Compare the proposed SC.Widget.Method.SET_PLAYBACK_RATE and URL query parameter approaches, then define which supported interface and embed behavior would count as complete.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
api
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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