Playing doesn't begin with poor internet connection

I often use Wallabag when traveling in places with poor internet connections. I almost always use audio playback. But playback has trouble starting under these conditions; it waits until images load, and with a poor connection, the images won't load. This seems particularly odd, since images are not very important when listening to audio.

Expected behavior: Audio playback begins whether or not images load.

Current behavior: Audio playback doesn't begin until images load.

Current workaround: If I turn off my internet access on my phone, it stops trying to load images and the audio begins.

Can the audio playback behavior be changed so that it doesn't wait for image loading?