Emby Android app does not play videos on phone

[kjcraw4d 3]

The Emby app on my Android phone (app ver 3.4.67) has stopped playing videos and appears to freeze or lock up.  Videos play fine on Android TV/Google TV boxes and through the web interface/Windows app.  A restart of the phone will allow the app to playback a video or two but when the app is closed and reopened at some point, the freezing comes back.  And by freezing, it appears to identify the file to playback but there's no progression to the playback indicator and the playback time remains at 0:00.  In testing with a friend, he experienced the same issues when connected to my server.  He runs Android 15 and I am on Android 16 Beta.  FWIW (and I know this is an Emby forum), Plex also does not playback on either his or my phone - however, when he downloaded a Feb 2025 app version, his Plex started working.  We've cleared cache, uninstalled/reinstalled the Android app with no success.  The app was working previously.  I've tried previous apk versions with no success.  I even installed the app for Android TV on my phone (in desperation) and it worked!  Seems that there's some disconnect between the phone app and the server that's running on a Windows machine.

Is anyone else experiencing this issue?  What else can I try to provide to help with troubleshooting?

[Luke 42077]

 

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[kjcraw4d 3]

OK...let's try this.  Attached are a screenshot from my phone and the log file from the server.  I could not find how to send a log file from the android app (not android TV app).  This screen shot shows a progression in the video - this was from an attempt to play the file using the Android TV version on my phone.  I should have reset the file.

One other piece of info:  When the app starts up, I see everything on my server's home page and can scroll around; it's just when I select something to play that the issue crops up.

embyserver.txt

Edited May 20, 2025 by kjcraw4d

[Luke 42077]

Hi, how do things compare with the new 3.4.70 update?

[kjcraw4d 3]

Strangely, after my phone installed an update to Android 16 Beta (QPR1 Beta 1) on May 20 and prior to the app update, playback started functioning as expected.

I just tested the updated app both on and off of my home wifi, and playback appears to be normal.  Should things change, I'll respond to this forum thread.

Thanks for your reply and follow-up.