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I've had my Charge for about a month and while it's a generally good phone, I'm having a re-occurring issue and I'm hoping somebody can help me.
In the time that I've had it, when I'm listening to streaming audio or audio saved to my SD card the media will suddenly and unexpectedly pause on it's own. Not only does it pause, the icon of the media player (Beyond Pod, Pandora, Slacker, WinAmp, Google Music) will also disappear. The pauses are random and don't seem to follow any pattern.
The phone was given to me by a family member and I activated it at the store, did a factory reset (I also did another one about a week ago) and reformatted the SD card. From talking to the family member, he never had any issues with these pauses. The pauses occur both with and without headphones. The pauses also occur at times when I have a strong wifi/3g signal so I don't believe that signal drops are the cause. I would chalk it up to streaming/signal issues if it didn't also happen when I'm listening to saved podcasts from my SD card.
Thanks!
Solved! Go to Correct Answer
Jerry's the "expert" but I think that the app in question is having a challenge with interoperability with the Charge. That's one of the issues that the app makers need to worry about with Android. With the iphone, they only have to worry about one phone (or variants of it, like the 4S), Android app developers have to worry about operability with different models with differenct specs and different UI overlays. An app reader will work well on the Droid X, for example, but not the Charge.
ClownBaby0524,
Here is a WAG, try having only one or the other running, that is WiFi or 3G, at the same time you are listening to the audio.
Maybe you might try it with neither WiFi or nor 3G running just to rule out interference. I know this would not be a solution, it's just to see if there is any interference.
BTW, I never run both WiFi and Mobile Data (3G/4G) at the same time. It saves the battery.
JerryF
Thanks for your response Jerry. I should have been more clear initially, I run only wifi or 4G at any given time. I was trying to say that no matter which I'm running (wifi OR 4G), I still get the random pauses.
I should also add that these pauses occur on both my wifi at home and on a different wifi network at work.
I assume that you are using the APP Music Player that came with your Charge phone. Why not go to Google's "The Market" and download a different Music Player APP and try it. The nice thing is that if this new one does not work you can un-install it.
JerryF
Another idea. Touch the ICON Task Manager. Then at the top of the display touch RAM. Then at the botom of the display touch Clear memory. Now go back and play your "stuff or feeds." Does it still pause???
JerryF
I've never used the stock player. I use Google Music (streaming) or the Beyond Pod (from SD) player. I get the same pauses on Pandora. I cleared the memory in the Task Manager, RAM tab and I'm still getting the same pauses.
Try a soft reset: http://support.verizonwireless.com/clc/devices/knowledge_base.html?id=42443
Try using the stock player. Then maybe un-install the two players you downloaded and again try the stock player. I am surprised you never used the stock player.
JerryF
I don't do restarts very often so that is probably a good idea.
I don't have anything against the stock player, but it isn't going to be able to stream all my music from my computer (Google Music) or other streaming music/comedy that I get from Pandora. I could download the podcasts from Beyond Pod and then play on the stock, but since I'm alread in the BeyondPod app I use it to play the downloaded media.
The thing that is frustrating here is that I had all these apps and used them the same way on my previously owned Droid X. The Charge is suposedly a superior phone, but needing to restart it, clear memory and use the stock player only just so the phone functions properly goes against the whole point of owning the phone.
Thanks again for your help.
ClownBabyo524,
Just do one test for me. Leaving everything as it is on your phone, play your "stuff" using the stock APP that came with your phone called: Music Player. Did it work properly, yes or no?
Best,
JerryF
Alright, per my usual routine I listened to two, hour-long podcasts this morning using the stock Music Player. No freezes, so to simply answer your question, Yes.
Any ideas on the cause? I'm thinking that the OS is killing my other audio apps due to a memory constraints. I don't have any task killers installed.
Clownbaby0524,
Thank you for letting me know your results. I appreciate it because so many folks never respond back to me. I'm glad it's working.
I don't know why; all I know is that for some unexplained reason some APPs just don't work!
Best regards,
JerryF
I have a follow-up to my post above. After nearly completing a third podcast (still using the stock player) I decided to check a widget on my home screen. I hit the home screen and when I did the podcast stopped. I went back into the stock app after browsing the home screen and it started over from the beginning. This happened a couple more times. Is this just something the stock player does, or is it another issue?
Jerry's the "expert" but I think that the app in question is having a challenge with interoperability with the Charge. That's one of the issues that the app makers need to worry about with Android. With the iphone, they only have to worry about one phone (or variants of it, like the 4S), Android app developers have to worry about operability with different models with differenct specs and different UI overlays. An app reader will work well on the Droid X, for example, but not the Charge.
Thanks Phillybama1. My issues being chalked up to 'Android being Android' is what I suspected and feared all along. Hopefully I'll get a software update one day that will fix it . When I got Gingerbread on my X, I lost my ability to sustain a connection to my home wifi and now with the Charge and Froyo I'm having these problems.
I never considered an iOS phone before but it's starting to get a little frustrating spending money on these phones and having to deal with the issues that come along with them.
Clownbaby0524,
Phillibama is correct. Thanks for the comment.
Also, it appears that the stock played can only restart, not resume; but one more thought.
Your pauses may be because the player had to get more data to play. Bring up one of your APP players and press the menu button (lower left corner). Many APPs give you some options from which to choose. Look over these options and see if there might be anything related to player speed, buffer size, no pauses, or anything else that may have something to do with stopping your troublesome pauses.
That's it for now
JerryF
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