Android app dropouts

Hi

I run a small J1 Samsung smartphone with the Roon Android app in the kitchen. It’s wireless then Bluetooth to my B & O speaker. Once running it lasts less than 20 mins before stopping. When I look at the phone it’s says Roon has stopped working

There is a wi fi extender within line of site at 4 meters to which the phone is connected. The Bluetooth speaker is centimeters away

My iPad runs with no issues as do the remainder of my Ethernet or wi fi devices.

We have 3 identical phones which all show this behavior. Is there any known issues with the Android app ?

Mike

Thanks for sharing your report with us, @Mike_O_Neill!

So we can better understand what may be happening here, may I ask that you please provide a brief description of your current setup using this link as a guide.

Make sure to describe your network configuration/topology, including any networking hardware currently in use, so we can have a clear understanding of how your devices are communicating.

Just to confirm, does this behavior happen even if you’re not playing to the Bluetooth speaker? When you’re using the iPad are you also playing to this speaker?

Are you playing local content or TIDAL content when this behavior occurs?

Thanks!
Dylan

i have 2 different android phones (android 4.5 and 6, if i am not wrong), and i have (almost) the same problem.
roon app completely sucks the battery… 2 hours and it’s gone (without roon, more than 24h).
and if you go out of home (loosing wifi connection) and forget to KILL it (yes, kill), roon app sucks even more.

-no blutooth, just plain wifi connection
-no tidal, only local
-no network or battery problem whatsoever with any app, never

but the official answer has been: we do not test android hardware, just iphone and itab.

Same here. I think that the Android phone app needs to be kept open to maintain connection. If you have any sort of power management software on the phone, I think it might be stopping it for battery usage.

Hi @dylan
My set up as concerned here

Core PC (less than 6 months old from a complete rebuild so all recent components)
i7 7700 CPU
16 GB RAM
250 SSD for system files and Roon DB etc

Router - TP Link W8970 (single band 2.4 ghz)
Wireless 300N , core connected by gigabit ethernet

End Points
RPi / Allo Digione Ethernet from TPLInk Switch
Coax to Audiolab M-DAC -> Sennheiser HD800

2 x Wi Fi Extender RE450 (AC1750 dual band running only on 2.4 Ghz band)

Samsung J1 Smartphone connected by Wi Fi (via extender < 3 m away)
Connected by Bluetooth to Beoplay A1 Blutooth speaker (< 1 m from phone)

(I have 3 x of these J1 , this is the spare. All 3 have been substituted and show the same behaviour)
I use one routinely with Bluetooth headphones on VLC and see no dropouts)

2 x iPad Mini
Connected Bluetooth to same Beoplay A1 speaker as and when

The 3 x Ji and 2 x Ipads are NEVER connected together , only one Bluetooth device connected to Beoplay at a time. One has a smashed screen and simply lives next to the A1 as a permanent endpoint

The J1 is used primarily for background music in the kitchen , normally set on Radio with a seed track. The problem is that after maybe 10 minutes , often less the whole thing stops and the error messafe says that Roon has stopped , the report option simply results in a blank page to send and error to you I dont think it sends any diagnostics

If I substitute one of the iPads I get trouble free playback . The reason for using the J1 is that I can easily replace batteries cheaply and easily in the J1 whereas its a dealer job on Apple and expensive

I trust this explains , from the 2 posts above it may suggest that the Android app has an issue.

Mike

Sorry missed a bit from the core

it has 4 HDD running as well, 1x2, 1x3 2x4 Tb as well as the 250 Gb SSD

It has JRiver running as a server for video in the background, but at the time of the issue this would be inactive

Mike

I use a similar setup the android app in my garage to bluetooth. Mine works for hours at a time so the app can work. It does eat the battery a little but I’m not too surprised by that - relatively early versions of apps can be a little hungry. Navigation app Waze used to eat the battery quicker than a standard charger could refill the battery.
If you run the setup without the bluetooth component does it still die?
Do you know anyone with another android phone you could borrow to do a "same setup " test?
Ged
_

Thanks for the details, @Mike_O_Neill!

So I can gain some further insight here, please see the following:

  • Can you confirm whether or not there are any power saving settings are active on the Android devices?
  • When this behavior occurs are you actively using the Android device? Or does this happen when it goes idle?
  • Do you experience any similar behavior if you play these tracks to these devices outside of Roon?

Thanks!
Dylan

Screen Timeout is set to 10 mins . This is the highest setting there is no setting to allow the screen to ALWAYS be active

My best guess is that it happens when the screen shuts down , I have never actually observed it happen.

Does the transfer stop when the display is not active , this was suggested above. This does not seem to be the case in iOS

I have VLC Media Player installed which I use to play local files via Bluetooth to headphones and this plays with no issue even when the screen “blacks out” , it runs for at least 60 mins , I haven’t tested longer than that (my gym sessions are SHORT !!)

Mike

Hey @Mike_O_Neill,

Thanks for the info. In order to confirm that the device sleeping is what is at play here, I’d like to propose a test.

If you set the sleep timer to be much shorter temporarily (like 30 seconds), does this behavior occur much more quickly? Or does it still happen after the same amount of time regardless of the device sleeping?

Thanks!
Dylan

Hi

Funny you should mention it , that’s exactly what I’m doing at the moment … BUT its not failed yet

The screen dims after (2 mins - setting) but doesn’t shut off completely . I am not sure what the phone should do , I thought it went to sleep after the specified time , it seems to just dim the display to save power

When I left the Roon app to change that setting the music stopped and I got a report saying Roon had stopped

It looks like when the app loses screen focus is the cause

I’ll keep playing Mozart and report back

Mike

It played for a while but eventually failed. It didn’t seem to obey the 2 Mins power saving setting …

The only pattern I can see is that when the UI loses focus the play stops . Eg going to another app (maybe settings)

There seems no logic to the phone dimming the screen and closing down that I can see. When it closes down Roon (the app) stops, Roon on the desktop is fine. Restarting the Android app restarts play where it left off , actually the next track

Mike

Thanks for the info and testing here, @Mike_O_Neill!

Just to verify, you can start playing and then right away switch to a different app and playback will stop? Does this happen every time?

-Dylan

Yes , as soon as you move away from the UI it stops

The eg is if you go to Settings to check something it stops

This doesn’t seem to happen on the iOS version

Mike

Have been running iOS all day without a problem on 2 iPads

Looks like the Android app

Mike

Thanks for the update, @Mike_O_Neill!

The team is currently investigating this behavior internally. As soon as more information becomes available I’ll be sure to update you.

Thanks!
Dylan

This seems to be only on the phone, if you are using a tablet on the landscape orientation, it seems to be ok.

May well be .

@dylan for your info

I just got press ganged into weeding the herb beds :heart_eyes: , on the proviso that I could have my headphones on !!

JRiver - JRemote ran for 2 hrs , I switched to Roon , it lasted ONE TRACK . Feeding Bluetooth earphones from the offending phone . So it certainly doesn’t look like a phone - Bluetooth issue and it points to the app.

I only have the Samsung J1 phones (all 3 behave the same too) to test this on , I have no other Android devices.

In the same way it seems not to be happening on the Ios app on my iPad Mini.

Mike

Hey @Mike_O_Neill,

Apologies for the delayed response here. The technical team has been investigating your report and has tried to reproduce this in-house, but unfortunately we have not been able to. Part of the reason may be that the Android version of the device you have is a bit older than what we have in house.

We are currently in the process of overhauling Roon’s audio playback on Android. This work is in the early stages, and I don’t have a time frame for exactly when those changes might go live, but it’s worth mentioning that those changes are coming, as we believe there’s a good chance they’ll help with this issue that you’re experiencing.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated as news becomes available on these changes.

Thanks,
Dylan

Hi Dylan

Am I imagining things , I updated to the 354 release and my Android woes seem to have gone away .

I ran for a whole albums worth yesterday, I’ll keep using it and comment

Should the Android SDK change have done this ?

It seems fixed – Hurrah !!!

Cheers

Mike

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