Android TV Unrecoverable Playback Error

[ghost]

Checklist

• I am using the latest version - 0.21.9
• I checked, but didn't find any duplicates (open OR closed) of this issue in the repo.
• I have read the contribution guidelines given at https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/blob/HEAD/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md.
• This issue contains only one bug. I will open one issue for every bug report I want to file.

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. Open any video on sideloaded Newpipe app on android tv
2. Try to use the "back button" (return button) on a TV remote
3. Crashes with "unrecoverable playback error"

Actual behavior

It crashes with "unrecoverable playback error"

Expected behavior

It shouldn't crash as it didn't crash in 0.21.8

Screenshots/Screen recordings

Logs

Device info

• Android version/Custom ROM version: Android Pie
• Device model: (Sony bravia) it also crashes on several other android tvs such as Sony, Samsung and LG

[litetex]

I did some tests yesterday with the android TV emulator (API 29 & 23) and everything worked fine.

Some aspects to further narrow down the problem:

• Does the problem also persist when using an older version of NewPipe e.g. 0.21.8? - please also fill out the "x.xx.x"-version placeholder in the issue description
• What codecs / media formats does the TV support? Does e.g. switching the default video format to MPEG-4/WebM/3GP prevent the problem?
• Could your try to recover the logs when the problem happens? Else it's nearly impossible to tell what goes wrong.
• A example video would also be nice

[ghost]

Hi litetex, I'm using 0.21.9 and the problem doesn't persist with 0.21.8.
The TVs I tested them on all support the media formats that were available in 0.21.8.
I can't really help with logs atm but the issue occurs shortly after navigating/playing videos on Android TVs and should appear on any Android TV (unsure about emulators).

NewPipe tends to have issues related to navigating using a TV remote and just TV specific bugs in general, I don't know Java and can't fix these issues myself but I'm more than willing to test PRs/RCs and create a guide on how to sideload NewPipe onto Android TVs so that more people are able to enjoy it on their TVs.

[litetex]

@zubayy
Thank you for your feedback.
I can't really figure out what was changed so that this broke.
Having to pass this on with someone who has a Android TV in hardware form.

@B0pol
If you have any spare time it would be nice if you could please check if the same happens on your Android TV - if you still have one.
You were mentioned in #6978 (comment) that's why I'm pinging here 😄

[ghost]

litetex the problem occurs when using the "back/return button" on a TV remote. I'm unsure if aventlys #6895 fixes the issue but I suspect there may be more to this issue then fixing the "behavior of a back button" since it's Android TV specific.
I don't think this issue has anything to do with the dpad but rather TV remote specific buttons like fastforward/backward and especially the back/return which worked as intended on 0.21.8 but don't work on 0.21.9.

[ghost]

For what it's worth, behaviour changed here with 0.21.9, on regular android. Pressing the Back button when watching a video or when the video has finished playing, instead of exiting out of it and going back to the previous page, it just reloads the current video but in a "non-started" state where it just shows the thumbnail with a Play icon over it, and I have to press Back a second time to actually go back.

It's possible this is related, because unrecoverable player errors can tend to happen under certain conditions, when opening a video, and pressing the Back button here essentially has the same effect as if you were freshly opening the video.

[ghost]

@litetex does what @Ammako suggested help narrow down the issue? Pretty sure it's just related to TV remote buttons but it might be related to changes made to the back button that affect all devices, thanks for fixing dpad btw.