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Dropbox iOS app playing audio twice (double); glitch still present after latest UI update

I use Dropbox for audio playback a lot, mostly MP3 files. This audio glitch (explained in more detail below) has been present in the iOS Dropbox app for a long time now. After a recent UI overhaul the new iOS interface looks great but the doubled audio glitch is somehow still unresolved. In fact, it’s worse now, since it happens every time I open the app and start audio playback.

The audio glitch happens when starting playback of an audio file (MP3 for example) in the Dropbox iOS app. Audio starts playing, and a few seconds later, it starts playing again from the beginning while the original sound continues, so that the same audio is playing twice simultaneously with a few seconds delay between the two. It seems to have something to do with the fact that in iOS you can control playback from two different places: the Dropbox app UI, and the iOS Control Center UI. It seems as if each one generates its own playback without taking into account the other one, so both play at the same time.

I have never seen a similar problem in any other iOS app that has audio playing capabilities. I urge the Dropbox dev team to give more priority to this persistent issue that’s been present for a long time now.

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 16.4.1, Dropbox app version 324.2

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Nancy

Thanks for posting on our Community, @Mkbg!

Out of curiosity, have you already cleared the Dropbox app’s cache and reinstalled it on your device?

If not, can you please give that a go, and let me know if the issue is resolved after that?

Keep me posted for any updates.

All comments

Nancy

Thanks for posting on our Community, @Mkbg!

Out of curiosity, have you already cleared the Dropbox app’s cache and reinstalled it on your device?

If not, can you please give that a go, and let me know if the issue is resolved after that?

Keep me posted for any updates.

zacw

Thanks for posting on the forums about this issue. I'm one of the engineers working on the iOS app for things like file previews. Another engineer and I saw your app review earlier today and we've looked into this issue, but unfortunately neither of us have been able to get audio files to play multiple times simultaneously.

Here's the things we've tried to do so far:

Played an MP3, FLAC, and a few other audio formats
Played the files both "make available offline"-d and not
Viewed the files as shared links, or as contents within my Dropbox from either the Home or Files tabs
AirPlayed to a HomePod
Played via Bluetooth to AirPods
Pausing and playing in Control Center, either with the app open or in the background
Done the above on both iPad and iPhone (though I'm guessing you are reporting the issue on iPhone)

It would be helpful to know a little bit more about how you are playing the audio file. Did I miss something above that is how you are arriving on the file? Are you playing it directly on the iPhone speaker or something else? It might be useful to record a video of the issue happening for you, if you feel comfortable sharing that.

Mkbg

Everyone,

First of all, thanks for following up so quickly. Great to see such fast and thorough responses.

As per the suggestion above I cleared the Dropbox cache (Dropbox app -> Account -> Cog wheel icon -> Clear cache). After that, I played an MP3 file and the playback was normal - no glitch. Additionally, I tested as follows to see if I could duplicate the issue, which before now was happening every time I started playback:

- Restarted the phone

- Played different file types: MP3, M4B, M4A

- Played some files that are Starred; Offline; as well as some that are not Starred or Offline

- Played files via the phone speaker; Bluetooth headphones; Bluetooth earbuds

- Started and stopped playback using Dropbox UI; Control Center UI; headphones/earbuds buttons

So far, no glitch. It looks like the problem was solved by clearing the cache. I did not even have to reinstall the app.

I'll give it a few weeks to see if the problem comes back but I am optimistic.

Once again, I appreciate your help. I have updated my iOS review to 5 stars.

Andrew B.87

Hi Zacw

I’m experiencing this issue too. It has been an intermittent issue on Dropbox iOS for me for a while but seems to be much worse since updating a couple of days ago. I’ll try and recount the steps that makes it happen for me.

Open Dropbox iOS (on an iPhone 10XS Max running latest iOS version).
- play a file, in this case an mp3 file downloaded. I am opening it from the recents folder on the homepage.
- exit dropbox while listening.
- song finishes.
- decide I want to listen again, so open the Dropbox app.
- the song automatically starts playing again on launch with no prompts. There is no way to pause it because the audio api doesn’t seem to be aware it’s playing.
- force quit Dropbox will stop audio playback.
- it happens when I pause a song, exit and goes back into it. It’s auto plays but again without the app recognising it’s playing or providing the ability to pause. Only way to stop is to force quit.
- it also happens with or without AirPods.
- when it plays automatically, if you open the file in question(or another file) they playback twice.
- one other thing that I’ve experienced with it is the file double playing back a couple of ms apart so it creates a sort of echo of itself!

All very strange stuff!

Hope this is useful!

zacw

Playing audio files automatically when opening the app is a bug and one that should be fixed in an upcoming app release. If you find that version 326 or later doesn't work, please report back. I'm hopeful that this means your issue with it playing but not noticing will be eliminated -- I think it may have to do with how the app is remembering which file you were viewing the last time the app was running.

Andrew B.87

Hi Zacw,

Thanks for getting back to me. I can offer some more feedback.

The audio does automatically play back. But other new issues I’ve experienced are:

- two different audio files playing back at once when I’ve hit play / pause from the Lock Screen api. This I’ve never experienced before:
- force quitting app and auto play still happening when logging in again.

zacw

Can you share which version of the iOS app you are using? (It's under Account > Settings) Either our TestFlight beta or the one releasing today should have the fix (326 or later), but it isn't in the one on the App Store (324) right now.

Andrew B.87

Sure, it’s 324.2.2!

BenDBX

Hi Everybody,

I wanted to follow up to confirm that 326 has been released, and it should resolve this issue. Please let us know if you are still experiencing double audio on iOS and I will make sure that information gets passed on.

Regards,

Ben

Mkbg

It's been over a month now since I cleared the Dropbox cache and there have been no more instances of double audio playing. Looks like the issue is resolved. Thanks for your help.

Megan

Awesome news @Mkbg!

If you need anything else, let me know.