Resuming music playback

[poit57]

One thing that I think is a major improvement in Groove Music on Windows 10 mobile over the previous Xbox Music app or the older Music & Videos hub from WP7 is that the app can continue playing wherever the last song was paused, even after a reboot. However, I am noticing some issues with this.

First, it seems that whatever mechanism the app uses to remember the last playback position occasionally crashes. Sometimes when tapping the volume button to bring up the play controls, the most recent song is no longer listed. Other times, I tap the play button from those controls, then the song information and play controls vanish. There have also been times when I have actually opened the app, and the play controls for the last song played never appear at the bottom of the screen.

The second issue is that when the feature is working, and I open the app to continue playback, the play controls next to the most recent track takes a seemingly long time to appear - anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds to recover the spot where I left off and give me the playback controls.

I suspect the second issue may be because of the relatively slower processor on my 640 XL compared to the previous Lumia models I have used. I'm just curious if anyone else has had these issues with the Groove music app on phones. The 640 XL is the only model I've used with Windows 10.

Edit: There is one final issue that I just remembered. When using Cortana to instruct my phone to start/resume music, Cortana accepts the command, but the Groove app doesn't seem to respond to the command from Cortana.

 

[Dewg]

Same experience on 950, so it's not the processor. Very frustrating how unpolished compared to major competitors. Resume should be instant. It should never forget where it was or lose the playlist completely. It sometimes forgets you had shuffle turned on. Such a shame.

 

[astondg]

First, it seems that whatever mechanism the app uses to remember the last playback position occasionally crashes.
...
The second issue is that when the feature is working, and I open the app to continue playback, the play controls next to the most recent track takes a seemingly long time to appear - anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds to recover the spot where I left off and give me the playback controls.

I think this is all (or mostly all) handled by the Groove app, rather than anything system level, so if Groove crashes then you loose your playback position. I have semi-frequent Groove crashes on my Lumia 950. It also seems that Groove only re-loads your 'Now Playing' list after it signs you in. This makes sense from an app & service perspective but it means that it will have to make some relatively slow network calls before it's ready to go, hence the 5-20sec delay.

However I'm only guessing based on my usage of the app.

 

[Bigsro]

I think this is all (or mostly all) handled by the Groove app, rather than anything system level, so if Groove crashes then you loose your playback position. I have semi-frequent Groove crashes on my Lumia 950. It also seems that Groove only re-loads your 'Now Playing' list after it signs you in. This makes sense from an app & service perspective but it means that it will have to make some relatively slow network calls before it's ready to go, hence the 5-20sec delay.

However I'm only guessing based on my usage of the app.

Since the .107 update last week Groove has been a real thorn in my side. It was usable before the update don't get me wrong, but it only sometimes crashed. There are long standing issues with it:

Having to sign in constantly when launching the app.
Playback errors
App stability

But, it was in a solid enough state for me to use without issue 90% of the time. Following the update the app constantly fails to play songs in my playlists...just sits there seemingly playing a song but no audio. I have to try and kill off the app and resume it (it still remembers my song choice). The Groove app (with music pass) is constantly hammered on my phone and when it works it is great. But it seems to be one step forward and 2 backwards these days and I'm starting to get very frustrated with the experience that I'm considering switching to another service.

 

[Dewg]

Following the update the app constantly fails to play songs in my playlists...just sits there seemingly playing a song but no audio.

I'm getting the same problem, even with a hard reset (no restore). What I found make the song start playing is to make a phone call. After I hang up (I just call my voicemail), the song starts playing. Annoying though...

 

[onetwright]

Music resume performs terribly for me. I'd say 75% of the time, Groove disappears from the volume controls. I have to open the app and start fresh...nothing stored. No song in now playing bar. Annoys me to no end.