Audio Block: can’t play the files by pressing “Open” while in the editor

[startuptester]

Describe the bug
Reported by @thehenrybyrd
From within Gutenberg, I can’t play the files by pressing “Open”. The files were an .mp3, .m4a, .wav, and an .ogg. This is in contrast with the Video Block, where I can press play and the file opens and plays.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. While in the editor, open an audio block
2. Add an Audio file to the block
3. Tap "open" to have the file open and play

Expected behavior
Like video block, the file opens and plays

Screenshots

Smartphone (please complete the following information):

• Device: iPhone SE
• OS: iOS 14.3
• WPiOS 16.7

[jd-alexander]

Thanks for reporting and triaging @startuptester @thehenrybyrd . We will check this out.

[hypest]

👋 @startuptester ! It's not too clear to me what happens after pressing on the "open" button: the audio won't play at all even after pressing some additional button perhaps? So, there's a deadend and the file is not playable, or does the user need to tap on more things to make it play?

[thehenrybyrd]

@hypest to clarify: there is a deadend and the file is not playable.
In each case, the file looks like it's loading (there's a small spinner just above the controls), but it never loads and never plays. Pressing the pause/play button changes nothing on the screen and does not play the file, nor does pressing the +15 seconds button.

[hypest]

Thanks for confirming @thehenrybyrd ! Another question that came to mind is, using the same file on the same site, does an audio post created on the desktop web play OK in the mobile browser? (One way to try that is to publish a post from the desktop and then find it in the app Reader and view it. Asking since from some convo with @jd-alexander , this could be an issue with the browser, not the editor so, if the same issue happens when posting from the desktop then it will be a good clue.

[startuptester]

@thehenrybyrd I am unable to repro this on iPhone 12 Pro, 14.4 running WPiOS 16.7.0.1

When I am in the Gutenberg editor, either a newly created page//post or editing a published one, pressing open does play the audio for an mp3 and wav

Am I missing a step?

[thehenrybyrd]

This is turning out to be tricky to reproduce on my end as well.
The initial post still has the issue and I'm unable to play the files by tapping "open".

However, creating a new post and uploading the mp3, I am able to play it. Creating another new post and uploading the mp3, I'm not able to play it. All on the same site. I haven't experienced this issue on any other sites I've been testing with on mobile. This site has a Premium plan, and the other sites I've tested on have the Personal plan and Free plan, respectively.
One thing that might effect this is adding several audio blocks quickly to a post?

As to @hypest's suggestion:

using the same file on the same site, does an audio post created on the desktop web play OK in the mobile browser?

To clarify, I had trouble within the editor, rather than the in-app browser. I did try this out though, and the mp3 file played OK when tapping "open" from the editor, as well as when I checked in Reader.

Here's a recording, including my original post with the issue and a post I've created from the web:

RPReplay_Final1613662227.MP4

Given how finicky this is acting, I'm not convinced it's something a lot of users will be running into.

[mchowning]

Given how finicky this is acting, I'm not convinced it's something a lot of users will be running into.

I'll mark this as low priority for now, but let's update that if it turns out this is more common.

[ceyhun]

For me it works fine on self-hosted sites and a wpcom business plan atomic site, both in editor and the in-app browser.
On a wpcom site with premium plan it doesn't work at first when I add it and try to play inside the editor. But if I try to preview and play inside the in-app browser, it plays fine. Then if I close the preview it starts working in the editor as well. After that, if I close and re-open the editor for the same post, it keeps working.

The main difference I observed between the two cases is the player showing "Live Broadcast" instead of the slider and the elapsed/total time.

My guess is that the first time we try to play in the browser, the browser maybe triggers the live broadcast in the backend to be generated, but that trigger maybe doesn't happen when we use the player inside the editor.

[ceyhun]

Another report: internal reference p5T066-2lo-p2#comment-8763