Help Trouble with in-app videos

[yoquierose]

Quick aside: this is my first time discovering and posting on this forum (I intend on becoming a regular in the development section), so if I've misplaced this thread please let me know and I'll remove it. Please don't be like the gang over at Stack that closes every one of my questions without telling me what I did wrong.

Is anyone else experiencing issues with in-app video playback for apps like ESPN or Bleacher Report? I've found YouTube to work just fine, but these apps (as well as some others) will frequently give me the standard black screen with the loading circle indefinitely. Bleacher Report's videos will work only if I click on them through notifications, and even then it's a mixed bag.

Additionally, the ESPN app oftentimes simply won't load even the Home page, it'll just come up as a big white screen. It doesn't crash the phone, so I'm free to back out and try again but that usually doesn't change anything.

Any suggestions on how to fix this would be much appreciated (if it is indeed an issue with my phone and not the app itself)! I tried googling this but no matter what query I put forth, I only found really old reddit posts and unrelated articles from ESPN and Bleacher Report.

 

[Dannydet]

What phone, android version and location

 

[yoquierose]

What phone, android version and location

Sorry, should have included this.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S9, android version 8.0.0, located near Washington D.C.

 

[JAy3001]

Is this on WiFi or mobile data? Or both?

 

[yoquierose]

Almost always occurs on WiFi (no matter where I'm connected), but only occasionally with data.

 

[JAy3001]

Are the networks your joining roaming ie free access points? And if so do you have the same issue with your home WiFi?

Most free access points severely limit your data use unless you pay extra.

 

[yoquierose]

No, they're never roaming as far as I know. I notice the issue most on my home WiFi because that's where I do the majority of my browsing. I don't have any issues like this on my PC, Mac, Xbox, or any other device. I'd ask my roommate but he's one of those "I'll never download an app" types haha.

 

[JAy3001]

Ok, so give these a go @yoquierose

• Have you checked that all the Google apps are updated in the play store? I forget which one is responsible for inline videos
• Restart your phone
• Forget your home WiFi settings on your S9 and then power down your router for a few minutes - switch it back on and reconnect your phone to your SSID.

If these steps don't help, try posting this in the S9 forums and see if anyone else is having the same issues.

https://androidforums.com/devices/samsung-galaxy-s9.13120/

 

[yoquierose]

@JAy3001 I appreciate the suggestions, but unfortunately they did not fix the issue. Thanks for the link -- I'll post my problem there next!

Thank y'all for being quick and responsive.