Emoji in podcast titles causes a disconnect loop from Android Auto

[davidyoung604]

Checklist

• I have used the search function for OPEN issues to see if someone else has already submitted the same bug report.
• I have also used the search function for CLOSED issues to see if the problem is already solved and just waiting to be released.
• I will describe the problem with as much detail as possible.
• If the bug only to occurs with a certain podcast, I will include the URL of that podcast.

App version

3.3.2

Where did you get the app from

Google Play

Android version

14

Device model

Pixel 7

First occurred

No response

Steps to reproduce

1. have one or more podcasts with emoji in the episode title downloaded and in your queue
2. load up in Android Auto (through the car's screen)
3. select one of the emoji-containing entries from the queue

Sample episodes I've confirmed the behaviour with:

• https://changelog.com/practicalai/179
• https://changelog.com/practicalai/254

Expected behaviour

Play the episode

Current behaviour

1. disconnect loop happens immediately
2. car's screen indicates the phone is rapidly connecting and disconnecting a few times per second
3. un-plug and re-plug USB to reconnect (no need to force-stop the app)
4. pick an episode from the queue that doesn't have emoji in the title and it plays fine

Logs

Edit: Got logs over the weekend. Apologies for the delay.

full-logs.txt

[tonytamsf]

I have not verified this bug yet, pretty funny that someone would put emoji into an episode title. Looking at the logs, it will also crashed if playing over Bluetooth headphones?

[davidyoung604]

Nope, the same episode plays fine while using bluetooth headphones (just tested a few mins ago to confirm). Based on what I'm seeing, it seems to be the tuple (AntennaPod, Android Auto, emoji). Any two in isolation of the third is fine:

• WhatsApp chats with emoji in the chat name show up in Android Auto notifications without issue
• AntennaPod can play the same episode from the queue without issue either via phone speakers or bluetooth headphones
• AntennaPod can play non-emoji-containing episodes (even from the same subscription) in Android Auto without issue

If you have suggestions on things I can try to help narrow this down, I'm down to help. I work as a backend dev, so I don't mind tinkering, but I have exactly zero skill points in the app space.

EDIT: I just realized that this wasn't emphasized in my original post, but viewing the list of episodes in the queue is fine. It's only when trying to play the episode with emoji in the title that it gets into the disconnect loop. So I wonder if it's potentially an issue with the playback view in Android Auto?

[tonytamsf]

@davidyoung604 thanks for troubleshooting. If you play that episode on an app like PocketCast， does that work? I am wondering if we need to strip out special characters to the audio player. That would be weird.

[davidyoung604]

I finally got a chance to test this today with Pocket Cast, and it behaved in exactly the same way: everything was fine until the moment I hit play, then it got into a crash loop. There was a slight difference though, in that un-plugging and re-plugging the USB cable didn't let me continue using Android Auto. Even force-stopping the app didn't address it, so I had to fully uninstall it. Maybe related to auto-resuming playback?