First few seconds of video sent from iPhone are frozen

[robotwombat]

• I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates
• I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
• I have read https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki/Submitting-useful-bug-reports
• This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

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Bug description

I encounter this bug just about every time I receive a video from someone using Signal on an iPhone.

When they send a video and I play it, the video is frozen for the first few seconds, but I can still hear the audio. Then, the video starts playing and the rest of the video is usually fine.

Steps to reproduce

• receive a video from an iPhone user
• play it
• notice that for the first few seconds, the video is frozen

Actual result: The first few seconds of the received video is frozen.

Expected result: The video should never freeze.

Device info

Device: OnePlus 7 Pro
Android version: 10
Signal version: 4.64.0

Link to debug log

https://debuglogs.org/b7251a40e0c47c2bc54945d852f8b6d84b05902234003e009fb9328d75e0cd55

EDIT: New debug log: https://debuglogs.org/74b0919baa28649f5b36770939ac2912efedd4131c1fa552bcc88d1886a67324

[AnonRS3]

I would like to add some observations on my end as well. I have a Google Pixel 3 running Android 10 (Graphene OS custom ROM). Many videos will either freeze for the first few seconds or have an extremely low frame rate for a few seconds. On the macOS app, the videos play fine, however. Seems to be an Android specific problem.

[robotwombat]

This is still an issue, and I still encounter it every time I receive a video from an iPhone user.
Here's a fresh debug log:
https://debuglogs.org/74b0919baa28649f5b36770939ac2912efedd4131c1fa552bcc88d1886a67324

[lensi]

I have the same issue, freezing for the first, as well as the last, two seconds of videos sent from an iPhone. This has been an issue for me since I can remember. At least 6 months. No errors found in the log.

Workaround is to "download" the video where it plays just fine.

Sony XZ3, Android 10, Signal 5.4.8.
I wouldn't mind sending device specs from log, but not sure where I am sending the log when I click the button (ehm privacy?) and I am not manually deleting 10k lines.

[PNeigel]

Same issue here. I created a short video (8 seconds, H264, MPEG-4 AVC. mp4) and send it from Signal-Desktop into a group. When I watch the video directly within Signal-Desktop everything is fine, but if I watch it on my Android 11 phone in the Signal app, the first two seconds of the video show a frozen frame (not even the first frame of the video!). Sound seems to be fine.

[Tursko]

Probably the same issue, but different visually :) linked for reference.
#10422

edit: stalebot perma closed my issue.

[alex9099]

Can reproduce this (since i started using signal, a couple of years ago). Friend has iphone, I have android.

Videos play audio in the first seconds but video is stuck.

Video unfreezes and plays ok after 3/4 seconds

Android 11 (Pixel experience plus)
Phone: davinci (xiaomi mi 9t)

[Tursko]

This continues to be an issue for me. Haven't been able to watch a video from my friends for over a year now. Hope this is being looked at.

[cody-signal]

Hey there, we're aware of the issue, but haven't started in on it just yet.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[robotwombat]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

The issue is not resolved.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[robotwombat]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

This issue is not yet resolved.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[robotwombat]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

This issue is not resolved.

[exonight]

Issue remains.