Bug: VLC Android Crashes When Audio Focus Is Interrupted by Another App

Description

When using VLC for Android to play music (for example, in a car), if another application (such as a GPS navigation app) temporarily takes over the audio output to provide voice instructions and then releases it back to VLC, VLC crashes instead of resuming playback.

This issue occurs consistently whenever another app grabs and then releases the audio device or audio focus while VLC is actively playing audio.

Expected Behavior

• VLC should gracefully handle loss and regain of audio focus or audio device.
• Playback should pause when another app takes over audio, and resume (or remain paused) without crashing when audio focus is returned to VLC.

Actual Behavior

• VLC crashes as soon as another app (e.g., GPS navigation) interrupts the audio output and then releases it back to VLC.
• This makes it impossible to use VLC alongside navigation or other apps that use audio focus.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start playing music in VLC for Android.
2. Open a GPS navigation app (or any app that uses voice prompts) while VLC is playing.
3. When the navigation app speaks (taking audio focus), VLC pauses or is interrupted.
4. When navigation finishes and audio focus returns to VLC, VLC crashes.

Additional Notes

• This issue is reported in VLC desktop as Issue #29181, but the same behavior is observed on VLC for Android.
• No workaround is currently available except to avoid using VLC and navigation apps simultaneously.
• Other audio players typically handle audio focus changes without crashing.

Environment

• VLC for Android (version: 3.6.5)
• Android version: Android 15
• Device: Pixel 6a.
• Reproducible with multiple navigation apps (e.g., Google Maps, Waze).

Attachment

VLC_log_1530b6fad307.txt

Proposed Solution

• Investigate and fix the crash that occurs when audio focus is lost and regained.
• Ensure VLC properly handles Android audio focus events, pausing and resuming playback as expected without crashing.

Related issues and References

• #1740 (closed) (ducking), #2717 (ignore audio focus), #2873 (audio focus not regained)
• See Android Developer Docs: Manage audio focus

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This issue severely impacts usability for users who rely on VLC for music playback while using navigation or other audio-interrupting apps. Please prioritize a fix to ensure stable audio focus handling on Android.