Playback volume issue

Common Voice
#1

I can raise an issue in the repo if necessarily but wanted to check if others have observed a problem I have with the playback of recordings when reviewing before submission.

I’m using an Android phone with Chrome, and when I go to listen to my recorded clips the volume seems to jump up on each new page. I’m not talking about the volume of the recording itself (which is fine), I mean that the playback is done with a louder volume - where it’s a problem is that if I adjust the volume down to a reasonable level, on the next page when I review further recordings, it jumps back up to a loud level. Makes the whole review thing more annoying than it need be!

This happened since the beginning (so it’s not a recent change). It could conceivably be a Chrome bug but I wondered if there was anything the page itself (or whatever audio library that’s used) might be doing to accidentally trigger this.

Not sure if it’ll make a difference but the phone is a Pixel 2 XL, running Android Pie. I believe I had the problem under Oreo too.

Anyone got any suggestions or further details I should confirm?

#2

@gregor I haven’t seen this problem come through before or experienced it. Have you seen this as a bug anywhere?

#3

I’ll see if I can borrow another phone to record a quick video if that helps?

#4

If you can, that would be great!

#5

I haven’t yet! Video would be great indeed.

#6

Sorry for the delay. Good news though:

  1. I’ve recorded the video
  2. I think I’ve a better idea of how/when it occurs

The video is here: https://youtu.be/8SVG_Glhsf0

The issue occurs where you are reviewing samples you’ve recorded yourself prior to uploading. It occurs just the same on the Mozilla official site and when I run a local version myself.

What I’ve spotted is that it appears to be happening with playback that happens after you’ve been on the review page for a certain period of time. So to recreate:

  1. Record samples
  2. On the review samples page adjust the volume so a sample plays back fairly quietly (play it to check)
  3. Wait for about 15 or 20 seconds
  4. Play back that same sample and observe that it is played back much more loudly (as if it has forgotten the volume change you made in step 2)

I know it may not seem a major thing, but the difference is more noticeable for me in real life than the video makes it seem and it causes a disturbance.

The phone is on Android 9 (it’s a Pixel 2XL) Let me know if there’s anything else you need from me or that I should try.

Thanks!
Neil

#7

Thanks for the video, Neil! How very strange! Can you check whether the system’s volume level changed? You set it to a lower volume in the middle of the video and I was wondering if it reset itself there in the end. That would also explain why I can’t reproduce it on my devices (with different systems).