Android Mobile and TV Admin Playback Causes App Crash

Title: Android Mobile and TV Admin Playback Causes App Crash

Preamble:
Thank you to anyone who reaches out to assist with this headache of an issue.

Summary:
Server Version#: 4.51.1
Player Version#: 8.12.3.22809

Logs:
My logs are kept at https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmCc--O6XoxbidVnBfqVSKXjnwPdNw?e=cZt9QN
Password: plexisbest

The Issue:
When attempting to play back certain media content, my app immediately crashes. Please see my OneDrive video at the link above then initial_post\android-mobile-replication.mp4.
I have Android Mobile logs from that video in on OneDrive then initial_post\android-mobile-logs\plex-log-ArrowOfTruth.zip
I have PLEX Server logs in my OneDrive then “initial_post\plex-server-logs\Plex Media Server Logs_2021-02-03_11-21-40.zip”

Troubleshooting:
I cleared cache and data and reinstalled the Android mobile app, yet the issue persisted. I launched the app on my Android TV and the issue occurred there as well.
I signed in with a different Managed Account on the Android mobile app and playback of the video worked flawlessly.
Conclusion: Issue is tied to Admin user Account
I attempted playback on the Windows player and on the 127.0.0.1 web interface as my Admin user and both of those worked flawlessly.
Conclusion: Somehow this is tied to being on Android (tenuous conclusion at best)

Attempted Remediation:
I attempted to repair the database, following instructions: Repair a Corrupt Database | Plex Support
Result: No change, issue still occurs
I attempted to completely rebuild my PLEX Media Server (running on Windows 10 Enterprise 20H2 Build 19042.746) following instructions: Restart Plex Media Server Setup from Scratch | Plex Support
Result: No change, issue still occurs
I attempted to redownload Codecs by deleting the Codecs folder and relaunching PLEX server, following instructions: Can I force plex to download codecs again?
Result: No change, issue still occurs
I attempted to modify my SQLite db files directly via SQLite DB Browser manually. I attempted to remove all reference to “account_id” 1 (my Admin user) except for tables that hold user account declaration, of course.
Result: No change, issue still occurs

Speculation:
I cannot be certain of this, but I believe this issue started happening when I opened my Android Mobile app and attempted to Sync the Parks and Recreation (all seasons) to my phone, then canceled.
Again, because I completely removed all traces of PLEX Server from my machine and reinstalled, I have to believe this issue isn’t tied to my PLEX Server instance, but instead tied to my PLEX Pass account somehow.

Additional Information: Playback works flawlessly on my Admin account for the Samsung and PS4 apps. Even more flustered.

More Information: My admin account works on the iOS mobile and Roku platforms. It appears this is somehow just happening on the Android Mobile and Android TV platforms.

By Samsung, did you mean Samsung TV? Your logs show a Samsung phone.

I do see an error in your logs. I’ll pass the error along to the team to investigate. In the meantime, you can try installing a previous version from our release announcements page Plex for Android.

Thank you for the response! I did mean Samsung TV. So to be extra clear, playback on my samsung android phone is failing, but playback on my samsung TV is working just fine.

I attempted to install the following versions of the Android Mobile Plex.

8.12.3
8.12.0
8.11.0: It worked!!!

Do you have links for getting the Android TV app as well?

Android TV uses the same app. It will automatically switch to the TV layout when it detects the Android TV OS.

I have basically the same problems. Same versions of PMS and Android TV apps. Don’t have a plex pass, so it isn’t tied to that.
The Android TV app on two separate boxes (Chromecast with Google TV and Xiaomi Mi Box) immediately crashes on trying to play some videos. It’s specific videos, as it crashes on the same ones, some others work. Casting to the TV using the mobile app works without problems using problematic videos. I don’t see any errors on the PMS side in the logs.

Thank you so much for the quick workaround on this! I reverted back to 8.11.0 on my Android TV and Android Phone and its working great :slight_smile: What I’m wondering is, what are next steps? buneech seems to be reporting the same issue that I’m seeing, so I think this isn’t an isolated incident. Plex is an amazing product and if there’s anything I can do to help the bugfix side of things, I’m here to help!

Can you tell me the make and model of the devices you are using?

Android Phone: SM-N986U1 (Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra) running Android Version 10
Android TV: Sony XBR-65X900F running Android Version 9

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