# Player does not transcode first song played when on cellular data
**URL:** https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996
**Category:** Player Betas
**Tags:** android-mobile-legacy, android-mobile-beta
**Created:** [September 4, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996 "2019-09-04T20:31:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/1 "2019-09-04T20:31:46Z")
I don’t think this is a new bug, but I haven’t found it mentioned anywhere…
Android 9 and 10, Pixel 3, Android Player Beta 7.21.0.12194
PMS version: 1.16.6.1559
Use low quality on cellular enabled.
After starting Plex when on celluar, the first song of an album plays as direct play, at a high rate (HD FLAC speeds…). The second and following songs on the album play transcoded properly.
Close Plex, launch plex, and this will happen with the next album.
Regards,
Jim
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### Author:  [@anon18523487](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon18523487)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/2 "2019-09-04T21:44:41Z")
> [@jebrossard](#):
>
> Use low quality on cellular enabled.
What quality did you use for music, just above that setting.
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/3 "2019-09-04T21:47:59Z")
Original (which seems to be the default). That way, when I’m on wi-fi I direct stream, even when remote.
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### Author:  [@anon18523487](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon18523487)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/4 "2019-09-04T21:51:35Z")
There is a confusion of what these settings do.
Remote Quality setting for music dictates what bitrate triggers when music gets transcoded. Having it set to original means that it won’t transcode unless it’s an unsupported codec. The `Use low quality` setting then says if the connection is cellular, transcode to 192 kbps. With that setting off, it transcodes to the same level as the trigger level.
The part where song 2+ transcodes is actually a bug I am looking into.
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/5 "2019-09-04T21:57:40Z")
I’m confused by your reply. I _think_ we agree how it should work but I’m not sure.
The “Remote streaming” quality should be followed when remote, UNLESS it is a cellular connection with “Use low quality on cellular” enabled.
Otherwise the “Use low quality on cellular” setting isn’t required at all.
“Automatically adjust quality” for video and “Use low quality on cellular” when enabled should override all other settings in that menu.
“Use low quality on cellular” works fine when enabled except for the first song.
When streaming music using Wi-Fi at a remote location with Gigabit Internet I want original quality.
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/6 "2019-09-04T22:44:11Z")
BTW, thank you for the extremely quick response.
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### Author:  [@anon18523487](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon18523487)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/7 "2019-09-04T22:50:58Z")
I don’t know why the music setting work differently, but that’s the way they are.
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/8 "2019-09-05T05:02:34Z")
So I did an experiment.
Remote streaming set to 320
Use low quality on cellular set to on
First song and all songs following trans-coded from FLAC to Opus at 192.
The issue I initiated here only happens when Remote streaming is set to original.
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/9 "2019-10-23T18:50:56Z")
Regarding the first song of an album plays direct, remaining songs are trans-coded.
This happens regardless the setting “use low quality on cellular” with the remote streaming set to original. In short, the Android app doesn’t seem to be paying attention to the use low quality on cellular setting.
J
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/10 "2019-10-29T21:31:37Z")
Use low quality on cellular setting still does not affect how the player transcodes.
Pixel 3, Android 10, PMS 1.18.1.1973, Android app 7.23.0.13123.
Remote streaming: Original
First track always plays direct, all tracks that follow transcode.
This happens regardless of Use low quality on cellular setting.
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### Author:  [@Stephen3001](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Stephen3001)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/11 "2019-10-29T22:55:17Z")
Yes, can confirm these observations above.
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### Author:  [@Stephen3001](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Stephen3001)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/12 "2019-10-30T22:52:57Z")
On the latest Beta 7.24.0.13247 the situation now appears to be reversed. If You play an album that is all FLAC the first track to play will be transcoded according to the Playback info. Subsequent tracks on the album are direct streamed as FLAC.
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2019, 4:23am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/13 "2019-10-31T04:23:31Z")
I can’t get music to play at all with the new beta!
Yikes! Just the spinning circle…
> [@7.24.0.13247-beta can't play any music](https://forums.plex.tv/t/7-24-0-13247-beta-cant-play-any-music/483711/6):
>
> Thanks, the team has identified the issue and is working on a fix at the moment.
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### Author:  [@jesusmc](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jesusmc)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/14 "2019-10-31T23:02:25Z")
The issue should be fixed in latest beta. Regarding the original issue reported in this thread, we are still working on a proper fix for it. Thanks
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### Author:  [@EricD1973](https://forums.plex.tv/u/EricD1973)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/15 "2019-10-31T23:30:14Z")
Glad to hear you are working on first issue which happens to me too. The latest beta today fixed the non playing music for me
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### Author:  [@EricD1973](https://forums.plex.tv/u/EricD1973)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/17 "2019-11-05T19:00:15Z")
**7.24.0.13403-beta** released today has same issue. All music transcoded over cellular with -1 bitrate regardless of quality settings.
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/18 "2020-01-11T00:30:53Z")
With 7.27.0.14824-Beta things seem to have gotten worse. “Use Low Quality on Cellular” no longer seems to work at all. Nor do the remote streaming settings seem to work anymore. Everything is direct playing FLAC while remote or on cellular.
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/19 "2020-01-30T21:58:39Z")
Even different now with 7.28.0.15196. If I have remote streaming set to original, with use low quality on cellular, music will not play or the app crashes while on cellular data.
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### Author:  [@jesusmc](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jesusmc)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2020, 10:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/20 "2020-01-31T10:09:21Z")
If I’m understanding this correctly, app is crashing when playing content while on cellular data? If so, any chance you could provide app logs? Thanks in advance
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### Author:  [@jebrossard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jebrossard)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/player-does-not-transcode-first-song-played-when-on-cellular-data/456996/21 "2020-02-01T15:58:30Z")
I should have done more troubleshooting. I deleted the app and reinstalled. Initial results after reinstalling indicate that the app has issues when playing songs during switching of networks (WiFi to cellular or reverse). The next song or two after the network change I get “An error occurred playing this item.” repeatedly or the app crashes. Logs sent via direct message. The only way to recover is completely close the app and restart it.
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