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Niko737's avatar
Niko737
Reel Rookie
6 years ago
Solved

Private Listening keeps disconnecting

I have a Roku Premiere and I am having trouble with the private listening feature through the Roku app. I am playing a video from my phone and casting it to my tv through the Roku app and I am trying to use the private listening feature by connecting my headphones through my phone. It works for a few minutes and then it disconnects and begins playing the sound through the tv. I keep trying but it does the same thing. It'll play for a few minutes and then disconnect again. I've reset my Roku by disconnecting power and reconnecting, I've tried multiple headphones, I reset the router, I even tried two different phones. It's frustrating when one of the features I bought this Roku for doesn't even work right. 

  • Craigavery100's avatar
    Craigavery100
    4 years ago

    Guys, I searched for hours on a solution for this and never found it. The good news is I solved it on my own. It was the notifications in the Roku App. Ensure they are completely turned off. This was so frustrating, but once I shut those off, I had no interruptions. Like this post if this worked for you so that others can fix this issue. Hard to believe I couldn’t find this solution on the web. 

    cheers. 

116 Replies

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  • Craigavery100's avatar
    Craigavery100
    Reel Rookie
    4 years ago

    Guys, I searched for hours on a solution for this and never found it. The good news is I solved it on my own. It was the notifications in the Roku App. Ensure they are completely turned off. This was so frustrating, but once I shut those off, I had no interruptions. Like this post if this worked for you so that others can fix this issue. Hard to believe I couldn’t find this solution on the web. 

    cheers. 

    • Cellcubed's avatar
      Cellcubed
      Reel Rookie
      4 years ago
      Craigavery100 wrote:

      Guys, I searched for hours on a solution for this and never found it. The good news is I solved it on my own. It was the notifications in the Roku App. Ensure they are completely turned off. This was so frustrating, but once I shut those off, I had no interruptions. Like this post if this worked for you so that others can fix this issue. Hard to believe I couldn’t find this solution on the web. 

      cheers. 

      I can't believe after all these years this is the only thing that seems to have worked! Thank you so much for posting this!

      • kakarious's avatar
        kakarious
        Reel Rookie
        4 years ago

        Turning the notifications off doesn’t fix anything.

    • ShoNuffHarlem's avatar
      ShoNuffHarlem
      Binge Watcher
      4 years ago

      Turning off fully notifications for this on andriod worked! Must he some weird bug. Roku you are better than this! 

    • guitarboy's avatar
      guitarboy
      Streaming Star
      4 years ago

      Turning notifications off worked for me!  Thanks for the suggestion. 

      Galaxy S20+ / Roku Ultra

      • v_explorer's avatar
        v_explorer
        Newbie
        4 years ago

        Watch for VPN interfering with Private Listening.  I have a Android 12 phone that would connect to Private Viewing for about 3 seconds and then revert to the speaker.  Problem was consistent with two different Roku Sticks. 

        The cause turned out to be the NetGuard app (network app to control network access).  Even though the Roku app was allowed to access both LAN and cell data, Private Listening would connect and then disconnect every time.

        Turning NetGuard off solved my problem.  FYI...

        (Note: 6/20/22 - Updating the Roku app to the latest (version 8.3.0.1044963) also fixed my problem.  With the new version Roku app, Private Listening now works with NetGuard operating...)

        6/21/22 - It seems that any VPN-based DNS or firewall app will stop Private Listening from working.  Tried NetGuard and RethinkDNS - same result.  With firewall active, Private Listening connects and drops a few seconds later.  Turn off firewall and Private Listening works fine...

  • Mmercedeez's avatar
    Mmercedeez
    Newbie
    6 years ago

    Same issue, iPhone XR and my instant fix was to turn off the cellular data for the Roku app. Idk why but it works just fine now. 

    • Smilemz's avatar
      Smilemz
      Newbie
      5 years ago

       

      Mmercedeez wrote:

      Same issue, iPhone XR and my instant fix was to turn off the cellular data for the Roku app. Idk why but it works just fine now. 

      This worked for me. Thanks!

  • DianneB's avatar
    DianneB
    Newbie
    5 years ago

    I am using the Roku mobile App on an iPhone 12 Pro Max.  Private listening is not longer stable or doesn’t work at all for YouTube Tv. Private listening works fine with Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, etc... there just seems to be an issue with YouTube Tv.  It used to work fine but has recently stopped working. 
    Any suggestions?

    • Mngirl's avatar
      Mngirl
      Newbie
      5 years ago

      I have the same issue.  I want to listen to the tv through iphone app and AirPods.  I read a helpful hint to set up sound first and then go the channel.  It works great with other apps like Hulu, Netflix and Amazon, but it will NOT work with Youtube Tv.  I keep getting error message about a problem with frequent buffering.

      What's the deal with Youtube TV?  Love to know too. 

  • roraaa11's avatar
    roraaa11
    Newbie
    6 years ago

    This frustrates me so much. It disconnects ALL THE TIME. It's basically useless to me now. 

    • Moccassin20's avatar
      Moccassin20
      Reel Rookie
      6 years ago

      Ok Roku, I'm finally coming out of the period of any expectations for personalized customer service and am trying to use these "Community" forums.  I would think at the very least, you could employ at least one individual to monitor and look at these threads, respond to them, AND GET THE PROBLEM FIXED AFTER A YEAR! Let me give an example of how out of touch your engineering/customer service department is to the real world. In your one Setup and Troubleshooting article "How do I solve problems with private listening?" at https://support.roku.com/article/217479488 it says "While using private listening, make sure no other devices on the wireless network are downloading or streaming music or video." HOW UNREALISTIC THIS IS! There are 3 people in my household, 2 gamers, and probably upwards to 15 devices connected at any one time, all sorts of streaming going on, video, audio.  Out of all these devices, apps, all the audio, all the different kinds of headsets, mostly bluetooth, this is the only one that has any issues.  Hello?  Is there a human Roku employee here anywhere?  Disgruntled "modern" user trying to use a community forum to get a tech issue resolved for a year.

      • Breezy13's avatar
        Breezy13
        Reel Rookie
        4 years ago

        I’m literally the only person awake in my home right now. No other devices are on. Private listening keeps dropping mid sentence. I’m trying not to wake anyone up with the sound of the tv. I’m not switching apps, this is a mess. I have been dealing with this for a year now.  It’s not the wifi, not the power source it’s inconsistency with the app. 

  • Cajunlimey's avatar
    Cajunlimey
    Reel Rookie
    6 years ago

    Same issue. Our last roku was a little older but the private listening was never a problem through the app. Then one day there was an update to the app and it stopped working. We just bought a new streaming stick+. We've had it for a week. I was hoping maybe the issues with the private listening were because we had the older one for a few years but nope....4 devices and none of them will work for private listening. Ive even tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app on them. 

    And NO im not buying a new remote for my brand new roku. I shouldn't need to. The app needs to be fixed.

  • jordansmom's avatar
    jordansmom
    Channel Surfer
    6 years ago

    I'm stumped. My Roku app on the iphone will not hold private listening sessions. It keeps dropping it and I have to wait several minutes for it to pick it back up. What is happening? The app is auto updated, so that's not the issue. 

    • Cajunlimey's avatar
      Cajunlimey
      Reel Rookie
      6 years ago
      jordansmom wrote:

      I'm stumped. My Roku app on the iphone will not hold private listening sessions. It keeps dropping it and I have to wait several minutes for it to pick it back up. What is happening? The app is auto updated, so that's not the issue. 

      The updated app is likely the problem. It use to work fine. Then the app updated one day and its never worked since

      • LLswtgkAndTrill's avatar
        LLswtgkAndTrill
        Reel Rookie
        5 years ago

        The same thing is happening to me. I use private listening for Youtube and it has been working, that is, until I believe it was the 11/13 Roku update. Since then, it disconnects constantly and this is so frustrating. It is not my internet. I’ve trie private listening on Hulu—not perfect but better results. The one thing I will say to Roku is if the issue suddenly starts after your update, chances are that your update might be the issue. I’m so feeling like I want to switch back to Firestick, because the constant troubleshooting and having to start/stop/start private listening is exhausting, that I’m done with this.

    • Niko737's avatar
      Niko737
      Reel Rookie
      6 years ago

      I read all the troubleshooting tips and followed all the instructions I could find as I explained in my post. The problem I am having isn't addressed in that post or any other one I read. I'm still having the same issue. That is why I decided to make my own post. 

      • RokuTannerD's avatar
        RokuTannerD
        Retired Moderator
        6 years ago

        Niko737  Thanks for the note.

        Is this an Android or iOS mobile device?

        Does this occur on your mobile device when the screen is locked, or your phone goes into standby? If so, you'll want to look into your phone's power management or security settings to disable any feature that may be interrupting the app's ability to communicate when the screen is turned off, etc. 

        Keep us posted from there. 

         

        Thanks,

        Tanner

    • kelito's avatar
      kelito
      Reel Rookie
      5 years ago

      Danny,

      Here are my troubleshooting issues. 

      1.  I power on the ROKU TV (Phillips 32").

      2. I power on the app on my iPhone (SE build 14.2)

      a. I cannot find the device.

      2a. The device (ROKU TV) and phone are both on the same network.

      2b. The device (ROKU TV) and phone and wireless router are 10 feet apart with no barriers whatsover.

      3. I cannot active private listening.

      3a. It did work 1 time for the duration of my watching TV but never again.  Cuts out like a bad AM radio station.

      4. I added the ipad remote for ROKU.  the same as the iphone.  Worked once then went bad.  Cutting out.

      On my Spectrum wireless router/cable modem I cannot change the channel per other instructions.

      Finally, I am partially deaf so listening on my bluetooth headphones (no jack needed - update your troubleshooting steps as I saw that in there) is desirable.  Plus the sound is way better especially for movies.

      I have done the reset modem thing.  It worked ONCE. (It's a Technicolor Modem/Wireless Router

      This seems to be a pattern.  Work once then obliterate your private listening experience.

      I am a technical person as I was on wireless in 2002.  Yes, 2002 my home I owned had it.  I know my way around a router.

      Kindly let me know if there are other steps to do that will work more than once.  I have given you enough test data (I was a computer programmer for 25 years) in which to troubleshoot the problem in your lab.

      Also, this ROKU TV does not have a headphone jack (2.5 mm or 3.5) else I'd use my bluetooth adapter to get the sound I so richly deserve.

      Thank you. 

      • lesmikesell's avatar
        lesmikesell
        Roku Guru
        5 years ago

        The symptoms you describe sound like your devices are on different networks.  Are you absolutely sure you don't have a separate 'guest' network on your wifi router that one of them is using? Or that your phone is not on cell data or a neighbor's wifi?   If they don't find each other automatically, you can try checking the TV's IP address and making a manual connection from the phone app.

  • pntharp's avatar
    pntharp
    Reel Rookie
    6 years ago

    I am attempting to use the private listening feature of the Roku app on Android. Most of the time, the audio stutters on my phone, even without headphones connected to my phone. Once in a while, I get a solid connection and the audio is clear. I have gone through the steps in the support docs with no luck. Is there anything else I can try? 

  • Scoreboard's avatar
    Scoreboard
    Newbie
    5 years ago

    Running remote play on S21 Ultra w/Galaxy buds plus. So ANNOYING!!!!!!!!! TO HAVE THIS ISSUE. ROKU PLEASE FIX THIS. 

  • joshl129's avatar
    joshl129
    Newbie
    5 years ago

    I'm not sure why but I was able to fix this by toggling a setting on the app NetGuard. Launch the app, locate the Roku app in the list, click "configure" under "Access attempts", and then check off "Enable logging of blocked addresses only". This may not work for everyone, but I hope it helps some people!