Tweak skip silence to make it less abrupt

[rasferret]

App version: 2.0.0-RC4 (from Google Play) Commit: a7b38bd

Android version: 9 (Patchlevel May 1th 2019)

Device model: BQ Aquaris X2 Pro

The skip silence feature is very useful but most of the time it skips to much silence. It would be nice to have the amount, that is skipped, configurable. There is a issue at the exoplayer project that is related to this feature:

https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer/issues/6705

[ByteHamster]

Sorry, I think that a setting like this will confuse many new users. I am trying to reduce the number of settings to make AntennaPod easier to use instead of adding even more settings. You can find reasons for this in the following blog article: http://neugierig.org/software/blog/2018/07/options.html

[summersab]

I actually would like to see this feature, as well. Sometimes, the silence that is skipped becomes a bit "aggressive," and it disrupts the cadence and flow of the people talking on the podcasts. However, it would still nice to be able to skip sections when there are 500ms or more of silence.

Perhaps add it to an advanced settings section to cut down on potential confusion?

[antennapod-bot]

This issue has been mentioned on AntennaPod Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://forum.antennapod.org/t/improvements-to-the-skip-silence-system/355/1

[tonytamsf]

Once https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer/issues/6705 is fixed (or ever fixed) we should tune the configurations we will use. I agree to not expose it as as option but we should make skip silence less abrupt

[antennapod-bot]

This issue has been mentioned on AntennaPod Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://forum.antennapod.org/t/what-is-this-skip-silence-thing/406/1

[sopos]

Once google/ExoPlayer#6705 is fixed (or ever fixed) we should tune the configurations we will use. I agree to not expose it as as option but we should make skip silence less abrupt

It appears to me teh ExoPlayer issue was fixed at the time you wrote the answer. I guess it could be implemented then, somehow.

The current aggressive silence skipping shrinks even breath pauses between words / sentences which make it much harder to understand. Some minimal pause should be maintained. The question is how long - 250ms?

Can we get this issue reopened?

[sopos]

@ByteHamster, any possibility to change your mind?

[keunes]

@sopos ByteHamster is busy these months. As noted above, we don't want a setting. But I'll reopen it so we can see if we can tune it a bit:

we should tune the configurations we will use. I agree to not expose it as as option but we should make skip silence less abrupt

[Friptick]

Hello. For the last few weeks I've been experiencing an annoying issue. Sometimes during playback, the first word of a sentence will disappear. At first I thought this was a recording issue, but I've had it on multiple podcasts so I assume Antennapod is responsible - and specifically this feature.

But I have not turned it on and I cannot even see a "Skip silence" setting!

Using v3.1.1 from F-Droid.

What could be going on?

[ByteHamster]

Using the settings icon on the player page. In the future (or if you have any other questions about this), please ask support questions on forum.antennapod.org, not on the issue tracker.

[Friptick]

Thanks. But it is not a support request, it is an issue, for the reason I gave:

But I have not turned it on and I cannot even see a "Skip silence" setting!

The feature is activating itself unbidden on v3.1.1.

I don't want it and didn't enable it. I can double-confirm this now I have seen the setting with its empty checkbox.

Not complaining, but it is an issue, happening on multiple podcasts.

[Friptick]

Update.

I can double-confirm this now I have seen the setting with its empty checkbox.

On v3.1.2 the setting has disappeared again. Have not experienced the problem recently.

[ByteHamster]

Details about what was decided regarding this feature: https://github.com/AntennaPod/AntennaPod/pull/6910#issuecomment-1944852926

[Friptick]

Update about problem I mentioned above:

Sometimes during playback, the first word of a sentence will disappear.

I can confirm that this small problem is ongoing (latest F-Droid) and related to playback speed. The faster the playback setting, the more gets chopped off. For example, if the phrase "The cat sat on the mat" is uttered after a significant silence, then you hear:

• 1x speed - "The cat sat on the mat"
• 1.5x speed - "cat sat on the mat"
• 2x speed - "sat on the mat"

The Skip silence setting is unchecked.

Let me know if I should create a new issue for this. For now I prefer not to add to the pile.