Suddenly can't open .wav and .mp3

[Newb2Nexus]

Howdy. I'm suddenly having trouble opening up audio attachments/files. Running a Nexus 4 - OS 4.4.2. I get my work voicemail as e-mail attachments in .wav format. Up until today I was able to just tap on the attachment, and it would download and start playing. Now it says "No app can open this attachment for viewing". If I go into the Downloads and try to open it up, it says, "Can't open file". Same if I try and open up a mp3 that's in Downloads. However, opening a PDF or Excel file from Downloads or straight from email works just fine. If I go into the music player I can open up the .wav and .mp3 files from Downloads just fine.

I tried restarting a few times, and also tried clearing the app cache with no luck. What should I try next?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gekko]

do you have Astro installed? if not, try it.

ASTRO File Manager with Cloud
Metago - January 2, 2014
Productivity

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ails?id=com.metago.astro&hl=en&token=vakm_fZH

 

[TSandersfeld]

I'm experiencing the exact same thing. Unfortunately, I have yet to find anything online that would assist with what is happening. I have a Nexus 5 v4.4.2 and Gmail is at v4.7.2. Once I save the file, go to the downloads folder, the mp3 will play just fine (as Gekko suggests).

Quick update: my wife doesn't seem to have the same issue with her Gmail same version, same mp3. After playing around with this some more, it appears to be a file association issue with Gmail. Also, it would seem Gmail is not actually "fetching" the attachment. Still not sure what is going on.

 

[jbeachy]

Same issue on my Maxx. I am able to save the audio attachment and play it but can't tap and play as before. I'm not aware of any OS updates or updates to any suspicious apps. Using the native Android email app, haven't tested Gmail.

Posted via Android Central App with my Droid MAXX

 

[Marc Robillard]

Same here on my nexus 5. Already had this issue back in december ended up fixing it when I rooted and reinstalled everything. Now the problem is back again.

 

[Marc Robillard]

Just bought Wav Player. Works great. Not a free fix but for $0.99, well worth it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dkro.wavplayer&hl=en

Recommended from here:
[Q] Nexus 5 Won't Play WAV Voicemail attachments - Page 2 - xda-developers

Thank you

 

[patruns]

Howdy. I'm suddenly having trouble opening up audio attachments/files. Running a Nexus 4 - OS 4.4.2. I get my work voicemail as e-mail attachments in .wav format. Up until today I was able to just tap on the attachment, and it would download and start playing. Now it says "No app can open this attachment for viewing". If I go into the Downloads and try to open it up, it says, "Can't open file". Same if I try and open up a mp3 that's in Downloads. However, opening a PDF or Excel file from Downloads or straight from email works just fine. If I go into the music player I can open up the .wav and .mp3 files from Downloads just fine.

I tried restarting a few times, and also tried clearing the app cache with no luck. What should I try next?

Thanks in advance.

What app was originally playing the files? Try going to that app in settings and clearing defaults, if any are set. Also, Play Music was recently updated. That could be the issue. You could try going to the app in settings and uninstalling all updates to get it back to the original. Then try it again, but don't immediately accept any updates. You might need to reboot first.

 

[Newb2Nexus]

What app was originally playing the files? Try going to that app in settings and clearing defaults, if any are set. Also, Play Music was recently updated. That could be the issue. You could try going to the app in settings and uninstalling all updates to get it back to the original. Then try it again, but don't immediately accept any updates. You might need to reboot first.

Bingo! Didn't even need to restart. I then went into the Play Store and updated it again. No dice. Back to factory version and it's fine again. There's definitely a problem with this update.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[joggy]

Chiming in to report I have same issue as OP on two Moto X's with stock 4.4. Seems to coincide with the Play Music update as well.

 

[milaub]

Same issue as OP here, using a Nexus 5. As soon as I uninstall the Play Music update, it works fine.

 

[civengpe]

I too can confirm that it was the recent update to play music. I uninstalled updates and .wav files open normally again.

 

[MrHolmes999]

Same issue here. So now what happens... how does Google become aware of the problem?

 

[jbeachy]

Same issue here. So now what happens... how does Google become aware of the problem?

I left a feedback message to Google from the app. Don't know if that's actually read. Probably a hundred thousand messages might register.

Posted via Android Central App with my Droid MAXX

 

[Richard Murray2]

We took our two Motorola HD Maxx phones to Verizon for help with playing MP3 attachments. They did not know but called Motorola who said the Android version Kit Kat removed this MP3 player function from the operating system. An old Droid phone will play attached MP3 files with no problem. This will likely continue to work because that phone is too old to get the Android Kit Kat update. We were told there was no way to remove the Kit Kat update to our Motorola HD Maxx.

They recommended we search the Play Store for an MP3 player. We downloaded many MP3 players, none of which are invoked when attempting to open an MP3 attachment in Gmail. Attachments can be downloaded but we haven't been able to figure out where the downloaded file goes or how to direct an MP3 player app to play the downloaded files.

Thanks in advance for sharing ideas,

Richard

 

[dzigner]

Hello
@Richard Murray2
I have a nexus 4 phone, and just now tried to play a .wav file attachment on it directly. Did not work. Uninstalled updates to the google play app, I could play the .wav file directly. Updated the app again, and tried again, no go. So updating the play app stops the .wav file playing directly from the email.
For your question about where it downloads the file. On my phone email app, I have those 3 dots suggesting a menu near the attached file. Click that, I get download and save. I click save. It saves the file in the sdcard/downloads folder. See if this option is available on your phone email app. I dont know about where it downloads, unfortunately, but will keep looking and if I find it, will post here.
thanks

 

[ozzyprv]

Hello
@Richard Murray2
I have a nexus 4 phone, and just now tried to play a .wav file attachment on it directly. Did not work. Uninstalled updates to the google play app, I could play the .wav file directly. Updated the app again, and tried again, no go. So updating the play app stops the .wav file playing directly from the email.
For your question about where it downloads the file. On my phone email app, I have those 3 dots suggesting a menu near the attached file. Click that, I get download and save. I click save. It saves the file in the sdcard/downloads folder. See if this option is available on your phone email app. I dont know about where it downloads, unfortunately, but will keep looking and if I find it, will post here.
thanks

I confirm this. I did the same. Music Play update causes the problem. I have found no fix yet.

 

[Richard Murray2]

You are right. Downloaded the MP3 attachment and it went to SDCard\downloads. The play app was then able to play it.

This will be a good work-around until Android restores this basic and needed function. Our business phone (OOMA) records voicemails, creates MP3 files and attaches them to Emails to multiple employees.

Thanks,
Richard

 

[portablealpha]

Just for reference, the culprit is update version v5.4.1409N, which was released on Feb 14, 2014. (Right?) That's the latest update in the Play Store as of Feb 27.

 

[rockusultimus]

Exact same issue here on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.2.1. Uninstalled updates in Google Play Music and it worked again. Thanks guys!

 

[eztomahawk]

My sister has the Moto X and couldn't listen to her voicemails from work anymore due to a recent update but she wasn't sure what update it was. I uninstalled the updates from Google Music and disabled it but that didn't work. I downloaded several wav file players from Play but they weren't successful. I finally tried the free trial version of Player Pro and it plays all of her voicemails now so I purchased the full version for $3.95. Expensive fix but her work voicemails are critical for her job. I've also enabled Google Music again and it still plays her voicemails.