[Updated] Max app 'Pause' button triggers rewind or skipping back on Roku devices? You're not alone

Here’s the crux of the article in video form:

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on August 29, 2023) follows:

Some Max (formerly HBO Max) users have reported an issue where the ‘Pause’ button rewinds or skips back shows on Roku devices. This unexpected behavior has left users perplexed and frustrated.

Max is a quite prominent player in the streaming arena with a substantial user base. However, that doesn’t mean it is immune to various bugs and issues (1,2,3).

In fact, the issue of the malfunctioning ‘Pause’ button on Roku devices further adds to the list of those bugs.

Max app ‘Pause’ button on Roku rewinds or skips shows

Users have complained that instead of freezing the content, pressing ‘Pause’ frequently causes an unexpected rewind, thus sending them back in the timeline of the program (1,2,3,4,5,6).

@StreamOnMax @HBO a fun new thing your app does when I pause is rewind an obscene amount so I have to fast forward back to where I paused it. Clean it up
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@StreamOnMax when I pause I don’t want to go back to where I started. I paused for a reason. Glad you made a shit app even worse by taking it to the “Max!”
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This behavior not only disrupts viewer’s immersion but also prompts frustration and confusion. In some cases, the show starts right from the beginning after hitting the ‘Pause’ button.

Since viewers can’t pause their preferred shows or movies without worrying about random rewinds, this problem has undoubtedly generated some unease among them.

Crazy to me that @StreamOnMax has such amazing programming but you can’t even pause a show without losing where you were.
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Even though the affected users are voicing their problems on various online forums, there has been no acknowledgment from the support team as yet.

Here’s what you can do

Fortunately, we have come across a workaround that can help fix the ‘Pause’ functionality temporarily. You can check it out below:

Moreover, the Roku team is asking the affected users to reach out to Max as it is likely an issue on their end.

If the issue persists, it’s a good option to reach out to the channel provider directly and let them know about the issue so that they can address it.
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It’s still unclear whether the problem is with the Max app or Roku. We can only wait for the respective teams to address the problem and come up with a fix at the earliest.

That said, we’ll keep tabs on the latest developments and update this article accordingly.

05:26 pm (IST): Max Help team has acknowledged the issue and is currently investigating the same.

Hi there, we’re currently looking into this with our team, and we’d like you to send us a DM with your Max account email address, so we can collect some details about the type of Roku you’re using and which content doesn’t resume properly. Thanks.
Source

09:22 am (IST): Fresh reports (1, 2) from users regarding this issue are still coming in. However, there are some new workarounds we have come across that can fix this problem.

Firstly, the support team suggested a solution which involves signing out, rebooting, and then signing back in.

Workaround 2: Instead of pausing I click the back button. Brings you back to the show page and then when ready to resume it starts where you left off (Source)

Workaround 3: I found that hitting the down arrow to bring up the timeline, then hitting play to resume kept it from skipping back…but that may have been a fluke. (Source)

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated HBO section, so be sure to follow them as well.

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