I and I’m sure a lot of others are super psyched (however you spell the word for really excited) that we ‘won’ the confusing battle of the back and forth about the edit arrows being taken away (they’re sadly only back on the web version). But since then the read aloud option hasn’t worked properly. It might be a me problem but the app version works just fine. Almost like we’re being kind of punished for having the arrows back.
What’s happening:
When in web version the read aloud option doesn’t work properly and after about 30 seconds shows ‘failed to play message’. I’ve tried clearing my browser cache but it didn’t help.
I’ll try different browsers and my computer rather than my phone but I use it a lot in the car so it’d be more helpful if it works on both
Why this is a problem:
Users who want/need their works to be read out loud can’t.
Request:
Please fix the read aloud option on web version and/or return edit arrows to app version.
Thank you and have a great everyday!
Hi @John_the_Medic-take, yeah, that’s a frustrating one, especially when it cuts off mid-play.
What’s happening here seems to be a timeout or playback issue on the web player side. A few folks have seen the same “failed to play message” error around the ~30 second mark, so it’s likely not your cache or setup.
A couple things worth trying that have helped others:
- Log out and log back in to refresh your session
- Try a different browser or device
- Open ChatGPT in an incognito/private window
- Clear your browser cache and cookies (even if you already tried, worth a second pass)
- If you’re using the Windows app, go to chrome://flags → “Reset all to default” → restart the app
- Check if antivirus software or browser extensions are interfering (ad blockers, privacy tools, etc.)
- If you’re on a VPN, try turning it off to test connection stability
Not ideal, agreed. This looks like a known gap with longer read-aloud sessions on web right now.
If it keeps happening, it’s worth creating a ticket at help.openai.com so the team can dig deeper with your setup.
Also if you can, share your browser + OS. Helps figure out if this is hitting specific environments more than others.
-Mark G
Thanks Mark! Nice to meet you! I’m glad it’s not just me (I’m sorry others are having the same problem but I guess it just nice to not suffer alone 
). I mostly use Google which is where the issue is. It works with Firefox but takes about a minute or so to load the read aloud but once it does it reads it fully so I’m using that for now. Mostly on my Samsung Galaxy. Hopefully we can get everything back to normal everywhere for everyone soon 
-Kiley D