Twitter videos don't play properly on Windows after a muxer/encoder change on Twitter's side #920

New Issue

GiteaMirror · 2025-11-09T10:01:53-06:00

GiteaMirror commented

2025-11-09 10:01:53 -06:00

Originally created by @77Arbiter on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025).

bug description

I've recently been saving videos from Twitter (x) via cobalt and they've had issues in playback. The main issue is that none of them work in VLC Media player or any Windows based media player (Photos, Media Manager, etc) and usually bug out in a multitude of ways:

Audio plays but video doesn't for the first 70% of the video, showing up towards the end. Replaying the video breaks the player and it refuses to work afterwards
Audio is delayed behind video and stays desynced. Same issue with replaying.
Audio works but video becomes glitchy and pixelated and eventually stops working altogether in the player.

This issue also extends to uploading the mp4 anywhere, including Discord and Twitter itself. It will usually bug out in the same way as the first issue mentions above, but can also sometimes just freeze inexplicably.

The Redux feature doesn't seem to work at all, and usually either does nothing or just makes it glitch out in a different way. This is a recent occurrence as older videos i've downloaded from Cobalt about a month ago seem to be fine.

This seems to ONLY be an issue with Twitter (x). Reddit, Bluesky, and Instagram don't have this issue in the slightest.

reproduction steps

Go to any Twitter (x) post that has a video with audio.
Copy the video link
paste it into Cobalt's saving feature
Download and test in any media viewing program (ex. VLC.)
Results
(Optional) Put it through Redux to no avail.

screenshots

No response

links

https://x.com/nerdyomniman/status/1949669989444644918 - Video 1 example

https://x.com/Derlan144p_/status/1950067524705440023 - Video 2 example

platform information

Windows 10; Firefox

additional context

Was sent here via the Discord after asking about it there. Was told to submit an issue.

Originally created by @77Arbiter on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025). ### bug description I've recently been saving videos from Twitter (x) via cobalt and they've had issues in playback. The main issue is that none of them work in VLC Media player or any Windows based media player (Photos, Media Manager, etc) and usually bug out in a multitude of ways: 1. Audio plays but video doesn't for the first 70% of the video, showing up towards the end. Replaying the video breaks the player and it refuses to work afterwards 2. Audio is delayed behind video and stays desynced. Same issue with replaying. 3. Audio works but video becomes glitchy and pixelated and eventually stops working altogether in the player. This issue also extends to uploading the mp4 anywhere, including Discord and Twitter itself. It will usually bug out in the same way as the first issue mentions above, but can also sometimes just freeze inexplicably. The Redux feature doesn't seem to work at all, and usually either does nothing or just makes it glitch out in a different way. This is a recent occurrence as older videos i've downloaded from Cobalt about a month ago seem to be fine. This seems to ONLY be an issue with Twitter (x). Reddit, Bluesky, and Instagram don't have this issue in the slightest. ### reproduction steps 1. Go to any Twitter (x) post that has a video with audio. 2. Copy the video link 3. paste it into Cobalt's saving feature 4. Download and test in any media viewing program (ex. VLC.) 5. Results 6. (Optional) Put it through Redux to no avail. ### screenshots _No response_ ### links ```shell https://x.com/nerdyomniman/status/1949669989444644918 - Video 1 example https://x.com/Derlan144p_/status/1950067524705440023 - Video 2 example ``` ### platform information Windows 10; Firefox ### additional context Was sent here via the Discord after asking about it there. Was told to submit an issue.

GiteaMirror added the 3rd party app support label 2025-11-09 10:01:53 -06:00

GiteaMirror commented

2025-11-09 10:01:54 -06:00

@wukko commented on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025):

i can't replicate it in quicktime on macos, but it may be caused by twitter's weird encoder (again). cobalt downloads the source file from twitter without any modifications, so we're not really responsible for any compatibility issues here

@wukko commented on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025): i can't replicate it in quicktime on macos, but it may be caused by twitter's weird encoder (again). cobalt downloads the source file from twitter without any modifications, so we're not really responsible for any compatibility issues here

GiteaMirror commented

2025-11-09 10:01:55 -06:00

@77Arbiter commented on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025):

Sorry for the wrong label, and yeah others don't seem to be having the issue, i asked a friend to do it, although he wasn't on Firefox. I made sure to check though and it's not browser specific. I assume nothing can be done but to wait and see if Twitter's encoder ever decides to play nice?

@77Arbiter commented on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025): Sorry for the wrong label, and yeah others don't seem to be having the issue, i asked a friend to do it, although he wasn't on Firefox. I made sure to check though and it's not browser specific. I assume nothing can be done but to wait and see if Twitter's encoder ever decides to play nice?

GiteaMirror commented

2025-11-09 10:01:55 -06:00

@wukko commented on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025):

i'll try to figure out why this is happening either later today or early tomorrow. surely there has to be a fix without having to re-encode the video

@wukko commented on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025): i'll try to figure out why this is happening either later today or early tomorrow. surely there has to be a fix without having to re-encode the video

GiteaMirror commented

2025-11-09 10:01:55 -06:00

@77Arbiter commented on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025):

Thank you kindly

@77Arbiter commented on GitHub (Jul 29, 2025): Thank you kindly

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Reference: github-starred/cobalt#920