Read Aloud does not play audio in Temporary Chats

[ocean spoke]

Reported by @distant apex

Bug Report: Read Aloud does not play audio in Temporary Chats

`Steps to Reproduce`

1. Start a Temporary Chat.

2. Send a prompt and wait for the assistant’s reply.

3. Click the Read Aloud (speaker) icon on that reply.

4. (Optional) Switch voices and try again.

`Expected Result`

Audio playback starts for the selected message with normal play/pause/progress controls.

`Actual Result`

• No audio plays.

• A red toast appears: “Failed to play message.”

• No detailed error is shown to the user.

• Read Aloud works in regular (non-temporary) chats.

`Environment`

Browsers: Chromium “stable”, Firefox “latest”; also reproduced on mobile browsers (Android & iOS)

Aug 22, 2025, 11:22 AM

Additional Information

Please provide relevant details to help resolve the issue, such as:

• ChatGPT Shared Link (if applicable).
• Screenshots or videos demonstrating the problem.

-# ➜ Need to contact support? Visit the OpenAI Help Center.

[distant apex]

Here's the screenshot of the error.

[jaunty canyon]

I'm affected the same way!

[distant apex]

you are server's mod? then I hope u have access to chat with devs directly, no?

if yes, please let them know.

this bug existed since ages

idk why devs are not fixing it, maybe deliberate?

[jaunty canyon]

I am not a mod, I'm a guide here 🙂 A volunteer community member; the mods are also volunteer community members, #server-staff . The very few folks with gold names are the rare ones who work for OpenAI.

I don't think any bug is deliberately there, bug reports help the devs and techs notice the bug, so they can then fix it.

But no, I don't talk to OpenAI devs, they are busy folks! But we can bug report and it does look like bug reports and #1070006151938314300 get checked over time. We did the right thing to bug report

[distant apex]

cool. I hope they see this message lol, and fix it asap.