HEOS players: Artwork and Artist/Track Info not visible after upgrading to 2.8.x

[badewanne1234]

What server version of Music Assistant has the issue?

2.8.5

How is the MA server installed?

Home Assistant OS Addon

Mandatory: Carefully read the Troubleshooting FAQ and confirm that

• I have examined the logs and tried to resolve this issue
• I have fixed any errors or warnings in the logs that relate to tags
• I am not running MA across a VPN, VLAN, subnet, behind a firewall, or using local SSL or have any other complex network setup
• I am not using or have disabled tools such as AdGuard, Pi-hole or pfSense and retested
• I have checked my network setup to ensure mDNS/multicast is not being blocked
• I have reviewed the Open and Closed Issues and Discussions
• I have reviewed the applicable player or music provider documentation
• I have reviewed the MA Status Page
• I have tried restarting MA and rebooting the host

As Applicable: Carefully read the Troubleshooting FAQ and confirm that

• If using HA, I have confirmed the internal URL is set correctly
• I have tried a wired connection for issues related to interrupted or poor playback quality
• If the problem relates to a device then I have checked the device settings
• If it is a frontend issue, I have tried a different widely used browser
• For voice problems, I have sought help elsewhere before returning here
• For playback problems, I have recycled power to the physical device

The problem

[I edited this comprehensively since I found out what the issue seems to be]
Since the upgrade to MA 2.8.x, there is no more artwork visible in MA when playing through HEOS speakers, beacuse the protocol is switched automatically (from Airplay) to HEOS. When switching back to default Airplay protocol of the HEOS speaker, it works.

In fact, whats happening, in MA when the player protocol of the HEOS player is set to HEOS, the artwork and artist info is visible for 0.5s to 4s (its random), and then it switches to "Url stream".

I have read that this is a known issue for HEOS displays and the HEOS App itself (https://www.music-assistant.io/player-support/heos/#known-issues--notes), however I'm referring to the Music Assistant Player Section:

But my understanding is, that at least in Music Assistant, the artist info and artwork should be visible in the "now playing" section?

I tried to use the feature "Try to inject metadata into stream (ICY)" in the different flavours, without luck unfortunately.

How to reproduce

Play anything on a HEOS speaker through MA with default protocol HEOS.

Music Providers

Local Files

Player Providers

HEOS

Full log output

music-assistant.log

Let me know if I need to provide more detailed logs from a different level and I will attach it.

Additional information

What version of Home Assistant Core (if used) are your running

2026.4.3

What type of installation are you running?

Home Assistant OS

On what type of hardware are you running?

Generic x86-64 (e.g. Intel NUC)

Have you included ALL of the information specified in the Troubleshooting FAQ or explained why you cannot

• Yes

[github-actions]

⚠️ Issue Template Validation

Thank you for reporting this issue! However, there are some problems with the issue template:

• Please ATTACH the log file instead of pasting it. See instructions in the template.

Please update your issue with the missing information. Providing complete information helps us resolve issues faster. See the Troubleshooting Guide for more details.

[badewanne1234]

Log has been attached

[MarvinSchenkel]

@Tommatheussen any idea here?