Save a position only from a player that has played since its last save

A tab left paused further into an episode saved its older place as it
reloaded, over where the listener had got to since, and the episode
dropped out of Currently Listening. A jump back is now saved at once.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ The long form, with what was wrong before and how it was found, is in
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- A player left open in another tab or on another device no longer saves its older place over
+  where you have got to since, which could drop an episode out of Currently Listening.
+
 ## [0.6.0] - 2026-09-15
 
 ### Added

docs/history.md

@@ -6,6 +6,28 @@ reasoning lives. New write-ups go at the top.
 
 See [README.md](../README.md) for what the thing is.
 
+## 2026-09-15 — A player nobody was listening to, saving over one that was
+
+After 0.6.0 the Kristen Bell episode dropped out of Currently Listening again, with eleven
+minutes left in the player. Its saved position was 41:15 of a file 43:48 long, 94% and finished
+by any measure, while the listener was at about 32:48. The first guess was a wrong length from
+the feed, and it was wrong: the feed does say 41:23, but no length makes 41:15 unfinished.
+
+The log had the answer. Saves every ten seconds while it played, then two that were not
+playback: one beside the only request for the file since the restart, and the last in the same
+millisecond as a page load. A player left paused further on, in another tab or on another
+device, saved its own place as its page reloaded. Every save goes through `savePos`, and it
+saved whatever the player held whether or not anyone had played it since.
+
+`savePos` now saves only once the player has played since its last save, so an idle one never
+writes, and only playing counts: the seek to where you left off happens paused, and counting it
+would save back whatever the list said, however old. A jump back is also saved at once, where
+the ten-second check only ever looked forward. The fixture audio does not decode, so the browser
+test stands in for a loaded player and counts what `savePos` sends.
+
+The feed's length, 2 minutes 25 seconds short of the file, still moves this episode's 90% line
+earlier than the player's. Not fixed here; the measured length only fills in a missing one.
+
 ## 2026-09-15 — Currently Listening, empty for anyone who opens what they play
 
 Issue #14: an episode 32 minutes into 41 was missing from Currently Listening, which said nothing

tests/ui/app.spec.js

@@ -200,6 +200,26 @@ test('Currently Listening, its own place below Popular, resumes an episode you s
   await expect(row.locator('.eq')).toBeHidden();
 });
 
+test('a player nobody has played since it last saved does not save again', async ({ page }) => {
+  // A tab left paused at 41:15 saved that as it reloaded, over the 32:48 another had reached,
+  // and the episode dropped out of Currently Listening. The fixture audio does not decode, so
+  // this stands in for a loaded file paused at 2 seconds and counts what savePos sends.
+  const sent = await page.evaluate(() => {
+    Object.defineProperty(audio, 'readyState', { get: () => 4 });
+    Object.defineProperty(audio, 'currentTime', { get: () => 2, set() {} });
+    let n = 0;
+    navigator.sendBeacon = () => (n++, true);
+    player.guid = 'ui-2'; player.feed = 'test-show'; player.entry = null; player.moved = false;
+    savePos();                     // what a reload, a pause or the close button calls
+    const idle = n;
+    player.moved = true;           // what playing sets
+    savePos();
+    savePos();                     // and once saved, it is idle again
+    return [idle, n];
+  });
+  expect(sent).toEqual([0, 1]);
+});
+
 test('the filter tabs change what is listed', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.locator('.feed', { hasText: 'Test Show' }).click();
   await expect(page.locator('.ep').first()).toBeVisible({ timeout: 20_000 });

web/index.html

@@ -1507,7 +1507,7 @@ function play(e,enc=e.enclosures.find(isPlayable)){
   // The same file carries on where it was; another of the item's files starts from its top.
   const resuming = player.guid===e.guid && player.enc===enc.id;
   if(!resuming){
-    player.guid=e.guid; player.feed=e.feed_id; player.entry=e; player.enc=enc.id;
+    player.guid=e.guid; player.feed=e.feed_id; player.entry=e; player.enc=enc.id; player.moved=false;
     document.body.classList.toggle('has-video', kindOf(enc)==='video');
     audio.src=`/media/${enc.id}`;
     audio.currentTime=0;
@@ -1539,14 +1539,21 @@ audio.addEventListener('timeupdate',()=>{
   $('#pcur').textContent=clock(audio.currentTime);
   $('#pdur').textContent=clock(d);
   if(d) $('#seek').value=String(Math.round(audio.currentTime/d*1000));
-  // Persist roughly every 10s so a reload resumes where you were.
-  if(player.guid && audio.currentTime-player.saveAt>10){ savePos(); }
+  // Only playing counts as moving: the seek to where you left off happens paused, and saving
+  // that would write back whatever the list said, however old.
+  if(!audio.paused) player.moved=true;
+  // Persist roughly every 10s so a reload resumes where you were. Either way: a jump back used
+  // to wait for the next pause to be saved.
+  if(player.guid && Math.abs(audio.currentTime-player.saveAt)>10){ savePos(); }
   if(d && audio.currentTime/d >= 0.9) markPlayed();
 });
 function savePos(){
   // Before the file has loaded, currentTime is 0 rather than where you are: saving it then --
   // a failed load, or a pause before the seek to where you left off -- wiped the position.
-  if(!player.guid||!audio.readyState) return;
+  // Nor from a player nobody has played since it last saved: one left paused in another tab
+  // saved its older place as that tab reloaded, over where you had got to since.
+  if(!player.guid||!audio.readyState||!player.moved) return;
+  player.moved=false;
   player.saveAt=audio.currentTime;
   if(player.entry) player.entry.position=Math.floor(audio.currentTime);
   // The measured length stands in for one the feed left out: without it Currently Listening