Unable to Play Audio in Production but in Local It's Working

When developing web applications, it’s common to encounter discrepancies between local development environments and production environments. One such issue is the inability to play audio files in production despite them working perfectly in the local environment. This blog will address a specific error message that can occur under these circumstances:

Mixed Content: The page at 'https://www.example.com/' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure element 'http://104.20x.y.z:80/uploads/assets/audio.mp3'. This request was not upgraded to HTTPS because its URL's host is an IP address.
Mixed Content: The page at 'https://www.example.com/' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure audio file 'http://104.20x.y.z:80/uploads/assets/audio.mp3'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS.

Why this error coming

The core of the problem lies in "Mixed Content". Modern web browsers enforce strict security policies, especially when a site is served over HTTPS (secure). They block requests to insecure (HTTP) resources to protect users from potential security threats.

In the above error message:

1. The page is loaded over HTTPS (https://www.example.com/).
2. The audio file is requested over HTTP (http://104.20x.y.z:80/uploads/assets/audio.mp3).

Because the audio file is requested over an insecure connection, the browser blocks it.

Why It Works Locally

In a local development environment, the application might be running entirely over HTTP or it may not enforce the same security policies as production environments. As a result, mixed content issues may not arise locally, leading to successful audio playback.

Solutions

To resolve this issue, ensure all resources are loaded over HTTPS:

1. Use HTTPS for All Resources: Ensure that all resources, including audio files, images, scripts, and stylesheets, are served over HTTPS. This may involve updating URLs in your codebase and configuring your server to support HTTPS.
   HTML

   Copy

   <audio src="https://104.20x.y.z/uploads/assets/audio.mp3" controls></audio>

2. CDN or Cloud Storage: Consider using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) or cloud storage services that provide HTTPS support. These services often offer additional benefits like faster content delivery and reduced server load.
3. Proxy Server: Use a proxy server to serve HTTP resources over HTTPS. This is a more advanced solution and involves setting up a proxy that fetches the HTTP resource and serves it over HTTPS.
4. Update Server Configuration: Ensure your server configuration supports HTTPS for all endpoints. If you are using a load balancer or reverse proxy, configure it to handle HTTPS traffic.