Demo Playback Issues

Fix a Supademo that won't advance or feels slow: find the hotspot, account for browser autoplay rules, disable ad blockers, and isolate embedding issues.

A viewer opens your Supademo and it seems stuck: clicking doesn't move to the next step, hotspots don't react, audio doesn't start, or each step takes ages to load. In most cases the demo is fine — the viewer is clicking the wrong spot, a browser policy is delaying audio, or an extension or embed context is getting in the way. Here's how to tell which one you're dealing with, starting with the most likely.

Common causes and fixes

1. The viewer isn't clicking the hotspot. Interactive demos advance when the hotspot — the pulsing marker or highlighted area — is clicked, not on clicks anywhere on the slide. Hotspots can also be configured to show only on hover, and HTML demos can use invisible hotspots mapped to specific areas. Fix: click directly on the marker or highlighted element. As a creator, if viewers keep stalling on a step, make that step's hotspot visible and add short hotspot text; see hotspot options.

2. The browser is blocking audio until the first interaction. Modern browsers block audio from auto-playing until the viewer interacts with the page, so a first-slide voiceover or background track staying silent doesn't mean the demo is frozen. Supademo plays the first slide's voiceover as soon as a hotspot is clicked. Fix: click any hotspot to unlock audio. As a creator, start your demo with a clickable hotspot or chapter on the first slide so viewers provide that interaction naturally.

3. An ad blocker or privacy extension is interfering. Script and tracker blockers can prevent the demo player from loading or responding. Fix: reload in an incognito window with extensions disabled. If that fixes it, allowlist app.supademo.com (or your custom demo domain) in the extension.

4. The problem only happens in an embed. If the demo misbehaves where it's embedded, open its direct share link. Working share link plus broken embed means the host page is the issue — commonly a container that's too small, or page elements overlapping the iframe and intercepting clicks. Fix: check the embed's sizing and layering against the Embed guide, and see Embedded demo not loading if the frame is blank.

5. Slow playback from network or demo size. Demos with many steps (up to the 200-step maximum) or heavy video content take longer to load on slow connections. Fix: test on a stable connection and close bandwidth-heavy tabs. As a creator, keep individual demos focused — split long flows into shorter demos and combine them in a Showcase.

6. Conditional branching is routing viewers unexpectedly. If the demo jumps to the "wrong" step rather than not advancing, a chapter's branching may point somewhere you didn't intend. Fix: review your conditional branching settings in the editor and click through each path.

7. A stale cache or outdated browser. Fix: hard-refresh the page (Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R) and update to a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari.

Still not working?

Email [e-mail] with the demo link, the step where playback breaks, the viewer's browser, and whether it reproduces in incognito. For usage questions, see the FAQs.