The BBC iPlayer App is Almost Here!

[Maura]

Finally! Paid Content reports today that the long-awaited BBC iPlayer app for iPad and iPhone is due to be released by the end of February. Almost a year on from when the BBC first announced plans to release an iPlayer app, it looks like we could finally be getting a result. The app actually received the approval of the BBC Trust, which has to sign off on such things, six months ago, but things have obviously been moving very slowly in Beeb land. Maybe the delay has something to do with the massive cuts that the BBC has been forced to implement, including chopping 25 percent off the online budget and laying off 360 staff. Anyone in the UK wanting to catch up on BBC programmes on their iPad or iPhone at present has to view them in the iPlayer beta browser, which is actually pretty decent, but how much better would it be to have an actual bespoke app? Much better, that’s how! For people outside of the UK who want to be able to watch the iPlayer, you won’t be able to do it on this app, unfortunately, but according to PaidContent the BBC will be releasing an international subscription-based iPlayer app with different shows sometime in the future.

Source: BBC’s iPlayer App Finally Nearing Release | paidContent:UK

 

[Grandad]

Now this is good news! Am I the only one who finds thr beta version.....er....well difficult?
I know it is "actually quite decent" but it does seem to crash and stall on a monotonus regularity.
Anyway I for one am looking forward to the App proper!

 

[Hasty]

Tbh the current web version works fine in a browser.
All an app will do is make navigation more finger friendly at the expense of reduced screen information.

 

[Maura]

Now this is good news! Am I the only one who finds thr beta version.....er....well difficult?
I know it is "actually quite decent" but it does seem to crash and stall on a monotonus regularity.
Anyway I for one am looking forward to the App proper!

No you are not the only one! Although it looks really great, I also find that it stalls quite a lot, and then the only way to continue watching is to exit the player altogether and re-start, and then it's often hard to find the exact spot you were watching from when it crashed, as it always starts at the beginning again! I find it quite frustrating. I wasn't sure if it was my broadband causing the stalls, but possibly not if you're experiencing the same problems too. Roll on the app, indeed!

 

[Hasty]

@ Maura
I'm using iCab as my iPlayer browser as it does full screen without the navigation bar and in the settings I've changed it's Browser ID to Firefox 3 so I get the full page rather than that miserable mobile one.

 

[Maura]

@ Maura
I'm using iCab as my iPlayer browser as it does full screen without the navigation bar and in the settings I've changed it's Browser ID to Firefox 3 so I get the full page rather than that miserable mobile one.

Thanks for the tip I'll look into that!

 

[Grandad]

@ Maura
I'm using iCab as my iPlayer browser as it does full screen without the navigation bar and in the settings I've changed it's Browser ID to Firefox 3 so I get the full page rather than that miserable mobile one.

Ok I have got iCab changed it to FF 3 but iplayer still asks for flash. What am i doing wrong Hasty?

 

[Coldfeet]

Now this is good news! Am I the only one who finds thr beta version.....er....well difficult?
I know it is "actually quite decent" but it does seem to crash and stall on a monotonus regularity.
Anyway I for one am looking forward to the App proper!

Totally agree