bbc iplayer nexus 10

[Lorrie]

Can someone with a Nexus 10 confirm that iPlayer is going to work?  I;ve read lots about compatibility problems with Android and iPlayer and Id really want to have this app working on my tablet.

Also, how good is the image?  Is it HD streaming or if not does it at least look good or is it terribly blocky?

Thanks.

L xx

[DavidB]

Iplayer does not work on my new Nexus 10, which updated itself to Android 4.2.1 during the setup process. All I get when I launch iplayer is the page that tells me the app is not compatible with my device, and offering advice about disabling the ‘request desktop site’ option which is not relevant in my case. I have not found any advice on the web on how to deal with this problem, which may be a function of the Nexus 10′s screen resolution. Iplayer now works perfectly on the Nexus 7 running 4.2.1.

David

[Michael_GParticipant]

I thought the BBC had fixed this for Android Jellybean last month?

The new version works fine on my Nexus too, and I’m also on 4.2.1.

Come to that, it’s fine on my Galaxy phone still on 2.3.5, but that might be with the old flash workaround.

[Bill]

Nexus 10 upgraded automatically to 4.2.1 now BBC iPlayer not working my other tablet running 4.1.1 all is fine.

Iplayer was fine before upgrade I guess BBC need to sort this, very annoying.

[JezKeymaster]

yeah, I would have thought that as the app is 4.2.1 compatible it should install? Not sure why it would be Nexus 7 compatible but not Nexus 10 compatible. Doesn’t make a lot of sense :(.

[DavidB]

I share other contrbutors’ frustration about this, the more so as the Nexus 10 is clearly an important product, and the BBC have said nothing by way of explanation that I can find. I do wonder, however, whether the Android version is the issue here.

When we originally had problems getting iPlayer on to the Nexus 7, the app announced itself as incompatible before or during installation. As far as I can tell, installation is quite normal on the Nexus 10 and the incompatibilty only manifests itself when the app is launched. This inclines me to believe that the Nexus 10′s 2560×1600 screen resolution breaks whatever system the app uses to provide a video stream that is appropriate to the device.

David

[Michael_G]

That would make sense. After all, Google Play won’t instal it if it says the app isn’t compatible with the device.

[aoife]

I got my Nexus 7 on Tuesday and could run i player but it hasn’t worked since yesterday. I get the disable desk top message and a message about installing Flash Player.  Have done that (even tho have installed BBC Media Player. I am a bit pissd off!

[Bill]

My Nexus 10 will not run BBCiPlayer after auto upgrading to 4.2.1, very frustrating OK befire upgrade. I appaears to be a backward step . I have another 7″ tablet running 4.1 which is fine.

[DavidB]

@aoife My Nexus 7 happily runs the iplayer app. I don’t have Flash installed, just installed Media Player (which provides routines and codecs) then iPlayer. The ease of this install makes the issue with the Nexus 10 all the more frustrating.

@Bill Your comment is interesting; as my Nexus 10 auto-updated to 4.2.1 at first setup, I never had a chance to test iPlayer with 4.2.What puzzles me is that the app installs normally on the 10; it just won’t run

David

[DavidB]

Well, I seem to have found a fix. But it’s a bit weird, and I don’t know how widely applicable it will be.

The background is that, when I got my Nexus 10, it not only automatically updated to Android 4.2.1, it also pulled down all the apps I had acquired for my Nexus 7 from the Google Play store. These apps included Firefox for Android, which I prefer to the native Chrome browser (not least because it seems to be more stable).

It now appears that the iPlayer app deals with the resolution on the 10 by invoking the normal browser version of iPlayer, and, for whatever reason, that version is compatible with Chrome, but not with Firefox.

So, if you have Firefox installed, and are getting the problem I described in previous posts, the solution is to clear the Firefox defaults (or maybe uninstall it completely, which is what I did). iPlayer should then work in Chrome. If, having uninstalled, you reinstall Firefox, starting the iplayer app will give you a browser choice dialogue; choose Chrome as the default for the action.

iPlayer now works well on my 10, though it cannot take full advantage of the screen resolution. For personal viewing, I think I prefer it on the 7 (with headphones of course). And it is a pity that the BBC has not published some sort of statement on the compatibility issues by now.

David

[cafeannalisaMember]

Experiencing bizarre behaviour on nexus 10. Tells me I am not in UK when I am (and my galaxy tab 2 doesn’t have this problem). Also keeps telling me I have to install media player, even when I have launched iPlayer through it! Uninstalled and reinstalled both several times….

[JezKeymaster]

That sounds funny, my first suggestion was going to be to check that you are accessing the Internet in a normal way, someone else had this problem and it turned out that they had setup a proxy on their router to make it look like they were in the US and had forgotten to switch it back again!

I have also heard that if you register a google account on a foreign server it will stay registered there – people used to use this to their advantage to get access to US Google music before it became available here in the UK!

But if your Tab is connecting in the same way and works as expected then that sounds like something else is going on here.  Not sure what to suggest tbh, try giving Google a call.  Do a reset?  Are you using the same Google account as on the Tab?

[cafeannalisaMember]

Thanks jez. I’m using my one and only Google account. What are you suggesting I reset?

[Steven]

I too am finding problems with the iplayer on my nexus 10, it does as DavidB said and load up in chrome, but that only gives me the standard web page which is fine when wanting to watch something there and then. However the beauty of the app (on my iphone anyway) is that you can download the programs to watch over the next 30 days which allows me to watch them at my choosing when out and about without an internet connection.

So to me the app isn’t really an app as it runs through chrome, I’m finding the same problem with a couple of other apps too.

Is there something I need to do to rectify it or is it just as is until the programmers fix it?

 

 

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