The lack of out of the box iPlayer support on the Nexus 7 has proved kinda annoying. This is the kind of thing that Apple fans don’t have to put up with and doesn’t do a lot for the Android cause. That said, the Android market gets stronger and stronger so things can only get better.
We’ve had a couple of threads in the forum regarding installing iPlayer and as it’s something I want myself, I’ve given it a go. It’s actually not too hard so I suggest giving it a try if you are keen to get the BBC content streaming to your tablet.
Step by Step Instructions
The following “how to” guide takes you through installing iPlayer on your Nexus 7:
- To get it running we need to install Adobe Flash and the BBC iPlayer app, neither of which you can grab from the Play store by default on the Nexus 7. In time the BBC iPlayer app should be updated so please do check if you are reading this some time in the future!
- First you need to get hold of the apps, I grabbed them from this post at the XDA Forum. But you can get them elsewhere. However, you need to make sure you trust the source as these aren’t official downloads, obtaining apps like this always has a risk. You are looking for two APK files.
- Next you have to tell Android that you are happy to take the risk, under Settings -> Security tick the “Unknown Sources” box.
- Now you have to install the two apps you’ve just downloaded, to do this you are going to need one more app. I chose to use Airdroid, but there are many other APK installers out there. Feel free to pick your own, else Airdroid is a handy app to have and allows you to mange your Nexus 7 over WiFi. Find in the Play store and install it on your Nexus 7.
- With Airdroid installing the Flash and iPlayer apps is easy. Connect to your table from your desktop browser, click on apps and hit “Install App”! The screenie below points out the important bits.
- During installation you’ll be asked to confirm on the tablet itself, make sure you are comfortable with the security permissions (especially as you are not using an official download).
- And that’s it, here’s what the iPlayer app looks like on the Nexus 7:
All being well, it should end up working like this:
Get it working? Had any problems? Let us know…
Note: I have done this and can confirm it works fine, however, attempt at your own risk!
Credit to this thread @xda-developers.com.
PS. If you install the Firefox Beta from the Play store, you can access Flash content in the browser.
Thanks, used Airdroid and it worked like a dream. Can’t believe we have to do this though.
Brilliant, worked like a charm. Slightly confused with the download / airdroid instructions (wasn’t sure whether to download to my PC or to my N7, in the end used the downloads directly onto my N7), but now have iPlayer for the Olympics!
Cheers Matt, added a note to hopefully clarify.
I’ve dowbloaded the two ZIP files from XDA.Tried to use Airdroid but passcode was not accepted. I’ve tried other apk installers but I don’t see how to install from ZIP files. I’ve opened the ZIPS and I can’t see an apk file in either of them.
I’m stuck.
FWIW I’ve used APK Installer and MobileGo in the past. Airdroid works over your wireless network and there are reasons it might not work without additional configuration – but that’s beyond the scope of my knowledge!
I’ve just gone to the quoted post in the XDA forum and clicked on the download links, both give me an APK file:
Adobe_Flash_Player_11.1_11.1.115.11.apk
BBC_iPlayer_1.3.apk
FYI an APK file is essentially a zip of all the required files for an Android application, so you should be able to unzip an APK file to see the contents.
Sounds like your download hasn’t worked correctly?
Woot ..A BIG TY and many thanks. Followed instructions to the letter and Im now wired for TV!..Possibly one of the easiest set of instructions I’ve seen for downloading iplayer on a Nexus 7!
Many thanks. The Airdroid thing was really neat (never used it before): running off my home network, which links the Nexus with my Mac via the Airdroid web site, key in the log in code, get the Nexus innerds on the Mac screen, find the APK’s in Documents, and load them as fully fledged apps. Works like a dream.
- Yes, the above versions of the two apps work fine for iPlayer, many of the others don’t, so these are the ones, Many thanks. I used ES File Explorer to install them.
I was mortified when i could not use bbc iplayer (come on BBC get a grip). so I resorted to good old youtube, and up was your links, you are a start. Much happier now with my purchase of nexus 7. However, I do find that some of the bbc programs seem not to load. But hey cant have it all.
Thanks a lot for posting this! Just goes to show, there’s a fix for everything if you can be bothered having a look around!
flippin magic! thank you for taking the time.
Just glad it’s helped.
BTW, BBC have confirmed an update is on the way that will make this post redundant. Hooray!
Brilliant! Worked perfectly first time. I was put off the Nexus because of the lack of flash support, but this makes it fantastic!
Great, glad it worked!
Great! worked perfectly many thanks! though still don’t fully understand AirDroid!
Update for Nexus7 with OTA Android *4.2* update applied. I bought this as a gift, and so was dismayed that iPlayer would not just install from Google Play. Anyway, just to confirm the process mentioned above: I have an old Samsung Galaxy S1 running Android *4.1*, with the latest BBC iPlayer & BBC Media Player apps installed. I installed AirDroid on both GalaxyS & Nexus7, used it to download the 2 BBC .apk pakages to my PC from the GalaxyS, then uploaded them to the Nexus7 following the very simple steps outlined in the AirDroid help screens. Having never seen AirDroid before, it took me all of 15mins to do the above and get iPlayer & Media Player running on the Nexus7 thanks to the info in previous posts above (thanks everyone!). It seems to work fine, so maybe the BBC just needs to tweak the settings on Google Play to declare support for 4.2 and all this silly footling around would be rendered unnecessary, and its customers rendered happier!
Thanks for sharing that Anthony, this post is still proving one of the most read on the site so it seems like people are still hitting the same problem. I don’t understand why 99% of apps just keep working after an update but iPlayer seems to stop.
It’s pretty rubbish if it is like you suggest, they just haven’t updated it to say it will run, but perhaps there is some sneaky DRM reason for it.
Hope they update it soon, clearly this is a hugely popular app in the UK!
How do you install ITV player onto Nexus 7 when it says it’s not compatible?
ITV player? You’re right, it’s not compatible and I don’t know if it’s possible to get it running. Might be possible to “side load” it if you can get hold of the APK file.