Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iPad freezing when playing video.

Any time I play a video I can count on it freezing if it is html5. YouTube plays longer but if I have a video that's about 6 or 7 minutes it will freeze and playing a stored video will always freeze after about the same amount of time. In order to get out of it I have to do a hard reset! Anyone else having this problem?

MacBook Pro 17" Unibody 2.93Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.3), iPad 32 GB

Posted on Apr 4, 2010 12:39 PM

Reply
350 replies

May 6, 2012 4:49 AM in response to BigXials

Bought the new iPad, fails just like the original. CNN CBS fox doesent matter. Runs a few seconds then stops. Watched 2 hours last night on laptop untilmate 7. Same network no problems. Useless for video. Really disappointed to see it has been happening forever with no fix. I've been a Microsoft hater forever, but at lease it works!

Apr 4, 2010 1:14 PM in response to BigXials

I have not run into yet, but will go back and try a couple of others. Are there any particular sites or items on YouTube (as you using Safari to get to YouTube or going straight to it?

And movies that you transfer to play back are also doing the same thing? (Sounds like that is what you are saying?) Have you tried to restore the iPad?

Apr 4, 2010 1:27 PM in response to Drew13

I have tried to restore it. Vimeo.com was reliably crashing it until lately. CNN crashes it. It was watching steamboat Willey when it crashed on YouTube. And yes even a episode of family guy that I synced. Vimeo was acting really weird at first, then now it seems to work fine. I noticed that if I am playing HD that it seems more likely on vimeo. When it happens I get artifacts on the screen.. One time there was about 1/3 of the screen length wise that was flickering blue. The episode of family guy was optimized for the old video iPod and i believe it is in standard mp4 video and not H.264. Truthfully i was hoping that lots of people were having this problem. I have never had a new iPhone OS device that i did not have to return shortly after purchasing... 😟

Message was edited by: BigXials

Apr 4, 2010 2:08 PM in response to Drew13

It is most definitely not the software I have installed. I made sure of that after I restored it by not installing anything on it and going to vimeo and it still crashed. Having to take it back is exactly what I did not want to do. It saddens me a bit that I have a Macintosh Plus and an SE 30 that never had a problem and still run, My LC never failed me, and same with My Ruby iMac DV. Then suddenly, after the year 2000, the iBook G3 had problems out of the box, my original MacBook Pro 17" had 2 logic boards and 3 screens and a speaker replacement, I had 3 or 4 iPhone 3G's within the year I had it and have had to replace my 3GS once. Now the day after I bought the iPad I am having problems. I don't know why I am so loyal. I've never even owned a windows only machine, and for good reason, but the failure rate of any Apple Product in my ownership is statistically improbable.

Apr 9, 2010 3:15 PM in response to BigXials

My iPad freezes when watching any video. If I watch video in any app or in Safari, it will eventually freeze every time. Usually the freeze takes about 15 - 20 minutes the first time. Then when I hold in both buttons to do a hard reset, the iPad will freeze again after just a couple minutes of playing video. When it freezes, it is completely unresponsive to any touch actions or any of the buttons on the device.

I have experienced and can reproduce freezes in all of the following apps:

* Netflix
* ABC Streaming App
* Safari
* Youtube

Do you think this is an issue with all iPads or just mine. Has anyone else experienced this?

Apr 9, 2010 6:49 PM in response to BigXials

I should have done a search on this, because I just posted this same problem. I have been trying to catch up on my ABC shows with my new iPad and it locks up 5 times during one show!!! This is unacceptable!! I took it to the Apple store and they saw that it had indeed been locking up so they did something to it, but I am still having the same issue. This is making me think of taking mine back to the Apple Store and getting my money back, after all being able to watch Netflix and other video is the whole reason I bought this dang thing.

Apr 9, 2010 10:09 PM in response to joshcramer

I'm so glad to find this thread. I have the same problem -- crashing in Netflix, ABC, and YouTube. (I haven't played much video in Safari, but I'm sure it crashes there too.) This has been the case since receiving the device on release day.

I can get 5-15 minutes into a video, and then the system freezes hard. After a two-button reboot, I'm back into the system but nothing is any better. I can go straight back into a streaming video application and experience the same thing. Oddly, local videos don't appear to crash.

If I had to guess, I'd say this looks like an overheating issue. The fact that it's happening across multiple apps, including one made by Apple, leads me to believe it's systemic. Since it's clearly not affecting every iPad, it could be a hardware defect. It could also be something about the combination of apps we've installed, but I doubt that since we can reproduce this immediately after reboot (i.e. nothing contaminating RAM).

If anyone finds more information, please follow-up here. I'm thinking of trying to trade in my iPad in-store.

iPad freezing when playing video.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.