I can’t see my videos with IOS 13.4

For all who have replied to this post,

You are free and welcome to submit feedback about this issue to Apple.

This is only one of the few ways to directly contact Apple about ANY product issues.

iPad Feedback

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

Cognizant Apple employees read ALL feedback generated from all of the various feedback pages and transfers the data to the proper and responsible Apple teams and personnel, but NO Apple employees will ever respond with any type of direct, individual replies from the feedback you post.

The more users that post product feedback about any product issue, the faster Apple, in California, is made aware and starts working on a fix/solution for a future software update.

Also, I suggest contacting/reaching out to Apple Product support and services.

Tap on the first link below and scroll down some to get to the Apple Product Support section and phone numbers for your location/region.

https://www.apple.com/contact/

OR

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201232

Best of Luck to All!

MyNameIsOliverQueen wrote:

Using a mixture of x265 & x264 for video codecs & mostly encoding now with 128Kbps AAC 2 channel stereo to save server space (& watch wearing headphones usually). There are quite a few files encoded with DTS 5.1 also. The Plex server shows Direct Stream for both video & audio on any video I have checked through it. All the devices accessing the Plex servers other than the Windows PC’s are using the Plex App from the App Store on the iPad’s, iPhones & Apple TV 4th gen boxes. Any files smaller than 4GB that I have tried playing back from a USB-C stick via Files all have played back with no issues.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/adf131f8-571f-477c-af90-47944962ec9c

The “no real reason” was before the *Edit* piece was added & used as a general term for most of the issues posted on this board in not all people are affected by some of the issues reported yet others are. Granted there are some issues that are actual bugs but most reported issues are not. I don’t see why there is so much aggression in some posts when people are offering suggestions or their own experiences. Not as if it is going to help, more likely put people off wanting to help even if they have the solution.

Well, the aggression comes from people just not wanting to put in the time to figure something out. It's just easier to blame Apple, I guess.

Thank you for posting that. As for the Plex streaming: If I understand you correctly, the DTS is a direct stream? Is this DTS 5.1 or something like Dolby Digital? Are you using AAC (or some flavor of it) for all of your encoding?

I ask because I like to hear what people are having the best luck with. I use HE-AAC as a secondary audio stream for 90% of my stuff.

Thanks.

Let's be more specific about this: The videos don't work in the TV app.

I can't tell you why your videos don't work in that app because I have no clue what encoder you used (not even a screenshot?!). There are a bunch of variables that go into encoding video and Apple maintains and updates the decoders USED IN THE TV APP to be strictly compliant with ISO specs.

You have two choices.

1. Learn how to encode videos properly.
2. Use a player that can play videos that are encoded poorly or out of specification.

I don't see 1 happening anytime soon with anyone who has participated in this thread, so, let's go with option 2.

Do the videos work in VLC?

It'll be listed as "VLC for Mobile" in the App Store.

Since this player will play out of spec videos it could potentially have issues like reduced battery life and occasional artifacts. This is why Apple sticks to established profiles. Established profiles don't have issues like that because they've been thoroughly tested. Any MKV you grab off the internet usually has been encoded for one thing in mind: Space. They fudge the profiles and sacrifice stability for space. That's why a blu-ray is 50 Gigabyte and an MKV is 4.5-7GB.

You ever wondered why blu-rays are that big? That's why. Compatibility, Stability, transfer capability and medium.

subler only remuxes the audio on any given input file, the video portion could still be out of spec.

There's a program called mediainfo:

https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download/Mac_OS

This will give further info on what the video actually consists of. Post a screenshot, like so:

Here you go. Show us your brilliance. Here are two profiles, one that plays back and one that doesn't. Tell me how I encoded them differently.

I think it is possible that the issue may be 6ch vs 2ch but I will have to re-encode the content in 2 channel to check, but if that is the case, it is almost certainly a bug.

Benjamin Ing wrote:

Did you just gloss over the part where I said that they play back fine in iOS13.3 and don't play back on iOS13.4? Or the part where I can play them back in another iOS app (AVPlayerHD fwiw). Unless the new update somehow has upgraded my hardware or AVPlayerHD reconfigures the processing in my iPad Pro it is either a bug or Apple eliminated the functionality.

AVPlayerHD transcodes the audio on the fly. You're only getting 2 channel audio and a ridiculously low bitrate. This means dramatically higher CPU usage which translates to a much shorter battery life. You think Apple is going to do something like that in their own app? No... encode them right to begin with so it relies on the CPU extensions to do it (which use far less battery). That's why they publish these specs of what it can actually play. The CPU in your iPhone has different capabilities than your laptop or whatever.

Using a mixture of x265 & x264 for video codecs & mostly encoding now with 128Kbps AAC 2 channel stereo to save server space (& watch wearing headphones usually). There are quite a few files encoded with DTS 5.1 also. The Plex server shows Direct Stream for both video & audio on any video I have checked through it. All the devices accessing the Plex servers other than the Windows PC’s are using the Plex App from the App Store on the iPad’s, iPhones & Apple TV 4th gen boxes. Any files smaller than 4GB that I have tried playing back from a USB-C stick via Files all have played back with no issues.

The “no real reason” was before the *Edit* piece was added & used as a general term for most of the issues posted on this board in not all people are affected by some of the issues reported yet others are. Granted there are some issues that are actual bugs but most reported issues are not. I don’t see why there is so much aggression in some posts when people are offering suggestions or their own experiences. Not as if it is going to help, more likely put people off wanting to help even if they have the solution.

I don't have a solution but just letting you know I'm having the same problem so you know you're not the only one. Just got my new 2020 iPad Pro and did both a restore from backup and set up as a new device and have the same problem as you. My old iPad Pro 10.5 inch and my iPhone both still play home videos no problem and I haven't updated them yet so I'd say it's definitely a 13.4 issue now that I've finally found someone else reporting the same.

Same. 11” iPad Pro LTE 2018 version. Worked fine with EVERY ITERATION OF iOS EXCEPT 13.4. I tried playing in Infuse and nPlayer. SAME ERROR. 

@apple of all the times to introduce a software bug! Are you kidding me?

Is this a doj & FTC worthy complaint regarding an attempt by @apple to force us to buy content through iTunes to boost short term revenue and profits? Even if this bug lasts for a couple days it’ll be million$ for @apple considering everyone is stuck @ home.

Mods delete this post and I’ll take a screenshot and include it my complaint.

I’m currently having the same issue. I can load video from apps like Netflix or Tubi; YouTube. I can not however watch any content through safari or any browser app. Firefox & Chrome are not loading either. Pretty sure it’s 13.4. Didn’t have the issue before updating.

Eggroll wrote:

Same. 11” iPad Pro LTE 2018 version. Worked fine with EVERY ITERATION OF iOS EXCEPT 13.4. I tried playing in Infuse and nPlayer. SAME ERROR. 

@apple of all the times to introduce a software bug! Are you kidding me?

Is this a doj & FTC worthy complaint regarding an attempt by @apple to force us to buy content through iTunes to boost short term revenue and profits? Even if this bug lasts for a couple days it’ll be million$ for @apple considering everyone is stuck @ home.

Mods delete this post and I’ll take a screenshot and include it my complaint.

Making threats is hardly constructive - regardless of your evident frustration. As already suggested by MitchelPM, you can post feedback to Apple via the appropriate channels.

You may like to review the Apple Support Communities Terms of Use - that you have already agreed to.

I am seeing the exact same issue. Been ripping my own content myself - I have a couple SiliconDust boxes and am running HDHomeRun. I go through the time to edit out commercials and host all the content on an iTunes server running on an old cheese grater Mac Pro. Been doing this for years and realized the issue when the iPadOS 13.4 beta was released. I downgraded back to 13.3 and functionality was restored. I can still play my content back on my Macs running OS X Catalina, but when my iPad automatically upgraded to 13.4 it stopped loading my home brew content once again.

I spent a huge amount of time in chat and then on phone calls with Apple about a day after 13.4 dropped. Easily at least 2 hours straight. Got shuffled around a few people, even spoke to a senior advisor who then told me all I could do was to submit a bug report to the feedback.apple.com address. That was a couple of weeks ago and I have heard absolutely nothing from Apple. The update to 13.4.1 still hasn’t fixed the issue. Not sure how to get Apple to listen but the iPad is mostly a consumption device and not being able to watch my own ripped content is incredibly disappointing- especially during the quarantine period.

I’m a long time Apple user, back to the days of the 512 Mac. Had the 1st gen iPhone, 1st gen iPads, and Am even still hanging on to my Apple Newton. Incredibly disappointed at seeing this functionality not working and the lack of response that Apple is showing.

Cognizant Apple employees read ALL feedback generated from all of the various feedback pages and transfers the data to the proper and responsible Apple teams and personnel, but NO Apple employees will ever respond with any type of direct, individual replies from the feedback you post.

FYI,

Due to agreements with the television and motion picture industries, Apple takes a dim view of users who are ripping commercial content for use on Apple’s own computers and devices.

Apple actually frowns on this type of activity by its users.

Apple has to find ways to keep users from being able to ( illegally, in most cases ) rip their own content from commercial sources and play it on their products, as part of their cooperation with the television and motion picture industries.

So, if you told any of the support employess you are having issues with playing your ripped, commercial TV or movie content, it might the reason Apple was giving you the runaround and support employee shuffle and eventually just told you to send feedback through the feedback pages.