movies show "There's a problem loading this content." unless Bluetooth is connected

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movies show "There's a problem loading this content." unless Bluetooth is connected

My movie library is a combination of .mp4's and movies purchased through iTunes. Right now I have a problem with some of my .mp4's. Specific ones will not play on my iPhone or iPad after being synced to them, unless my device is connected to my Bluetooth headphones. I have other .mp4's that can play without a problem. I have tried restoring my iPad, and I just upgraded to iPadOS 13.4.1 and iOS 13.4.1. I do not know why some of my movies are throwing the "There's a problem loading this content." message unless Bluetooth is connected. Can anyone help me figure out the problem?

I have been testing my movies and sorting them into playlists to track which ones work and don't work. I have not found a pattern yet.

iPad Pro, iPadOS 13

Posted on Apr 24, 2020 3:07 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

rmahabir Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 24, 2020 6:45 PM in response to QuickPost

I was trying to explain that the movies I bought in iTunes are working fine in the TV app on my iPhone and my iPad. Those movies are not part of the problem. The problem is that some of the .mp4's that I have (which I did not buy through iTunes) are showing the problem I reported. And some other .mp4's are playing fine. I don't know what is causing the TV app to throw the "There's a problem loading this content." error when I am watching without Bluetooth headphones connected.

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Answer 2

rmahabir Author

Level 1

4 points

May 1, 2020 9:51 AM in response to gibb5

Good suggestion, except that now that I have the app on both my iPad and my iPhone, when I try to copy .mp4's to both, they do not show up in the app once they are successfully copied. I know they are on my devices based on how much data is stored within the app. But it still shows "Empty Media Library".

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Answer 3

gibb5

Level 1

8 points

May 1, 2020 10:44 AM in response to rmahabir

I have found also that the move will load if you use Bluetooth head sets. My home movies loaded when

using my ear buds (apple). Seems to be an issue with our Apple products speakers not being able to do surroundsound of seven channels of audio. I also saw someone post that if you download your movie to your Apple product and have the option to select PCM audio (2 channels) The movie will play fine (when downloading).

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Answer 4

rmahabir Author

Level 1

4 points

May 1, 2020 4:55 PM in response to gibb5

I tried this again and it seems to work, so I'll do this for the movies that don't work in the TV app. I started putting them into separate playlists so I can organize them, and I'll retry this each time I take a new iOS or ipadOS. Just weird.

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Answer 5

rmahabir Author

Level 1

4 points

May 9, 2020 6:16 AM in response to rmahabir

VLC is not an effective solution. For some reason (which I have yet to determine) not all of the movies I put on my iPhone show up in the app. Even fewer show up in the iPad. I guess it's too much to ask to have Apple fix this bug in the next iOS update. Where's the fun in that, right?

I did find out that all the movies with a bit rate less than 200kbps (2 channel sound) play on my devices. Anything with more than 200kbps do not. I created one playlist for bit rate < 200kbps and another playlist for bit rate > 200 kbps, and this fit the pattern perfectly.

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Answer 6

rmahabir Author

Level 1

4 points

May 9, 2020 8:18 AM in response to rmahabir

Also, I have an older iPad model number A1584. I don't have this problem on that one. This is only a problem on my iPhone XR (A1984) and my iPad Pro model number A2014. All three are on 13.4.1 software.

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