In flight entertainment issues with iOS 15

Hi awhite908, in a previous post some users turned off Private Relay (Beta) and it worked (at least for those that has it activated), but as one user pointed out, you lose the option to turn off Private Relay on the plane (when Airplane mode is activated) and needed to turn it off before boarding.

Maybe something to consider.

I had this same issue today on my iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 15.2. With troubleshooting I eventually discovered that I had a VPN service that was attempting to connect in the background. After turning of the VPN service I have been successful at achieving an acceptable WiFi connection in flight on an AA Eagle flight with gogo service.

Had the same issue on American Airlines as well. iPad Pro, iPad, iPhone 13 Pro Max, and iPhone 12 all had issues with iOS15 and in flight entertainment. I tried turning off the Private MAC ID feature under WiFi in addition to disabling various settings in safari like pop up blocker and more. Also deleted all web data and cookies. The commercial before a video would play, but not an actual movie. Seems to me there is a DRM issue or the web player is bugged. Worked just fine on iPad on the latest release prior to iOS 15. Videos would attempt to load but nothing would actually happen. Downloaded movies from iTunes worked just fine. I have submitted the feedback via the AA post flight survey.

Hi there awhite908,

Great question, and we'd like to help answer it as best we can. As you mentioned this occurs with multiple browsers, and that the in flight entertainment is access via a browser for the major airline you're using at the time, we wanted to confirm the following to rule out some basics:

1. Any issues streaming videos on other websites, like YouTube, or even the Apple website as two examples?
2. Have you tried reaching out to the website developer as it's occurring in different browsers? If yes, what did they have to say?
3. What about trying any steps, like a restart as one example? Just in case, this link shows how to Restart your iPhone.

Have a good one!

Hello awhite908,

We understand that your wife's iPhone with iOS 14 is working, as you mentioned it previously.

The reason for the suggestion to contact the website developer is not only to see if there's any issues on their end(like a possible configuration setting with devices that have iOS 15 but only guessing), but to also see if they have any troubleshooting steps for you to take since you mentioned not having issues with videos on other websites.

If the issue remains after contacting them, we recommend contacting Apple Support afterwards: Get Support

Take care!

This is a DRM issue that hasn’t been addressed in a long time. You can watch trailers but not full length movies. Both of my American Airlines flights around Thanksgiving had the same issue on my iPhone 13 with iOS 15.x. Prior to that I also couldn’t see inflight entertainment on Alaska in early November. Wasn’t an issue on my XR with 14.x installed. Numerous people were asking the flight attendants why they couldn’t see the entertainment and the passengers were told it was a settings issue. No, it’s not. This is Apple’s problem and I’d really like to watch movies again. Please fix this.

I flew last night. Neither my iPad nor iPhone would play anything off of the inflight entertainment menu. Both are updated to iOS 15. I tried “forget network”, shut down the device, reset the WiFi and tried connecting again. Nothing. I tried other browsers. Nothing.

[Edited by Moderator]

Just flew SW and could watch live TV but movies wouldn’t play on my 13 Pro Max, but they did play on my sons 12 mini. Both running IOS 15

Flew today with new iPhone 13 pro max and iOS 15. Didn’t work!

I have the same problem flying with southwest. I was able to watch live TV though but no luck on movies. I just died yesterday. hope they can fix the problem soon as I fly frequently.

Thanks for the option. I don’t have that turned on though, so it’s not that. I also saw the comment about VPN and I made sure that wasn’t an issue either.