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Airplay problems with BBC iPlayer (Global) on iPad2 and ATV5.0

Hi,


I've just upgraded to ATV 5.0 on my ATV2 and to iOS 5.1 on my iPad2 and suddenly the Airplay option on my BBC iPlayer (Global) doesn't work properly anymore.


For months I have been watching BBC iPlayer content on ATV via iPad using the in-App Airplay icon. But now when I try that I just get a black screen with a spinning load-icon. Mirroring works, sort of, well it puts something on the screen but the audio quality is poor the video is so pixelated and choppy that it is not watchable. Mirroring generally works fine.


Does anyone have any idea why the in-App Airplay option isn't working? Any suggestions? Apart from the two platform upgrades mentioned above nothing else in my setup has changed.


Using an iPad to Airplay BBC content to an ATV may not be elegant, so before you ask why: I am outside the UK (hence the subscription to iPlayer global) and I do not want to fake my geography using a proxy server (I'd rather pay the BBC a monthly subscription than pay it to a proxy service). If there is a better way to get the iPlayer content onto my ATV I'd be glad to hear it. Maybe I am missing a trick here.


Cheers,

Rob

AppleTV 2

Posted on Mar 17, 2012 5:01 PM

Reply
55 replies

Mar 20, 2012 3:08 PM in response to Rob4l

Hi,


can't help either, as I have exactly the same problem here, when I hit the Airplay button the BBC iPlayer logo show on the TV then just the spinning icon!

Tried with an Ipad 1, Iphone 3gs, and Iphone 4s, non work.

Worked perfectly untill the new iOS undates

Airplay still works fine from the Remote app and also from the EyeTV app, so it must be something to do with the BBC iPlayer.


Hope somebody can throw some light onto this.


Cheers,


Pete

Mar 21, 2012 6:34 AM in response to Rob4l

Hi


I have been in contact with the BBC and got a response telling me it shoudl work by double pressing the home screen button, swiping right to get the ipad player dock think ( Play , Volume , Screen Lock etc) and the Airply option should be there. I tried this first time i got the issue and as i said it didnt appear there for me but maybe it will for you?


Let me know and good luck

Mar 21, 2012 7:03 AM in response to DavidBLambert

Thanks David,


I tried that initially too but it doesn't work either. In my case the Airplay icon is there but selecting the ATV has the same effect as the in-App Airplay option (spinning wheel). If I select ATV and turn 'Mirroring' on then I do get something on the screen but it is pixelated and choppy and utterly un-watchable. Using mirroring with other Apps (e.g. Google Earth) works perfectly. Airplay is also working fine with other Apps (e.g. Remote App).


I can understand that streaming video this way is not trivial but it had been working just fine for months. I'm surprised that the BBC can't offer better advice, I mean you'd imagine they'd have tried that themselves.


Cheers,

Rob

Mar 21, 2012 7:46 AM in response to Rob4l

Hi


My thoughts exactly, problem is BBC and Apple both point at each other. Im a bit confused as i dont get the AirPlay icon but i have the iPad 1 not 2 so i am guessing that maybe why, but either way as you said it was working fine on IOS 5.0 so i dont see why and update donwgrades your capabilities.


Another related quiestion you might be able to help with is does the ipad have to be in a network with an airplay enabled device to display this icon or would it show up anyways?


Thanks


David

Mar 21, 2012 10:57 AM in response to Rob4l

Hi Rob


I have just checked the apple tv and when I updated the software on it must have defaulted the AirPlay to off . So I switched it on and reset the settings on the apple tv , means you have to re-enter your wi-fi key and iTunes account details but it might just work.


Apple have not had any issues with the iplayer app as yet ( except for the fact you have to double tap home and swipe left to right to initiate the AirPlay option )


Anyways humble pie for me I guess because I should have checked this but assumed that it would still be on as before the update.


Best of luck again



David

Mar 21, 2012 1:11 PM in response to Rob4l

Hi,


I am writing from Germany and have the same problem. Ever since I updated mein ATV, I cannot see BBC iplayer anymore on my television. I do get up in the right corner the option to chose between seeing the episode on my new iPad 3 or on ATV, but when I choose ATV, it shows the BBC iPlayer logo on my television and after that it spins and spins and I cannot see the show on my television.


I wish with every new update Apple produces, it woundn't produce new problems. I love Apple, but within a year, I had my iMac three times in for repairs until I got a new one from Apple. My new ATV broke down after two months and I got a new one from Apple and my iPhone freezes whenever I am trying to make a phone call.

Mar 21, 2012 3:03 PM in response to DavidBLambert

Hi David,


thanks for the suggestion, but that isn't the problem in my case, Airplay was either on after the installation or I switched it on immediately. Anyway, in the interest of being thorough I switched it off,

reset the ATV, took down my Airport Base Station and Airport Express, switched off Home Sharing and then switched the whole lot back on again. I set up the ATV for Airplay, Home Sharing the whole works. It made no difference.


Everything I else have tried so far works. I can Airplay the iPlayer sound to my stereo, I can Airplay music from my iPad to the ATV, I can Airplay videos that are on my iPad or YouTube etc to the ATV. I even tried downloading a program in the iPlayer and playing it back over Airplay. I noticed the same effect that you've mentioned - the in-App Airplay icon was gone and I had use the dock. Selecting the ATV without mirroring produced sound on the ATV and picture on the iPad, with mirroring I got the same unwatchable results as before.


Glad you've got yours going - are you using mirroring or not?


Cheers,

Rob

Mar 21, 2012 3:12 PM in response to jsfrankie

Hi JS,


what you describe is exactly the same situation I have, I guess there must be some slight difference between the "Global" version of the iPlayer and the one available in the UK. It is a bit depressing that it's not working on an iPad3 but given that the current version of iPlayer is from last December, not very surprising. I wonder if anyone out there has tried using it with an ATV3?


Btw. I fully agree with what you say about Apple's updating habits. After moving to Lion I swore that I would never take a major update in an early release. I forgot to check online what the ATV upgrade was before hitting "install" - I am still kicking myself.


Cheers,

Rob

Mar 22, 2012 6:12 PM in response to Rob4l

Hi,

I thought I was alone! This is exactly what I have been experiencing (spinning wheel) but it hadn't occurred to me that it was the software "upgrade" that trashed everything. I wasted so much time resetting everything AND I needlessly bought a new router and a new ATV (ATV3) because I thought it was my stuff that was broken! I was so enjoying my Iplayer subscription before the "upgrade". Has anyone tried to downgrade? I think you need to Jailbreak for that and I don't think I want that...

I sold the ATV2 and have another plan for the router but still....

Now that I see others are having the same issues I hope it will be fixed - presumably by BBC? Meantime I've stopped my subscription. Can't watch it on the iPhone - too old for that!

Other things -

The "in app" airplay icon is very difficult to tap sometimes??

My iPhone doesen't detect the ATV3 when the ATV3 is asleep - I think it did detect the ATV2??



Thanks!

Colin

Mar 23, 2012 7:24 AM in response to Rob4l

Here's an answer from the Beeb



We are sorry you are still experiencing problems with Airplay following the Apple TV 5.0 software update and the iPad update to the new iOS 5.1 version. We are working on a solution with Apple, as it seems we are not the only app experiencing such issues. The process to build, approve and release the revised code through Apple is time consuming, we will notify you as soon as it is completed.


In the meantime you can still enjoy our content on your TV screen if you have an HDMI cable, and can also use "mirroring". Please note that with "mirroring" the image quality will be slightly lower than with regular Airplay. You can switch on "mirroring" when you select to play via Airplay on your device. (Note: This will not work if you have an iPad 1, iPhone 3G, and iPod Touch)


At least someone is working on it.

I don't know why they don't make some kind of public statement or at least put it in FAQ.


Cheers!

Colin

Mar 23, 2012 8:00 AM in response to colinfromlakeview

Thanks Colin,


I hope the fix comes sooner rather than later.


To answer your questions from earlier:


- I do sometimes have problems with the in-App Airplay icon. Usually it is right at the begining of a program (i.e. just when you want to put it up on the ATV) and I assumed that it had to do with the amount of processing power being used to stream video and build a buffer or 'front-log' of data. That's just a guess, but it seems to work better once the show has started palying. I am using an iPad, I don't know if there is any difference to the iPhone.


- My iPhone does detect my ATV2 when it's asleep. I used the Remote App to check this and it found the sleeping ATV without a problem.


Hope this helps.


Cheers,

Rob

Mar 25, 2012 3:52 AM in response to Rob4l

Rob (and everyone else who have shared their experience), thanks for starting the discussion it's been very helpful.


Prior to the recent software upgrades, I'd successfully been using the global version of iPlayer with an iPad 1 mirrored to ATV2. The recent software upgrades however has put paid to that. And I can't use an HDMI cable either as this is not supported with iPad 1.


What I find really curious is that I can still mirror AV streams from YouTube and ABC iview, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's iPad app for streaming ABC's TV content. Based on this experience, it would seem to be a problem with the way the BBC iPlayer works with the latest software upgrades for ATV2/iPad and AirPlay.


For the iPad 1 there is no mirror option that can be switched off or on, it's just on by default. The option to switch mirroring off or on seems to be available only with iPad 2 and 3. I did get mirroring to work with a 4S iPhone running the BBC iPlayer, but the video quality was awful - very blocky.


Hopefully the BBC can get this sorted out sometime soon - perhaps they should talk to the ABC 😉

Mar 25, 2012 7:18 AM in response to Rob4l

I have the same problem here. Since the ATV software update I can't use bbc iplayer over AirPlay. I thought it was something wrong with my new iPad3 but the problem still occurs when reverting back to iPad2. I've tried changing wifi channels but the problem still persists. I thought I could get around it by downloading programs onto my iPad (as opposed to streaming) but bbc iplayer does not give the option to use AirPlay for playbacks. I hope this problem can be resolved quickly by both bbc and apple or I will be forced to cancel my subscription.


Warren

Airplay problems with BBC iPlayer (Global) on iPad2 and ATV5.0

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