Is there any way to View video with HTML5 video browser, as from wikipedia articles, on my IPad mini?, Is there any way to View video with HTML5 video browser, as from wikipedia articles, on my IPad mini?

I do a lot of research using Wikipedia articles. Sometimes those articles have video attached. When I click on the play button of the image, it opens a floating window with the first frame of the video, but it's not moving. A thin banner at the top of it me: "For a better video playback experience we recommend a [ HTML5 video browser". And touching the play button ( hoping it might play anyway) has no effect. It will not play.


Is HTML5 a PC/Windows only format? Or is there an App that will alow me to use these videos on my iPad mini? I've spend 6 hours already trying to find out what I can do about this, and I've made zero progress. I've checked out a handful of apps in the app store, and don't even know what I'm looking at. I got the Wikipedia app for mobile devices, and it doesn't offer the videos in the truncated articles it provides. I've spoken to several Apple techs at the Applecare phone number, and no one there seems to know anything about it.


surely, I can't be the only one with this issue. Please comment, please help. Thank you all.

iPad, iOS 6.1.3, Mini

Posted on Jun 26, 2013 3:49 PM

Reply
16 replies

Jun 26, 2013 4:07 PM in response to BobTheFisherman

Thank you for your response, but I'm not sure I understand it. Permit me to paraphrase: The video offered by the Wikipedia website is not in an HTML5 video format, but in some other format that my iPad will not play. If this is yhe case, then how do I find out what is the true format used by Wikipedia, and what do I need to do in order to play those videos?

Thanks for your time.

Jun 26, 2013 4:14 PM in response to Jabbadah

Correct. View the source of the web page and look for the html video tag. You won't find one if the video is not HTML 5. The HTML 5 video tag looks like this:


<video>

</video>


with the video details between the video open and close tags. An example from W3C Schools follows:


<video width="320" height="240" controls>

<source src="movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">

<source src="movie.ogg" type="video/ogg">

Your browser does not support the video tag.

</video>

Jun 26, 2013 4:25 PM in response to BobTheFisherman

Thanks again for your reply. I'm afraid --(and you should be too), that you are talking to the computer-illiterate. I have only a modest inkling of what you mean and I will attempt to pursue your suggestion; yet, while it may offer me a way to identify the nature of the video I hope to play, I seem still to need a solution towards how to play the video I wish to view. Thank you for your effort, though.

Jun 26, 2013 5:41 PM in response to BobTheFisherman

Dear Bob,

I downloader a VLS Streamer from the Apple app store. It requires some kind of helper software to run, which, as far as I can tell from the video at the developer's site, allows one to download content from one's mobile device to their computer. Since I don't have a compatible computer for my iPad to link to, the instructions don't help my situation. I emailed them with my query and will probably hear from them sometime this week.

I've lived with this problem for the 3 months I've had my iPad, and I'll keep after it until I have a solution. But right now, I've run out of steam. If this lead helps me to resolve my issue, I'll come back and HELPFUL or RESOLVED every response you've given. I'm very grateful for your help. Sorry I'm so utterly clueless.

Thanks once again. Please don't cringe if I get back to you another day.

Apr 15, 2014 3:03 PM in response to NicksGrandad

I have the latest version of Chrome installed on my iPad mini and I still get the same results as Jabbadah. The message says, "For a better video playback experience we recommend a html5 video browser." A video on wikipedia will not play http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Mars.ogv

I've tried using Dropbox, VLC, and playing the video using the Mercury browser. Mercury has a "User Agent" feature where you can switch to a different browser within the app (i.e. Firefox, Chrome, etc.) and still won't play the video.

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Is there any way to View video with HTML5 video browser, as from wikipedia articles, on my IPad mini?, Is there any way to View video with HTML5 video browser, as from wikipedia articles, on my IPad mini?

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