iOS 10.2 TV app offline issues

I Can't even open TV app after a few hours since logging on to a wifi network. This is not going to be helpful on a 12 hour flight to China next month! Please either fix this problem with TV app or let us go back to the 10.1 Videos app!

I agree. This TV app is horrible when offline. I can't say it is pretty online either. It is unbelievable that Apple let this go online, especially without a way to get back to the old video app which at least worked.

Please, please, please, I hope this issue gets fixed soon. We have had the same problem here with our movies and tv shows with the new TV app on iOS 10.2. The reason I purchased a phone with 64 GB instead of using the "cloud" was to have that flexibility of watching shows offline. Now, whenever we go to the TV app while on cell service, we get a constant spinning wheel. I really wish there was a way to get the old app back too. I'm following this post hoping that someone out there has the answer....

FWIW, this is what I submitted via Apple's feedback form. I'm dead serious about not spending a single penny ever again on videos from the iTunes store. I can't watch it on my television (I have Roku), and I'm able to download content purchased from Amazon to watch offline.

I suggest everyone else who's having this problem also let Apple know. I plan on writing a similar email to the iTunes customer support — they seem to be a bit more responsive. Maybe it's because I've thrown them a lot of money.

The TV app that replaced the native Videos app is a disaster. It simply will not work unless I'm connected to the internet, which means in my case, wifi. The app will not launch -- all I get is a blank screen and the spinning wheel.

This is unacceptable for many reasons, the least of which is that I only have internet access when connected to wifi. That means viewing videos where there is no wifi — traveling, or commuting for instance — is impossible.The worst part is that I have purchased thousands of dollars worth of video content from iTunes that I can no longer watch. At this point I won't spend any more money on purchases on iTunes and only buy from other sources such as Amazon. I have no problems downloading purchased content to my iPad for viewing offline.

I just received a temporary fix from Apple. They are aware of the situation and planning to fix it in the next IOS release (10.2.2?). Meanwhile, here's the workaround.

While online (connected to the internet)

Go to Settings > iTunes & App Store

Sign out (tap your ID and choose Sign Out from the pop-up window)

Reboot your iPad

Go to Settings > iTunes & App Store

Tap Sign In

Sign in with your Apple ID

Launch the TV App, and it should load your content and work normally

(Of course, I know, you're online, be patient!)

Exit the TV App

Now switch wi-fi off, and turn Airplane mode on.

Now you're offline.

Launch the TV App again.

Now (if you're as lucky as I am) it should work, and load your downloaded content, and you should be able to play it.

I tried switching the iPad off, and without going online (still offline and with airplane mode on), tried again. It works.

Hope this helps.

How did this app pass QA? My phone specifically gives me an error while offline saying I can't even open the TV App. The whole purpose of offline content, either Home Videos or Synced iTunes purchased videos is to be able to watch it WITHOUT a connection. I should be able to watch a video on a long drive without burning through data, I should be able to watch on a plane without paying for in-flight wifi, and I should be able to watch a video while camping in a no coverage area. I can only assume the QA folks live their entire lives behind desks saturated with good coverage. I suggest that Apple hires some testers that have lives that take them away from their desks, outside, and around the world.

For videos you've converted to .m4v format and aren't DRM protected, you should be able to watch them on an alternative video app such as VLC. Another user here posted a link to an app he created that seems to work okay as well.

There ARE workarounds for this issue and there is a FIX in the works for the next iOS 10.2 update.

In the meantime,

Did you bother to read/try the fix/workaround from SCC from NY just a few reply posts above yours?

Until the fix comes, you CAN post feedback about this major bug/issue in the new TV App.

The more people who post feedback, the faster Apple can get out a fix.

iPad Feedback

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

Good Luck!

The workarounds simply don't work. Or if they do, only once, and the TV App will again become unresponsive. That's been my experience — I would have to go online, sign in/out of iTunes each time, reboot, etc.

Right now, the only 'workaround' is to purchase/download video content elsewhere, like Amazon and Netflix, tell Apple they lost your business, AND tell everyone you know to do the same. I have lodged two complaints on the iPad feedback form, and one complaint on the iTunes one, FWIW: https://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

Maybe Apple will get it's a-- in gear and fix it. But at this point, I don't care. I've moved on — but still extremely p-ssed after spending, no joke, thousands of dollars on iTunes purchasing shows and movies.

I really do hope this screw up hits Apple hard in the wallet. Serves them right.

Diana,

There is the possibility that this has been done purposely by Apple and this "oversight" may not get fixed.

It has been over two months, now, and Apple still has not issued a fix for this.

I am beginning to think that Apple instituted this in the "improved" (NOT) TV App to intentionally expedite this little operational feature "wrinkle" and NO fix is coming!

Apple has done something similarly underhanded and without warning and left out of iOS description updates to users before.

Apple coded the ability to stream iTunes purchased TV/Movie content from a remote, but local storage devices out of iOS sometime at some version iOS 8.

I discovered this feature omission in iOS 9 when I started inquiring about this.

This was an undocumented and workaround feature,that existed from iOS 5 to the last last iOS 7 update, to be able to stream iTunes purchased movie/TV content remotely from an external storage device, but Apple closed down, coded out this ability/workaround since, without notice or warning to users that had used this capability and it seems that Apple is not going to restore this ability anytime soon!

I continually send feedback on this issue, but I fear I am a minority user who has ever used this functionality.

Seagate and WD portable Wifi hard drives used to work with streaming PURCHASED iTunes video content,

NO MORE!

There is no way to do this any longer!

There is NOTHING you can do to get this to work!

This ability is gone!

Plus, with mobile, portable, WiFi hard drives and mobile flash drives, you are forced to use a drive maker's app to access these drives and the drive app is not capable of wirelessly streaming purchased iTunes TV/ Movie content as Apple's own DRMs have been preventing this, too!

The remote streaming ability was accessed through a workaround that allowed streaming of purchased iTunes movie/TV content though the iOS Safari web browser.

Apple closed up, coded out this workaround out of Safari during an early iOS 8 update, forever preventing protected, BUT PURCHASED, iTunes movie/TV from ever being streamed from a remote storage device.

Android devices do not have this limitation to be able to stream the same iTunes purchased content to their devices from a wireless WiFi remote storage device.

The only thing you can do is transfer movies from the drive to your iPad to watch the movies off of your iPad, now!

The wireless drive is just a storage vessel, now and not an external streaming device.

I have resorted to stop purchasing any more iTunes movie/TV content and going back to purchasing physical mulitiformat discs of movies/tv show and creating my own digital copies of DVDs that I can use with both my Seagate Wireless portable drives and wireless and lightning connected mobile, portable USB flash memory drives.

I can now directly stream all of my movie/TV content, once again, from external storage devices.

I still own the first generation iPad that still has iOS 5.1.1 that still has this capability. So, I can still stream movies from my Seagate Wireless hard drive to my 2010 iPad 1, but this is my only iPad that still can do this.

If you want Apple to restore this external streaming workaround feature/ability, please help our and send feedback about this removed feature here.

iPad Feedback

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

I had the same thing happen with the entire family's iPads. We just got back from a 3 week trip to NZ - VERY LONG flight. I downloaded and synced movies and shows to iPads (along with doing update) right before we left. Movies worked OK - but TV shows would not play. Even when we were connected to WiFi. I would go to Library - Downloads - and then click on a show and it would just spin, spin, spin. I finally discovered (when we got home) that if I was hooked up to WiFi and went to TV shows (rather than downloads) and then clicked on the downloaded shows - they would play. However - all our content shows on the screen - not just the shows that are downloaded. This is not helpful when we have LOTS of shows and my kids have difficultly understanding what is downloaded onto the iPad and what is not. I have to say - this is the last time I download an update right when it is released! What a nightmare flight with two young children!

yeah, this update is painfully bad. I have a tons of movies and content and I can't even update my iPod touch without my iTunes freezing and crashing within 30 seconds of starting the sync.

I've also noticed that my iTunes artwork won't load, and the application itself stops working as efficiently as soon as they switched the app. I can make it work decently enough (albeit incredibly slow) if I'm connected to my local wifi, but it's basically turned my iPod Touch into a brick since I can't sync any new content to it without crashing iTunes.

Yep, same problem. I plan on contacting Apple to notify them that after spending probably hundreds of dollars on video content via iTunes, I will no longer do so. I can just as easily purchase content on Amazon and download it to my iPad for watching online.

I have the same problem. I was forced to upgrade to the new iOS on my iPad and then it deleted the Videos app and replaced it with this TV app. I cannot load the TV app at all when my iPad is offline. This means I cannot watch any videos that I downloaded or my own "home videos" on the device anymore. Given that there are no solutions posted here, it seems that it is now impossible to watch any videos on an iPad when traveling or otherwise not connected to the internet even if they were downloaded and paid for, or personal content?

Have you tried waiting a really long time for stuff to load offline? I know that I can load stuff offline that I've got on my iPod Touch (although iTunes won't load anything new on my iPod because it crashes now any time I connect it), but stuff that was already on there I'm able to load, it just takes an obnoxiously long amount of time (at least 30 seconds).

Hopefully you're at least able to do that. The OS for the app is incredibly slow and unresponsive but will usually work eventually (for me at least).