Help & FAQs

BBC iPlayer Help

What do I need to get BBC iPlayer Desktop?

To download programmes you need to be in the UK - if you're incorrectly told that you're not, please see this advice.

Mac and Windows users must have administrator privileges on the account you wish to install BBC iPlayer Desktop to, otherwise you will not be able to install it.

Windows

To install on Windows please see this advice.

  • Intel Pentium III 1GHz or faster processor, 512MB of RAM
  • Recommended: Pentium 4 2GHZ or faster, 1GB RAM
  • Supported Windows versions:
    • Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise including 64-bit editions and Vista SP1.
    • Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Tablet PC Edition SP2 and SP3,
    • Windows 2000 SP4
    • Windows 2003 Server
  • Adobe Flash 9.0.115 or higher and Adobe Air 1.5. Get the latest Flash version here and Adobe Air here.

These links will take you to a website outside BBC Online. The BBC is not responsible for content or software downloaded from external sites.

Apple Macintosh

To install on a Mac, please see this advice.

These links will take you to a website outside BBC Online. The BBC is not responsible for content or software downloaded from external sites.

Linux

To install on a Linux machine, please see this advice.

  • Supported Desktop Environments
    • GNOME
    • KDE
  • Package Management Systems
    • RPM
    • Debian Minimum GTK+ version: 2.6
  • Keyring(Gnome)
  • KWallet(KDE)
  • Processor - Modern x86 processor (800MHz or faster, 32-bit)
  • Memory - 512MB of RAM, 128MB of Graphics Memory
  • Fedora Core 10
  • Ubuntu 8.10
  • Open Suse 11

  • Air on Linux does not work when connecting through a proxy

  • Adobe Flash 9.0.115 or higher and Adobe Air 1.5. Get the latest Flash version here and Adobe Air here.

If you have a 64-bit Linux distribution, see Adobe's advice on what you may have to do.

These links will take you to a website outside BBC Online. The BBC is not responsible for content or software downloaded from external sites.

Didn't see your answer here?

For further help you can Contact Us, or you can discuss this issue at the BBC iPlayer messageboard.