***Updated 17 December 2012***
Why did you build the BBC Media Player application? Why not just stick with the way you do things now?
Unfortunately, the technology we use to deliver video and audio to Android devices (Adobe Flash for mobile devices) is being withdrawn from the Google Play store by Adobe and will soon no longer be available in the UK. This means that we need to move to another way of playing back our video and audio files.
Will the BBC Media Player app replace the BBC iPlayer app?
No. The current BBC iPlayer app will continue to exist. Currently, we have only integrated it with the BBC iPlayer mobile website. Soon, it will also be integrated with the BBC iPlayer application (the BBC iPlayer app which you download from Google Play). Shortly thereafter, BBC Media Player will be integrated with other BBC websites and applications. However, once integrated, the BBC Media Player is intended to be a helper application to enable the BBC iPlayer app to play BBC video and audio programmes.
The BBC iPlayer application will be the app you use to find and choose programmes to play. It (and other BBC websites and applications) will pass on these play requests to BBC Media Player. For the most part, once BBC Media Player is installed, you should just ignore it and continue to access iPlayer on your Android device the way you always have done.
Why is BBC Media Player a separate app from BBC iPlayer?
By having BBC Media Player as a separate app, we can centralise all of the work and all of the code needed to play video and audio on Android devices in one place. This will make it easier for us to improve and develop over time. Additionally, without the FlashMedia plugin, there isn't a way for us to provide secure media playback directly in a web browser. This meant we needed to build a separate application which could play video and audio for our websites.
Why don't you use HLS or some other streaming technology instead of Adobe Flash?
HLS (Http Live Streaming) is not supported on Android OS versions prior to Honeycomb (v 3). These Operating systems still form by far the greatest proportion of Android devices in the UK.
Why can't I play radio streams in the background when using BBC Media
Player?
Unfortunately, the current version of the Adobe Air SDK does not support background audio playback. When Adobe Air supports this feature, we will incorporate it in BBC Media Player.
Why can't I download programmes to play later on my Android device?
This feature is coming in the future, but we are still some months away from
being able to provide it.
What are the minimum requirements required for the BBC Media Player app?
Please visit the Adobe Air website for full details.
Known Handset Issues
We've vigorously tested the BBC Media Player app on a whole range of Android devices to ensure the app is ready for public release. However, here is a list of current known issues which we are working to resolve:
Sony Xperia Arc - The app does not work correctly once the device is upgraded to 4.0.3.
Samsung Galaxy Tabs - It's recommended that Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.x) version of the Android OS is installed.
We'll update this FAQ when we any further information on these known handset issues, including details on when a fix will go live.
Did this answer your question?
Didn't see your answer here?
If you have detailed issues about using BBC iPlayer not covered here, please read our Where can I go to discuss BBC iPlayer? FAQ or you can Contact Us.
