As reported early today on SlashGear, it appears that America’s appetite for the “Beeb” is not waning anytime soon as BBC has announced their iPlayer app will be coming soon to not only the iPad, but Android tablets tablets as well. Last year, BBC launched their BBC News app to great success, and now, the Royal network plans to premiere their iPlayer as the next in a steady line of apps for British Television.
Initially, the news was iPlayer would be coming to iPad only, but it looks like Android development is well advanced and the company hopes to premiere both apps by the end of the week. Here’s a breakdown of iPlayer’s features for both platforms:
- Users will be able to watch TV and listen to radio, not previously available on mobile devices
- Search BBC’s complete catalog of programming, as well as a seven day que of TV and radio on demand
- Series tracking of your favorite BBC programs
The apps promise to be a significant improvement over the original BBC News app, which was admittedly just a repurposed web interface. One downside, however, the iPlayer app won’t be available for every single Android device due to technical reasons. Viewers must have at least Android 2.2 (Froyo) , Adobe Flash 10.1 installed, and a WiFi connection for a smooth viewing experience.
[via BBC]
The article doesn’t specify if, like the web based iPlayer, this app will only be available in the UK.
I have a feeling that if you can access iPlayer on the main website, you should be able to access it via your phone. Some TV programmes will be region-locked I suspect though – both on the site and any of their apps they have.
I have a feeling that if you can access iPlayer on the main website, you should be able to access it via your phone. Some TV programmes will be region-locked I suspect though – both on the site and any of their apps they have.
Hello. Brit person here.
1. This app isn’t for the US; all TV on the BBC iPlayer is not available for non-UK audiences. (Radio, however, is; and an international version of the BBC iPlayer is coming “soon”, which in BBC-speak normally means some time in the next Ice Age).
2. The BBC has NEVER called itself “the Royal network”. Other pieces of news that may be of interest to you: we don’t all clean chimneys, we don’t all have bad teeth, we don’t all know Bill and Mary from York, we don’t find it quaint that we have Starbucks on every street corner, we don’t all drink tea, we don’t use ‘bloody’ every other bloody word, and we don’t bloody say ‘cheerio’.
3. The BBC News app, which you mention in this piece, is iOS only, and is NOT (and never has been) a repurposed web interface; it’s a bespoke (and quite nice) bit of iOS niceness. The BBC man you link to (who is American, incidentally, and ex Microsoft) was discussing the BBC iPlayer’s iPad version, which works like the current Android version.
4. Yes, the current Android version. The BBC iPlayer has been available to Android v2.2 users for the last six months or so, by visiting http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer in the web browser. (It’s been available on the iPhone and iPad for rather longer). Actual mobile phone apps from the BBC have been caught up in the kind of red-tape beaurocratic nonsense that passes for work over there. (I used to work there, you can possibly tell).
Apart from that, you’re spot on, so I hope that clears things up for those former subjects in the far outposts of the Empire. Cheerio! Cuppa tea, anyone?