The iPlayer app is still absolute dogshit on Apple TV. No UHD programs, no season selection, no subtitle support (which is insane for a supposed organisation that champions inclusivisty), still no redesigned app which launched on all other platforms I can think of over two years ago…
When I’ve got in touch with the BBC to complain about the lack of subtitling in the past they have just said “it’s too difficult” and panned me off, even though literally every other app including ‘BritBox’ which is partially owned by the BBC has them.
So I’m just wondering (especially with Doctor Who back on Saturday, and next year) if there is anything more I/we can be doing to get this sorted?
Really this is just an excuse for the BBC’s shitty behavior. Why would anyone expect different devices to have the same solution? BT sports were able to deliver 4K content, Netflix, Disney, Amazon are all able to do so as well. The truth is they just don’t see the value, probably because of market share. HLS vs Dash isn’t the barrier they are making out. They receive public money, they should be obliged to provide a similar service on all their supported devices.
Won’t disagree on that. I think if they would really try, they would find a way to do all those things on Apple TV. I had an app from a german broadcaster that also lacked subtitles support for a long time. But a while ago they finally added support. Although you can see that the subtitles don’t respect my style settings. So I guess they are using some workaround. And I could imagine that subtitles support lacked because of the same reason.
But on the other hand I think it’s also true that Apple is kind of ignorant sometimes in some cases. And thinks they can afford to do things differently than everyone else. And regarding phones and tablets they can. Because they have a leading position there. But not when it comes to streaming boxes.
But what are they doing differently? HLS vs moeg-dash? HLS is just as popular as dash and was around before it. It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to support the BBC’s preference when there are two very popular protocols.
But obviously there is broad support for MPEG-DASH on other devices. Because otherwise the app would have the same limitations there too. But I’m pretty sure that those devices will also support HLS. So you could also argue that if there are two very popular protocols out there, you should support both. And that you can’t expect from the BBC to change their protocol just because of that one streaming device out there.
But I don’t want to take a side on this. In the end it’s just the usual blame game of big companies. And the customer has to pay the price for it.
Given the fact everything supports HLS, the BBC choosing Moeg Dash is a weird decision.