Video player issues since upgrade

Hi there,

We haven't released new media player yet, so what you are experiencing with the player is just bugs. It will be fixed with the next update release very soon!

I am interested to hear that you have not shipped the new media player, because my version clearly has two different players. I have upgraded twice since this first post (now on 2.4.3) and I still have the situation where different video files apply different players. Is it possible that the new player has ‘leaked out’ with the 2.4.x release?

The new player has a white border/frame around it, with a filmstrip across the bottom, showing stills of the video over time. You need to slide your finger over this filmstrip to fast forward/rewind.

This new player as a number of UX issues, that make it frustrating

• Videos do not autoplay and you need to press the play button to start
• At the end of the track, they do not progress to the next file and you need to close the player and manually select the new file
• There is no skip button
• The small filmstrip at the bottom is the only way of ff/rew and the hit zone is quite small (even on a large format iPad)
• The direction of travel is counterintuitive, ie you need to swipe the filmstrip backward to go forward.

I would love to have the option to opt out of the new player

Thanks in advance

Hi,

Please forward couple of screenshots of differences in the player to support@alohabrowser.com and we will have a look. Thanks,

No problems. I will do. I have tracked it back to an issue with the playback of M4V files, such as this one:

https://github.com/WillChilcutt/Movie-Player/blob/master/BigBuckBunny/big-buck-bunny-clip.m4v

When these videos are in your library, they play with a different player, that has a completely different UI/UX:

Hello there. Please refer to the following Aloha support thread, for some context:

https://community.alohabrowser.com/topic/video-player-issues-since-upgrade#

Since upgrading to 2.4.x, I have noticed that some videos in my library use a ’new' video player, that has an entirely different UI/UX. (See screencap 1). This new player seems to only apply to some files, but not others, who would use the ‘old’ (and vastly better) player (See screencap 2).

After much experimentation, I think I have isolated it to the video file type. It would seem that M4V files apply the new player, whereas all other files use the old player. This new player has a white border around the video and a filmstrip at the bottom that is also used to ff/rew the video playback (more on this later)

This was first noticed (and reported) in Aloha v2.4.1 . I am currently on 2.4.3 and the problem persists. I am on a 12.9 inch iPad Pro, running latest iOS (11.4).

There are a range of UI/UX issues with this new player.

1. There are now two clicks involved to play a video. You must first select the video from the library and then click the play button. This second click should be unnecessary.


2. There is a delay before you can play the video, as the filmstrip renders.


3. Videos do not auto-advnace. If you get to the end of a video file, it does not advance to the next file automatically. This is particularly annoying if you are watching/listening to music videos, as it stops at the end of each ‘track’. To get to the next video, you must:Close the video


4. Choose the next video manually from the library (this involves remembering which video has just played, as it is not highlighted in the library)


5. Press play on the new video


6. Rimse and repeat

1. click on the very small play/pause video, top right

What is even more confusing is the experience if you happen to be playing a non-M4V videos using the good ‘old’ player. When one file ends and it auto-advances, if the next file is an M4V file, it will skip over this (and any other M4V files) entirely, until it encounters the next non-M4V video. This leave big gaps in your playlist.

QUESTIONS

—————

• Is this a glimpse into a future video player for Aloha? (i.e. has the new player ‘leaked out’ with the 2.4.x release)


• If so will there be the option to ‘opt out’ and revert to the old player?


• If it is a bug, when do you hope to address this? It is a super annoying, to an otherwise remarkable app.

STEPS TO REPLICATE

—————————

1. Download a number of M4V video files, e.g. from here: http://standaloneinstaller.com/blog/big-list-of-sample-videos-for-testers-124.html


2. Download a number of non-M4V files


3. Mix these files up in your library (e.g. sort by name)


4. Notice the difference in playback between file types


5. Observe the issues listed above, with the new player


6. Attempt to play the library back in sequence

SCREENCAP 1: ‘NEW' VIDEO PLAYER. ONLY APPLIES TO M4V FILES

——————————————————————————————————

SCREENCAP 2: ‘OLD' VIDEO PLAYER. APPLIES TO ALL OTHER VIDEO FILES

—————————————————————————————————————

Cheers, Greg

Are they all downloaded videos?

Correct. The files have been downloaded and I am playing them back from the files library.

--

Cheers, Greg

(Sent from my iPad. Forgive any brief responses or strange autocorrects)

……………………………………..

Greg Bird

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eLearning Consultant | Instructional Designer | Educational Leader and Innovator | Teacher | Web and Multimedia Developer | eLearning Systems Administrator

……………………………………..

On 7 Jun 2018, 6:30 PM +1000, Aloha Browser <support@alohabrowser.com>, wrote:

Thanks for all info and screenshots. These are the bugs from our side and it will be sort out with the next update.

Well after the upgrade. - there are sites completely blocked the video streaming option. Wish I could return to the old version before deleting Aloha