iOS 9 Beta + Podcast + iPad = No full screen video

[OZsMac]

Great to see the new Podcast app coming along, I'm going to use it for my Video podcasts and Overcast for my audio.

One thing that I've noticed, and it might be more my stupidity, is that on iPad video's can't be played full screen. The picture in picture mode works ok, however I can't for the life of me find a way to get full screen video working in Podcast.

(I was using iCatcher or Downcast for my video podcasts, however was having issues with downloads of larger files, so have setup iTunes WIFI sync to download podcasts on my MacBook and auto sync, when it works).

 

[kch50428]

If you're running the developer beta - use the Developer Portal to report the issue... or if you're on the Public Beta - use the Feedback Assistant to report the issue.

 

[OZsMac]

Sorry forgot to add that I submitted a Bug Report, just wondering if I was alone with this issue.

Update: Some further time with Google shows a few threads where others on iPad's have this issue.

 

[KevReillyUK]

Hi guys,

I was so pleased to find this thread that I created an account just to reply. Beyond one or two mentions on Twitter this is the only place I've seen anyone talking about this, maybe because of the NDA?

Anyway, I'm seeing the exact same problem with video podcasts using the native Podcasts app on iOS 9. I installed the first public beta on day one, and one of the first things I did was to watch a video podcast because for 30% of its time that's all my iPad does. As soon as this problem manifest I submitted a bug report via the Feedback Assistant and rolled back to iOS 8.4.1.

Yesterday, in preparation for tomorrow's official iOS 9 launch, I installed the public 9.1 beta in the hope of seeing that this 'bug' had been eradicated, and was heartbroken to see that it's still there. Either Apple are ridiculously slow to respond to bug reports (and don't have anyone in internal QA who watches full screen video podcasts) or this is actually a feature. Why they would change this is beyond me, but there it is.

The thing is (and this is where the waters muddy a bit) I was almost certain that when I very first installed the public beta of 9.0 and ran Podcasts, the video I'd previously been watching did in fact play full screen. The reason I remember was that even though my iPad is 4th generation and not compatible with Slide Over, I wanted to try the action to see if anything happened, especially if it crashed. When the full screen problem occurred I was convinced that it was the attempt to use Slide Over with incompatible hardware that had caused it. If memory serves I even mentioned this to Apple in the bug report.

The problem is that nothing I've tried, including multiple restores and reinstalls of the beta, has brought back the full screen video. I've even deleted the iPad from my AppleID and used Recovery Mode to set it up as a brand new device, divorced in every way from my iCloud account or any local backups, just in case a rogue plist key caused by my tampering was being re-synced back to the machine. But all to no avail.

Unless there's an even deeper erase method than Recovery Mode followed by a factory restore, I'm stumped. I can only conclude that my memory is letting me down when it comes to having seen full screen podcast video on iOS 9.

If any of this sounds familiar to the OP, especially the bit about trying Slide Over, I'd love to hear about it. I'm still harbouring the hope that this might be a very obscure bug rather than a design choice. If it's the latter, then for the first time in my iOS device life I'm going to have to consider not upgrading to the latest release because full screen video really is that important to me. Either that or I'll have to look for a third-party solution.

 

[gwhizkids]

I'm not sure this is a bug. May have to do with aspect ratio of the iPad.

 

[KevReillyUK]

Having had another look on Twitter (using "full screen" rather than "fullscreen" as a parameter) I can see that this has been mentioned a few times in the last several weeks. One answer, unconfirmed, suggests that a three-finger tap on a playing video will switch in and out of full screen, but I'm not certain whether that was referring to the Podcasts app or just the Videos app.

I'm not at home for several hours so am unable to check this, but if the OP or anyone else with the same symptoms could try it and report whether or not it works, it'd be much appreciated!

 

[KevReillyUK]

Well by the time I got home Apple was offering the 9.0 update so I installed it. The full screen problem was still there, and a three-finger tap did nothing. Fortunately at the time of posting they're still signing the 8.4.1 firmware so I was able to roll back with a custom Restore of an 8.4.1 IPSW.

If this is a feature, it boggles the mind why Apple have decided it's an improvement over what we had before. On the other hand, if it's a bug then I seriously wonder why it wasn't caught during the beta. I and the OP can't be the only ones to have reported it.

 

[durfmobile]

Yeah, this is very irritating. I submitted a bug report a few pb revs back. Just to verify, you have a tiny video window in the middle with GIANT white bars on top and bottom with a bunch of empty wasted space, right?

I've had this issue on my iPad Air (1) since the first ios9pb, and I'm now on 9.1pb. I have the official 9.0 on my iPhone6, which does go full-screen.

Has anyone tried the official 9.0 on their iPad?

FWIW- two finger double tap on the video will pull it down the PiP.

(Off topic)
I like the chronological list of podcasts, but I really wish they would let us 'link' multiple versions of the same podcast : TWiT audio and video- if I watch / listen to one, then the other is marked as played. It's pretty irritating to have to manually manage two lists so I can have the option to listen or watch to suite my location / activity. I've tried using just the video, since obviously there is also the same audio, but it doesn't act the same as far as multi-tasking. Like if you're watching a video podcast, and press the Home Button, the audio pauses. I don't want that to change, I just want the audio & video versions to be linked. Also, I download most audio podcasts, but not the video versions; they're large.
If only they would give us what we want, rather than what they think we want.

 

[Mohamed Elmy]

i have same problem after update to ios 9 today

 

[James Reihsen]

Same problem on an iPad Air 1 on the release version iOS 9. I use Podcasts on my daily commute so this is a deal breaker for me. I'm going back to Downcast.

What an awful omission.

 

[KevReillyUK]

As of 20:12 UTC on September 17th Apple's servers were still signing 8.4.1 firmwares for custom Restores, so if you have the necessary IPSW file you could still downgrade. I'm not sure how long they will keep signing them though. The window of opportunity is normally very tight.

What's curious is that not everyone seems to be seeing this problem. Brian Tong on Twitter implied that his worked fine and wondered whether it was something to do with orientation lock. I just had another quick play with 9.0 but the orientation lock, despite being turned on as part of the Restore process, did nothing to help with the video podcast problem no matter what I did with it.

I've now rolled back my iPad (again!) to 8.4.1 but security concerns mean I know I will have to accept the 9.0 upgrade at some point (and besides, I like its other features. It's great on my iPhone 6). I'm hoping in the meantime that enough people will complain now that 9.x is public and that Apple will address this problem, or at least confirm that it's a bizarre design choice so we can move on and find a third-party solution.

 

[George Hall]

I downloaded the official 9.0 today on my Mini 3, so glad I am not nuts. I played for an hour trying to figure out why I could not get full screen on my podcasts. HOW VERY ANNOYING!!

I downloaded to my iphone 5S works fullscreen there fine.

George in NY

 

[tvmaster2]

I've been sending feedback and starting threads in various places since October. No reply from apple as of yet. The least they could do is tell us it's permanent...

 

[durfmobile]

Regardless of anyone's upgrade habits, no, the problem has not been fixed in 9.3 pb3.

And for what it's worth, in a fresh 9.2.1 install from iTunes on my iPhone 6 the podcast app for the phone is still buggy. It stops playing randomly, doesn't resume playing after phone calls as consistently as it used to, and Siri almost never understands what I want regarding podcasts.
And if I have the same episode title in two different subscriptions, it randomly plays whichever one it feels like- i.e. I subscribe to many TWIT.tv shows, episodes in Radio Leo have the same title from This Week In Tech, it will almost always try to play it from Radio Leo, from the beginning, which is not downloaded, when I was already half way through with the TWIT episode of the same title. And still no way to sync between the same show's audio only & video subscriptions like many other podcast apps.

 

[oner789]

Well, if you're running the developer beta - use the Developer Portal to report the issue... or if you're on the Public Beta - use the Feedback Assistant to report the issue.

 

[durfmobile]

9.3 pb 5 finally gives us back the full screen button in the Podcast app for iPad!!!

 

[KevReillyUK]

Hallelujah, it's a pre-Easter miracle. This has to be one of the slowest "easy win" bug fixes ever. It's a pity I've got so used to Downcast because the native Podcasts app now seems very feature light in comparison.

Still, kudos to Apple for finally recognising and fixing this annoyance. Let's hope they don't remove it again before 9.3 goes gold. Stranger things have happened...

 

[robertk328]

Hallelujah, it's a pre-Easter miracle. This has to be one of the slowest "easy win" bug fixes ever. It's a pity I've got so used to Downcast because the native Podcasts app now seems very feature light in comparison.

Still, kudos to Apple for finally recognising and fixing this annoyance. Let's hope they don't remove it again before 9.3 goes gold. Stranger things have happened...

Glad it's finally back Downcast is my favorite podcast app, but the way things work in my car I need to use the stock apps for music/podcasts.

 

[tvmaster2]

what's the difference between a normal release (9.2.1 is being offered to my iPad), and the public beta you're talking about? When does 9.3.5 become something all of us can use?