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Dreamer2go

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2007
679
303
sorry to revive the thread here

So basically, like the OP
I use webbased m.youtube.com to stream audio to my phone sometimes (like load the video, hit home button, the audio fades away... double click home button to my media controls, hit play again, and the music plays in the background)

AND... it doesn't work anymore that way right?
Yeah, same issue here....... kinda sucks.

Luckily, MCtube is here... that's my only suggestion (like many others)

I am not sure what happened though.... is it Apple's fault or google's?
 

roxxette

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2011
1,507
0
sorry to revive the thread here

So basically, like the OP
I use webbased m.youtube.com to stream audio to my phone sometimes (like load the video, hit home button, the audio fades away... double click home button to my media controls, hit play again, and the music plays in the background)

AND... it doesn't work anymore that way right?
Yeah, same issue here....... kinda sucks.

Luckily, MCtube is here... that's my only suggestion (like many others)

I am not sure what happened though.... is it Apple's fault or google's?

Maybe it will be a new feature on ios 7 ?
 

The Phazer

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2007
2,997
929
London, UK
Also, Grooveshark was pulled from the App store a few years ago because there was question whether the content provided was legal.

There was really no question...

The situation here is -

Google have made it very clear to anyone using the YouTube API that background playing is no longer allowed. Industry scuttlebut is that this because of music licensing reasons, but maybe they just don't like it and want people viewing the ads too. Either way it is non-negotiable.

As a result Jasmine removed the feature, and it isn't present in the official app. I have no doubt Google will chase down MCtube eventually, they probably just haven't noticed yet.

Google will have no doubt also requested Apple did the same when it played embedded videos. However, Apple appear to have done this by tearing out background playing via Safari entirely rather than coding something up for YouTube specifically in iOS 6. This was clumsy and a bit ****. They will not put it back for YouTube. But it could be considered a bug (or at least a feature regression) that background playback no longer works for any other sites either. It may be worth reporting on Radar and seeing if it's fixed in iOS 7, but Apple would have to treat YouTube and non-YouTube video differently so I don't think it's a given that they will consider it worth the complexity.

There's nothing technical to enforce against videos playing their audio in the background from third party apps, and those that don't use YouTube content are unaffected. Those who do use YouTube content will get a cease and desist pretty quick if YouTube notice.
 

Cod3rror

macrumors 68000
Apr 18, 2010
1,772
82
sorry to revive the thread here

So basically, like the OP
I use webbased m.youtube.com to stream audio to my phone sometimes (like load the video, hit home button, the audio fades away... double click home button to my media controls, hit play again, and the music plays in the background)

AND... it doesn't work anymore that way right?
Yeah, same issue here....... kinda sucks.

Luckily, MCtube is here... that's my only suggestion (like many others)

I am not sure what happened though.... is it Apple's fault or google's?

Apple disabled it.

It was such a useful feature!

While there are apps that stream YouTube, I also stream videos from other sources and this feature was super useful!
 

ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,485
1,571
East Coast
Just my two cents. Does it really matter if the video plays in the background? The only use case would be to listen to the audio in the background, right? If video app developers cared, they could have the audio continue in the background, as per that apple kb.

But here's the thing. Why would google (or any other video app developer) want to allow playing audio in the background? The user won't be able to click on ads, not can they view them. So advertisers could see this as a less valuable users. Could end up hurting Google's product to their end customer.
 

Cod3rror

macrumors 68000
Apr 18, 2010
1,772
82
Just my two cents. Does it really matter if the video plays in the background? The only use case would be to listen to the audio in the background, right? If video app developers cared, they could have the audio continue in the background, as per that apple kb.

But here's the thing. Why would google (or any other video app developer) want to allow playing audio in the background? The user won't be able to click on ads, not can they view them. So advertisers could see this as a less valuable users. Could end up hurting Google's product to their end customer.

Yes, it really matters. And I'm not going to start giving you dozens of useful examples of this.

And it wasn't like it was forced on to users, as soon as you Home-ed out of an app, audio stopped and a user had to manually start it. So it was not draining battery either, unless specifically requested by a user.

Your second point makes no sense. When you watch a video on the phone, it opens in full screen, there are no ads to click or view there.

Finally, image if you were watching a video in your browser on your laptop and every time you switched the tab, or minimized the window, audio/video stopped. How would you like that?
 

ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,485
1,571
East Coast
Yes, it really matters. And I'm not going to start giving you dozens of useful examples of this.
i think you missed my point. You start a video using the YouTube app. Then you click over to safari or mail or some other app. Your issue is that YouTube stops working whereas it used to keep playing the audio.

The issue seems as though apple may have changed the behavior. That link above shows that there is a way for an app developer to separate the audio and the video so that when the app is put into the background, the video stops, but the audio continues. Is that the behavior you want?

Your second point makes no sense. When you watch a video on the phone, it opens in full screen, there are no ads to click or view there.

Finally, image if you were watching a video in your browser on your laptop and every time you switched the tab, or minimized the window, audio/video stopped. How would you like that?
my second point hypothesizes why google may not want to build that functionality into their app. I know a lot of people that use YouTube to listen to music. They'll put together a playlist and listen away. From time to time, ads will play, thus netting YouTube some money.

If YouTube went into the background but continued to play the audio, then the user wouldn't see the ad. Sure, he'd still hear it, but it may not be as effective. I don't think the folks spending the money on ads would like that.

Or maybe I've missed your point, in which case I apologize.
 

Cod3rror

macrumors 68000
Apr 18, 2010
1,772
82
i think you missed my point. You start a video using the YouTube app. Then you click over to safari or mail or some other app. Your issue is that YouTube stops working whereas it used to keep playing the audio.

The issue seems as though apple may have changed the behavior. That link above shows that there is a way for an app developer to separate the audio and the video so that when the app is put into the background, the video stops, but the audio continues. Is that the behavior you want?

YES!

That's exactly what I want, and it was possible before iOS 6.1.

It was extremely handy, I'd launch a documentary, song, TV show on YouTube or some streaming site in Safari, background it and browsed the web in Chrome.

It was one functionality advantage iOS had over Android, yet, Apple had to go ahead and ruin it.

my second point hypothesizes why google may not want to build that functionality into their app. I know a lot of people that use YouTube to listen to music. They'll put together a playlist and listen away. From time to time, ads will play, thus netting YouTube some money.

If YouTube went into the background but continued to play the audio, then the user wouldn't see the ad. Sure, he'd still hear it, but it may not be as effective. I don't think the folks spending the money on ads would like that.

Or maybe I've missed your point, in which case I apologize.

No need for an apology at all.

I agree, yes, Google would want want to do that. However, why did Apple do it? They don't care about Google. In fact they changed the maps to get away from Google and give them less revenue.

Which makes me think, maybe Apple caved into the demands of RIAA or some other scumbag organisation? Maybe they thought "hey, people listen to music on YouTube and don't buy it from iTunes anymore, let's cut this functionality".

Either way, it was an anti-consumer thing to do, considering it was not forced on people and had no downsides, you could just choose to continue playing in the background.
 

animatedude

macrumors 65816
Feb 27, 2010
1,143
88
Hey Google please update your app to make it play music in the background otherwise ppl will just switch to other Apps...cheers.
 

Ryan Burgess

macrumors 6502
Jan 26, 2013
320
48
I use McTube to download/play videos, it does everything that Google can't implement in their app.

----------

YES!

That's exactly what I want, and it was possible before iOS 6.1.

It was extremely handy, I'd launch a documentary, song, TV show on YouTube or some streaming site in Safari, background it and browsed the web in Chrome.

It was one functionality advantage iOS had over Android, yet, Apple had to go ahead and ruin it.



No need for an apology at all.

I agree, yes, Google would want want to do that. However, why did Apple do it? They don't care about Google. In fact they changed the maps to get away from Google and give them less revenue.

Which makes me think, maybe Apple caved into the demands of RIAA or some other scumbag organisation? Maybe they thought "hey, people listen to music on YouTube and don't buy it from iTunes anymore, let's cut this functionality".

Either way, it was an anti-consumer thing to do, considering it was not forced on people and had no downsides, you could just choose to continue playing in the background.

Apple did not disable it, that is why it's still possible to play videos in the background using apps like McTube or jasmine.

Google disabled it from their app because of copyright reasons, as previously noted by other posts in this thread.
 

Cod3rror

macrumors 68000
Apr 18, 2010
1,772
82
https://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2794977&topic=2422555&ctx=topic

on the faq google says some of its partners in the music industry prohibit background playback

Great find.

I guess, it's the same music industry that forced Apple to disable background audio in Safari and other apps in iOS 6.

So disappointing and disturbing how they cave in to their demands on consumer's expense. What's next? Will they disable background audio in PCs aswell?

----------

I use McTube to download/play videos, it does everything that Google can't implement in their app.

----------



Apple did not disable it, that is why it's still possible to play videos in the background using apps like McTube or jasmine.

Google disabled it from their app because of copyright reasons, as previously noted by other posts in this thread.

They both did. You cannot play in the background using Safari(Apple), Chrome, or any other third party browser(because again, they use Apple's webkit).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg77imswSp4
 

Dreamer2go

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2007
679
303
lol! I switched back from Android to iOS because streaming background audio was something I missed SOO much in iOS...

Hope McTube keeps this up.
 
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