Developers Press BBC to Bring iPlayer to Apple TV by Building Their Own Proof of Concept App

[MacRumors]

Following the unveiling of the new Apple TV back in September, United Kingdom-based public service broadcaster BBC told fans on Twitter that there were "no plans currently" to develop an iPlayer app for the new platform. While the broadcaster has backtracked slightly since that time, more recently stating it doesn't "have any info to give" on the topic, with the launch of the Apple TV right around the corner, a couple of Dorset-based developers have taken the task into their own hands to prove that the app can be made with relative ease.

Screenshot from the proof of concept iPlayer app​

The BBC iPlayer app allows viewers of the popular British channel to catch up with current series and watch live TV on a smartphone or tablet. The company expanded support for the service to streaming devices like Chromecast and smart TVs last year, but never made the leap to Apple TV due to its limited SDK support and nonexistent functionality with other platforms like Android. Now, a pair of developers from Bournemouth, Dorset in the United Kingdom -- Matt Cheetham and Phillip Caudell -- have used a recent hack event to prove Apple TV support for BBC iPlayer could be implemented fairly easily by the broadcaster.

The pair took to GitHub to share the app they created, dubbed the "Auntie Player," which splits the iPlayer experience up into Home, Categories, Live, and Search tabs, with full episode lists, descriptions, and run times for each show. Cheetham and Caudell cite BBC's "disappointing response" from September as the main source of inspiration for the proof of concept app, pointing out BBC's failure to support Apple TV as a direct contradiction to its public purpose to "make engaging digital content and services available on a wide range of digital platforms and devices."

Most impressively, the duo planned, coded, and completed the app in under nine hours at the "Hack to the Future" event in Bournemouth over the weekend. As they note in the GitHub post, the two won't be submitting the app to the App Store, but they wanted to showcase "what can be achieved with the tvOS platform and the BBC's amazing content."

The app we're publishing here was built in just under 9 hours at a hack event to prove it could be done. It's by no means complete or perfect, and it's very much a proof of concept. It's our hope the BBC will release an official app for Apple TV, as they've made iPlayer available on a wide range of other set-top boxes and Smart TVs.

Check out the developers' full suite of source code for Auntie Player on GitHub, along with an array of screenshots and more of the reasoning behind sharing their creation with the public.

With Apple's new tvOS developer tools for the fourth-generation Apple TV, the platform is now open to all developers, significantly broadening the potential for Apple's set-top box beyond the locked-down content provider model that has existed until now. Just yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterated his thoughts that the television experience needs to be reinvented and that apps are the way to do it.

Article Link: Developers Press BBC to Bring iPlayer to Apple TV by Building Their Own Proof of Concept App

 

[Sirious]

They will make an app.
Us Brits don't like showing off too early

 

[kemperman]

Why don't these guys polish it up and then sell to the BBC?

 

[LiE_]

I won't be getting the new ATV until all the catch up services are available. It's a minimum requirement in the UK.

 

[nightcap965]

I understand that the British pay for the BBC through their television tax, and do not expect that they would give their American cousins access to iPlayer without charge, but surely there must be some way to make it a pay service. I would love greater access to British television.

 

[furi0usbee]

Wait, these Brits literally have to pay a TV tax. They should be able to watch programming on every and any device they want. I can't see any logical reason why BBC would NOT be developing an app.

 

[Mark Bolton]

Come on BBC, let's have this on the Apple TV pronto please - a glaring omission IMHO. I suspect they are working on it for the new tvOS but so are mired in bureaucracy they cannot say anything before it's been signed off in triplicate.

 

[ncollingridge]

This doesn't make any sense at all. The BBC has produced an app for just about every platform going - what possible valid reason do they have for not doing one for AppleTV? What's more, there's already an app for iOS - how difficult could it be to port it to TVOS? Sounds like they have a prejudice against Apple to me.

 

[Popeye206]

One thing I noticed is the speed of playback... I wonder if that was edited or really fast due to some other reasons? That seemed impressive.

Or maybe I have a lame connection here and just expect everyone else gets a 5-10 second buffer lag before playback?

 

[ryansimmons323]

The BBC does often take a while with these things. It's like Flash on the desktop version of iPlayer!! Get rid of it!!

 

[Hustler1337]

Just give it a bit of time and BBC will launch BBC iPlayer on the Apple TV. iPlayer is built into many Smart TVs and also available through their iPlayer website so you're not short of options when streaming BBC content.

Props to the devs for managing to whack this out in 9 hours from the ground up. It took eBay almost a year to release an iPhone 6/6 Plus optimised app and many others to perform the most simplest of updates.

 

[mazz0]

I won't be getting the new ATV until all the catch up services are available. It's a minimum requirement in the UK.

Agreed. Without such apps there's little reason to get the new Apple TV instead of using the old one for iTunes and the PS4 for everything else.

The TVCatchup app would be fantastic (that's an app that streams terrestrial digital channels live)!

 

[things]

the developers seem not to understand the issues in streaming and the resultant addressable market, or maybe they understand fully and are just trying to garner publicity with this stunt

much bbc content is only licensed for the UK. agreements with other broadcasters, rights holders etc. severely limit what can be distributed to other countries, even some bbc free to air content is not available on iplayer in UK for just these reasons, much 'bbc' content is either owned or restricted by other parties, even inclusion of stock photos in backdrops in 'bbc' programmes can limit distribution outside the UK

iplayer is already available on mass market set top boxes (youview for instance), and smart tv units for the UK market, that's almost the entire addressable market

no idea what % of UK households have apple tv but no other stb/stv able to access iplayer, but i'd bet it isn't a big number

unless/until the bbc can resolve how to gain rights to stream globally and collect the revenue to cover associated licensing costs, which i suspect will be around the time hell freezes over, it'd be a very poor use of resources to spend time/money on an app with such limited market

 

[ncollingridge]

Wait, these Brits literally have to pay a TV tax. They should be able to watch programming on every and any device they want. I can't see any logical reason why BBC would NOT be developing an app.

Better a "TV tax" as you put it than the rubbish that passes for broadcast TV in the states. At least our broadcast TV is thoroughly excellent, and on the BBC without ads in addition. To put it in perspective, because everyone (almost) pays the BBC subscription it only costs about £12 per month. Sky on the other hand, that produces virtually no original programming, is typically in the region of £30+ per month. I know which model I prefer!

 

[runeapple]

Wait, these Brits literally have to pay a TV tax. They should be able to watch programming on every and any device they want. I can't see any logical reason why BBC would NOT be developing an app.

Actually TV licence is optional and we only need to pay if we're watching live TV - so we can watch catchup without paying, but iPlayer offer an app for many Smart TV's so I doubt they won't release one for Apple TV - I would imagine half the code base required is already in the iOS app.

 

[John Mcgregor]

Wait, these Brits literally have to pay a TV tax. They should be able to watch programming on every and any device they want. I can't see any logical reason why BBC would NOT be developing an app.

It is worth paying for, not like in Denmark. Pure garbage at 250 GBP a year.

 

[Sirious]

Why don't these guys polish it up and then sell to the BBC?

The BBC probably won't buy it on account of the fact they have a 'better' one in the works.

 

[Nicksd84]

AirPlay. Problem solved.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

The BBC does often take a while with these things. It's like Flash on the desktop version of iPlayer!! Get rid of it!!

iPlayer is the only reason I still need Flash. It freezes every few minutes.

Until Apple TV supports all the national broadcasters, it will never take off in the UK.

It's the same with Apple Music. The UK has a serious radio presence dominated by the BBC and regional stations. The fact that Apple Music does nothing to accommodate this demonstrates what a different world the UK is compared to America. I suspect that Apple knows this, and have given up even trying to compete.

 

[Tiger8]

This doesn't make any sense at all. The BBC has produced an app for just about every platform going - what possible valid reason do they have for not doing one for AppleTV? What's more, there's already an app for iOS - how difficult could it be to port it to TVOS? Sounds like they have a prejudice against Apple to me.

You don't know their reasons. Maybe Apple rejected the app? Maybe Apple TV is not selling enough in the UK to justify such app? Why is the BBC automatically at fault here?

 

[RobQuads]

unless/until the bbc can resolve how to gain rights to stream globally and collect the revenue to cover associated licensing costs, which i suspect will be around the time hell freezes over, it'd be a very poor use of resources to spend time/money on an app with such limited market

They just need to do what they currently do and restrict it to UK IP addresses similar to the way they currently do it for all other apps, nothing clever needs to be done (unless they want an even more complex solution on the Apple TV vs the other platforms)

 

[John Mcgregor]

iPlayer is the only reason I still need Flash. It freezes every few minutes.

Until Apple TV supports all the national broadcasters, it will never take off in the UK.

It's the same with Apple Music. The UK has a serious radio presence dominated by the BBC and regional stations. The fact that Apple Music does nothing to accommodate this demonstrates what a different world the UK is compared to America. I suspect that Apple knows this, and have given up even trying to compete.

Indeed.

 

[Moonjumper]

Hopefully iPlayer will arrive on the Apple TV. I also hope that programme downloading will be available as it is on iOS, but tvOS has different restrictions.

 

[LastLine]

Hm, have downloaded and attempted to compile but having some issues with it, still an interesting concept and definitely worth looking at.

 

[peterh988]

It is worth paying for,

They should go subscription then, funny how reluctant they are to give people a choice instead of forcing everyone.

The problem with the telly tax is you have to pay it even if you don't consume any of the product, if you only want to watch the non-BBC channels, you still have to fund them (and their excesses)

I'd rather they funded themselves by subscription, a licence fee when they were the only game in town was tolerable, nowadays, with hundreds of channels, it's ridiculous.