Bought and paid for Movies from iTunes Store won’t play offline.

[JRoDDz]

I bought two movies and synced (downloaded) them to my iPhone X before a flight. During flight I go to open the movies and...

Internet connection appears to be offline. What sense does that make? Yes I know it’s Apple STUPID DRM. Guess what. I won’t be buying any more movies from Apple. Will go back to obtaining movies the old fashioned way with NO DRM. Thanks Apple for a BORING plane ride.

 

[960design]

My largest irritation with Apple. Same thing happened to me during a long flight to Italy. No movies, because there appears to be no internet. No crap... that's why I downloaded the movies to my device.

So angry about this.

Email Tim Cook. Maybe someone will get through to him:
tcook@apple.com

PS. Great movie choice!

 

[adnbek]

I bought two movies and synced (downloaded) them to my iPhone X before a flight. During flight I go to open the movies and...

Internet connection appears to be offline. What sense does that make? Yes I know it’s Apple STUPID DRM. Guess what. I won’t be buying any more movies from Apple. Will go back to obtaining movies the old fashioned way with NO DRM. Thanks Apple for a BORING plane ride.

Weird because I always download a few movies through iTunes before flying and they have no problems playing without an internet connection. Are you having this issue with all movies or this particular one alone?

 

[Rigby]

I have watched iTunes TV shows and movies on flights using my iPad many times and never had this problem. Only thing I can think of is that somehow the phone wasn't DRM-authorized. Did you try to play a movie at least briefly before the flight while still connected to the Internet? Also, was the Wifi turned on but you didn't buy Internet service while on the plane (which usually means you can connect to certain airline services but not other Internet servers)? I guess that could confuse the phone.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

That's really weird. I've tried to replicate this with my MacBook - signing out of iTunes, turning off WiFi etc but still my downloaded iTunes films play - I keep my all time favourite films downloaded on my Mac and not just in the iCloud (only have about 10 absolute favourite films

I'd love to see people's explanations as I have iPhone X and plan on travelling with it and of course using it to watch my iTunes films on flights.

 

[Apple_Robert]

You needed to validate the purchase before the flight. Otherwise, the DRM files won't play.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

You needed to validate the purchase before the flight. Otherwise, the DRM files won't play.

GREAT POINT! That explains why mine have always worked because i've played them on my MacBook and then synced them to my iPhone.

Also, was the film downloaded directly to the iPhone or was it synced from your iTunes on your Mac?

 

[960design]

Weird because I always download a few movies through iTunes before flying and they have no problems playing without an internet connection. Are you having this issue with all movies or this particular one alone?

It is with all movies. I have not determined the pattern, yet. It seems to happen when I expect the movie to play and am currently in the most disadvantageous moment where I cannot connect to my hotspot for just a moment. Once connected to a hotspot for a moment it works again with no issues.

 

[Rigby]

You needed to validate the purchase before the flight. Otherwise, the DRM files won't play.

What do you mean by "validate the purchase"? Normally the device needs to be authorized only once (which basically means installing the decryption keys), and is then able to play all content downloaded from that account without any further steps. Normally the authorization happens either when you sync the phone via iTunes (which itself needs to be authorized), or when you first sign in explicitly, or download and/or play content from the store while connected to the Internet.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Are you guys who are experiencing problems syncing the films from a Windows computer by any chance?

How are you downloading them? iPhone or computer?
[doublepost=1520721031][/doublepost]

It is with all movies. I have not determined the pattern, yet. It seems to happen when I expect the movie to play and am currently in the most disadvantageous moment where I cannot connect to my hotspot for just a moment. Once connected to a hotspot for a moment it works again with no issues.

Are your movies downloaded onto your Mac and then synced across to your iPhone?

 

[Rigby]

Are you guys who are experiencing problems syncing the films from a Windows computer by any chance?

I use both iTunes syncing and direct downloads on my iPad depending on the situation and never had this issue. If in doubt, I'd suggest testing offline playback before the flight by switching the device to flight mode and trying to play the movie.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I use both iTunes syncing and direct downloads on my iPad depending on the situation and never had this issue. If in doubt, I'd suggest testing offline playback before the flight by switching the device to flight mode and trying to play the movie.

Hi Mr Rigby. Yes i've never had this happen to me BUT I always download on my MacBook and sync over - I don't trust my iPhones to do this - i've downloaded PDFs from my iCloud to my iPhone so many times only to find that, once the iBooks app is closed and reopened later my downloads have gone and the download logo is next to them. Very weird!

I use my MacBook as my central media hub and sync from there. Although, Apple is actually promoting downloading iTunes films on the iPhone X and iPad Pro by having a HD HDR download option in the settings!

Mind you, I always play the first 10 seconds of a new download on my MacBook to see what the picture quality is like or what the iTunes Extras have

I did read online about a bug in iTunes for Windows computers that wasn't allowing film downloads to play without an internet connection!

 

[mk313]

I had this happen to me yesterday for the first time. the culprit (in my case) was that I had connected to the in-flight wifi (to get flight status updates, etc) but didn't buy the internet package, so I was on the network, but the internet didn't work. As soon as I turned off wifi, it worked fine.

not sure if there's something else going on in your case, but that's what resolved the same issue for me. Not sure if it matters, but it was on United.

 

[Tech198]

Is the solution that after u download you do NOT sign out of iTunes ? you just disconnect from internet?

Perhaps signing out does something.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I had this happen to me yesterday for the first time. the culprit (in my case) was that I had connected to the in-flight wifi (to get flight status updates, etc) but didn't buy the internet package, so I was on the network, but the internet didn't work. As soon as I turned off wifi, it worked fine.

not sure if there's something else going on in your case, but that's what resolved the same issue for me. Not sure if it matters, but it was on United.

I believe that this is the answer! Having looked at the screen shot - the iPhone X is connected to something as it's displaying 'store' and other settings 'watch now' etc at the bottom of the screen. When the WiFi is turned off, all of these disappear and you are left with 'Library' only icon. Maybe because of iTunes Extras it's trying to connect to Apple's servers because it's detected some kind of signal.

 

[rmm805]

Is this on an iPhone X with HDR enabled? I had the same thing happen to me on my iPad Pro 10.5 with HDR enabled. It was only the larger size HDR movies I couldn’t play. I deleted them and disabled HDR and then I could download them and play them offline without an issue.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Is this on an iPhone X with HDR enabled? I had the same thing happen to me on my iPad Pro 10.5 with HDR enabled. It was only the larger size HDR movies I couldn’t play. I deleted them and disabled HDR and then I could download them and play them offline without an issue.

Very interesting. So in a way the HDR file is behaving like the 4K HDR file in that it needs verification. Must be something to do with stopping high quality piracy maybe?
THANK YOU for this as I was going to try HDR film downloading on the X but I'll give it a miss and go straight from my MacBook to the iPhone!

 

[Lumpy05]

I can confirm that I also had a similiar issue with an HDR movie on ipad PRO 10.5, predownloaded while on wifi, tried playing on plane and get the no internet connection available. Forutnately it was prior to takeoff and I turned my iphone hotspot on and got it started, able to finish watching with no wifi no problem.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I can confirm that I also had a similiar issue with an HDR movie on ipad PRO 10.5, predownloaded while on wifi, tried playing on plane and get the no internet connection available. Forutnately it was prior to takeoff and I turned my iphone hotspot on and got it started, able to finish watching with no wifi no problem.

So, do you think that these HDR movies need WiFi each time you press play for verification OR just the first time after downloading the film?

 

[Lumpy05]

So, do you think that these HDR movies need WiFi each time you press play for verification OR just the first time after downloading the film?

It appears just first play. I tested a couple tonight and when downloaded turned off WiFi. Would not play, turned on WiFi and they start right up. Turn off WiFi and they still play.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

It appears just first play. I tested a couple tonight and when downloaded turned off WiFi. Would not play, turned on WiFi and they start right up. Turn off WiFi and they still play.

Thank you Lumpy WOW, Apple should really make its customers aware of this!!! There's a lot of people out there, myself included who buy new iTunes films especially for long haul flights and journeys!

If you close the TV App and then try watching a HDR film without wifi, will it still play?

This is bad news as the point of having downloaded films is that you don't need an internet connection.

 

[Altis]

I'm pretty sure it's because rented movies need to tell the Apple servers when you first play it (so that it expires from your account on time).

I bet the purchased movies have the same code in there do tell Apple when you first play it, even though it obviously has no effect on them.

 

[Lumpy05]

I'm pretty sure it's because rented movies need to tell the Apple servers when you first play it (so that it expires from your account on time).

I bet the purchased movies have the same code in there do tell Apple when you first play it, even though it obviously has no effect on them.

Except purchased movies have never behaved like this. I think I will call iTunes support and see what they say. Non HDR movies don’t do this.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Except purchased movies have never behaved like this. I think I will call iTunes support and see what they say. Non HDR movies don’t do this.

BRILLIANT idea! I'd love to know the reason behind it!
I'm 100% staying away from downloading iTunes films directly on my iPhone and going with my old approach of downloading on my MacBook and syncing.
Not convinced that HDR/Dolby Vision will add that much to a 5.8" display anyway.

 

[akuma13]

I could have sworn i read somewhere that 4K movies can only be played online/streaming? Only 1080p movies can be downloaded for offline play.