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Streaming in browser - breaks down a lot?

G

globalist

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 19, 2009
748
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So I've just started my free trial and watching For All Mankind in my browser (Chrome on PC) in the EU.

So far, in the one hour I've watched so far I've gotten 5 interrupts where the stream just breaks and I have to reload the page and start the episode over, then seek to where I was before. My internet connection is constantly up, as tested with "ping 8.8.8.8 -t"

Seems the service is not up to the task, at least not here? Anyone else with this issue?
 
I'm having problems trying to see in my windows PC.
When I press Play, the video does not start. It stays a black screen........I've already tried with Chrome and Edge.... Same result
 
All I can add is that I'm Experiencing the same problems. I Have a connection that clocks over 600 mbps at speedtest.net. I can't see how thats not fast enough. Netflix and Amazon Prime stream just fine. I'm streaming on a desktop gaming PC, that's quite powerful, using Google Chrome. I'm in Northern California.
 
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kotty said:
I'm having problems trying to see in my windows PC.
When I press Play, the video does not start. It stays a black screen........I've already tried with Chrome and Edge.... Same result
Click to expand...

Yeah, same with me. No videos play at all.

The service is totally broken for me.


EDIT:
I just tried Firefox, and videos play. It does seem to be low bitrate though.
 
kotty said:
I'm having problems trying to see in my windows PC.
When I press Play, the video does not start. It stays a black screen........I've already tried with Chrome and Edge.... Same result
Click to expand...
I have the same problem as well, I tried in 2 different Windows PC with Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge ...
 
For the life of me I can't understand why there are only 5 replies. I would think hundreds would have this problem. There must be some suggestions of solutions.
 
Same problem here. Every 10-15 mins my stream stops abruptly and can only be started (from the beginning, no less) after a full page reload. Happens in Safari and Firefox on macOS Mojave. I read similar experiences from Chrome and Windows users too.

I understand that the browser probably hasn't the highest priority for the Apple TV+ dev team, but in its current state the browser version of their service is close to completely unusable.
 
Tried watching at 9PM last night (Chicago) using Chrome on Windows 10 and it wouldn't buffer at all. Switched to Firefox and managed to watch 2 episodes then it stopped in the middle of a 3rd and wouldn't resume.
 
I called Apple support. They suggested installing Firefox. It seems to work using Firefox. I'll see if I can get past 3 episodes as pjarvi indicates was a stopping point for him. I'll report back later today or tomorrow.
 
It streamed for about 15 minutes and then went to black screen. Tried to resume and it started at the beginning. Unless someone has a solution I'll wait until Apple fixes it. Firefox is the best so far but not quit enough to work continuously.
 
archrider said:
It streamed for about 15 minutes and then went to black screen. Tried to resume and it started at the beginning. Unless someone has a solution I'll wait until Apple fixes it. Firefox is the best so far but not quit enough to work continuously.
Click to expand...

The problem with the black screen every 15 mintues seems to be browser-independent. As said before I see the issue on Firefox and Safari(*) alike, others are reporting it on Chrome and Edge, on macOS and Windows.

My guess is that the problem is related to a failing DRM mechanism, but that's just speculation. Maybe it's a HDCP issue - what kind of display setup do you use? I'm using dual 4K setup and now that I think about it, I've always been watching on my primary display connected via HDMI. I should try the other display later today - this one is connected via Thunderbolt to Displayport. Will report back.

*Ironically Safari on Mojave doesn't even render fullscreen properly as the video isn't vertically centered and shows a bigger black bar at the bottom.
 
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archrider said:
It streamed for about 15 minutes and then went to black screen. Tried to resume and it started at the beginning. Unless someone has a solution I'll wait until Apple fixes it. Firefox is the best so far but not quit enough to work continuously.
Click to expand...

I have exactly the same problem, now I can at least "watch" 15 minutes with Firefox but then it goes black . Another problem is that it loses the viewing mark and I have to start from the beginning.
 
The display used doesn't seem to matter. I play it on my 4k 26" monitor and my 2k 55" TV. I tried the reported solution attempt of clicking on the advance 10 button in chrome. It went for 15 min. and went to black screen and went back to the beginning on next attempt.
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A thread in Apple support community is found here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250811559?page=1
 
archrider said:
The Apple support page https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210740 states that you can go to tv.apple.com using Chrome to sign up for Apple tv+ but it never states that you can watch it there.The compatible device list https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-app/devices/ doesn't indicate using a pc with Chrome. I believe Apple never intended this option.
Click to expand...

They never intended this option, and yet they developed a web site + web player with UI and controls to play the content? You believe wrong.

By the way the list you link to is only for non-apple devices compatible or equipped with the TV app. It doesn't say anything about devices compatibility with the service itself.
 
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globalist said:
They never intended this option, and yet they developed a web site + web player with UI and controls to play the content? You believe wrong.

By the way the list you link to is only for non-apple devices compatible or equipped with the TV app. It doesn't say anything about devices compatibility with the service itself.
Click to expand...
Was just a theory with no strong basis. I stand corrected,
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WzuOK9zz2qwJ:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210573
It looks this option was intended.
 
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Also the image quality is really bad in the browser... maybe not even 1080p. Yesterday I tried again to watch "See" in the Firefox browser and after 15 minutes.....everything black again! This is just a terrible experience.
 
I did some further testing. I tried watching via HDMI, via Thunderbolt/DisplayPort, in fullscreen and in window. Disabled all UBlock Origin as well as Firefox‘ tracking protection.

The result remains the same: Every 13 to 14 minutes the stream will stop and lose its position. The console in Firefox‘ developer tools throws some Widevine (DRM) related errors, but as far as I can tell they also happen when the stream is still playing. Still betting on DRM-related problems.
 
I'm watching ep three of "See" now and I have this same issue. Content stops playing abruptly with a black screen. I watch Netflix, and Amazon Prime video on this machine regularly with no issues. (Chrome running on Windows 10). Only watching it on this as my PC is hooked up to a large monitor.

I had no such issues when I watched eps one and two on my MacBook a few days back. I guess it's back to that, then...
 
globalist said:
Is there a dedicated ATV app on the mac or you watched in a browser with no issues?
Click to expand...
Yup - I watched in the Apple TV app on macOS. Works perfectly. I do hope Apple fix the browser issues soon, though, as I do prefer watching on the bigger screen on the PC.
 
Similar issue with Macbook Pro on Safari browser.
Quality is 480 - 720.
Blacks out about 15 minutes into any show.
Can't restart without having to close the tab and open again.

My Apple TV is much better - no interruptions and good HD image...
 
globalist said:
Is there a dedicated ATV app on the mac or you watched in a browser with no issues?
Click to expand...

There is, but it is only available on macOS Catalina. Since I‘m still on Mojave and not ready to upgrade yet, I‘m stuck with Apple‘s non-working browser version of TV+.
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I made a screenshot of the browser console log after the playback stops. You can see that the video player periodically checks for DRM / licensing and it seems that one of those checks fails as indicated by the error "Key has already resulted in failure". This happens moments before the playback stops and leads to the final error with an empty message...and the black screen. The 4 POST request after that are me trying to use the playback controls, of course without success.

Bildschirmfoto 2019-11-08 um 19.03.20.png


Pretty confident it's a DRM-issue at this point. Now to wait for Apple to notice.
 
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