Share this
Workaround for the Safari Fairplay regression in iOS and iPadOS 15
by Pieter-Jan Speelmans on October 4, 2021
What is the problem?
As some of you are likely aware of, a regression was introduced in the iOS & iPadOS 15 versions. The issue has an impact upon playback of Fairplay protected streams in Safari. As a result, all video players (including Apple’s own playback support) which attempt to play an impacted Fairplay stream in browsers will receive an error.
When will it be resolved?
Since the release of iOS & iPadOS 15, Apple has published the beta versions for their next software: iOS & iPadOS 15.1. To date, two beta versions have been released. In the first beta release fixes a part of the problem, but testing of our teams shows situations still occur where some devices are unable to play affected streams. Our team has confirmed however that the second beta (released on the 28th of September) does resolve the full issue.
The question remains when Apple will release the GA version of iOS & iPadOS 15.1, and as usual with updates on iPhone and iPad, one can only guess. While it is our expectation the version will be released shortly, impact on services is still there.
How can we work around this?
Our team has however identified which configurations of streams can still be used despite the regression in iOS & iPadOS 15. In contrast to the most common combinations of HLS with MPEG-TS, HLS streams which make use of fMP4 CBCS can still be played. As such, there are two potential ways to re-enable playback for your viewers:
- Point them towards native applications (which are not impacted by the regression).
- Publish your streams using the fMP4 container rather than an MPEG-TS container.
Switching all streams towards fMP4 is likely not an option for all streaming services: it requires some heavy testing to make these kind of changes, and can break compatibility with old devices (not even mentioning the need to repackage old VOD libraries). For those where it is however an option this solution might provide a way out of this regression without waiting for the iOS & iPadOS 15.1 release. In case of any questions on this, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.
Any questions regarding the topic? Get in touch.
Share this
- THEOplayer (41)
- online streaming (36)
- low latency (28)
- live streaming (27)
- HESP (22)
- video streaming (22)
- HLS (19)
- new features (19)
- SDK (18)
- html5 player (16)
- cross-platform (15)
- online video (14)
- THEO Technologies (12)
- THEOlive (12)
- LL-HLS (11)
- MPEG-DASH (11)
- best video player (11)
- partnership (11)
- Tizen (10)
- awards (10)
- content monetisation (10)
- delivering content (10)
- latency (10)
- SmartTV (9)
- fast zapping (9)
- video codec (9)
- Big Screen (8)
- Samsung (8)
- Adobe flash (7)
- High Efficiency Streaming Protocol (7)
- Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards (7)
- Ultra Low Latency (7)
- WebOS (7)
- advertising (7)
- html5 (7)
- innovation (7)
- low bandwidth (7)
- Apple (6)
- Efficiency (6)
- Events (6)
- SSAI (6)
- Bandwidth Usage (5)
- CDN (5)
- Deloitte (5)
- LG (5)
- Online Advertising (5)
- adaptive bitrate (5)
- nomination (5)
- release (5)
- roku (5)
- viewers expercience (5)
- AV1 (4)
- CMAF (4)
- DVR (4)
- HTTP (4)
- Update (4)
- ad revenue (4)
- case study (4)
- fast 50 (4)
- google (4)
- streaming media west (4)
- support matrix (4)
- ABR (3)
- Chrome (3)
- H.265 (3)
- HESP Alliance (3)
- HEVC (3)
- IBC (3)
- IBC trade show (3)
- THEO Technologies Partner Success Team (3)
- THEOplayer Partner Success Team (3)
- Year Award (3)
- content encryption (3)
- content protection (3)
- customer case (3)
- customise feature (3)
- drm (3)
- dynamic ad insertion (3)
- monetization (3)
- reduce buffering (3)
- scalable (3)
- sports betting (3)
- sports streaming (3)
- video monetization (3)
- "content delivery" (2)
- "network api" (2)
- AES-128 (2)
- Amino Technologies (2)
- Android TV (2)
- CSI Awards (2)
- Cost Efficient (2)
- Encoding (2)
- Encryption (2)
- FireTV (2)
- H.264 (2)
- MPEG (2)
- Microsoft Silverlight (2)
- Press Release (2)
- React Native SDK (2)
- Start-Up Times (2)
- UI (2)
- VMAP (2)
- VOD (2)
- VP9 (2)
- VPAID2.0 (2)
- adobe (2)
- ads in HTML5 (2)
- analytics (2)
- android (2)
- captions (2)
- chromecast (2)
- chromecast support (2)
- client-side ad insertion (2)
- clipping (2)
- closed captions (2)
- content integration (2)
- deloitte rising star (2)
- fast500 (2)
- frame accurate clipping (2)
- frame accurate seeking (2)
- interactive video (2)
- metadata (2)
- multiple audio (2)
- nab show (2)
- playback speed (2)
- plugin-free (2)
- pricing (2)
- server-side ad replacement (2)
- subtitles (2)
- video (2)
- video content (2)
- video publishers (2)
- video trends (2)
- viewer experience (2)
- "smooth playback" (1)
- 360 Video (1)
- AOM (1)
- API (1)
- BVE (1)
- Best of Show (1)
- CEA-608 (1)
- CEA-708 (1)
- CORS (1)
- DIY (1)
- Edge (1)
- FCC (1)
- HLS stream (1)
- Hudl (1)
- LCEVC (1)
- LHLS (1)
- LL-DASH (1)
- Microsoft Azure Media Services (1)
- Monoscopic (1)
- NAB Show 2016 (1)
- NPM (1)
- NetOn.Live (1)
- OMID (1)
- Periscope (1)
- React Native (1)
- Real-time (1)
- SIMID (1)
- Scale Up of the Year award (1)
- Seeking (1)
- Stereoscopic (1)
- Swisscom (1)
- TVB Europe (1)
- Tech Startup Day (1)
- Telenet (1)
- Uncategorized (1)
- University of Manitoba (1)
- User Interface (1)
- VAST (1)
- VPAID (1)
- VR (1)
- VR180 (1)
- Vivaldi support (1)
- Vualto (1)
- ad block detection (1)
- ad blocking (1)
- adblock detection (1)
- apple tv (1)
- audio (1)
- autoplay (1)
- cloud (1)
- facebook html5 (1)
- faster ABR (1)
- fmp4 (1)
- hiring (1)
- iGameMedia (1)
- iOS (1)
- iOS SDK (1)
- iPadOS (1)
- id3 (1)
- language localisation (1)
- micro moments (1)
- mobile ad (1)
- new web browser (1)
- offline playback (1)
- preloading (1)
- program-date-time (1)
- seamless transition (1)
- server-side ad insertion (1)
- stream problems (1)
- streaming media east (1)
- support organization (1)
- thumbnails (1)
- use case (1)
- video clipping (1)
- video recording (1)
- video trends in 2016 (1)
- visibility (1)
- vulnerabilities (1)
- webRTC (1)
- wowza (1)
- zero-day exploit (1)
- September 2023 (1)
- July 2023 (2)
- June 2023 (1)
- April 2023 (4)
- March 2023 (2)
- December 2022 (1)
- September 2022 (4)
- July 2022 (1)
- June 2022 (3)
- April 2022 (1)
- March 2022 (1)
- January 2022 (1)
- November 2021 (1)
- October 2021 (3)
- September 2021 (3)
- July 2021 (1)
- June 2021 (1)
- May 2021 (4)
- April 2021 (4)
- March 2021 (6)
- February 2021 (8)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (1)
- November 2020 (2)
- October 2020 (1)
- September 2020 (2)
- August 2020 (1)
- July 2020 (3)
- June 2020 (3)
- May 2020 (1)
- April 2020 (3)
- March 2020 (3)
- February 2020 (1)
- January 2020 (3)
- December 2019 (3)
- November 2019 (3)
- October 2019 (1)
- September 2019 (4)
- August 2019 (1)
- June 2019 (1)
- December 2018 (1)
- November 2018 (3)
- October 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (4)
- July 2018 (2)
- June 2018 (2)
- April 2018 (1)
- March 2018 (3)
- February 2018 (2)
- January 2018 (2)
- December 2017 (1)
- November 2017 (1)
- October 2017 (1)
- September 2017 (2)
- August 2017 (3)
- May 2017 (3)
- April 2017 (1)
- March 2017 (1)
- February 2017 (1)
- December 2016 (1)
- November 2016 (3)
- October 2016 (2)
- September 2016 (4)
- August 2016 (3)
- July 2016 (1)
- May 2016 (2)
- April 2016 (4)
- March 2016 (2)
- February 2016 (4)
- January 2016 (2)
- December 2015 (1)
- November 2015 (2)
- October 2015 (5)
- August 2015 (3)
- July 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (1)
- March 2015 (2)
- January 2015 (2)
- September 2014 (1)
- August 2014 (1)