Playing Movies from Wireless Storage Devices

[Ravengbc]

So a couple of years ago I purchased a Kingston MobleLite to use in the car for road trips so my kids could watch movies on the iPads. Worked great with iOS 7. Took a couple of trips of 5+ hours. Really my main issue with it was that if its plugged into a power source and is then cut off from the power source, such as when turning the car off, it would power down. That's just a build flaw from Kingston, one that is not a make it or break it for the device overall. I was able to put a 64GB flash driver on it to share movies, I also have an SD slot to add more. Movies purchased/downloaded from iTunes will work from the device, but they open in Safari instead of the MobileLite app. I quickly taught my oldest child how to connect to the device directly from Safari and browse/start movies without having to even use the app. Movies worked great. That is, however, until iOS8, and now iOS9.

Since iOS8, Safari no longer plays the movies. From the MobileLite app, there's also no way to open the movies in the native Videos app. It's not an option. I can open the movies in other media apps, I've tried VLC, PlayerXtreme, and a few others. They can all browse the device, but cannot play the movies I've downloaded from iTunes.

Because Apple has removed the ability to play movies in Safari, that has rendered my MobileLite more or less useless.

Is anyone else experiencing similar issues? has anyone found a workaround to play these movies?
More importantly, has anyone heard if or when Apple has any plans to restore this feature?

Thanks!

Greg

 

[ashindnile]

Use infuse for videos. It's an excellent app!

 

[Ravengbc]

Use infuse for videos. It's an excellent app!

Does it play protected content from iTunes?

 

[Ravengbc]

Does it play protected content from iTunes?

I just answered my own question. Reading the description of Infuse 3 it says,

"Note: DRM-protected movies & TV shows purchased from the iTunes store are not supported."

In the Pro version it says the same thing, except it states it as they are not "currently" supported. If they ever implement it, and Apple hasn't done anything about it for Safari, then that would make the Pro worth the $10 to me.

 

[ashindnile]

I'm sorry to hear that. My reason for recommending it is for its great wireless compatibility. It's perhaps the only beautiful app that supports my wireless network drive that I've got connected to my modem(via SMB). I don't think any app can play iTunes DRM. Correct me if I'm wrong.
That being said, the non-DRM movies get automatic metadata and the movie ticket UI is pretty sweet. I haven't paid the $10. I don't need ac3 audio.

The best part is it plays 720p HEVC perfectly. Very crucial for low storage devices.

 

[Ravengbc]

I'm sorry to hear that. My reason for recommending it is for its great wireless compatibility. It's perhaps the only beautiful app that supports my wireless network drive that I've got connected to my modem(via SMB). I don't think any app can play iTunes DRM. Correct me if I'm wrong.
That being said, the non-DRM movies get automatic metadata and the movie ticket UI is pretty sweet. I haven't paid the $10. I don't need ac3 audio.

The best part is it plays 720p HEVC perfectly. Very crucial for low storage devices.

That's the biggest issue I've been having. The Kingston MobileLite app I have for the device itself is OK. It's not great, but it works, and my kids can use it, which is really all I care about. The way it worked with DRM is that it would open them in Safari. Since iOS 8 Safari has not allowed this. It's effectively rendered my MobileLite useless because I have a lot of DRM movies that I've purchased from BD combo packs.

Not only does Safari not play them any more, but there's no way that I've found, to have the native iOS Video app as an option to open the files in from the wireless storage. Another feature Apple has left out that is puzzling to me.

I do appreciate your suggestion for Infuse though. I may download the non-pro version and try it out. And I may also contact the developer of it to get clarification on the note under the Pro version saying that DRM is not 'currently' supported. I'm wondering if it's something that they are trying to add to it.

 

[Klatti]

I'm in the same situation.
I've bought a LaCie Fuel 2TB 1 1/2 years ago. All my iTunes purchases played flawless in safari. But since iOS 8 it stopped working and the promised update to fix this by Seagate never came. So I can still use it to view movies and tv shows from other sources but iTunes which is a real bummer.

 

[ashindnile]

This might not be a fantastic solution but there are several drm removal tools online. Want me to point you in that direction?
And the reason you can't open things in the native video or music app is because iOS doesn't work with a file system that all apps commonly access. It's heavily sandboxed. We've been hoping for a file system since iOS 1. Sandboxing makes sense for DRM protected content, but they could place the other files commonly.
Now that we've got the iCloud Drive app, I've got fingers crossed

 

[Ravengbc]

This might not be a fantastic solution but there are several drm removal tools online. Want me to point you in that direction?
And the reason you can't open things in the native video or music app is because iOS doesn't work with a file system that all apps commonly access. It's heavily sandboxed. We've been hoping for a file system since iOS 1. Sandboxing makes sense for DRM protected content, but they could place the other files commonly.
Now that we've got the iCloud Drive app, I've got fingers crossed

I'm aware of some DRM removal tools, I'm just trying to avoid having to do that.
Apple has actually cut down somewhat on the sandboxing by allowing apps to send info to other apps, or pull from others. I forgot what they are calling it, but it was something introduced in iOS 8, I believe. I think it's App Extensions.
The problem is that while Apple has given app developers the ability to add these in, Apple themselves has been very limited to include it on their own. For example, when I open a movie in the MobileLite app, I can select a file then select open in and have some options there. Apple's native Videos app is not available. Another work around to this would be to include the ability to browse FTP shares within the native Videos app. I realize these are not the same as an actual usable file system such that available in OS X, Windows or Linux, but it's still a good enough workaround for the feature set that I've lost.
I can still open the files in Safari, but because they removed the ability to play DRM movies in Safari, it sits there at a blank screen.
I'm torn on my opinion about their sandboxing. On one hand I wish there was a usable file system that most, or all, apps could use, including the ability to look at network resources. On the other hand, I realize that part of their reasoning for having the sandboxing is as a security measure. Maybe it's a little too strict, and obviously this isn't their only reasoning for it, but it is at least part of it.
I haven't even used the iCloud Drive app. It won't do me any good for a wifi only iPad that can't connect to iCloud Drive, but can connect to something like the MobileLite.
I'd be perfectly happy if they just offer the ability to connect to network resources through the native app though, or just to have the ability back within Safari.