HTML5 Video stops when iphone becomes idle

Hi Nandita, 

There isn't a way to change this behavior in Storyline that I've seen, as it's typically dependent on the hosting site how it'll behave with the iOS behavior - are you inserting a video directly or could you embed/link to the Youtube video to get around that behavior?  

Also, what version of Storyline and iOS are you running? You should see videos appearing full screen on the iPhone as described here. 

Hi Ashley,

Many thanks for replying. I created the e-learning video using Storyline 2 and just published it on Articulate Online, keeping the html options on. I have to share the e-learning link with the participants and I need to make sure it plays on laptops as well as iPhones, as some of the users might want to view it while they are traveling. I tested it on my iPhone and it plays perfectly well, just that it stops when the phone goes to the sleep mode. Now I can change the timeout settings of my phone, but it will not be possible to tell others to do so. It is not a biggg problem, just that it would have been nice if the video played uninterrupted. :)

The iPhone version is 10.2 and the video plays in Safari

Hi Nandita!  I did some testing on a course that I've hosted in Articulate online.  I had a video that I inserted from a file and then a screen recording that I made natively in Storyline and inserted on one slide.  The video I chose to have open in a new browser window.

I set my iPhone SE to auto-lock after 30 seconds, and for both video slides, the phone remained active and never went into sleep mode.

Are you able to attach a copy of your .story file here for some testing?  We'd be happy to see if we can recreate that behavior with your file.  

Here's a link to my Articulate Online course.

Hi Crystal,

Sure. Here is the story. Thanks a lot for your help!

Regards,

Nandita

Thanks Nandita!  I'll have a look...

Hey Nandita...thanks for giving me some time to look at your file, republish and host it on my Articulate Online account for some testing.  I think I must have misunderstood the actual issue.  While I tested out video content on my course, it looks like you have some step-by-step slides that advance automatically and sort of appear like a video would.  So the iPhone video player never opens - the course is being viewed directly in Safari.

The same behavior occurred for me; the screen dimmed and went into sleep mode shortly into the presentation.  And of course you don't want to ask people to reset their mobile device power-saving sleep modes for your course; who would do that?  :)

I have a thought for you, and it might change the dynamic of your course in two ways.  Instead of having the slides advance automatically (jump to next slide when timeline ends), you can instead have the slides advance by the user clicking the next button.  Your slides do flow nicely, but maybe you can identify some natural breakpoints between certain slides where it would feel organic to have your learners click "Next" to get to the following slide.

Two things will change:  

1. Screens won't dim and timeout as much because the device is being engaged.
2. Your learners will be required to interact with the course a bit more, forcing THEM to be engaged.  :)  That could be a good thing, too.  

In case you're in the mood for reading about the benefits of interactivity, I've got some cool blog articles for you!  We've written about reasons why we have interactive e-learning, the building blocks for interactivity, and converting your learning.

Hi Crystal,

Thanks a ton for your suggestions. Yes, i think i will implement this. :) 

Have a great day..

Nandita

Glad this will help you Nandita and thanks for the update!