Mp4 files in Articulate App for iPad

Aug 13, 2014

I have published a story to Articulate Online, and we are able to view it in the Articulate app for iPad, however, the short MP4 videos that I have on layers do not play--they appear to be loading, but they do not load before the layer goes away. (I have the layer automatically hiding itself at the end of the timeline.)

The videos play fine on a PC, they are short with no sound (10-20 seconds). It is possible that they just need more time to download, but if I increase the time on the layer timeline, that will mess it up for the pc version, which is our main distribution method.

Does it need to be published to allow offline viewing for videos to work?

10 Replies
Adrian Dean

Hi Marcy,

That's interesting. Articulate Online doesn't allow for offline viewing at this time, so the content would need to be published elsewhere in order for that option to become available.

For testing purposes, I would see about increasing the time on your layer timelines to see if it makes any difference. From what your describing, the loading times may well be the issue.

Please let me know how things go.

Always Happy to Help,

Adrian

Marcy Watzl

Thanks for the reply, Adrian. My co-worker is the one who had trouble on his iPad. I tried it last night on my son's iPad mini, and it worked. Weird. I wonder if there is a setting on his iPad that was causing the problem? I changed the layer properties so that they do not hide when the timeline ends (and added a hide layer button) to test, although that is not a viable solution to keep. I'll see how it goes for him today.

Marcy Watzl

Hi Adrian,

My son has OS 6.something on his mini. My co-worker's iPad is also a recent generation iPad, (but full-size). I'm not sure what OS version he's running. I think they both have version 2.25 or something similar for the Articulate player. I'll suggest uninstall/reinstall. It's only the videos he's having trouble with.

Thanks!

Marcy Watzl

We have iOS 7.1.2, version 2.23 of the player, but videos are not playing. The first screen shot appears, but no sound or movement. We have tried a few different iPads with the same results. It did work on my son's iPad mini with the newer retina display (can't remember exactly what they call it). I'll be testing more on his tonight, because 3 different iPads here (1 is a mini, 1 a newer iPad, and 1 an older iPad) do not work.

Adrian Dean

Hi Marcy,

Thanks for the update. After you tested some more on your son's iPad and double checked which version of iOS is being used along with which version of the Articulate Mobile Player, I think the next step would be to have you submit a Support Case for this, so that we can take a closer look at the files and do some testing on our end.

Are you using Storyline Update 6?

Thanks,

Adrian

Marcy Watzl

Hi Adrian,

I am using Update 6. I just learned something that I believe explains our problem. My son's iPad was tested at home (over our personal wifi), the others were all here at work. When I brought his in to prove that it worked, it didn't work over our work wifi, so I walked it down to a coffee shop, and sure enough--the videos play fine. We must be blocking MP4 videos over our wifi (at least for mobile devices). I'll do some checking on that. I would think we could set up an exception for our Articulate Online site. I have also asked my coworker (who is traveling) to test it at his hotel this evening (his iPad was the first one it didn't work on here in the office). I'll wait to learn his results, then pursue it on our end if it works for him.

Thanks!

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