Update for Alpha iOS Beta Testers

Hi beta testers,

Thanks for the great feedback we’ve received since the beginning of the Alpha iOS beta. One of our members asked that we circulate notes for the builds release as we get closer to launch (which should be soon!).

Build 170315.985 is out now. It includes:

Background playback support

This is a new feature that allows iOS app you to continue to play content while your phone is in lock mode.

• Livestream and VOD support
• Lock screen controls — play, pause, volume
• Lock screen metadata — show, episode title, and episode artwork OR show artwork if it’s a livestream
• Control Center support
• Both iOS 9 and iOS 10 style support is available — these are unique implementations between the two
• Requires additional testing / integration with Chromecast and Airplay going forward. There are a few noted issues around Airplay we’ve surfaced in our testing, as well as native in-app support that is necessary to make Airplay stable.

Keep Me Signed In

This is bug fix for users that have reported being kicked out of the app at random.

• Sessions have been extended to 7 days now
• A checkbox on the login form now offers “Keep Me Signed In” which will auto-login the user should inactivity go beyond the 7 day session lifetime.
• Uses iCloud Keychain.
• Pasting username/password is now supported
• Copying from those fields remains disabled

iPad alert:

• Users are alerted that iPad is unsupported for the iPhone iOS app

Bug / Crash Fixes

• Bug fixed: Live Now banner will now disappear after livestream ends
• Bug fixed: Browse episodes showing no episodes due to incomplete CMS data
• Bug fixed: Following count only included users, not shows
• Bug fixed: Gray screen after the last episode of a season ends
• Bug fixed: Various video player layout bugs around Browse
• Crash fixed: Handling incomplete series / season data from CMS causes crash
• Crash fixed: Various crashes around unexpected API call responses (multiple bug fixes)
• Crash fixed: Tapping on last episode in Browse Episodes causes crash the first time
• Crash fixed: Not receiving a CSRF token from API call causes crash

Our primary focus for next week’s build is:

• Chromecast support
• Stabilizing and including native/first-class in-app support for Airplay.

As always, if you have any Alpha-related questions or comments, please shoot us a note at support@projectalpha.com (if it’s app related, please include “iOS app” in the subject).