Filed under: Software, Video, Internet Tools
BBC iPlayer finally available for Mac, Linux
In October 2007, the BBC said that the iPlayer would be available for Macs and Linux by the end of the 2007. Two weeks shy of the end of 2008, the BBC finally delivers. Maybe their developers accidentally took a trip in the TARDIS.Using Adobe AIR technology, the BBC has developed a version of the iPlayer that is compatible with OS X and Linux. The press release states that the player has entered beta as of today and a final release is scheduled for February 2009.
The beta testing of the Mac-compatible iPlayer is being conducted through the BBC iPlayer Labs. The application download itself can be found here.
The beta version of the BBC iPlayer Desktop requires OS 10.4 and above. The site does not indicate if the download is a universal binary. The BBC iPlayer is only available for UK citizens.
Thanks to all those who submitted the tip!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dave said 6:27PM on 12-18-2008
I successfully downloaded it on a PowerBook G4 PowerPC running Leopard. As yet there are no tv programmes available to download on the mac iPlayer Desktop. So the install must be a universal binary app
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Olly said 6:29PM on 12-18-2008
How do you get to the download, seems to be hidden :-s
Brian said 6:38PM on 12-18-2008
If you have the developer menu in Safari just change the user-agent to IE7 and then on the iPlayer site you get the download button.
Tony said 6:39PM on 12-18-2008
It's an AIR app not a universal binary.. it runs under the AIR engine... so if the install worked at all it'll run.
If you have Flash+the runtime then in theory you should get a download link on the videos. I've only seen it on one - never mind the buzzcocks epsode 11 (episode 13 doesn't work).
You also have to join iplayer labs as beta features are like the mac iplayer are disabled for non-members (it's just a mouse click).
The Phazer said 6:48PM on 12-18-2008
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is up. Anthony Rose has been saying on Twitter everything else will be up by tomorrow night.
The BBC did have iPlayer for Macs by the end of 2007 - the streaming player.
Phazer
Tony said 6:42PM on 12-18-2008
btw. the video quality is truly awful - I'm not sure I see the point when the flash is more convenient and better quality.
Gavin said 6:57PM on 12-18-2008
Well it's an Adobe Air application, and Adobe Air for Mac is a Universal Binary.
As for content... it is out there... http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00g33d7/Never_Mind_the_Buzzcocks_Series_22_Episode_11/
You don't need to change the user agent to see the download link. If it's available for the Adobe Air version of iPlayer Desktop it'll show up by itself.
Guessing they're going back an re-encoding their current content. The bad news, the quality is identical to the standard (as opposed to the 'High' option) streaming quality which is a shame as it's not the best. I think most were expecting quality in-line with that of the Windows iPlayer Desktop app. Perhaps this will be upped over time.
Peter_Pan said 6:43PM on 12-18-2008
So, how do I watch this in Australia.
Has anyone been able to crack the iPlayer to use it in other countries?
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Neil said 6:44PM on 12-18-2008
One programme you can download right now is this one:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00g333l/Watchdog_15_12_2008/
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kieran said 6:46PM on 12-18-2008
You can only watch it in the UK. All downloads are DRM'ed. You may be able to watch the stream if you block your IP with something like hotspot shield. I do it for hulu but it really slows down your connection.
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Quadrant said 6:57PM on 12-18-2008
Or you could just download the iPlayer downloader from macupdate.com, no drm, better quality, no messing about with logging in via the bbc labs, all iPlayer programmes available, what's not to love?!
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Gavin said 7:31PM on 12-18-2008
The files downloaded by the iPlayer Downloader are meant for the iPhone/iPod Touch... watching full screen on a desktop the quality is worse than that of the new Adobe Air app.
Not ALL iPlayer programmes are available, notably Heroes due to rights reasons.
Is iPlayer Downloader working for you right now? It certainly isn't for me.
MRH said 7:36PM on 12-18-2008
If you are using Safari and can't see the download button uncheck "Block Pop-Up Windows" under the Safari menu and refresh page.
Worked for me.
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Paul Bryan said 8:21PM on 12-18-2008
Also signing up for the iplayer labs first (no details required) before then going to the iplayer download page worked for me.
Ethan said 10:51PM on 12-18-2008
I think I'll still use the iplayer-dl script. It's just more convenient.
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Nixta said 11:25PM on 12-18-2008
Technically, it's not UK citizens, but UK residents. Even more technically, it's TV License holders (basically all UK residents with a TV, except the naughty ones).
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Jelly Mould said 4:48AM on 12-19-2008
"Even more technically, it's TV License holders (basically all UK residents with a TV, except the naughty ones)."
Nope, a television license in the UK is only required to watch programmes as they are being broadcast. If you watch the streaming "live" channels on the web-based iPlayer, then you need a license. If you watch programmes after they've been shown live, you don't. It's a loophole that I'm sure will be closed fairly shortly...
Graham Cox said 11:38PM on 12-18-2008
"The BBC iPlayer is only available for UK citizens"
Well, I'm a UK citizen, but I reside in Australia. I can't use it. A non-citizen visitor to the UK can use it. IP address is not a good indicator of one's nationality. Credit cards are similarly stupid.
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Tim said 11:40PM on 12-18-2008
I think you mean "UK residents". You have to live in the uk to access the beeb's content, sigh.
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MrLinux said 2:50AM on 12-19-2008
Oh sweet, I should check this out. It's nice when developers realise there's a growing market of people using something other than Windows. I even signed the petition sent to the British government complaining about the BBC iPlayer only being available for Windows systems. However, I fear like with Skype, the quality will be vastly inferior. Oh well, at least we have it now!
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