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iPad cannot play video after clicking back button

Our users have reported that after clicking a link to another page from our video page and then clicking the Back button to return to the video page, the video will not play and only audio can be heard.
This issue seems to affect iPad users only.

We have been able to reliably replicate this error using the following steps:

1: Using an iPad (default Safari browser), navigate to: http://excelcentral.com/jwplayer/test.html
2. Click the "Homepage" link below the video.
3. Click the Back button.
4. Click the play button on the video.

For the moment we are working around this problem by using some JavaScript code to force the page to refresh after clicking the Back button on an iPad, but would prefer a more graceful solution if one exists.

Here's the JavaScript workaround:

if (navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf('ipad') > -1) {
window.onpageshow = function (event) {
if (event.persisted) {
window.location.reload();
}
}
}

5 Community Answers

Up Down

Ethan Feldman

JW Player Support Agent  
0 rated :

Do you have the same issue here?

http://www.jwplayer.com/html5/formats/

Try the MP4 format.

Up Down

mikesmart

User  
0 rated :

No, that page seems to be working fine when tested on an iPad.

I notice that your test page seems to automatically refresh when navigating away from the page. When clicking the Back button after navigating to a different page, the video restarts from the beginning and doesn't remember the point where the video was paused before navigating away.

On our test page (linked to above), the iPad remembers where the video was paused but doesn't show any video frames and only plays the audio.

I notice that your test page is using 'pure' HTML5 video and isn't using JWPlayer, so this does point to the issue being with the player.

Up Down

Ethan Feldman

JW Player Support Agent  
0 rated :

Ok, I see. I will pass this along, thanks. I would use the JS workaround for the time being, then.

Up Down

mikesmart

User  
0 rated :

Just to allay any concerns about the MP4 file we're using or how our server is serving it, I've created a test page that uses the same HTML5 code as your test page.
You can find it at: http://excelcentral.com/jwplayer/testhtml5.html

The video works fine when being served without JWPlayer, proving that the issue is not with the MP4 file or server.

Up Down

Ethan Feldman

JW Player Support Agent  
0 rated :

Yes, indeed.

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