IPad Flash Player Skyfire
Anyone with IPod, IPhone or IPad tried Skyfire to play Flashplayer on the device?? I'd be really interested to hear some feedback if you have. Thanks
I love it when you talk dirty like that David ;-)
Seriously, this is great news. I can hardly wait!! Thank you big time!!
David,
How's the re-encoding coming along?
I've been using "Puffin" ,another web browser on my iPad to access the site and play all the videos as an interim measure. There is a very slight delay before it kicks in but then its fine. Been using it successfully for several months now and recommend it, at least until we get the encoding thing going. Give it a shot
Thanks Hank! I just downloaded Puffin to my iphone and tried it out, seems to work where nothing else has.
One thing for others who might try the Puffin App: Make sure to click the full screen option as the video is loading, failure to do so results in video play back with a huge amount of lag stutter. At least that's what happens on my iphone. Seems to be the thing that those who give the app negative reviews haven't figured out yet.
Good point that I forgot to mention. Thanks Loren. Glad to hear you find it useful
not sure if its because i'm in aus, but using puffin on the iphone 4s and its not great. i mean its kind of ok-ish but not really. somewhat less than ideal. takes a bit more than the length of the video to load up the video; a five minute lesson may take 15 to fully load. if i was desperate it would be bettter than nought but ...kind of a prison solution.
Thats unfortunate Dave. I'm using it regularly on my iPad and iPhone 4 and other than the approx.2-3 second delay, once its up and running it streams nicely. Are you talking wi-fi or 3G? I use mine on wi-fi and not 3G so that I don't overload my data usage on the cell system. I think David's timeline is coming to fruition soon so hopefully this won't be a problem much longer.
I'll give it a try on the 3G system and see what it does and get back to you.
OK, tried it and with about a 10 second delay it streamed no problem. Maybe it's the network speed ? It must be frustrating.
using it on wi-fi last night...same re data, i "only" have 1.5G a month (that would've been huge at 1 time not so long ago!) so for video its wi-fi or nothing on the iphone.
but...it could've been the network, sometimes its just like that...australian networks are notorious for it. certainly wouldnt be the first time i couldnt get video to stream in real time...i was getting about 6 seconds at a time, followed by 10 or more of waiting.
would be great to be able to view the lessons on the mobile though..
how do you like the iPad? i am wondering about the relative benefits of iPad/laptop
That's a tough way to go if you are getting that much delay!
Biggest thing for me in the iPad/laptop decision was coming to the realization that that they are two different animals. I don't do a lot of word processing, spreadsheet, presentation etc. stuff any more so really didn't need the power of a laptop. Initially I thought the connectivity issue leaned the decision toward the laptop but with wi-fi so readily available now, its not much of an issue for me any more and I use my iPhone as a 'Hot Spot' if I don't have wi-fi and need to connect to the internet. Garage Band for the iPad still lacks some features but I can make do with it. If recording to submit to this site or for HarmonicaBoogie, I still use my desktop GarageBand but for 'on the road' recording, GarageBand for the iPad works fine. All of the apps like SlowDowner (or Slow Down Music Trainer) plus so many more work great on the iPad. One of my favourites is forScore which lets me download PDF music from here and connect the mp3 file so I can read the score as I listen to the music and practise the piece. I love the ease of use and portability of the iPad.
If you need more power and more sophisticated software, then probably the laptop but if Pages and Numbers give you as much as you need for word processing and spreadsheet and recording doesn't need higher sophistication level effects etc. then the iPad is certainly the way to go IMHO. I would start looking at what software and level of software features you need and then go that route. The caveat for us of course is the ability to view video, which is a combo of software like Puffin and network speed. Once we get the ability to view the video through regular browsers like Safari or Firefox, it shouldn't be an issue for the iPad.
Didn't mean to babble so much but hope this makes a little sense. If you want more specifics, email and I'll respond. Good luck!
thanks for that Hank. all good stuff for me to think about. i tried puffin again and it worked quite a bit better; streamed through a 5 minute lesson with only one halt. sometimes i have similiar problems with firefox on my desktop so it may have been just a particularly bad session the 1st time. i'll saee how it goes over the next few weeks.
i appreciate the thought you put into your response above. opened my eyes to a couple things i wasnt really aware of.
cheers, Dave
We've finally found the optimal codec settings (video size and quality) that we're happy with on the site and are in the process of reincoding all the videos for the site to work with apple products and other mobil devices. It's a very long process (been at it for a month now) and expect it to be done by December 1st (or earlier). So, hang tight, you'll be able to watch everything on the site on your iPads, iPods and most other mobile devices soon.