BBC Media Player app brings iPlayer to more Android devices

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A newly released app from the BBC brings iPlayer to Android devices using Jellybean 4.1 and other devices that previously used Flash

A new BBC Media Player app brings BBC iPlayer to more Android devices, including those which use Jellybean 4.1, such as the Google Nexus 7.

After Adobe stopped Flash support for Android 4.0 and above, many devices have been unable to use the iPlayer website.

The BBC Media Player provides a neat workaround, using Adobe AIR to play Flash content. This ensures that the iPlayer experience works across all versions of Android, even if you’re running Jellybean.

It is available now on Google’s Play Store, separate from the existing iPlayer app. More like a patch than an app, it doesn’t do very much aside on its own but instead opens up when you click on a TV programme on the BBC iPlayer website.

Next week the BBC will release an updated Android iPlayer app, which will incorporate much of the technology used in this Media Player.

So far there has been no word on an Android version of Mobile Downloads, which allows you to download iPlayer programmes on iOS devices.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).