Interstitial Ads in split screen

[Tom Hunt]

When presenting interstitial ads on iPad if the app is running in split screen, the interstitial can fail to adjust its content to fit the constrained window size when displaying test adverts. The adverts do seem to be scrollable, but this wouldn't be obvious to a user (especially if, as in the video below, the scroll bar is outside the safe area)

Apart from obscuring large areas of the ad, this has the serious implication that the button to dismiss the ad could be hidden. From a UX perspective this is pretty terrible, leading users to either force quit the app/feel compelled to click through on the ad. For obvious reasons I haven't tested whether this issue could arise in non-test adverts - I certainly hope it doesn't.

I have attached a screenshot to illustrate the issue to this post.

[Tom Hunt]

Ok, screenshot doesn't seem to have come through - so here's a link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f0ecprjvdedif4v/Screenshot%202019-10-03%20at%2023.02.39.png?dl=0

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi there,

Thank you for reporting this. I was able to replicate the behavior on my end. With this, I'll raise this to our Engineering team and get back to you the soonest they provide their feedback.

Regards,
Teejay Pimentel
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hello,  
Sorry for the confusion here: there is a new API as of 7.50.0 for iPad apps running iOS 13. You can set your scene as a property on the GAD/DFPRequest object request.scene = myScene; We are working on updating the reference docs. Thanks.

Jon

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[Tom Hunt]

Hi there,

Thank you for the prompt replies - we now set the scene correctly, but the issue seems to be unresolved.

It only seems to happen with adverts like the one below (apologies for the iOS keyboard shortcut overlay) - other test adverts adapt fine.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Tom,

Could you provide us a Charles log (see instruction here) capturing the behavior? This would be a big help for us to identify the issue further. Please use the "Reply privately to author" option to share the details privately.

[Dennis Ebbinghaus]

At WWDC 2019 Apple announced, that every app that supports iPad must support this split view/multitasking view where you run two apps side by side starting April 2020 with every new app or update you submit. You can run your app side by side with another app in different screen portions like 1/3, 1/2 and 2/3 of the screen, also you must support both landscape and portrait. Unfortunately this does not work with AdMob-SDK at the moment, especially it does not work with Interstitials if your app runs side by side with another app and is not in fullscreen. With Banners it kinda sometimes work, but also not always... Please provide support until next spring! 

Greetings 

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Dennis,

Thank you for providing additional information regarding this.

Please be informed that the team is currently investigating the issue. If you encounter the same behavior as the original thread, kindly provide us a Charles log (see instruction here) capturing the behavior. This would be a big help for us to identify the issue further. Please use the "Reply privately to author" option to share the details privately.

Regards,
Teejay Pimentel
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Yishai]

Any update on this issue?

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hello there,

We have shared this with our team for further investigation. But, we would need a sample project along with a Charles log (see instruction here) capturing the behavior to proceed further with the investigation. Could you please share the requested details if you are seeing the same issue which was reported on this thread initially? You can use "Reply Privately to Author" option to share the details privately.  This would really help us to investigate the issue faster. 

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala

[Pin Gao]

request.scene = myScene only applies for iOS13 multiple windows mode (same app, multiple windows). 

Problem still happens when using multitasking on iPad split view and slide over mode.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi there,

We received a reports from other publishers that they're getting the same issue on some of their ads using the latest version of the SDK. The team is fully aware of this and currently investigating the issue. I'll update this thread the soonest we have our findings.

Regards,
Teejay Pimentel

[AdMob User Berlin]

Hello,

any news on that? Because of the IDFA Privacy changes in iOS14, we need to do an update. Also, if your App supports iPad, Apple forces the app to work in all screens, split screens (1/3, 1/2, 2/3, Landscape, Portrait ... ), so AdMob ads should also support all screens and split screens in multitasking on iPad. I followed instructions, passing window scene to GADRequest, tried everything, can t get it to work If I open my app in split screen along with another app, so that my app is 2/3 screen for example, if I then load and present an interstitial ad, it does not fit the 2/3 screen. It always has the size, as if my app would be fullscreen. Need help on this please, have to submit updates very soon....

Thanks

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Dennis,

The issue should've been fixed on the latest version of the SDK. If you're having an issue displaying ads on split screen, is the issue reproducible on our sample app? If so, kindly provide us a screenshot and the steps to trigger the behavior.

[AdMob User Berlin]

Hello,

thanks for answer. 

I have several apps that use the AdMob SDK. They are all universal apps, so they support iPad. I have to update them all to support split screen now (forced by Apple for iOS 14) which is available since iOS9 I guess... 

My apps are more complex using UISplitViewController, UINavigationController, UITabBarController and so on, but to keep it simple and to test it, I started a new project (Single View), added latest AdMob SDK and tried to show Interstitials as described in your Guide "iPad Multiple windows".

I then start the test app besides another iOS-system-app in split screen, so the two apps are showing side by side. If I then show an Interstitial, the Interstitial does not have to correct size. 

It behaves as if there was no split screen. So the size isn t correct even from the start, if you then rotate the device and change orientation or change the split screen from 1/3 to 2/3 or so, it s even worse... Sizes are not correct, dismiss button for the ad is not visible and out of screen, which might lead to unwanted clicks, frustrated users, click fraud and so on... Please see screenshots. 

So we have to support iPad Multitasking/split screen now with iOS14, but it s not working with AdMob. What to do?

Thanks for help.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Dennis,

Thank you for providing an extensive rundown of the issue. Would it be possible for you to provide the sample project where the behavior is reproducible? Once sent, I'll raise this (including the extensive details that you've shared) to the rest of the team for further investigation.

[AdMob User Berlin]

Hello,

thanks for answer. I don t want to post a project here, where everybody can see my name, team and other credentials in the Xcode project...but anyways, as I said, I just created a new single view project, added AdMob SDK and the only code I added, is the code to show an interstitial you see in the screenshot I attached in the last post... So it s really really basic, just some lines of code, it s the code from your guide.... there is one button that triggers the showAd method...

greetings

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi AdMob User Berlin,

 

I want to thank yiou for the additional information. We have been able to test somethings on our end and have included the code sample that we have tested with(ViewController.swift). We did see what you had mentioned in that the ads are not displaying as we would have expected. But also that the ad does not seem to exist for the size required. If you should have a better Ad Unit Id that doesn't cause a blank screen, which we where also able to get. We will look into that.

 

Also if you are able to send us a simple implementation fr us to test against that would always be helpful for us to look deeper into this. As I saw a few differences with the code snipper you showed us. And the code snippets on our documents.

 

I will be bring this also to our team to look more at. We will see if we can come up with a better solution for you.
 

Regards,

William Pescherine

[AdMob User Berlin]

Hello,

thanks again for answer. I don t think any code from me would help. The point is: AdMob Interstitials do not work in iPad Split View. With iOS 14 starting in just a few weeks, apps that support iPad must support iPad Split View, Apple informed all developers. So Apple won t allow any new app or any update that does not support iPad Split View. So we need to update our apps to support iOS 14, we will have to support iPad Split Screen, but with the current AdMob SDK Interstitials do not work in iPad Split View, there isn t even a Dismiss button while showing an Interstitial in Split View, so there will be Click fraud, frustrated users, bad user experience... so this is very urgent!

Please provide a SDK that supports Interstitials work in iPad Split View, since this is a must in a few weeks. 

Thanks
 

[Tom Hunt]

Hi all,

From looking at my original post, and more recent posts, the attached screenshots only seem to show test ads - so I'm wondering if this is an issue exclusively affecting test adverts?

For unrelated reasons, the apps I work on no longer show interstitial ads, so I haven't been able to test this theory myself.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi all,

https://developers.google.com/admob/ios/rel-notes

Interstitial Ads: Fixed a bug where interstitials on iPad could rotate to unsupported orientations, causing UI issues.

We've fixed this issue from 7.59.0. Please confirm if the problem still persists.

Thanks,
Jill
Google Mobile Ads SDK Team

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