Video controls appear on the lock screen when background mode is switched on for Airplay

[Marc Desharnais]

Hi!

we encountered an issue with our app while using Google IMA. The issue is reproducible on your iOS Sample app.

Here's how you reproduce it :

- Download the Google IMA Advanced  sample app and make the setup with Cocoa pods.

https://github.com/googleads/googleads-ima-ios/releases/download/3.1/googleads_ima_sdk_ios_objc_advanced_example.zip

- In Xcode, select the project and go to Capabilities

- Enable Background modes, and select "Audio and Airplay"

- Launch the App and select preroll.

- During the preroll, press power to lock the device

- Press power again to display the lock screen, where you see controls related to ads. But those controls don't do anything. I think it is misleading for the user as they do not have control at this point.

To me, those controls should not be there as they serve no purpose. The controls should only be shown if Airplay is currently active.

In our application, we want to show controls for video only if Airplay is active. I think it would be best for the SDK to let the application control the lock screen information.

Thank you!

[Vu Chau (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi Marc,

Thanks for the message.  However, the issue you brought up isn't related to Airplay per se, but more to supporting background ad playback (hence the controls).  We have a guide on this topic (see Background Ad Playback) that might be helpful for your use case.

Vu Chau

IMA SDK Team

[Marc Desharnais]

Hi Vu,


thank you for your quick response. I read the documentation you mention and it is quite interesting for allowing ad playback in the background.


I definitely see your point when you mention that background ad support and video controls on the lock screen are related.


So I did a couple of experiment with the iOS ObjC Advanced Example.

- I tried to enable audioSession, enableBackgroundAds and I was indeed able to “activate” the controls so I could play/pause the ads while in the lock screen (which seemed odd by the way for a video ad if Airplay is not currently active). At least the controls are not useless..


- I tried to disable audio session, disable ad background playback and pause the ad manager when going to background, but I still see those controls on the lock screen.


But I was unable to achieve my primary goal. I want the app not to show any video controls on the lock screen. Because if Airplay is not active, play/pause controls are no use because the app is in background or hidden behind the lock screen. 


We  made sure that the controls are not shown when our content is playing, but when the IMA SDK is playing ads it seems to be programmed to show controls on the lock screen. So the question remains : How can we make the controls disappear?

We don’t want to activate the controls, because we feel that playing video in the background is not that useful for our users if airplay is not active.


Thank you!


Marc

[Vu Chau (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi Marc,

I see.  Thanks for clarifying your use case.

I'm going to talk to the rest of the team about this behavior, and I'll let you know once I've heard back from them.

Vu Chau

IMA SDK Team

[Marc Desharnais]

Is there an update for this issue?

Thanks

Marc

[Vu Chau (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi Marc,

I raised this issue with my teammates at the time of my previous post.  They should be getting back to me with a heads-up/progress in the coming days.

Thanks!

Vu Chau

IMA SDK Team

[Vu Chau (IMA SDK Team)]

Hi Marc, 

This happens because you enabled airplay without enabling background playback. So normally the controls would work, but since background playback is disabled, they don't respond. 

While we continue working on this issue, as a workaround, when the app enters the background you can call [MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter].nowPlayingInfo = @{} to hide the controls.

Cheers,

Vu Chau

IMA SDK Team

[Dang Nam]

Is there an update for this issue?

Thanks

[IMA SDK]

Hello,

 

Thank you for reaching out to the IMA SDK Support Team.

 

It appears that you have replied to a very old thread (from 2015) and I'm afraid some information may no longer be available. Generally, it has been concluded, after several months of investigation, that the IMA SDK is unable to support AirPlay. Please feel free to get back to us if you have additional questions.


Regards,

IMA SDK Team

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