UX issue on FireTV devices when ads are playing

[Sven Falk]

Hi everyone,

we are currently implementing IMA DAI streams for our FireTV television streaming product for our customer Exaring. Unfortunately when ads are playing and the corresponding WebView overlay is displayed, elements on that WebView (e.g. the "Ad 1 of 5" TextView) capture the focus and they don´t release it until the ad is through.
So that is a big UX problem since in that case the user is not able to interact with the app correctly. On FireTV interaction mainly takes place via the remote control and even if another view opens the focus stays in the ad overlay WebView. And thus no interaction with the view is possible for the user.
Even more disturbing is that it seems that the overlay WebView also consumes remote control key events. I.e. if the focus is within the WebView channel switching is not possible since the key events get stuck anywhere in the WebView.
We already tried to hide the overlay views with AdsRendererSettings but with no luck. Even if there are no views displayed the underlying WebView crabs the focus.

This breaks the UX in a way that is not acceptable. The user should have the possibility to interact with the app at any time and of course be able to switch channels even if ads are playing.

What is the concept of handling user input via remote control events while ads are playing and the overlay WebView is displayed? What can we do to provide a satisfying UX while ads are playing?

Many thanks in advance.

Best,

Sven Falk

[IMA SDK]

Hi,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Before we can answer your questions, we would like to know if you were able to reproduce the behavior using our Android DAI AdvancedExample? If yes, can you share a video recording showing the issue? You can share it privately by sending it to the imate...@gmail.com support alias.

Regards,
Arnaud Casame
IMA SDK Team

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[Sven Falk]

Hi everyone,

I recently provided you with a video that reproduces the problem with your AdvancedExample. Did you have the chance to have a look at it? For us this is really a serious issue we have to solve before going live.

Thanks.

Regards,

Sven Falk

[IMA SDK]

Hi Sven,

Thank you for your response and for sharing the video. I was able to watch the video and I can see the behavior that you are describing in your email. For our reference, could you please share with us the sample project that you used in the video? You can also send the file via imate...@gmail.com

Regards,
Sherwin Diesta
IMA SDK Team

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[Howard Smith]

Hello,

We are having a similar issue on FireTV with the IMA Client SDK.  Is there a solution for preventing the underlying  WebView from grabbing focus while an ad is playing?

Thanks,
Howard Smith

[IMA SDK]

Hi Howard,

Thank you for reporting this to us. Can you also share the video recordings of the issue that you’re experiencing so we could compare the behavior? Please use the Reply privately to author option when sharing this information.

Regards,

Sherwin Diesta IMA SDK Team

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