Are mid-roll ads supported for AirPlay?

[Jeremy Blaker]

We have been successful in getting pre-roll and post-roll ads to work with AirPlay but it doesn't seem like mid-roll ads are fully supported. Mid-roll ads will play however after they complete the main video is started over from the beginning.

I can't actually find any documentation about AirPlay support, the closest I can find is Background Audio Support or Picture-in-Picture support.

Are mid-roll adds supported when using AirPlay, if not, is this feature on the roadmap?

Thanks

[IMA SDK]

Hello Jeremy,

 

Thank you for raising your concern to us.

 

Yes, I believe mid-roll ads should be supported when using Airplay. Have you encounter the same issue using our sample apps? If so, we would require the following information to test on our end:

• Sample project implementation that can replicate the issue
• Ad Tag used in testing
• SDK version & Device you are using
• Steps to reproduce the behavior (screen recording would be much appreciated for better illustration of the issue)

You may send the requested information privately via "Reply To Author" button. If it does not work for you, please send directly to our testing alias: imate...@gmail.com. Let us know here once the information has been sent.

Regards,

Michael Angelo Legaspi IMA SDK Team

ref:_00D1U1174p._5004Q2RAELV:ref

[Jeremy Blaker]

I am able get ads to work as expected over AirPlay on iOS 14 and iOS 15 devices using your CastExample project and enabling AirPlay via Control Center. However on iOS 13 the content does not begin playback after the pre-roll. Is there a support matrix for AirPlay noting which iOS versions are supported?

Another interesting issue I noticed is that on an iOS 14 or iOS 15 device that while the ads do play they don't seem to play in there entirety. A 10 second ad seems to cut off around 7 seconds and return to the main content. Is this expected?

It also looks like mid-roll ads work if using a VMAP ad tag URL but that requesting a VAST midroll during playback is not supported as the ad will play but when it is done fails to load up the main content. Can you confirm that if using VAST ad tag URLs that only pre-roll and post-roll ads are supported?

[IMA SDK]

Hello Jeremy,

 

Thank you for responding back to us.

 

I believe Airplay should be supported as earlier as iOS 11, so your use case for iOS 13 should be fairly covered. It is also not the expected behavior of the SDK to cut off the duration of the ads. That said, would you be able to share to us the screen recording of this behavior you are seeing on your end? And point also to us the exact sample app you are using (or your own sample project implementation that can reproduce the issue), the SDK version and the steps to reproduce the issue.

 

Additionally, mid-roll ads are supported by the SDK as long as you follow the lifecycle of the IMA to call the AdsManager.destroy() when the last or only ad in the previous response have been completed before requesting new ads by calling the AdsRequest() method.

You may send the requested information privately via "Reply To Author" button.
 

Regards,

[Jeremy Blaker]

Here is a video demonstrating the iOS 11 issue where the main content does not resume after the pre-roll ad plays:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV3J5yk3J7c

Here is a video demonstrating the iOS 14+ issue where the ads do not play in their entirety:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-CggieGBF0

I used the CastExample project from your google-ima-ios repo, the only change I made was adding the code necessary to display a button for enabling AirPlay within the app:

https://github.com/jblaker/googleads-ima-ios/tree/airplay/Objective-C/CastExample

The Apple TV is on tvOS 15.1.1 and the IMA SDK version used (from CocoaPods) is 3.14.5.

Thanks,

[IMA SDK]

Hello Jeremy,

 

Thank you for providing the requested information. With that, I have raised the issue to the rest of the team to further investigate. We will update you as soon as we get the result of the investigation.

Regards,

[Jeremy Blaker]

Has there been any progress on this investigation? Thank you.

[IMA SDK]

Hello Jeremy,

 

Thank you for coming back to us. However, I'm afraid that the issue is still being investigated as of the moment. Rest assured that we will update you on this thread when we have sufficient information.

Regards,

Michael Angelo IMA SDK Team

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[Jeremy Blaker]

I am just checking in again on the status of this investigation. 

Thank you.

[IMA SDK]

Hello Jeremy,

 

Thank you for getting back to us.

 

As per checking on our internal resource, I do not see any update we can share as of the moment. However, I already followed up to our wider team on your behalf and we shall relay it to you the soonest they have responded to us.

Regards,

[IMA SDK]

Hey Jeremy,

Please note that currently the IMA SDK does not support Airplay.

Kindly refer to Support and compatibility for more information.
 

This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02RAELV:ref"

Thanks,
 

IMA SDK Team