overlapping UI in iOS IMA SDK with multiple ads

[Tomas Bucher]

We have encountered a strange behavior with VAST tags consisting of adpods in our integration of iOS IMA SDK. One such tag example is here https://devs.origin.cdn.cra.cz/ima/vastios.xml .

The IMA SDK is implemented according to the "Basic" variant of the iOS example app and even the example app itself, with the latest IMA SDK version 3.11.1, is exhibiting the same behavior. The first ad loads, the IMA SDK properly shows the value for ad duration and number of ads in the pod and then displays the Skip Ad button once the countdown for skipoffset attribute finishes. However, the UI elements from the first ad are usually not destroyed after the second ad loads (occasionally this might need a couple more ads to load during the same session for the problem to manifest) and both the ad duration and Skip Ad button then overlap each other, Skip Ad button is unresponsive.

Example of this behavior was captured in the IMA example app and can be seen here https://devs.origin.cdn.cra.cz/ima/appvideo.mov. Both Android and HTML5 versions of the IMA SDK are ok in this regard with the same VAST tag, it is only the iOS version that is doing this.

Can you please advise, whether this is simply a bug in IMA SDK or if something might be even amiss with the VAST tag or the integration and usage of the IMA SDK?

Thank you,

Tomas Bucher

[IMA SDK]

Hi Tomas,

Thank you for reporting this to us. I've watched the video recording you shared and noticed that the ad remaining timer overlay of the previous ad was overlapping the current ad's overlay. Were you able to reproduce the behavior using the our BasicExample without modifying the source code?

Regards,
Arnaud Casame
IMA SDK Team

ref:_00D1U1174p._5001UOFSwl:ref

[Tomas Bucher]

I assume that devs did not modify the source code of the BasicExample app in any way. The purpose of this test was to find out if the same behavior can be found in reference app design, too. But let me check with them and get back to you.

Tomas

[Tomas Bucher]

Confirmed, apart from using custom VAST tag, no further modification was made.

Tomas

[Tomas Bucher]

Can you please comment, whether this is being looked at? As it is now, the described behavior is substantially affecting usability and we would like to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Thank you.

[IMA SDK]

Hi Tomas,

 

Thank you for following this up.

 

I was able to replicate the issue using the ad tag that you have shared previously with our Advanced sample app. However, it seems like the issue only happening on this particular ad tag, and as per checking the ad tag, the last linear ad has no skipoffset attribute (please see attached screenshot). Could you confirm if this is the case?

 

Please note that this attribute is required for skippable linear creative based on the VAST 3.0 specification documentation.

 

I would also suggest, reaching out to your ad provider for further assistance regarding this issue.

 

 

Regards,

Sherwin Diesta

IMA SDK Team

ref:_00D1U1174p._5001USwNkY:ref

[Tomas Bucher]

Thank you,

I'm looking into this and plan to run more tests with other tags, but I can already say that it did not help making the tag VAST-compatible by adding the missing skipoffset to the one I provided, the IMA SDK still behaves the same. And it also does with another tag from completely different ad system.

Can you please maybe attach a static VAST xml file here that you are sure would not cause this behavior for comparison? That would be immensely helpful.

Tomas

[IMA SDK]

Hi Tomas,

 

Thanks for your response and confirmation. With regard to the static VAST xml, I'm afraid I cannot provide this, as we do not have a sample file for your utilization. However, I'm going to share this issue with the rest of my teammates so we can investigate further. I'll let you know once I have an update.

[Tomas Bucher]

Hello,

is there any progress in your investigation? I confirmed for ourselves that any VAST with multiple Ad elements I tried is causing this behavior. An additonal information here is that if the first ad is skipped, subsequent ads then can usually be skipped immediately without waiting for the skipoffset parameter countdown to finish. This is affecting both the users due to broken UI layout and ad providers, too as the SDK then does not adhere to skip values.

Please let me know if you have anything new to report in this regard.

Tomas

[IMA SDK]

Hi Tomas,

This is Teejay and I'll be assisting you with this as Sherwin is currently out of office.

I'm afraid that the issue is still under investigation. Rest assured that the team is actively working this.

On the other hand, I was able to reproduce the behavior you've reported. Once the first ad is skipped, the delay timer will not show up. Instead, you will able to skip again the next ad (by clicking the Skip button again). Let me raise this findings to the team as well.

Regards,
Teejay Pimentel