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Kathleen Denson

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Aug 2, 2024, 3:00:20 AM8/2/24

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How come videos won't play while using sidecar, no problem playing when using a normal second display? The videos won't play on my MacBook Pro display or the iPad Pro display. As soon as I disconnect the video is right there playing.

Netflix uses Digital Rights Management (DRM) to protect content. In a web browser, this is done using EME (Encrypted Media Extensions), and uses DRM products such as Google's "Widevine" (found in Chrome, Firefox, Brave, etc.), and other technologies.

When connecting an external display or other device, these DRM technologies require those devices to support something called High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), which is an anti-piracy mechanism. It ensures the external device is "safe" and is not a recording device being used to duplicate the video feed. Many modern external monitors, TVs, projectors, etc. establish HDCP through an HDMI cable connection, and everything "just works."

I believe Apple's Sidecar feature works differently. Instead of sending a typical display feed to the iPad, it is sending an HEVC/H.265 video feed using technology similar to FaceTime video streaming. This is a non-standard/proprietary implementation for attaching a secondary display. It likely does not support HDCP and thus would be seen as an unauthorized display and probably why Netflix video playback stops working. I suspect the same issue arises with most other popular video services.

I saw this same behavior using the app Duet. Chrome works (as it does now with Sidecar) but Safari nor Apple TV App. I am going to open a support ticket because as most think on this forum, you should be able to play video on a Sidecar device.

I do believe product teams read the forums, at least on occasion. There are some feedback mechanisms like Product Feedback and Developer Bug Reporting. My theory is still speculative & not 100% confirmed, but it seems to jive with other comments I've read. I don't know a ton about the inner-workings of HDCP, but I hope it's technically feasible to solve this.

I have the newest MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, sidecar works, but when I try and play a movie, either web based like Netflix, or in the Apple TV app there is only a black screen and sound until a disconnect sidecar. Same problem using wifi or usb c cable with the iPad Pro.

Hope you've found some good answers to that. I've been struggling since I use Helium for watching netflix while I'm doing my job with my MacBook Pro with two-thundervolt ports 2017. I started using sidecar, and found that expensive sort of **** wasn't working properly... so I decided to watch netflix in iPad Pro using PIP(Picture-in-Picture) while I connect my airpods with the ipad..

Looking for a VPN app for my iPad, so that I can watch Netflix or other US streaming apps in Europe. Any real world experience and recommendations?
Thanks in advance.
Don't need flames or moral judgments about why I want to watch Netflix (or any other streaming app) while in Europe. I am going to be there for 6 weeks and I be won't visiting tourist sites in the late night and would like to catch up on my shows.

Alternatively, can you just download before leaving US? It saves on streaming speeds, and (possibly) eating up someone else's monthly wifi allotment. (When staying in a short let apartment, this used to be a problem).

I had Hulu and Netflix on my phone and tablet if I had internet access I could watch both of them in France, Austria and Germany. I also downloaded a few shows so I could watch off line. Like you said sometimes in the evening before going to sleep you might like to watch a something.

I have my own VPN setup at home. (It's fairly easy if you are a techie.) Consider asking someone to set up a home VPN for you before you leave. If you have to pay someone to do it, at least you won't have to pay for the VPN, and you will not have to rely on a third party for VPN support. Some home routers already support a VPN. If not, a spare router that supports VPN can be set up with VPN and can be added to your home network. Again, I assume the average person is not tech savvy enough to do this so that you'd need to have someone set it up for you. It wouldn't be worth paying $500 to have it set up, but it might be worth $100 - or buy dinner for a tech savvy friend who does it for you.

Me too. I am currently in Spain and watching Netflix on my iPad most nights. My threshold for dubbed episodes of Bonanza, CSI, Rizzoli and Isles and Crossing Jordan is pretty low and the only English language options are CNN and BBC Global.

I watch a lot of travel vloggers and they all pitch Surfshark (obviously because they are paid to do so). Each vlogger also offers a discount code. Try finding one at Paul Lucas Winging It, for example.

Notwithstanding Netflix's machinations over password sharing, a VPN is not going to be necessary to stream Netflix in Europe. The VPN will certainly allow you to get the US Netflix catalog and your saved list uninterrupted. Plus there are US only streaming services that a VPN would work for.

But the problem with streaming in the US is that the market is structured to the point that every little production house believes their catalog is worth being paid for through their own streaming service and are stingy with licensing in the US. It truly becomes a matter of quantity over quality. The US Netflix catalog just blows. On the other hand the European Netflix catalog is superior with content not licensed to Netflix in the US, is licensed to Netflix in Europe.

My NetFlix works fine in Europe. Watched it last night. Sure, what's available is a bit different, but not much, and it gives me the chance to see things not available in the US. So what could be a restriction can also be a benefit.

We were in Europe twice last year for one month each time (Germany and England) and found that most of our streaming services did not allow us to access what we wanted to watch on our iPhones and iPads. After some online research we chose NordVPN, and it worked well. It allows for multiple devises to be connected at the same time (although we hardly ever used that feature), and had a similar annual cost to the other vpn services. Also the download speed was very similar to that observed without using the vpn.

Using a VPN does not technically violate their terms of service. But legally, they are not allowed to show certain content outside of the country where you have an account, so if you are using a VPN to do that, you would be violating their TOS.

I tried to find the service contract on line, but no luck. I did find hundreds of articles about how to watch content that is not being offered .... which I take to mean, take what isn't being paid for (because neither you, nor NetFlix could possibly afford to buy world wide rights to all the copyrighted material on NetFlix).

And I did find where NetFlix has no problem with VPN that is not set up to fool the system, in which case you can watch programming for which NetFlix owns the rights, but not programming for which NetFlix doesn't actually own the rights.

Yeah, it's like discussing driving 57mph in a 55mph zone. Technically illegal but not something anyone, even law enforcement, is really worried about. Netflix and the companies that license their content to Netflix don't care if a US Netflix subscriber is watching content from their US Netflix account while on vacation in Europe. They don't want people who live in other countries watching it - they want those people to pay to watch via local licensing agreements.

Oh geez. NetFlix may have a ToS against the use of VPNs and proxy servers, but its not a matter of legality. It is a matter of Netflix's licensing agreements with the owners of properties meaning the movies or tv shows are supposed to be offered to certain audiences or countries.

I lived in Liberia, West Africa for two years in the recent past. I watched Netflix almost every day, no VPN. No problem with initial sign-in (I remained signed-in), just a slight difference in what was available to view (for example, I wasn't able to watch The Great British Baking Show, but no problem accessing Seinfeld). Have a great stay!

A US Netflix account works fine in Europe. The lineup is a little different but not drastically different. All the really good stuff us there and you can watch some pretty good content that isn't available in the US.

Yes, this is certainly the most obvious, but when was the last time you asked your provider how fast its offerings are now? If it's been a few years, it likely has new services (maybe even fiber) that could greatly increase your download speeds. Recently I switched from 250Mbps cable to 1Gbps fiber for $10 less a month. When I canceled the cable internet they said "Oh, we can reduce your rate by $30 a month, or increase your speeds for the same money." They, of course, never offered that without me saying I was canceling. Just something to keep in mind.