As promised, the BBC has launched mobile iPlayer apps for Android and the iPad. The BBC iPlayer is an online service that lets UK residents stream radio and TV programs that have aired over the last 7 days, with ore than 400 hours of content available. Now you can do that on an iPad or Android device.
There are a few catches though:
- The free apps only work in the UK for now (which makes sense, since the BBC is funded by license payers in the UK).
- The Android app requires Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash.
- You can only stream media over WiFi. There’s currently no support for 3G or 4G networks
You can download the iPad app from the iTunes UK App Store. The Android version is available as a free download from the Android Market.
The BBC has posted a FAQ about the app, which mostly explains why you can’t do things like stream video over 3G, download videos, or use the app outside of the UK. But it also explains how to adjust the video quality, enable subtitles when available, and use parental guidance controls.
