According to online reports, the ABC will be bringing its popular iView catch-up service to Android devices in December to coincide with an extensive software update. There are also plans afoot to make the entire ABC Archive available to download.
ABC’s director of television Richard Finlayson confirmed the Android release date during today’s 2013 Screen Forever conference, reports TV Tonight.
“We’re relaunching iView in December with a great new interface, and a long-awaited Android application as well,” Finlayson reportedly said at the event.
In response to customer feedback, the broadcaster is also looking to launch a new application that will allow people to access any content from the ABC archives regardless of when it aired. The aim is to have the new app ready by Q4 next year with older programs presumably requiring a download fee.
While the ABC Archive concept is certainly intriguing, we suspect most Android users are simply relieved to finally have an iView release date in sight.
At the time of writing, the ABC hasn’t issued a press release regarding the announcement so we only have Finlayson’s word to go by at the moment. We’ll keep you posted with more concrete details the moment we receive them.
See also: How iview Is Costing The ABC A Fortune | The Lifehacker Guide To Streaming Blocked Overseas Content | What iView’s Success As An App Teaches Us | Why Is “iOS Only” Still A Thing?
[Via TV Tonight]
Comments
One response to “ABC iView Android App Finally Coming In December (Maybe)”
They’ve also started accepting users for the new iview beta, sign up if you want a look at the changes before they happen: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/iview/beta.htm
They haven’t got around to my application yet, but I’m guessing/hoping:
-Html 5 interface instead of flash
-Some API changes to make integrating iview into third-party tech easier.
-Closer Integration with the ABC store
-HD support. They may not release any HD content for a while, but they’ll have the back-end support in well ahead of that.
In the mean time there is aview, an unofficial client:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.aview.app&hl=en
Why do we need an android app? I’ve been watching Iview on my Android tablet for the last couple of years and it works a treat!
@churchado oops, my below comment was in reply to this!
The newer Android devices don’t support Flash anymore. And because iView currently runs using Flash, it won’t work on newer Android phones / browsers.
iView worked fine on my Samsung Galaxy S1, but when I upgraded to an S3 it wouldn’t work as the Play Store wouldn’t let me install Flash anymore – I had to go to the Adobe mobile flash dev page to find an archived version of flash player and install it that way.
So that’s why an Android app for it is much needed as I’m guessing most people wouldn’t know how to side load in an version of Flash player.