Ipad Mini 8 for iOS: Adobe Flash

lem729

lem729

Implicit in what you say@rafaelluik, seems to be that Coast must support HTML. 5 video, and that's somehow enough to play YouTube, and the ESPN page without supporting Flash? With the Opera Mini (in all of the modes it can be set) you get a message "Adobe flash is required for video playback." Perhaps the message ought to read, "Adobe flash is required or a browser that supports HTML 5 video."

I'm not sure what you mean by Opera Mini in "mini" mode. I tried the Mini in all three possible settings -- mini, turbo, and off -- and in none of them did it play the ESPN video, or YouTube. If there's a way to get the Opera mini to play this stuff, I'd love to know, as it is a quite attractive browser, so the more it can do, the better.

Opera has two pretty good browsing vehicles in the Ipad -- Coast and Opera Mini.

A Former User

I tried the Mini in all three possible settings -- mini, turbo, and off -- and in none of them did it play the ESPN video, or YouTube.
Coast, Opera Turbo and "no data saving" modes use iOS' WebView which should support HTML5 video.

It's possible that ESPN web devs thought it's a good idea to send the YouTube Flash player code to Opera Mini's UA-String in all those modes, lol. Or the code is too outdated to know better about Mini's capabilities or its (probably new) UA-String...

lem729

lem729

Well, YouTube, it seems, is a mixed bag. I took a closer look at YouTube. Some of the videos work in Opera Mini. (I tried it in the savings disabled mode). Some don't and you get a message that says you need Adobe Flash. The ones that play must somehow be okay for Browsers that support HTML 5.

A Former User

Is there a user agent setting in Opera Mini for iOS? If so try changing it from Desktop to Mobile.
Can you visit youtube.com/html5 to check what codecs Opera is supporting ATM?

lem729

lem729

I had set it at Desktop, because I hate some of those mobile sites. I prefer the desktop version on the Ipad (which has a 10 inch screen. But I went back to mobile to test if if affects YouTube). I seem to do better in Mobile Mode. Was 5 for 5, meaning 5 videos tested and all of them played. Is it that I do better with Opera Mini in Mobile Mode with YouTube. If so, do you know why? The downside is there are a number of videos where I get this message: "The content owner has not made this video available on mobile. Add to playlist to watch it later on a PC." [That's a reason to try to get Desktop mode working]

I went to youtube.com/html5. I'm not sure what you mean by "what codecs Opera is suporting ATM?" I'm not that savvy on this tech talk like I'm dumb, lol, and too lazy to look up "codecs," but I do get a message, "The default player is currently used." And it says that I can click on "Request the HTML5 Player." Should I do that? (There's also this line: "You can request that the HTML5 player be used if your browser doesn't use it by default" So I think I should request the HTML5 player? But . . .

what confuses me is why some YouTube videos work without it. (I mean, Opera Mini doesn't have flash, and if I'm not using the HTML5 player, why can it play anything. In Mobile mode I'm like wow, getting almost everything. Not sure why? So should I request the HTML5 Player? Maybe with it, I could stay in desktop mode, and play almost everything, but not sure . . . If the HTML5 Player is better for Desktop Mode, then I wouldn't get the messages about "video not available on mobile."

Also my browser supports, HTMLvideoElement, H.264 (that's in green with a checkmark), but in red with an exlamation point is: WebM VP8, Meida Source Extensions, MSE & H.264, and MSE & WebM VP9. I think what's in red is not supported but I'm not sure.

A Former User

Some web devs had the great idea of ignoring desktop browsers' HTML5 video capabilities completely and making code so desktop users need to have Flash to watch some videos, when you trick them to believe you're using a desktop browser you get bitten by this.

I'm not sure if it'd really make things better at YouTube (if the devs were smart they'd send you the HTML5 player regardless of your setting and only ask for Flash as a last resort of fallback), but yes try requesting the HTML5 player.

lem729

lem729

Thanks for the comments, rafaelluik. I did request the player, but most of what I clicked on didn't seem to use it. I think the best best bet - if you are using YouTube with Opera mini --is to put the browser in "mobile" mode. That seems to play most of the stuff. A few things are missed, but it's still quite good. I'm assuming in mobile mode YouTube plays because of the browser's HTML5 video cababilities (maybe you get the html5 player automatically). In desktop mode, the bias is still towards having flash.

lem729

lem729

http://www.tv5mondeplus.com/emission/journal-tv5monde

Here's another site that some of the other non-flash browsers play -- like Mercury, and Coast. But I can't get it to play in Ipad mini (even though data savings are "off."). Sometimes I get a message that I need flash, other times something about the page having "a redirect loop." I tried it in Opera mini both in desktop and mobile mode. I'm assuming those other browsers can play it because they can somehow make use of html 5 video, and that the message I initially got about needing flash is bogus? Now @Rafaelluik said earlier in connection with the ESPN site and Youtube that didn't play in Opera Mini: Noo, none of the two browsers support Flash. The problem is Opera Mini in "Mini" mode doesn't support HTML5 video.

I have data savings set for OFF. So I'm not in mini mode. While i don't fully understand this, perhaps the problem is the same as with that ESPN video discussed earlier in this thread, when Rafaelluik commented: "Coast, Opera Turbo and "no data saving" modes use iOS' WebView which should support HTML5 video. It's possible that ESPN web devs thought it's a good idea to send the YouTube Flash player code to Opera Mini's UA-String in all those modes, lol. Or the code is too outdated to know better about Mini's capabilities or its (probably new) UA-String..."

So it sounds like Opera Mni should be able to play this, but something about the code in the TV5-Le Journal site undermines that? Still, it would be nice since other non-flash browsers can play sites like this, if Opera Mini could be adjusted-fixed to be able to access the site also. If the developer of Mercury -- a non-flash browser-- can do it, and Opera could do it with Coast, then, I would think, they should try in an update to get some of these sites to play in Opera Mini. Of course, one can switch to another browser, but the browser is better when you don't have to do a lot of that.

mbaluta

mbaluta

@lem729, Opera Mini does not support Flash. It's a long story and you can read about it on the Internet. It does support HTML5 video like other browsers on iOS do. When you get a message "You need a Flash player" in one browser and the video works in the other, it's usually a site owner's mistake. He needs to somehow detect whether your browser supports Flash or not. Flash is almost not support on mobile devices, that's why it more likely video will work, when your User Agent is set to Mobile. When you set Desktop, you are saying to a webpage, that you use Safari on Mac OS X, which is likely to have a Flash Player installed.

Anyway, please report such things on https://mini.bugs.opera.com and we will contact site owner with details of the problem.

A Former User

It does support HTML5 video like other browsers on iOS do.
Obs: Not in the "Mini" compression mode. Right?

lem729

lem729

@mbaluta

I tried the TV5 site in mobile mode, with no data compression selected, and still nothing. the site said I need Adobe flash. Now if Mercury and Coast, (which are not flash browsers can play this site, as well the ESPN site I referenced in my thread, why can't Opera Mini?. This seems like a browser design issue, that can be fixed by opera in a future update. I even checked Safari (mobile) browser and Chrome (mobile). They are not flash browsers, and they all can play the site.

Even for YouTube videos, yes with Opera Mini you can often play a lot of the videos in Mobile mode, but we're talking about a 10 inch Ipad. You don't want to be in mobile mode on the Ipad, you want to be in desktop mode. Otherwise the sites look less appealing. And having to go back and forth between Desktop mode and mobile mode is a bit of a burden. If that's what you have to do, maybe there should be a toggle button on the browser to make it easy. Now in general, Opera mini is terrific, but this is a negative. I'm using Coast more.

I filed the bug report.