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BBC iPlayer iPhone App Launches

BBC iPlayer iPhone App Launches
BBC iPlayer iPhone App Launches
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The term couch potato is now dead and buried. TV can now be watched anywhere, and today it launched on the iPhone with the BBC's new iPlayer app.

The new app, which works on Wi-Fi and 3G, features Live TV and radio with channel switching and background listening.

Viewers no longer have to rush home to catch the latest East Enders cliffhanger or Frozen Planet drama.

Daniel Danker, BBC’s General Manager, Programmes and On Demand, told The Huffington Post in a phone interview that: "The future of TV is flexible. People loved watching it on the tablet, so we've aimed for the same experience with the iPhone app. Viewers have shown that they love linear TV, and the ease of channel flipping, so we have done our best to replicate that experience in high quality in this app."

Since its February launch, 1.5 million users have installed the iPlayer Apple iPad and the BBC has tracked 1.2 million downloads on on Android.

Danker says: "We launched an Android app in February, but we found that there was too much fragmentation amongst the various Android phones, because they all work differently. We have aimed to make this app markedly better than the mobile web experience, so we have focused on Apple iPhones for quality at this stage and we will add the Android when we get the quality right."

The new app promises an improved user experience with an intuitive design, and an adaptive bit rate monitor that maintains play when networks weaken.

"The technology we're working with adapts to different bandwidths, so it jumps down to a lower quality broadcast until the network picks up again. We've found that people prefer the quality to vary rather than have the service drop out completely as 3G bandwidth changes," Danker said.

BBC iPlayer's video on demand service has received 153 million views for TV and Radio programmes across all platforms since its launch in 2007.

Mobile TV is just one viewing revolution currently underway. Social TV is another burgeoning area, with Zeebox and Xbox Live both releasing new apps and services to making viewing a group event.

Download the new BBC iPlayer iPhone app for free from Apple's app store.

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