bbc - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

BBC iPlayer Updated To Version 1.7 With Tweaked User Interface, Support For 10" Tablets

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

The UK citizens have sounded off on the BBC iPlayer's Play Store reviews, loudly and often: it's sitting at a depressing 2.9 stars, with more 1-star reviews than any others. The Beeb has been slowly improving the streaming video app, and today it gets a long-overdue update to version 1.7, finally including support for 10-inch tablets. I honestly have no idea why that was such a hurdle for an international media company, but hey, there it is. The app is still free for UK citizens who've paid their television licence, and forbidden to everyone else.

The user interface on phones and smaller tablets has been adjusted slightly.

May

BBC Finally Takes Its Sport App Outside The UK, Now Available To Users Worldwide

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Many moons ago (read: back in February), the BBC released a sport app for people who are in to that sort of thing. People rejoiced, birds sang, rainbows formed, yadda yadda, yadda... then the whole world realized the app was only for UK residents. Everything went dark. Storms brewed across nations, wars broke out, and hate consumed the very souls of those affected by the tragedy. It was the beginning of the end.

Fast-forward to today. While much of the world is still suffering the consequences that BBC Sports brought down upon us, things are finally starting to look up.

Apr

BBC iPlayer Updated, Brings Support For 1080p Phones

Posted by Bertel King, Jr. in Applications, News

For those unfamiliar, the BBC iPlayer allows our friends in the United Kingdom to watch live BBC programming on the go. Featured shows and up to seven days of previous content are also available for streaming. The application is incompatible with international devices, so don't bother paying the Play Store a visit if London is more than a couple hundred miles away from where you live. And the latest update to the app ushers in support for 1080p displays, allowing it to take advantage of the latest-gen handsets.

The experience is also said to be "improved" for devices like the Galaxy S III, Nexus 4, and Note II.

Apr

[New App] BBC iPlayer Radio Now Available On Android, Complete With Live Listening And On-Demand Downloads

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

The BBC iPlayer video application has been available to Android-totting Englishmen for some time, but the audio equivalent has sadly lagged behind. Today the app finally lands on Android, and it was worth the wait: BBC Licence Fee subscribers can listen to the various radio stations over WiFi or mobile Internet, and it even works when they travel abroad. Unfortunately, the service isn't available to international users at any price.

The interface of iPlayer Radio is an interesting mix of Holo elements and unique ideas, particularly a station selector that apes an old-school rotary phone dialer. Once you've selected a radio station, you're presented information about the current track or show, along with the standard social sharing functions.

Mar

BBC News App Updated To Work On 1080p Devices, Adds Widgets And A Bit More Holo

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

The BBC News reader on Android got an update today that should please the pixel poppers among the audience. The app has been optimized to take advantage of Super Mega Ultra dense displays like on the Xperia Z and Droid DNA (to say nothing of the upcoming HTC One and Galaxy S 4). A pile of bugs have been squashed in the new update as well.

Here's the full change log:

What's in this version:

This is a major update of our app, with improved performance and image quality.
The app is now optimised across different screen sizes and we've also fixed a number of bugs.

Feb

BBC Sport Mobile App Launched For Android, Just In Time For Six Nations And The End Of The Premier League Season

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, News

The BBC finally launched an Android version of its BBC Sport app today, bringing all of the content from the BBC Sport website to you without making you visit through the browser.

The app has arrived just in time for "squeaky bum time" in the English Premier League, and the score of every single game that is being played in the Football League will be available to view as each game progresses.

Just like on the BBC website, live text commentary will be available for big games, such as Champions League and Premiership clashes, with video clips being made available to play through the app too.

Dec

BBC iPlayer Updated With Extra UI Polish, Jelly Bean 4.2 Support, And BBC Alba Channel

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Today, the UK's public broadcasting service, the BBC, upgraded its mobile app for Android. The update brings improvements to the UI to bring the interface a bit more in line with Android's Holo guidelines. The new version also adds support for Jelly Bean 4.2, improved video streaming over WiFi, and a new content channel.

Here's the full changelog:

What's in this version:

Many thanks for all of your feedback on our last update. Here’s what’s new in this release:
- We’ve polished up the design of the app
- Video performance over Wi-Fi has been improved(with more improvements still to come)
- Added Android 4.2 Jelly Bean support
- You’ll find a new channel - BBC Alba
As ever, let us know what you think @bbciplayer

Of course, the BBC iPlayer isn't available outside the UK, so international users need not excite themselves too much.

Sep

BBC Launches BBC Media Player, Lets UK Android Users Go Flashless With iPlayer Content

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

When Adobe announced the end of Flash for Android, it had a particular impact in the UK, as it was the plugin of choice for BBC's iPlayer video streaming service. With Flash for Android now officially discontinued for devices that haven't installed it previously (and all Android 4.1 devices), this is obviously a problem.

Thankfully, BBC wasn't horribly slow to respond, and has launched the BBC Media Player, which allows all BBC video content to be played back Flash-free. The reviews aren't 100% positive (the rating of the app sits at 3.2 right now), but the general consensus seems to be that it mostly works.

Jul

BBC Joins NBC, Releases An Olympic Coverage App With Live Stream (But This One's For The UK Only)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Earlier today, NBC released a pair of apps covering the 2012 Olympic games in London. But both of those are U.S. only. Fortunately, the BBC just released its own app so everyone across the pond can keep with the all the Olympic happenings while on the go.

The app features:

Top stories
Daily live text commentaries from BBC journalists
Up to 24 live video streams
Video highlights of the action, features and interviews with athletes
Detailed schedule and results for every event
Medals table
A page for every Olympic sport
A page for every competing country
A page for every Olympic athlete taking part
Read the homepage top stories offline
Share stories, videos and results by email and on social networks

The app is completely free, but you must have flash installed if you want to watch live video and highlight clips.

May

An Android User's Guide To Euro 2012

Posted by John Thompson in Applications

The English domestic football season may have already come to a dramatic close with the red and blue sides of Manchester fighting it out for the Premier League title, but there's no time to rest with Euro 2012 just around the corner.

The competition kicks off on June 8th, with the first match between host nation Poland and Greece kicking off at 5pm BST (12pm EST), and with your Android device in toe, you can make sure that you don't miss a single thing that happens between then and the final.

This guide is geared towards people living in either the UK or the USA, although there are some apps listed that can be used regardless of where you live.