Apple TV

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by wayne b

This helpful post should be pinned under "How to play offline content in the Apple ecosystem." I'm fairly tech savvy and spent like 1-2 hours trying to figure this stuff out and this explains it.

One question: When you say 'Thunderbolt to HDMI', are you talking about Thunderbolt 3 (aka USB C) to female HDMI, such as this product -
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Aluminu.../dp/B07THJGZ9Z

wayne b: Oops - my apologioes! That was a typo and I meant lightning to HDMI for IOS. This is the one I use that works with iPad or iPhone. Same one Jeff1716 uses but this is Amazon link. I too have heard the aftermarket ones don't work well.
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Lightni...TRONIC_ADAPTER

[glcmranger]

So I've been using the apple Lightening AV adapter .... just upgraded to an iPhone 13S Pro.. now, it doesn't allow me to play Prime Video "downloaded" movies. I get the "Playback Error"..... any ideas?
Note: I troubleshot with Apple, Amazon folks..... changed out cables, etc... nothing works.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by glcmranger

So I've been using the apple Lightening AV adapter .... just upgraded to an iPhone 13S Pro.. now, it doesn't allow me to play Prime Video "downloaded" movies. I get the "Playback Error"..... any ideas?
Note: I troubleshot with Apple, Amazon folks..... changed out cables, etc... nothing works.

Is this when you try to play on the phone itself or when you try to get them to play on another device like a TV?

[glcmranger]

When I try to get movie to play on the TV.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by glcmranger

So I've been using the apple Lightening AV adapter .... just upgraded to an iPhone 13S Pro.. now, it doesn't allow me to play Prime Video "downloaded" movies. I get the "Playback Error"..... any ideas?
Note: I troubleshot with Apple, Amazon folks..... changed out cables, etc... nothing works.

I was having the same problem. The solution I included in post #36 solved it for me with iPhone 11 and older iPad pro. Here it is duplicated:
"One quirk to make note of with Amazon Prime Video. If you have the Thunderbolt to HDMI cable connected when you start a show/movie, it will give an error. Simply disconnect the cable before starting and then re-connect after it is going and works great from there."

I recently upgrade to iPhone 13 Pro Max so I will test that out sometime today and let you know.

[glcmranger]

Thanks.. it’s been driving me crazy!!

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by glcmranger

Thanks.. it’s been driving me crazy!!

Did it work for you?

I tested my iPhone 13 Pro Max and it did the same playback error on Prime video downloaded content when lightning to HDMI adapter was connected at start. No error when I start without adapter, however, I am now seeing an additional problem. When I start the video then plug in adapter I just get a spinning circle with paused playback. If I stream it works fine. I am thinking it is a transcode problem having to do with the download resolution Amazon chooses based on device. This may only be a Max problem, adapter compatibility, don't know. I played around with download video quality with no success but I am guessing that is only adjusting bitrate, not screen resolution. Anyway, I am still fine as I primarily use my 2017 iPad pro for offline viewing.

This stuff can be maddening and make you want to just settle for tunes and alcohol!

[glcmranger]

OrangeCrush: I had the same spinning circle... I can view downloaded movie on my 13S Pro and can stream.... I have 2 adaptors -- same problem. I ordered another cable: a HDCP 1.4 HDMI cable -- Amazon troubleshooting suggested this.... Otherwise, it might clear up once Amazon does another software update.... thanks for the info -- I thought it was me!!

[glcmranger]

last comment: I think it's a incompatibility issue between the Prime Video software and the new iPhone 15.1 IOS update.

[richard5933]

Not the same as an iPhone, but I had a similar problem at one point watching video I had downloaded to my Samsung device from Google You Tube. The TV shows would play fine on the phone itself, but when the HDMI cable was hooked up to my television to mirror the phone's display it gave me an error about copyright protection.

What I came to learn is that the downloaded video in my case was specifically linked to the smartphone and would only play on the smartphone. When the HDMI was used to mirror the screen it was a no-go.

Then I tried something else - Samsung has a desktop mode called Dex. When in this mode, the phone operates as a tiny desktop computer which can be connected to an external monitor and keyboard. Strangely, when in Dex mode, things worked perfectly. The video content played on the television screen with no problem when the Dex system was using it as an external monitor.

My point is that the copyright protection built into these systems is very fickle and very unpredictable.

Does iPhone give you the option of sending the content to the television in a way other than the HDMI cable? If so, give it a try.

[OrangeCrush]

glcmranger: I updated my 5 year old iPad Pro to IOS 15.1 and it still works fine other than the initial playback error if plugged in at start. Who knows if it is iPhone 13 adapter compatibility problem or something about how Amazon set the download file for iPhone 13. I am sure Jeff will blame Tim and vice versa.

richard5933: Yes, DRM is nasty and content owners in general really don't want wireless streaming between devices. It is so unnecessarily complicated I think partly because they are all competing now on content, hardware, and apps and only want to trust their own echo system. I finally gave up trying to wireless mirror on the road because most of them won't let you use peer to peer Airplay and the others still require a wifi router. Dex sounds interesting. Looks like something that was developed for business purposes which makes sense it works well as that is an environment that has very little tolerance for quirks. I don't know of any hardware screen mirror alternative to the dongle we have been talking about for iPhone.

[RMNummi]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

glcmranger: I updated my 5 year old iPad Pro to IOS 15.1 and it still works fine other than the initial playback error if plugged in at start. Who knows if it is iPhone 13 adapter compatibility problem or something about how Amazon set the download file for iPhone 13. I am sure Jeff will blame Tim and vice versa.

richard5933: Yes, DRM is nasty and content owners in general really don't want wireless streaming between devices. It is so unnecessarily complicated I think partly because they are all competing now on content, hardware, and apps and only want to trust their own echo system. I finally gave up trying to wireless mirror on the road because most of them won't let you use peer to peer Airplay and the others still require a wifi router. Dex sounds interesting. Looks like something that was developed for business purposes which makes sense it works well as that is an environment that has very little tolerance for quirks. I don't know of any hardware screen mirror alternative to the dongle we have been talking about for iPhone.

Pepwave Router, Unlimited Calyx and unlimited ATT. Pumping to Apple TV via Wifi, Swapped out TV for 32" Samsung w Bluetooth (and Wifi). Everyone talks and plays nice together. Upgraded Stereo to Fusion MA-770 (which defaults to Phone bluetooth connection. Upgraded Sub-woofer to Bazooka. The only hard wire is from Pepwave to back of TV and then ARC HDMI to Sonos Beam Speaker. All systems pump audio via bluetooth through Fusion. There are multiple ways to connect the AS audio. Most are dependent on the interconnectivity of "new" hardware.

Samsung 4k 32" TV upgraded (bluetooth and wifi) (30 minute swap)
Subwoofer Upgraded to Bazooka (30 minute swap)
Stereo upgraded to Fusion MA-RA-770 (w/Sirius add-on) - An hour or so
Sonos Beam Sounder mounted under TV. (30 minutes)
All 4 Speakers upgraded to Infiniti Kappa's. (about an hour)
Pepwave Router from www.mobilemusthave - The was the hard one - 4 hrs)
Nine point antenna mounted on top of AC.. 30 minutes to mount.
Iphone 13 Pro Max
Verizon iPad Pro
2 Macbook pro's, a Del 5k Monitor on a hide-away stand

All these talk and interact with each other

[OrangeCrush]

RMNummi - Nice setup! I'll have to talk to Santa.

[Beltran]

Sweet. I have some of that working together. Need to pull the trigger on the router / Wi-Fi unit. But Cosmo is sleeping for the winter so I can do it next year.

[wayne b]

Originally Posted by RMNummi

Del 5k Monitor on a hide-away stand

Wow incredible set up. Curious about this bit here - what's a hideaway stand and where is it hiding?