RTÉ Player app update – seamless viewing?

Users of the RTÉ player (pre version 1.2) on iPad might have noticed the following message when they fire up the app over the last week or so.

After tomorrow (22nd August), the app will cease to work. What will the new version of the app give you? Here are the release notes:

• Seamless viewing across devices. Mark favourites and resume programmes where you left off by signing in with RTÉ ID.
• App startup time has been reduced
• Feature image carousel added to iPhone.
• Parental control feature added
• Improved app stability

I was most interested in the seamless viewing feature. This was a feature spoken about by Aisling McCabe (Director of Strategic Platforms & Partnerships at RTÉ Digital) when the iPad/iPhone app was announced in October 2011 during the Dublin Web Summit.

What is seamless viewing? It is the ability to pick up watching a programme on one device where you left off on a different device. So, you could start watching a programme on your desktop computer during lunch break at work and then pick up where you left off later on at home on an iPhone or iPad. You will need an RTÉ ID for this. This can be created using a Twitter or Facebook account, or creating a separate account using your email address.

That’s the theory anyway. I’ve tried it but it doesn’t work for me. Favourites will sync between devices, but the seamless viewing doesn’t work. An email to RTÉ Player support indicated to me that it should work.

I’ve noticed another glitch as well. On an iPad2, the volume control doesn’t work when an ad is running. RTÉ Player support tell me that “we will review your note on the volume during ads and work to resolve it.”

How is the new version of the app working out for you? Is seamless viewing working? Is the volume level disabled during ads (iPad2 – iPad doesn’t appear to have the issue).

Update : RTÉ got back to me within a couple of hours today after I replied with more information on the seamless viewing issue. Can confirm it is now working for me.