Speedernet Sphere and iOS environment

This article discusses the iOS platform, its technical environment, and its limitations in exploiting Sphere resources.

Apple has defined several limitations through its recent updates, especially for its Safari web browser.

Nonfunctional accelerometer, error when competition of media, ... These issues come from technical limitations imposed by Apple. 

iOS, web browsers and Safari

Safari is more than a web browser, within the iOS technical platform. It is also for Apple the way to control the web rendering engines of browsers (the technical systems for decoding and displaying web pages). If Android browsers Chrome and Firefox are different from a technical point of view, this is not the case in iOS. Indeed, Apple prohibits the use of rendering engine other than that of Safari for applications and web browsers. In other words it's still Safari technology that will run in Chrome or Firefox browsers.

Imposed limitations

• accelerometer

Motion detectors are now disabled for Safari by default. It is therefore impossible by default to use a VR mode for Sphere experiences. It is possible to activate these sensors from the parameters:

Settings> Safari> enabled "Movement and Orientation"

However, it is also forbidden to activate motion sensors outside a secure "https" frame. If the resource is hosted on a server that does not have an SSL certificate (https encryption) and / or your resource is not distributed on a secure link (http: // instead of https: //), movements cannot be activated.

• Media competitions

Apple forbids the competition of media: it is impossible to read 2 media (video or sound) at the same time. For example, if an experience contains a 360 video, and over a sound is started by the scenario, the 360 ​​video is stopped and the sound played.

• Resolution for videos

The videos and in particular 360 ​ videos must be encoded in a 2k resolution (2048 pixels x 1024 pixels - 2k resolution format "computer"). Indeed, beyond, and especially for resolutions 4k or higher, playback is impossible directly in Safari.

Sphere and Apple limitations

All the limitations described above must be considered in the context of a viewing in an iOS context.

If after launching the experience, the image is black: maybe you have a sound in your scenarios that has blocked the launch of the 360 video.

If nothing moves: Have you activated motion sensors? If so, are you in the secure setting "https"?

The video is very slow, or does not seem to play, and despite that, the sound is present: is the video in good resolution?