MP3's don't play on the iOS companion through the "player". They work fine on the "sound" component, but we need to use the "is playing" condition so it's not a valid work around.
Thanks for the report. We will look into why this is happening.
I've just tested the Player component using the HelloPurr app and it plays the meow.mp3 file successfully. Can you send the MP3 that isn't working for you so I can test with that?
It says mp3's are not allowed to upload. But I found a workaround and something a little weird. When I only have the "Player" in my app no mp3's play even the mp3 from HelloPurr. As soon as I add the "sound" component then the "player" component works fine. I can reset my app to not working again by deleting the "sound" component refreshing app inventor and reconnecting the companion.
Ok, based on your update I've confirmed the issue and will start working on a fix.
I have no problem with this on my test devices (iOS 14.4.1)
Which issue?
So it seems to come down to whether the device is in do not disturb mode or has the silence switch set. In the Sound component, we set up the audio session so that it is in playback mode. No such setup happens in the Player component, so if the device is silenced in some way the audio won't play. It's not an issue with the file but with the configuration of the audio subsystem. I've set up the Player and Sound components to use the same logic and it appears to address the problem as I've encountered it.
Thanks that does address the issue. Didn't even think about checking if it was in silent mode or not. Are you also saying the next release will address a fix that will not matter if it's in silent mode or not and the "player" component will play audio.
I have no problem with that on an iPhone 6s (iOS 14.4.1), if the device is in silent mode.
EDIT: Obviously, because I removed the sound component afterwards, then it works. However, if Companion is restarted, the player component will play but no sound will be heard.
Btw, that would be what I would expect from a silent mde.
It seems like the behavior of both would be very app dependent. If you are building a podcast player and hit the play button on a podcast I wouldn't want that to be silenced in do not disturb. If you are able to change the behavior on the back end would it be possible in the future to make it a property of the sound and player component? "Audio is silenced on do not disturb".
No, not on my test devices:
- iPad Pro (12.9, 4th generation - iOS 14.4.1)
- iPhone 6s (iOS 14.4.1)