Playback_video_decoding_error on iOS devices running ios 18

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1

Product

Player

Question

Issue Description:We are currently experiencing a critical issue with the Bitmovin Player across our platforms (web and mobile), specifically after updating mobile devices to iOS 18. Videos that previously played without issues now fail with a playback_video_decoding_error on iOS devices using both Safari into mobile and our mobile applications.
Steps to Reproduce:
Open the video player on any iOS device updated to iOS 18.
Attempt to play any video content.
Observe that the video fails to play, displaying a decoder or demuxer error.
Expected Behavior:Videos should play smoothly without errors, as they did before the iOS 18 update.
Actual Behavior:Video playback fails with the error: “Video decoder or demuxer had an error with the content.”
Impact:This issue is affecting all iOS users on our platform, significantly degrading user experience and accessibility of our content.
Troubleshooting Steps Tried:
Verified using the latest version of Bitmovin Player.
Checked console logs for specific error outputs.
also i use Angular 16 for more clarification
Request:We request a prompt investigation into this issue. We would appreciate any immediate workarounds or patches available, and timelines on when a permanent fix might be expected.

2

Hi @ahmed.fares It seems that the Safari native player on iOS 18 is unable to handle the stream. Could you try with MSE player? You can do this by setting the preferredTech.

var playerconfig = {
 ....
  playback: {
      preferredTech : [{
        player: 'html5',
        streaming: 'hls',
      }]
    }
}

Here is the working demo - Bitmovin Player Playground » Try our HTML 5 Video Player Demo