Help BBC iPlayer

caravaggio · Mar 29, 2012

Can anyone explain the following?

I'm trying to listen to BBC radio programmes.

I am outside the UK.

On my Transformer, when I do this (either directly using the BBC iPlayer app or through the BBC website) it fails. i get a message saying that the BBC doesn't support BBC iPlayer outside the UK.

O.K. Fair enough.

But when I do the same on my PC or Macbook it works with no problem at all. I can listen to anything.

O.K. so I can listen to the BBC on my laptops - but they're too big to carry around with me. I want to do the same on my Transformer.

Any suggestions?

partridge · Apr 5, 2012

Try the TuneIn internet radio app, it has thousands of internet radio channels a well as the full selection of BBC stations and has some catch up options too.

caravaggio · Apr 6, 2012

Thanks for your suggestion partridge.

Indeed, I do haveTunein Radio - it's my favourite app and one of the very few that I thought worthwhile purchasing an upgrade from the free version. With the Pro version you can record and, as you say, you can browse the station schedules to listen to programmes other than those currently being broadcast. So, it does provide access to some material - but not as much as the BBC website would if only I could get the BBC iPlayer to work on my Transformer.

As I said in my earlier post, it works on my regular Asus and Apple laptops, just not on the Transformer - and this was the mystery I was trying to unravel. But it seems that nobody can answer that. :thinking:

ngcman · Apr 9, 2012

Have you checked out StrongVPN? I am also outside the UK and this gives me an IP address inside the UK for $50/year. It works well with the VPN client in the transformer, so I can both listen to radio and watch TV via the iplayer site on my tablet.

Also, make sure your web browser User Agent is set to "Desktop". The ICS Browser+ web browser makes this easy to set unlike the stock browser.

caravaggio · Apr 10, 2012

ngcman,

Thanks for the vpn suggestion. I have been thinking of doing that. Now that you confirm it works, I will certainly give it a try.

Forgive my ignorance, but can you elaborate a little on setting the web browser User Agent to "Desktop." Where does one find this? Are you referring to settings within the vpn system? Or on the Transformer browser?

Thanks again for your helpful suggestion. I was beginning to think I was the only one listening to radio. Being of a certain age, I find most TV mind-numbing. So, the discovery of Radio 4 Extra with its dramas etc was a godsend. (The other night I listened to T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland read by Jeremy Irons - bliss!)

ngcman · Apr 10, 2012

Actually, if you only want to listen to radio on iPlayer, you don't need the VPN. You just need a web browser that can display the full website. You can install "ICS Browser+" from the Android Marketplace, or Google Play Store as it is now called. Then open the settings menu, select "Advanced", then select "User Agent". From the list select "Desktop". Now websites viewed through this browser should look as they do on your other systems.

caravaggio · Apr 10, 2012

ngcman,

You are a genius!

I followed your instructions exactly and now I can use BBC iPlayer on my Transformer when I go to the BBC website.

I confess I don't really understand what this procedure did, but it worked. To non-techies like me it feels like witchcraft, but hey I'm up for that if it gives me the result I want.

Someone should create an online user guide for androids to answer questions like this and all the other queries that raised on this forum by people like me (and I think there are quite a few) who are really struggling in the dark because of lack of information.

I hope someone is monitoring this forum and will maybe compile a list of faqs for us.

Anyway, thanks again ngcman. It's people like you that make this forum really worthwhile.

Now I'm off to explore the world of radio.

Goodnight (where I am) and thanks.

ngcman · Apr 10, 2012

No problem. Glad it worked. Changing the user agent setting just told the web browser to load the full version of the website instead of the mobile version - which can be more limited as in the iplayer site.

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