Iframe question...

[Perenista]

I came across what can be definitely a solution for sending these Google Drive videos to fullscreen in iPAD: the use of the JWPLAYER to display them.

How To Host Blogger CSS and JavaScript Files in Google Drive | Helplogger

JW6 HTML5/Flash (JW Player 6 self-hosted) setup for Blogger.com and WordPress.

How to Play Google Drive Hosted Media Files in JWPlayer | Ilearnzone - Information and Tutorials

Can i play Google Drive videos with Jw-Player?

How to Use Google Drive as host of media files for JWPlayer | Blog của Yên

Basically, we need to

1) Create an account in JWPlayer's website, download the files for the free player (and write down our personal key);

2) In Google Drive, create a public folder (shared with anyone) and upload these files (including the jwplayer.js) there;

3) Edit the template of our blog and insert an entry like this:

<script src='Sign in - Google Accounts PATH where the jwplayer.js file is' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>jwplayer.key=OUR KEY;;/&gt;</script>

4) Create a public folder, upload a file to it, copy the public link and create a new blog post with the proper codes to display it.

I can't explain into details the steps 3 and 4, but these are simple. I haven't finished looking into this yet, because I am still looking if it's possible to do the same thing for MKV files. Based on this post, it looks like it is possible:

JW Player | play .mkv files

The code I inserted in a blog post was this:

**********
<div id="mediaspaceaaaa">Loading the player…</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
jwplayer("mediaspaceaaaa").setup({
file: "Sign in - Google Accounts",
image: "http://mywebsiteexample.com/movies/aaaa.jpg",
width: 640,
height: 480
});
</script>
**********

And it worked, I was able to go fullscreen in iPAD for the first time, for a Google Drive content.

However, there's a downside for this that explains another issue I was having: the inability of iPAD browsers to display subtitles in fullscreen mode.

I thought this was deliberate from Internet Archive and/or Google Drive, however JWPlayer (and I.A. seems to be using their player) says this:

JW Player | Adding Closed Captions

******
VTT captions are preferred, since they are part of the HTML5 standard. JW Player supports both formats across all browsers though, in both Flash and HTML5 mode. The only exception is playback in fullscreen on iOS, since the native fullscreen mode does not allow JW Player to print captions over the video. Since the iPhone can only display video in full screen, this means that sideloaded captions will not function on this device.
********

I still haven't been able to add any subtitle in non-fullscreen mode, but once this has been made possible, plus the possibility of playing diverse files (not only MP4's), I'll let all of you know.

My main goal was to play all of this in fullscreen mode with subtitles, however, if I can't do that, at least the fullscreen mode would be a huge achievement, meaning I won't have to use Google Drive app from Apple-Store everytime I want to play my files.

And by doing so, I could ditch Internet Archive for streaming my videos, considering their servers are a bit slower than Google's and they have the same limitations, minus the fullscreen mode that is possible with I.A. embedded videos.

 

[Perenista]

It seems JWPlayer does not accept MKVs, AVIs... only MP4, FLV and WEBM if I am not mistaken, so that means it ceased to be an option. Only a minority of my files have the .MP4 extension.

About subtitles not being displayed in fullscreen mode in iOS, please read that discussion:
JW Player | Captions in fullscreen mode (iOS)

I was beginning to think at least this could work, but sadly I faced the same problem I had with Internet Archive, which apparently uses JWPlayer: no subtitles were displayed in fullscreen mode. But the video in this page, just like Youtube, showed me subtitles in fullscreen mode in iOS:
Enabling JW Player captions on iOS

I don't know what Youtube/this page did, but whatever they have done, it worked.

So we are still unable to display Google Drive's contents in fullscreen when using browsers and also UNABLE to do that with subtitles appearing.

None of this is a problem for PC users. Google must be filled with idiots to allow so many hindrances to be still in place for iOS users. Even Youtube can't go fullscreen in iPAD (when we are not embeding with iframe and watching from their own website), they must be forcing us to use their official app, which bothers us with ads now more than ever before.

I even removed from my iPAD and downloaded a couple of others (one can download YT videos), to avoid so many ads (a few can't be skipped and last 15 seconds).

What I don't understand is why Google Drive can't go fullscreen, since the app doesn't make any difference and doesn't show any ad for Google users. We should either blame iOS for being a pain in the @ss for all developers, or Google for not making necessary changes to turn our experience less painful in such devices.

 

[Perenista]

As you can see here:
Issue 4111 - apps-api-issues - Fullscreen issue in Google Drive videos (iPAD only) - This project is a place to report issues with the Google Apps APIs. *Note*: This project is exempt from the read-only timeline listed above. Please continue to file issues here. - Google Project Hosting

I opened this defect report and a project member (Ryan) replied, but later said this should be addressed in the Google Drive help forum. 10 people starred this issue, that's why it was prioritized.

I already had a thread in the GD help forum:
Google Groups

And I have sent a feedback to Google about this. If you also want this to be done, experiment sending a feedback about the issue or reply in this thread to show you are interested about seeing this becoming a reality.

********
I tested Chrome for IOS and noticed the two buttons from GD embedded videos (that allow us to change resolution and subtitles) don't work in it, but they BOTH WORK in Safari for iOS.

I reported this defect here:
Issue 564660 - chromium - Chrome for iOS can't click in Google Drive's buttons to change res./subtitles - An open-source project to help move the web forward. - Google Project Hosting

And if you tried to open any GD video in Chrome for iOS, you'll notice it invites you to open that same video in the GOOGLE DRIVE app from Apple-Store. This may be the reason why the buttons aren't working in the browser. Normally I would say we should all watch them using the app, however:

a) Subtitles aren't working in it;

b) If the video has HD resolution, the app will display in HD-mode (it seems the best-res is chosen). In the browser we are able to switch between 360/480/720/1080p quality.

*****

For me the worst thing about all of this is that I am:

- Unable to watch any of these videos switching subtitles and in fullscreen mode, using the browser to play them.

*****

One way to make this less painful is to change the URL from the video from:

Supergirl-SuperCena.avi

To:
Supergirl-SuperCena.avi

At least, if your original file has lower-res, it will take more space from your window. Try watching both links in Safari for iOS and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Perenista]

That's just great. Can you believe Google fixed this problem but created another... much worse?

Now all videos can go fullscreen in iOS 10.2, in my iPAD, using Safari. But they removed the option to switch between resolutions, and the subtitles are NEVER appearing. I noticed a long time ago that when I managed to change the useragent to iPhone (while using the iPAD), this was the expected design and behaviour of Google Drive. So it seems they changed how Google Drive appears in the iPAD, however they removed these features.

This is an example, you need to watch using a PC and then try with the iPAD:
Supergirl-SuperCena.avi

As you can see, only in the PC all these features are available.

Again I reported this bug in the same places as before, let's see if they will care to fix.

I suggested that they should look how Youtube works in the iPAD, when we send the videos to fullscreen, we can read the subtitles, they appear with a white font.