Patchy performance
So my review is not about the BFI or the quality of the films; that's not in question at all. My problem is the performance of the app. It's so very patchy and often doesn't stream properly, especially to Chromecast. It's really frustrating because this is my only way that I can actually watch stuff. I wish that this would be fixed. It makes me want to have to cancel my subscription, which I've had for a couple of years now.
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Excellent films but glitchy app
I’m writing this in the hope it can help the tech team improve. I’ve only recently got the app on my smart tv, and as much as I love the films, the subtitles sometimes get stuck-as in the same words will stay up long after the dialogue has continued. I often have to start the film again and fast forward back to that point.
Also, the app doesn’t have memory of what you’ve watched before, or mark your spot if you want to come back to it, again you have to forward to your spot which is very tedious. I know the app is in its infancy so really hope these issues can get sorted quickly because I really love the films!
Also, the app doesn’t have memory of what you’ve watched before, or mark your spot if you want to come back to it, again you have to forward to your spot which is very tedious. I know the app is in its infancy so really hope these issues can get sorted quickly because I really love the films!
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Response from developer
Hello, thank you so much for the feedback! I would find it really useful if you can reach out to bfiplayer@bfi.org.uk so we can explore it more.
great films, but wrong about devices
There are a lot of outstanding films available on the BFI player. There was a problem with English subtitles to films in English not appearing - subtitles are essential to the hard of hearing - but this has cleared up recently. There is still a problem with a pop up appearing, usually every five minutes, stopping the playback claiming incorrectly that 'Your device limit has been reached'. It has to be removed and the film reset, including subtitles. I have not seen any film unaffected by it. There are other error messages, but they are infrequent.
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Response from developer
Hello, thank you so much for the feedback! Please reach out to bfiplayer@bfi.org.uk so we can investigate it further.
Ideal for Cinephobes
Disappointing. Film selection is excellent, but try finding them ! The movie I wanted WAS there, but the search algorithm is atrocious. Despite inputting most of the film title, it would not appear as a suggested title. I had to trawl through pages of titles to find it. As others have said, the forward, rewind and pause tools are ‘basic’. If you select subtitles then pause or rewind playback, it resets without subtitles. Can someone explain the on-screen timings? Watching a film for ten minutes and the elapsed time (or is it?) was 1hr16 mins ?
The app crashed 2 hours into a 3 hour film, so playback continued but was unable to pause playback or…anything! There’s more , but I’m boring myself now…..
The app crashed 2 hours into a 3 hour film, so playback continued but was unable to pause playback or…anything! There’s more , but I’m boring myself now…..
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Response from developer
Hi AndyCole, thank you for your feedback. We would find it really helpful if you could message bfiplayer@bfi.org.uk with all the feedback you've provided and any additional comments you may have so we can start investigating it.
Great service but has interface issues
The range of films and value for money is excellent but I don’t understand why what I see on the BFI iPad app is different from what I see on the BFI Apple TV app. For instance on Apple TV, I can’t see the ‘Mark Kermode presents’ feature, or the playlist feature. Nor does it remember how much of a film you have watched if you don’t complete it all in one sitting. It makes it quite frustrating to use at times.
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Response from developer
Thank you for your review. We currently have an early version of BFI Player live on the TV apps and are looking to roll out more features this year. If you have any other feedback, please contact us on bfiplayer@bfi.org.uk
