14 DAY TRIAL // BBC becomes the latest company to wave goodbye to Windows Phone, as the iPlayer app will be pulled from the platform in April this year.
Speaking about its decision to abandon Windows phones, BBC points to the costs of maintaining the app, obviously hinting that the small number of users who continue sticking with Microsoft’s platform isn’t reason enough to invest in an app.
While Windows Phone 8.1 users will no longer be able to connect to iPlayer services, those who are already on Windows 10 Mobile can turn to their browsers, as BBC already updated iPlayer to support Microsoft Edge in Windows 10.
“When the BBC iPlayer app was originally created it was not technically possible to playback BBC programmes via the browser. As it’s now possible to playback via the browser it’s no longer cost effective for the BBC to maintain a BBC iPlayer app for Windows mobile devices. And by using the browser version of BBC iPlayer, Windows phone users will get the benefits of the web version as it evolves,” BBC explained.
“If you do upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile, you’ll be able to play content from BBC iPlayer and BBC iPlayer Radio. If you remain on Windows Phone 8.1, you’ll only be able to play radio programmes.”
The iPlayer app
The BBC iPlayer app works on Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile devices and comes with a very straightforward UI to allow users to watch live and on-demand content from BBC.
The app supports Wi-Fi, 4G, and 3G, and provides access to rich content organized in channels, collections, and categories. Subtitles are also offered, and so are news that are provided based on your location.
Additionally, Windows 10 Mobile users are getting a bunch of extra features when they sign in, including personalized recommendations, pick up where you’ve left off for shows, and programs purchased from the BBC store. All of these, however, will only become available in Microsoft Edge browser once the app is pulled later this year.