The bbc has now rolled out their new iPlayer adobe air version called the bbc media player to Android 2.2 devices and upwards.  This update is a response to Adobes decision not to offer flash support on newer devices and that have the newer Jelly bean software. This replaces the adobe flash based version that works with Android version 2.2 and upwards until Android Jelly bean that is not officially supported by the Adobe flash plugin.  Although Adobe did state that after the 15th of August they will not be offering the Adobe plugin for new android devices, but they then brought it back on a temporary basis due to pressure from organisations such as the BBC.  

However new BBC Media Player uses the same poor quality streaming format and bitrates as the old iPlayer app. They should have used the new Http Live Streaming (HLS) solution as they do in iOS, which produces a far superior picture quality. Even when you set the app at the highest settings, the video quality is still a lot to be desired. Its a long way from HD quality – it’s watchable on a phone but very pixelated on a 7” or larger tablet. 

This move follows other companies such as ITV that are now using Adobe air as a solution to power the multimedia playback within their Android apps.

For more information see the bbc iplayer blog