Choppy even on the April 2012 new iPad

Usually, one star reviews are an indication that the reviewer is lashing out. Please read on, as I have some nice things to say and an explanation of why this software is critically flawed.

Its a real shame. The feature set is impressive: network connectivity is simple, downloading videos for offline play, playback speed control, video brightness and contrast, playback gestures; all of these are great. Other features are well thought out too. You can tell detailed thought was put into what people want in a video player.

There are a few minor gripes, and one major one.

First off, the passcode lock feature does nothing. You can set a passcode, but it doesnt prevent you from seeing or playing a file. Secondly, the audio will occasionally play with a static image when seeking to a new position. This is only intermittent, though. Thirdly, AirPlay support is not actually implemented the way it needs to be for video apps: you have to rely on AirPlay mirroring, which results in additional image quality loss. Lastly, while you can play audio and video from your network shares, you cant view photos. Based on my next point, photo slide shows might have been this apps only saving grace.

The major issue is that playback is never smooth. Standard definition videos, whether streamed off a fast network or copied to the iPad and played locally, play back choppily. I have not found any video formats that play properly. MPEG4, WMV3, and H264 all play back with constant frame dropouts. The playback quality setting does not help: even at the "low/fast" setting, where resolution is cut down significantly, playback is jittery. Audio files can be played back over the network but will have hiccups. The problem disappears when copied to the local device.

While useless to me, this software might be worth $2 if smooth playback doesnt matter to you. Its a shame that it isnt even salvaged by an ability to do image slideshows. Id be happy spending a dollar for that. This app doesnt seem to be ready. I hope that smooth playback is possible and that choppiness is a problem the developers can overcome. With the current feature set and all these problems removed, this software would absolutely be worth between $4 and $6.

mobjois about It's Playing, v3.0