I don't appreciate being lied to by WD

When I researched what network connected external HD to purchase I settled on the WDMyCloud because I felt it would be the best option for due to being able to stream to my iPhone and/or my iPad. 

As it turns out though WD has decided to neglect a fair number of codecs within the stock iOS app, but I figured it shouldn’t be that big of a deal because Apple provides within their development tools a “Send To” option.

You’ve even listed (lied) in the help section of the iOS WDMyCloud app that; and I quote… “If a file type is unsupported (indicated by a question mark), WD My Cloud can send files to compatible apps using your iOS device’s Send To feature.”

So either you need to update and repair the app so that it provides this functionality properly, or you need to correct the help documentation and correct this lie; preferably the first option.

I GENUINELY don’t appreciate being lied to by WD and would have considered an alterante option for a network connected drive if I had known of this issue beforehand. I have purchased numerous items from WD in the past ranging anywhere from internal hard drives to WDTV and for the most part have been pleased but if you can’t do something as simple as keep your work or provide proper documentation, I think I may take my time, business, money and recommendations elsewhere.

P.S. And I don’t feel I should have to reencode my entire video library to MP4 format just to use your app when I have personally reencoded most of my files to MKV format to maximize size to quality ratio.

Chapel7 wrote:

 

You’ve even listed (lied) in the help section of the iOS WDMyCloud app that; and I quote… “If a file type is unsupported (indicated by a question mark), WD My Cloud can send files to compatible apps using your iOS device’s Send To feature.”

 

So either you need to update and repair the app so that it provides this functionality properly, or you need to correct the help documentation and correct this lie; preferably the first option.

I think you’re off in the weeds here, because you haven’t explained just where you were lied to.

The Send-To option is there, and it works fine.

Chapel7 wrote:

P.S. And I don’t feel I should have to reencode my entire video library to MP4 format just to use your app when I have personally reencoded most of my files to MKV format to maximize size to quality ratio. 

MKV format has NOTHING to do with “Size and Quality.”   MKV is just a container, as is M4V/MP4.  MKV is not a codec.

It’s the contents of the MKV (the codec chosen) which determines size and quality.   

If your videos are already h.264 (a/k/a AVC or MPEG4 video) and AAC or AC-3 audio, as described by apple, then you just need to change the container, not the codecs.

Pardon me, I apologize. 

It’s not the codec but at the same time the change needed to get the file to play is a fair bit more extensive than just renaming the extension of the file and I don’t think that should have to be the only option for playback.

Also, Apple provides within their SDK the option to send a file to another app for playback but I see no option for that within the app whatsoever and it makes it tremendously inconvenient. You use a similar feature in Android but why not in the iOS app?

Chapel7 wrote:

 

Also, Apple provides within their SDK the option to send a file to another app for playback but I see no option for that within the app whatsoever and it makes it tremendously inconvenient. You use a similar feature in Android but why not in the iOS app?

Not sure why you’re not seeing it, but it’s definitely there… here’s an example sending an MKV file to VLC (which will play MKV):

Just remember, you can’t “Stream” something in realtime via “Open in” action…  Apple doesn’t allow that.  You need to download the file.

Mine provides the option to “email as link” but not “open in”. I have an iPhone 5 with iOS 7 and the latest version of the app. I’m confused as to why it doesn’t provide me this option.

You have to have software that will play it/open it to for the open in to appear

I have VLC, GoodPlayer, Playerxtreme and OPlayer which play virtually all media formats and STILL no option to send the file to those apps.

@Chapel7

What you need to do is when using the IOS MyCloud app, choose the MKV file that you want to play, when you see that image of that dude scratching his head with the question marks your file is actully being downloaded in the background but for some strange reason we’re not able to see the progress of the download and the only way you can see the download which pauses when you do this in by hitting ‘DONE’ in the top left corner. 

If you tap the file again the download will begin agin but unfortunately you won’t see this just a dude scratching his head with question marks around him. Once the download is complete you will then see the option ‘OPEN IN’ when you tap the square  box in the right hand corner. 

So if your file is slightly big and your unsure how long your download will take it does become annoying, but just try in out with a small MKV file so you can see how it works. Hope this helps you out.

PS: I have to say though who the **bleep** did WD commission to create the IOS app ? How can they not see how miss leading the image is of someone scratching their head with question marks looks to most ppl ! Straight away your going to think somethink has gone wrong hence the image but if the app is doing what it’s meant to be doing shouldn’t the image at least reflect that and surely a progress bar should be on view when downloading has commenced, I mean really guys, there are guys that create apps in their bedrooms which cover all you would need for that app, so I assume WD (wrongly maybe) that they have a hugh bedroom so to speak with more than 1 person working on this app, and your telling me know one pick up the the dude scratching his head with the question marks around him sends out the wrong message when the app is working correctly !

On another not because I’m not techy just like techy stuff. Why is it PlayerExtreme can stream video files but the MyCloud app you need to download ? I’m just curious thats all, I’m sure there is an logical answer which I’m unable to think off. Do these apps work in the same way or is PlayerExtreme just limited to LAN ?

SONY007 wrote: How can they not see how miss leading the image is of someone scratching their head with question marks looks to most ppl ! Straight away your going to think somethink has gone wrong

Different people will think different things…  My first reaction was “Hmm. The app doesn’t know what to do with the file.”  I never once thought “Something went wrong.”

SONY007 wrote:Why is it PlayerExtreme can stream video files but the MyCloud app you need to download ? I’m just curious thats all, I’m sure there is an logical answer which I’m unable to think off. Do these apps work in the same way or is PlayerExtreme just limited to LAN ?

The My Cloud app does not require you to download files, as long as they’re supported by the native player.  Streaming is quick and smooth as long as it’s Apple-compatible video.

PlayerExtreme can “stream” because it can play the video directly.

TonyPh12345 wrote: PlayerExtreme can “stream” because it can play the video directly.

So do you know if PlayerExtreme only works over LAN or can it be used over the net to get access to the WD MyCloud unit ? 

SONY007 wrote:

 

So do you know if PlayerExtreme only works over LAN or can it be used over the net to get access to the WD MyCloud unit ? 

Sorry, no…

The big issue I’m getting at is that the Android version can open and play any video file I throw at it within the WDMYCLOUD app itself or I can send the video file to a different media player within the app.

Alas, the iOS version doesn’t allow either of these options and it’s not due to limitations in iOS but due to poor support from WD.

Chapel7 wrote:

 

Alas, the iOS version doesn’t allow either of these options and it’s not due to limitations in iOS but due to poor support from WD.

I’m affraid that’s not true…   It most certainly is limitations within iOS.  

Apple does not allow (due to their iOS security model) one app to stream data in real time to another like Android does.

Some handlers (like File Browser) get around this fact by actually creating an internal HTTP server, and then handing a URL to the receiving app, which then connects to the internal File Browser Server.    But that is resource intensive, which limits FB’s capabilities, and also requires the receiving app to support HTTP streams.

Well can we at least get an in app media player like the Android version then please!

Chapel7 wrote:

Well can we at least get an in app media player like the Android version then please!

IIRC, the Android version does not have an in-app media player at all.   You must have an outboard player on Android associated to the file type.

Maybe you’ve forgotten that you did it, but the first time you played a video using the Android WD My Cloud app, the OS asked you which media player app to use.

Actually, I have a Galaxy Note3 and I just installed the WDMyCloud app to it the other day, connected to my drive and chose an MKV file and it played it automatically. I didn’t select a media player within the app it just automatically started playing. Unless the Note3 already has file types associated with a built in media player on the device I don’t what else it could be because I never had to point it to a media player.

Well I have a large video library on the NAS. Problem with the app is any video file larger than 3GB will not stream. Nor will it play if I download it. I get the error Unable to play media file. All of my movies are m4v and those less than 3GB play/stream just fine. The VLC app works without any problems but I can’t access the NAS remotely unless I open the FTP port in my router to the NAS. I don’t understand why WDC cannot fix this. I have another support request in.