Many ProVideo Coalition readers have noted that before today, I have published at least five articles about Vimeo, Vimeo Plus, and Vimeo Pro. Most of those articles have been very positive, with few constructive criticisms and recommended workarounds. However, starting in March 2013, embedded Vimeo videos stopped playing properly with the most recent and most popular Android devices. Often the audio plays without the video. Via Vimeo’s own forums it is clear that the company is quite aware of the problem and says that is working on it, which seems quite suspicious since several other online video services continue to work fine on all platforms.
Clarification of what I mean by embedded
When I say embedded videos, I am referring to videos that are inserted into your personal or business website or blog (i.e. AllanTépper.com, tecnotur.ProVideoCoalition.com, videos.TecnoTur.us, or your website) when seen in a browser (i.e. Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari), whether they play as part of the web page or snap to fill the screen seamlessly using the mobile device’s video player. I am not referring to videos that play in a downloadable Vimeo app or at Vimeo.com.
Examples of other online video services which are working fine
Following are examples of online video services that continue to work fine with embedded videos on Android, iOS (iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch), and conventional personal computers.
- LongTail Video JW Player 6
- SublimeVideo
- Wistia
- YouTube
The purpose of this article is not to be a comparison of these services, but to demonstrate the ironic and suspicious situation of Vimeo, Vimeo Plus, and Vimeo Pro for embedded videos on the latest Android devices. It seems inconceivable that all of the engineers at Vimeo have not been able to correct this issue after so much time (when so many others apparently either never had the problem, or solved it immediately), especially given the increased popularity of Android devices. Many content producers I know are becoming increasingly concerned about this incompatibility with mobile market’s most popular devices. They tell me that they are losing patience with Vimeo’s lack of action (See the forum post here. It has already been frozen. Hopefully it has not been censored by the time you click.) and are beginning to compare alternatives, despite their prior commitment to Vimeo Plus and Vimeo Pro for embedding on their websites. One would think that this is happening intentionally, not because of lack of capabilities. I’ll publish more if and when I hear this is fixed (or if and when I decide to review the alternatives in detail).
Related Vimeo articles
- Vimeo finally goes mobile + adds 1080p and HTML5 from February 10, 2010
- 11 things I love about Vimeo Pro from November 26, 2012
- Vimeo to offer pay-per-view service in 2013 from December 10, 2012
- How to fix embedded Vimeo videos on your Kindle Fire HD from December 25, 2012
- Vimeo quietly embraces 48 kHz audio; documents non-integer framerates from January 11, 2013
Upcoming articles and reviews
Stand by for upcoming articles and reviews. To make sure you continue to see my upcoming articles, sign up to my free mailing list by clicking here.
Si deseas suscribirte a mi lista en castellano, visita aquí. Si prefieres, puedes suscribirte a ambas listas (castellano e inglés).
My latest ebook
My most recent ebook is available in two languages. The format is Kindle, but even if you don’t have a Kindle device, you can read Kindle books on many other devices using a free Kindle app. That includes iPad, iPhone, Android phones, Android tablets, Mac computers, Windows computers, some Blackberry phones and Windows 7 phones.
In English:
In English, it is currently available in the following Amazon stores, depending upon your region:
- At Amazon.com (for all of the Americas and the Republic of India)
- Amazon.co.jp (Japan)
- Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)
- Amazon.de (Germany)
- Amazon.es (Spain, pero a lo mejor lo prefieres en castellano, a continuación)
- Amazon.fr (France)
- Amazon.it (Italy)
If you’re going to buy a Kindle book as a gift, you must do so via the Pan-American Amazon store (the first one listed above), regardless of where you live or where the recipient lives.
En castellano:
En castellano, está disponible actualmente en las siguientes tiendas Amazon, según tu región:
- Amazon.com (todas las Américas y la República de la India)
- Amazon.co.jp (Japón)
- Amazon.co.uk (Reino Unido)
- Amazon.de (Alemania)
- Amazon.es (España)
- Amazon.fr (Francia)
- Amazon.it (Italia)
Si vas a comprar un libro Kindle como regalo, debes hacerlo vía la tienda panamericana de Amazon (la primera de la lista) sin importar donde vivas tú o donde viva la persona que recibirá el regalo.
Allan Tépper’s books, consulting, articles, seminars & audio programs
Contact Allan Tépper for consulting, or find a full listing of his books, articles and upcoming seminars and webinars at AllanTepper.com. Listen to his TecnoTur program, which is now available both in Castilian (aka “Spanish”) and in English, free of charge. Search for TecnoTur in iTunes or visit TecnoTur.us for more information.
FTC disclosure
No manufacturer is specifically paying Allan Tépper or TecnoTur LLC to write this article or the mentioned books. Some of the other manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. Many of the manufacturers listed above have sent Allan Tépper review units. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs.
Copyright and use of this article
The articles contained in the TecnoTur channel in ProVideo Coalition magazine are copyright Allan Tépper/TecnoTur LLC, except where otherwise attributed. Unauthorized use is prohibited without prior approval, except for short quotes which link back to this page, which are encouraged!