IOS 15 WebRTC problem

Wowza Streaming Engine
21

I understand 100% and am here to let you know I am communicating all of your messages directly within Wowza.

22

Thank you! But are there any chance of a reply from tech / dev yet.
Its been a few months now, - and its very expensive for us.

23

You can communicate with the tech support engineers Mark through your support ticket and I am in direct communication with the Wowza engineers on this almost daily and am trying to come up with a workaround other than WebRTC appears to work ok on iOS 15 in Streaming Cloud. That doesn’t help you much though I know, but wanted to at least mention that,

The only workaround at this time you’ll get from a tech/dev is the one I shared with them where you can try to put middleware before WSE to convert to a single frame which Engine requires. That was a suggestion made by a developer in the community on our slack channel- where I strongly suggest you join the discussion around this.

Devs and engineers from around the world in that WebRTC channel who have discussed this problem as well as other problems with Wowza and iOS 15. You can join here:

https://www.wowza.com/slack


I would ask them to share the details on how they set the middleware up to resolve this issue and I will be a part of that conversation with you in there.

As far as the timeline with Wowza, we had critical fixes and updated already schedules that are of extreme importance to several customers and were top priority BEFORE iOS 15 was released and wreaked havoc for so many of you. We are going to finish the other high-priority fixes first as we committed to those for those customers that are waiting and then this is next top priority fix. I’m only sharing that to try and explain this isn’t a situation where we are ignoring the urgency of this for you and others dealing with it. I assure you we all know how important it all the way up to management.

It will be top priority as soon as the other critical fixes are complete that people are also relying on and waiting for.

Again, I think our best bet for a workaround for now is the middleware suggestion because the iOS 15 issue is this: the websocket connection is sending network fragments and Engine requires a single frame.

If you want to jump in that slack channel and ask about it: I can link to it here, but you need to sign up with your email address.

https://live-streaming.slack.com/archives/C1Q6BLEC9/p1632934458076900

24

Hi Again

Thank you for replying. - First off, I’m not getting into slack — we are 3 people here that have tried, but none of us get the mail as i wrote here September 28th
[Sep 28]
we don’t get email’s when signing up for / slack — it does provide us after entering email with a message “to check mail” but nothing ever arrives in my inbox ? — any suggestion ? (we did check all folders)

The solution with the middleware is not usable for us, this will apply latency to the feed and interfere with the checkup services in our code etc. etc. - this def is not the solution for us.

I do understand that you have priorities - of course, it will be like that for anyone working with developing - us as well - But I would still be somewhat pleasant to know if it’s 1 month or 1 year,

I would like to know the expected ETA on the other priorities, so that I have some idea, of when you will be beginning to fix this issue. Furthermore, I’m aware it won’t happen overnight, but I need to shift gear (engine) if this is 6 months out in the future. I simply just also need to be able to plan in my end. It’s hurting business for real. So for me, the next big thing is, will you make sure i and my team get into slack?
And do you have an ETA on the other projects, so we know “kind of maybe” when you will begin to solve this one?

I’m just trying to plan and figure out how to get pass this in my end. — I can’t keep just waiting, I will have to Go do. — Waiting will just kill the business, If this a “year away” I have to find another solution fast.

I guess I would know more or get more info, if I could get into slack.
Will you make sure to help me with that asap.

Thank you for your time.,

*update, I got into slack finally!

25

Hi Mark,
Isn’t the solution I mentioned that worked for us, good for you?
We used - “cordova-plugin-advanced-websocket”.
Of course that it’s good only if it’s hybrid application which can use ‘Native iOS web socket’ instead the one on Safari Web Socket.

Itzik.

1 Like
26

We are adult related, we don’t have the luxury of app’s, unfortunately.
So this won’t work for us. I’m happy though for you - You found a solution that works for you.
And thank you for asking, it could have been so i didn’t see that comment, so thank you.

Mark

27

“WebRTC appears to work ok on iOS 15 in Streaming Cloud” — I’m sorry, but this is not working either. Wowza advertised greatly about using using webRTC and finding out this technology is not working at-all (publishing and receiving) is such a let-down.

Are there any prospects in releasing a fix?

1 Like
28

Hello!
We had a huge issue with Ionic-based app WebRTC connectivity on iOS 15 devices.
The solution in our case was upgrading to the most recent version of cordova-plugin-iosrtc package.

Best regards!

29

Using websocket middleware is working for us.

Can play and publish stream on iOS 15 devices.
But you only can use VP8 codec when publishing and need to enable transcoder for recording.
Another thing, I also got recorded file issue for VP8 stream transcode to h264 when you enable Record all incoming streams on wowza application options.
You need to record manually by API to avoid recorded file issue.
I will report to Wowza for that issue.

30

To avoid recording file issue for VP8 stream transcoding to h264 form Record all incoming streams application option, you can request by API or Wowza manager UI or using LiveStreamRecordAutoRecord module.

https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-start-recording-streams-automatically-livestreamrecordautorecord

31

This is the current workaround for playback issues on iOS15 with WebRTC:

Solution:

There is no fix available at this time. For playback, as a workaround, you can complete the following steps from your iOS 15 device:

  1. Open the Settings application.
  2. Tap Safari , then Advanced , and then Experimental Features .
  3. Disable the NSURLSession WebSocket feature.

When available, workarounds and fixes for known issues are posted in the following Wowza documentation:

Known Issues with Wowza Streaming Engine

*Check back often as this article is updated frequently as new developments occur.


This issue will be addressed in the next Streaming Engine release and I will post to that when it is available. We have a few additional Engine fixes being worked on for the next release, so when I get an ETA, will let you know right in this thread.

32

Hi @Rose_Power-Wowza_Com

At Wowza Streaming Engine 4.8.18 latest released on March 29, 2022, it is fixed issue for WebRTC publishing and playback fails on iOS 15 ?

2 Likes
33

Dear Rose,

Thank you for your continuous support and updates regarding the playback issues with iOS 15. I appreciate your dedication and commitment towards resolving these issues.

We’re currently facing challenges with the recently updated iOS 17, where Apple has removed the option to disable the NSURLSession WebSocket feature. This has put us in a difficult situation, as it was our workaround for the previous issue. Are there any alternative solutions or workarounds you could suggest for this situation?

Additionally, you had previously mentioned that this issue would be addressed in the upcoming Streaming Engine release. Can you please provide an update on when this might occur? As the situation stands, if this issue isn’t resolved swiftly, we may have to consider migrating from Wowza to a different streaming engine. We would really prefer to avoid this, considering our longstanding relationship with Wowza and the high esteem in which we hold your services.

Lastly, have you been in touch with Apple about this issue? If so, what has been their response? We hope they could provide an official solution or give us some guidance on this matter.

Looking forward to hearing from you very soon.

Best Regards,
Mark Malmros

34

Hi @Mark_Malmros,
Wowza published the solution to this issue here:

The example we provide for WebRTC on github was changed to address this issue:

Regards,
Alex

35

Hi @Alex_C,

Thank you for your prompt response and for providing the links to the solutions and modifications made to address the issues with WebRTC on iOS 15. We have thoroughly reviewed the provided documentation and diligently implemented the recommended solutions and modifications from GitHub. However, we are still experiencing persistent disruptions on iOS 16 and iOS 17 platforms.

### Detailed Issue:

*** Error Encountered: WebSocket unrecognized opCode: 14**

*** Impact: Stream shutdowns occurring around 10-20 minutes into playback.**

*** Frequency: Persistent across iOS 16 and iOS 17 platforms.**

*** Implemented Solutions: Adjustments for iOS 15 and modifications from GitHub for WebRTC have been applied, specifically the ‘#40911: Modify sdpDescription to enable publisher for Safari 12’ opened on Aug 24, 2022, by sabrinacanas-wowza.**

*** Wowza Streaming Engine Versions tested: 4.8.20+1 build 20220919162035 and 4.8.24+4 build 20230704103639.**

Urgent Queries:

  1. Immediate Solution: The persistence of the error and stream shutdowns, despite implementing all provided solutions, is causing substantial distress to our users. We urgently need additional solutions, insights, or workarounds to promptly address this issue on iOS 16 and iOS 17. The urgency of resolving this cannot be overstated as it is impacting our service delivery and user experience significantly.

  2. Update Timeline: Given the widespread impact, we are keen to understand if there is a forthcoming update scheduled that will comprehensively resolve these issues. Can you provide a specific timeline?

  3. Interim Adjustments: Until a permanent solution is found, are there any further adjustments or provisional solutions that can stabilize streaming on the affected iOS platforms?

We appreciate your continued support and cooperation in resolving these critical issues. We are looking forward to receiving further guidance and solutions to ensure the continuity of our seamless streaming services on all iOS platforms.

Best Regards,
Mark M