How to avoid audio only screen when using Apple's HTTP Live Streaming for video?

Question

I'm working with Apple's HTTP Live Streaming protocol which, when submitting apps to the App Store, required that there's an audio only stream as part of the multiplex. As a result of this the first segment (10 seconds) is always audio only and the image below is shown instead of the beginning of the video stream, regardless of the amount of bandwidth that's actually available.

I know I can show a static image instead but I'm wondering if there's a way to delay the stream starting until it's determined if there's enough bandwidth to go straight to the video stream.

Answer 1

The order of your bitrates in the manifest file is key, as the device try to play the bitrates segments in order. We recommend listing the bitrates from highest to lowest to avoid starting the video off with the worst bitrate and then switching only when iOS had detected sufficient bandwidth.