MPMoviePlayerViewController disappears when home button is pressed - iphone

Question

I’m creating my MPMoviePlayerViewController like so:
MPMoviePlayerViewController *playerView = [[MPMoviePlayerViewController alloc] initWithContentURL:videoURL];
[self presentMoviePlayerViewControllerAnimated:playerView];
It works fine until I press the home button: that way, after I reopen the app, the player view controller is gone and I’m seeing the view controller I originally called it from. The player doesn’t disappear but simply pauses (as it should) if I double-press the home button, opening the multitasking panel.
So how do I prevent this from happening (closing and reopening the app should bring me back to playing the video)?
UPD:
I noticed that the player doesn’t disappear if I close and reopen the app while the “Loading…” text is up. In that case, coming back to the app lets the player continue loading the video to eventually start playing. However closing the app after that (either when the video is playing or being paused) inevitably kills the player view controller…

Answer 1

Try like this:
MPMoviePlayerViewController *playerView = [[MPMoviePlayerViewController alloc] initWithContentURL:videoURL];
playerView.view.frame = self.view.frame;
[self presentMoviePlayerViewControllerAnimated:playerView];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(MPMoviePlayerDidExitFullscreen:) name:MPMoviePlayerDidExitFullscreenNotification object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter]
addObserver:self
selector:#selector(playbackStateChanged:)
name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackStateDidChangeNotification
object:moviePlayerController];
[playerView.moviePlayer play];
after that adding these two methods:
- (void) movieFinishedCallback:(NSNotification*) aNotification
{
moviePlayerController = [aNotification object];
[moviePlayerController.moviePlayer stop];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter]
removeObserver:self name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification
object:moviePlayerController];
[moviePlayerController autorelease];
NSLog(#"stopped?");
}
- (void)MPMoviePlayerDidExitFullscreen:(NSNotification *)notification
{
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self
name:MPMoviePlayerDidExitFullscreenNotification
object:nil];
[moviePlayerController.moviePlayer stop];
MPMoviePlayerController *player = [notification object];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter]
removeObserver:self name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification
object:player];
[moviePlayerController dismissMoviePlayerViewControllerAnimated];
}

Answer 2

I found the answer here:
MPMoviePlayerViewController gets dismissed, when app resignes active state
The author of that question (and the answer) mentions however that his app was rejected for this.

Answer 3

you try this code---
- (void)willEnterFullscreen:(NSNotification*)notification {
NSLog(#"willEnterFullscreen");
}
- (void)enteredFullscreen:(NSNotification*)notification {
NSLog(#"enteredFullscreen");
}
- (void)willExitFullscreen:(NSNotification*)notification {
NSLog(#"willExitFullscreen");
}
- (void)exitedFullscreen:(NSNotification*)notification {
NSLog(#"exitedFullscreen");
[self.movieController.view removeFromSuperview];
self.movieController = nil;
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self];
}
- (void)playbackFinished:(NSNotification*)notification {
NSNumber* reason = [[notification userInfo] objectForKey:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishReasonUserInfoKey];
switch ([reason intValue]) {
case MPMovieFinishReasonPlaybackEnded:
NSLog(#"playbackFinished. Reason: Playback Ended");
break;
case MPMovieFinishReasonPlaybackError:
NSLog(#"playbackFinished. Reason: Playback Error");
break;
case MPMovieFinishReasonUserExited:
NSLog(#"playbackFinished. Reason: User Exited");
break;
default:
break;
}
[self.movieController setFullscreen:NO animated:YES];
}
- (void)showMovie {
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(willEnterFullscreen:) name:MPMoviePlayerWillEnterFullscreenNotification object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(willExitFullscreen:) name:MPMoviePlayerWillExitFullscreenNotification object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(enteredFullscreen:) name:MPMoviePlayerDidEnterFullscreenNotification object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(exitedFullscreen:) name:MPMoviePlayerDidExitFullscreenNotification object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(playbackFinished:) name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification object:nil];
NSURL* movieURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"tron" ofType:#"mov"]];
self.movieController = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:movieURL];
self.movieController.view.frame = self.view.frame;
[self.view addSubview:movieController.view];
[self.movieController setFullscreen:YES animated:YES];
[self.movieController play];
}

Answer 4

MPMoviePlayerViewControllers dismiss when the app goes into the background, as Arnold stated, and can also dismiss when you leave the view controller view it's embedded in. To resolve both issues, try retaining the MPMoviePlayerViewController as an ivar or property and have it reset itself when the vc's viewWillAppear: is called or when the application re-enters the foreground, like:
- (void) viewDidLoad{
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(reset) name:UIApplicationWillEnterForegroundNotification object:nil];
}
- (void) viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated{
[self reset];
}
- (void) reset{
[_mpmpvc.moviePlayer prepareToPlay];
[_mpmpvc.moviePlayer pause];
}