BBC refutes claims of native iPlayer app
updated 10:50 am EST, Tue December 1, 2009
No iPhone client coming soon, says network
Publishing mockups of a dedicated iPlayer app for the iPhone was an unfortunate mistake, the BBC now says. The network recently released a PowerPoint document discussing October iPlayer data, within which was a pair of images showing what appeared to be a native iPhone client. The app would theoretically support features like messaging, downloads and live viewing.
In response to public questions, BBC blogger Nick Reynolds claims that the mockups are in fact old, and "should not be taken to mean that anything is likely to happen soon." Reynolds adds that because of the "unnecessary speculation" that has arisen, the graphics are being pulled from the PowerPoint file. It is nevertheless expected that the BBC will eventually produce a dedicated iPlayer client, as it already has apps for several other purposes, and limited iPhone support exists in the form of a web app.
