[iOS App] Bomb Cyclone, a Giant Bomb video app for iPhone and iPad, is now available!

yeah I just have terrible download/streaming speeds with the app which is why I asked. Usually when I download a video via the website I have a pretty good ratio but with the app it seems really slow, I guess it would be nice if you could also include a download speed or current_size/total_size info in the download section of the app but then again maybe i'm an outlier case, with that said this app was a great discovery last week! Before that I was using the GBTV app but it seems the developer stopped supporting it (last update was over a year ago) If you need any more info on my network set up or anything related please feel free to ask!

@anidem said:

OK, that definitely doesn't sound right. If it's not too much hassle could you let me know the following?

• Do you notice streaming playback to be atypically slow or just downloads?
• What video quality level to do typically download?
• When downloading from a browser, are you using the same iOS device or some another device?
• When you download using Bomb Cyclone, do you leave the app open or is it in the background?

Thanks!

Big fan of the app, any plans to add a developer tip option? I know it would cause the dreaded “In-App Purchases” to appear in-store, but still.

How much trouble would it be to add the ability to sort search results? It’d simplify watching Playdate videos in chronological order.

@audiosnow said:

Thanks! No plans to add a tip jar, but I appreciate the gesture. To be honest I'm just glad people seem to like the app.

Yeah, someone asked about this before so I looked into it. From an app perspective, it would be easy to add but unfortunately it looks like the API doesn't support sorting search results. I've been meaning to submit a feature request for this but haven't gotten around to it yet.

@conmulligan: Search might not allow for sorting, but you can do a videos search with a name filter and then sort those results. ;D

But it does seem like the name filter has a weird quirk where it searches for the specific string so you can search for "minecraft" and get all the lockdown minecraft together videos (plus quick looks, etc) but if you search for "lockdown minecraft" you get no results. Or I haven't figured out their APIs completely yet and am missing something.

@ev77: Oh, interesting. I didn't realise the "name" filter would do partial matching. Switching away from the search endpoint might complicate some search features I want to introduce, though. It's a tricky one. Anyway, thanks for the the heads up!

Thanks for the great app! Been using it as my primary GB tool for several months on my ipad and it’s been fabulous.

Any chance of adding the ability to watch the multi-stream sessions in a synced fashion like jetlag was able to do here?: https://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/i-made-a-thing-to-watch-gb-videos-simultaneously-u-1881738/?page=1

@cmungall: Thanks! I'm a huge fan of the video smoosher so I've definitely been thinking about doing something similar. I'm in the middle of a pretty big update at the moment which will add things like the watchlist and I don't want to overextend myself though, so I probably won't really dig into it until that's done.

Hey, just wanted to pop in and say I‘ve recently switched to using Bomb Cyclone from a mix of GBTV and Video Buddy and it’s absolutely fantastic. Great work, thanks for making it 👍🏻

Fantastic app, really love using it on my iPad pro. Keep up the good work!

Loving the app! I have a couple of things I'd love to suggest:

1. Is there any way to add a filter to search results?
   For example, if a user searches for 'Persona 4', it would be great to have to option to sort the results by date (ascending or descending) to be able to easily watch the endurance run in order.
2. Can Clue Crew be added to the Shows tab?

Thanks so much!

@jensonb@thor_molecules: Thanks, glad you like it!

@griggsgarious: Thanks! There's no way to filter search results at the moment, but this has come up recently so it's on my to-do list. What I'll probably do is mimic the site and have an "advanced search" mode that'll allow you to filter and sort results.

Clue Clew should be there, but for some reason it's currently listed as inactive so you have to scroll a bit to find it. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do to change the inactive state because it's marked as such on the site, but you could subscribe to it by hitting the bell icon which will float it to the top of the list.

@conmulligan: thank you!!

Hey folks, there’s a new build up on TestFlight that includes the watchlist and a redesigned player view. The UI for both of these is still very much in progress, so if anyone has feedback I’m all ears. If you’re interested, check it out!

I’m liking it so far! Have only tested it a little, but it seems to work well. Is there any limit on how large the list can be? A ‘quick select’ type feature could be useful, but I imagine that would be a future idea after you get the initial list making released.

@natiko: There's no hard limit, but I've only tested it with a couple dozen videos. Theoretically it should have no trouble handling hundreds of entries. Not sure what you mean by "quick select"; would that be like an inline search bar?

@conmulligan: What I had in mind was a way to add videos faster than on a one by one basis of clicking into each one. Say I went to the Latest Videos feed. It would be nice to be able to swipe to add or even just a toggle option where you could multi-select to add multiple to the watchlist in one go. Some way to backup the watchlist would be cool too. I know these are all niche features that would be reserved for a future update if at all lol What I’ve seen is really good though!

@natiko: Ah, gotcha. I do want to add context menus at some point which would make adding videos a bit quicker, but I'll have a think about some other ways to make the process smoother.

Version 1.5 is now available! In this update:

• You can now add videos to your personal watchlist.
• The player screen has been redesigned.
• Added real staff names.
• Watched videos will no longer appear in the featured section.
• Improved home screen performance.

@pinghaps: That's odd, I'll look into it. Would you mind letting me know what version of the app you're using? Also, are you watching the downloaded videos without an internet connection? Thanks!

Hey folks, version 1.6 is now live! Here's what's new:

• Added Advanced Search.
• Updated account linking UI*.
• Fixed an issue saving video progress.
• Videos played to within 10 seconds of completion will now count as finished.
• Improved UI performance.

* Because of Apple's new rules around Sign in with Apple, I've had to remove the Google, Facebook and Twitter sign in options from the login screen. If you need to sign in using any of these services, you can still link your account by tapping the Safari button in the navigation bar, signing in through Safari, and then copying the link code from Safari to Bomb Cyclone.

@conmulligan: thank you again!! I use this app nearly every day and it just keeps getting better! If you have a paypal of something I’d love to donate.

@reflex: Thanks, glad you like it!

Just downloaded this, really enjoying the design on iPad!

Feature request: would it be possible to add a button in the show view to pull up a random video from that show? It’d be useful for non-serial shows like UPF or Demo Derby.

@orbi: Thanks, this is a great idea! I'll definitely look into it.

Absolutely love the app and the continued updates!

One small request- can the video duration be shown on the video page that pops up? Right now it’s only shown on the thumbnail which is hidden after you click the video.

@grumbles: Thanks! That's a great suggestion, I'll try to include it in the next update.

Hey folks, there’s a new TestFlight build available if anyone fancies jumping in the deep end. I’ve been noodling around with WidgetKit to see what makes sense for Bomb Cyclone and I’ve landed on a “Continue Watching” widget as a first attempt. I’m also planning an “Upcoming” widget, but beyond that I’m open to suggestions!

Here’s the full changelog:

• Added “Continue Watching” Widget.
• Improved Chromecast support on iOS 14.
• Reduced the delay when opening videos from notifications.
• Added file size indicators.

Version 1.7 is now available on the App Store! I needed to push out a quick fix for iOS 14, so I'm holding off on the "Upcoming" Widget for now. In the meantime, v1.7 includes the following:

• Added “Continue Watching” Widget.
• Improved Chromecast support on iOS 14.
• Fixed an issue where the playback controls would sometimes be disabled on iOS 14.
• Reduced the delay when opening videos from a notification.
• Added file size indicators.
• Fixed several layout issues.

And if you're curious about the "Continue Watching" widget but haven't updated to iOS 14 yet, here's it in action:

Love the app! Sorry if this has already been asked, but is there a way to make it so clicking on the fullscreen button on the mini-player brings it back to fullscreen instead of the default player size in the app?

Wording it poorly, but what I mean is if I have a video playing in the app and switch apps, the video moves to being the mini-player. You can tap on the miniplayer and click the button to make the video big again. On other apps like Netflix, doing that brings it back to fullscreen, but on bomb cyclone it brings it back into the app in the regular player size -- regardless of if i had it in fullscreen before. So I then have to click on the video and set it to full screen again.

I often watch stuff on my iPad so not being able to immediately go back into fullscreen after switching apps to check an email or such is a bit of a minor inconvenience.

@mojobones: Hey, thanks for the suggestion! This hasn't come up before so it's good to know.

Just to clarify, when you say "mini player" you do mean the floating PiP view that appears when you enter picture-in-picture or the in-app mini player that's attached to the bottom of the screen when you dismiss the playback screen? It sounds like you're talking about the PiP view but just want to make sure.

I second @mojobones's request: Being able to go from fullscreen to PiP and back would be great.

I see that your update about a month ago fixed playback controls in full screen sometimes being disabled, but I am still having that issue. I'm on iOS 14.0 and have the most recent version of Bomb Cyclone but it happens to me with every video. I'm happy to provide more details if it helps.

Edit: as soon as I came to the boards to say something about this it seems to have resolved itself?

And thanks for maintaining such a good app!

@bobby: Oh wow, that's strange. Did you happen to update to iOS 14.2 or something? Either way, glad it seems to be resolved!

If it happens again, you might make note of the following which might help narrow it down:

• The selected quality level (Low/High/HD).
• If it also occurs in fullscreen or just on the playback screen.

Thanks!

A smallish update focused on bug fixes should start rolling out today. Here's what in version 1.7.1:

• Updated for iOS 14.2.
• Added video thumbnails to Now Playing.
• Added a green indicator to finished videos.
• Fixed an issue where the app would exit fullscreen video after ending PiP playback.
• Exiting fullscreen video will no longer automatically pause playback.
• Fixed an issue showing the “no results” view.
• Updated player view duration appearance.
• Updated menu style on iOS 14.

@mojobones, @bobby: That PiP issue should be sorted now, but let me know if you notice any other funny behaviour!

@conmulligan: please please please please please make an AppleTV version. Pretty please?

@conmulligan: Cool, thanks!

@conmulligan: Works perfectly now, thanks!

@conmulligan: the pip->fullscreen fix worked, thanks duder!

Hi, I’ve posted here before and want to say again that the app is great! I’ve run up against some odd behavior though: to reproduce, be watching in the normal playback screen, then enter Picture in Picture. After that, if you dismiss the playback screen, switch to the Home Screen or another app, and then tell the PiP video to go to full screen, the video will briefly enter full screen, exit immediately, and then reappear in the mini player shortly after. I’m doing this on iPadOS 14.2. I suppose this is a bit of an odd case, but seems like strange behavior nonetheless. Hope your holidays are going well!

EDIT: I just updated my post, my initial steps for reproduction weren’t right. The ones I just put it seem to be though, at least for me.

@4gateftw: Hey, thanks for the heads up! That does sound odd; I'll try to recreate it and see what the story is.

@conmulligan: any update for the TestFlight version it expires in like 19 hours

THANK YOU! Honestly, you should get a job on GB! So well made! Everything I wanted from a GB player.

Thanks for the app. It is really great!

@dreadd: There probably won't be a fresh TestFlight build for at least another couple of weeks but the most recent version should be good for another 35 days or so. it's possible you're on an older version — the most recent TestFlight version is 1.7.2 (build number 382), which is the same version that's currently on the App Store.

@conmulligan: thanks man, I’ve been using the TestFlight version for so long, it only shows 1.7.1 (375) so I had to switch to the AppStore version since 1.7.2 won’t show up on TF

Hey all, version 1.8 should be rolling out now. I've got widgets on the brain so that's the headline feature. There's also the ability to change the playback rate alongside a couple of other minor features.

Here's the full changelog:

• Added Live & Upcoming widget.
• Added large Continue Watching widget.
• You can now change the video playback rate.
• Fixed an issue where videos may appear out of order in the Continue Watching widget.
• Improved support for back button context menus.
• Video "in this episode" associations are now hidden by default.
• Improved responsiveness when marking videos as played.
• Addressed a crash when the app enters the background.
• Improved performance.
• Updated for iOS 14.4.