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  • Netflix Running on the iPhone
    by
    Cody Overcash
    Published on 05-29-2010 07:47 PM
    138 Comments Comments


    Update: Netflix/Apple/Whomever doesn't appear to like that Netflix was running on the iPhone and it has been disabled.

    We just received a tip from one of our readers going by the name Knisitruck who has successfully gotten Netflix to run on his iPhone 3G. Basically he copied the iPad Netflix app and iPad mediaplayer frameworks to his iPhone, made a few plist edits and changes and got it running!

    As a follow up to the pic I sent you, I wasn't able to get the app working at that time. I needed the mediaplayer frameworks from an iPad [/System/Library/Frameworks/MediaPlayer.framework], thanks to one of your forum members, I was able to get that. Then, it still wouldn't work. Noticing my winterboard theme was overriding the mediaplayer layout I disabled it, retried the app and viola, it worked! All that had to be changed was a couple lines in the applications info.plist file and the mediaplayer frameworks, along with a manual install/permissions. (My other apps requiring mediaplayer still run fine.)

    But, having said that, I see why Netflix hasn't released an iPhone client yet. Reasons why:
    • Huge battery drain - 25% of battery for around 15min of streaming, drains pretty quick while browsing the app as well.
    • Crashing - I suspect memory is the issue here, and also probably because it's made for another device. Happened when browsing too fast through the app(lots of clicks).
    • 3G Speed - Takes forever to load the app and to start streaming (does work though)
    I have attached pics, my camera has a dead battery with a lost charger so no video. Movie pics were some random movie at the top of the list. My phone is an iPhone 3G running 3.1.2(Jailbroken). What this means? Most, if not all, iPad specific apps can be ran on iPhone.
    Maybe not all iPad apps can be run on the iPhone. Turns out the Netflix iPad app appears to have a native iPhone app bundled in with the iPad app, hence the ability to make it work on the iPhone and the different layout for the iPhone etc.

    More details:
    To do this yourself
    • Get app from iTunes, locate/rename ipa to zip and extract.
    • Go into the .app file, located at /appname/Payload/appname.app, (show package contents) and open the info.plist
    • Edit all references of OS version to show iphoneos3.1.2 (or your respective version). Save and close, done there.
    Now, just copied over SSH (with permissions repair and a respring) this will show up on the phone. With Netflix though, it required the mediaplayer frameworks from the iPad. So:
    • SSH, get the mediaplayer frameworks folder from an iPad, located at /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaPlayer.framework
    • Copy that to the same location on an iPhone (I'd suggest backing up the original from your phone just in case). Change permissions to 755 recursive for directories, and then go inside the folder and change the individual file permissions to 644. (Or just recursive 755 to all files/folders on the MediaPlayer.framework folder)
    Now the mediaplayer frameworks are in place, all that's left is a manual install of the app.
    • SSH, go to /private/var/stash/Applications
    • Copy the appname.app file there and change permissions. (I used 777 recursive for simplicity's sake, but I'm sure the normal 775 would work).
    • Launch and have fun.
    That's about it. The way I found out that I needed the frameworks file was from a crash report.





    This article was originally published in forum thread: Netflix Running on the iPhone started by Cody Overcash View original post
    Comments 138 Comments
    1. xhenryrx's Avatar
      xhenryrx - 05-29-2010, 07:50 PM
      me want this
    1. battlecrushr's Avatar
      battlecrushr - 05-29-2010, 07:50 PM
      pretty awesome..

      hope the battery issue is fixed cause i want this
    1. rhekt's Avatar
      rhekt - 05-29-2010, 07:54 PM
      everything starts somewhere. good job.
    1. oo3's Avatar
      oo3 - 05-29-2010, 08:01 PM
      oh man...this alone would justify the 8.99 i'm paying right now...
    1. iPhoneApps's Avatar
      iPhoneApps - 05-29-2010, 08:36 PM
      Pretty sweet. I hope this sends a message to Apple and Steve Jobs.

      ALL YOUR COMMUNISTIC CONTROL MECHANISMS CAN'T STOP THE WHEELS OF INGENUITY.

      Basically they didn't release this for iPhone because it probably didn't make "financial sense" for Apple now or their figuring out how to leverage for their best situation financially.

      F*ck you Apple. We want it, we got it.
    1. whereswaldo's Avatar
      whereswaldo - 05-29-2010, 08:46 PM
      Yay
    1. Nickaroni22's Avatar
      Nickaroni22 - 05-29-2010, 08:54 PM
      Nice job, this is something I've been looking forward too. Keep us up todate.
    1. rhekt's Avatar
      rhekt - 05-29-2010, 09:02 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by iPhoneApps View Post
      Pretty sweet. I hope this sends a message to Apple and Steve Jobs.

      ALL YOUR COMMUNISTIC CONTROL MECHANISMS CAN'T STOP THE WHEELS OF INGENUITY.

      Basically they didn't release this for iPhone because it probably didn't make "financial sense" for Apple now or their figuring out how to leverage for their best situation financially.

      F*ck you Apple. We want it, we got it.
      read the article again betty. apple did release this app for the iPAd. the mentioned reason, as of why the app wasnt released for the iphone, was possibly due to a performance issue [battery etc]. love how people are so quick to bang on Apple. yet they buy their products. [pFFF].
    1. DisneyRicky's Avatar
      DisneyRicky - 05-29-2010, 10:39 PM
      I wouldn't really use my iPod for streaming, now when I have my iPad and PS3, but it's nice to know what people can make iPad apps work on an iPhone. Maybe we could start putting our own iPad apps on an iPhone...
    1. jltdhome's Avatar
      jltdhome - 05-29-2010, 10:53 PM
      How about posting a step by step walktrough. You can also shrink the icon and replace the png. The memory issues shouldnt be a problem if you run the app on a 3GS. This would be great for when I go to my parents and dont want to haul my iPad over to watch netflix through their tv with the Apple Component cables.
    1. SmoothiPhone's Avatar
      SmoothiPhone - 05-29-2010, 10:55 PM
      ooh, me like
    1. TypeRBass's Avatar
      TypeRBass - 05-29-2010, 11:11 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by oo3 View Post
      oh man...this alone would justify the 8.99 i'm paying right now...
      If this was working without a huge battery drain on the 3G...I would definitely re-activate my Netflix subscription. No questions asked.
    1. darkrom's Avatar
      darkrom - 05-29-2010, 11:31 PM
      This has been all I've wanted for my 3gs. Hunting for a release now!
    1. Jahooba's Avatar
      Jahooba - 05-30-2010, 12:04 AM
      This hack would never be practical because the source resolution is too big. But damn, getting it to run was pretty clever, and shows that it would be absolutely possible to do on an iPhone.

      Only if it didn't hurt my eyes to watch it on such a tiny screen...
    1. Retell's Avatar
      Retell - 05-30-2010, 12:53 AM
      It's totally practical, streaming resolution is probablly compressed to about 320x480 if not less. I can't see this being to impractical if say you're on a long trip with a car charger or a constant power source.

      I can also confirm the install works and the app does launch however my stepmom seems to have decided to cancel our netflix subscription So I can't try the videos yet.



      Instructions:
      Download Netflix: Netflix for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store
      Extract the IPA with Winrar
      Put the Netflix.app in the /private/var/stash/Applications.xxxxxxxx folder
      Get the mediaplayer frame work and install that Needing mediaplayer.framework

      That should be all.
    1. Faxmonkey's Avatar
      Faxmonkey - 05-30-2010, 12:57 AM
      I'm guessing the battery drain is probably caused by the video being at a much higher resolution than the iPhone *usually* has to decode?
    1. Retell's Avatar
      Retell - 05-30-2010, 12:58 AM
      Its due to the fact that the video is a very high bitrate and the iphone is like a civic tuned for economy where as the iPad is like an SUV tuned to tow and has a huge gas tank (beefy CPU and huge battery).
    1. Faxmonkey's Avatar
      Faxmonkey - 05-30-2010, 01:07 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Retell View Post
      Its due to the fact that the video is a very high bitrate and the iphone is like a civic tuned for economy where as the iPad is like an SUV tuned to tow and has a huge gas tank (beefy CPU and huge battery).
      I see, I know I've seen some apps stream non-h.264 and consume ridiculous amounts of CPU to do it because the DSP can't be used. I was hoping that it wasn't the same issue here. I mean, theoretically, I can stream plenty of video in h.264 that looks great on my phone without nearly draining out my battery in only an hour.

      I haven't seen the Netflix app in action, but I was hoping the app itself would be sufficient DRM to allow them to just send over some h.264. A brute-force CPU approach would work on the iPad because it has a ridiculously large battery (which is why its heavy enough to beat someone to do death with), but hopefully that's not what they plan to do for the iPhone.
    1. ddfilms's Avatar
      ddfilms - 05-30-2010, 02:05 AM
      So i tried this and I can confirm it works over wifi and 3G I cant get the icon to display properly yet so if anyone knows the fix for that please post it.

      the landscape view is not optimized for iPhone so it doesnt stretch but hey no big deal.
    1. Retell's Avatar
      Retell - 05-30-2010, 02:31 AM
      If anyone with the iPad could do me a favor and upload the following frameworks, I believe they are required to get ABC Player running right.

      Foundation
      UIKit
      CoreGraphics
      CFNetwork
      SystemConfiguration
      Security
      CoreFoundation

      Thanks
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