Log In
Members
Home
Add Reply
Add Topic
Topic RSS
QuoteI just got an email from a new mailing list subscriber who let me know that he couldn't use his iPad to download any of the zipped mp3s my autoresponder was linking him to. I tried accessing the same pages on my iPhone and had the same experience – Safari returns an error message saying "Download Failed – Safari cannot download this file".
I did a little Googling and it seems that there are several iOS apps that can download and unzip archived files onto your device…but the last thing I want to do with a new subscriber is say "Well, you download this app, and then go back to the web page with the built-in browser – not Safari – and then to get your new songs into iTunes…".
You get the idea.
I'm sure this must be happening to lots of other people as well, but haven't found any mention of a more elegant solution anywhere. Any ideas?
"Radio Nowhere? What the hell is that? We wanted him to be a lawyer" — My Mom
Okay, so she didn't like it. But you just might! Loud guitars, award-winning songwriting, and visits from the devil.
Check it out and pick up a free EP here..
I've been thinking a little more about this, and I've come up with the following workaround:
1) In the header of your Welcome To My Band's Mailing List page, which is where your user lands when he/she clicks on the link in your initial email, paste a snippet of code that tells your website to identify what type of computer/device the user has; if it's an iPhone/iPad, redirect them to a special iOS-optimized page instead.
I came across this code, which looks like it might work (haven't tried it yet):
http://css-tricks.com/snippets.....e-devices/
2) On this page, display some kind of HTML5 player, maybe Bandcamp or Soundcloud, loaded with your free track(s), along with a brief explanation of why you can't just download them straight into iTunes, and a suggestion that they enjoy listening to them on this page while they fire up their desktop to do the actual downloading.
I'm posting this just in case it helps someone else who's running into the same issue, but honestly I'm really hoping that someone replies and says "that's stupid - here's how you create a download link that works on an iPad"....
"Radio Nowhere? What the hell is that? We wanted him to be a lawyer" — My Mom
Okay, so she didn't like it. But you just might! Loud guitars, award-winning songwriting, and visits from the devil.
Check it out and pick up a free EP here..
10:08 pm
June 7, 2011
Offline
Hey Mike, your suggestion sounds great assuming that works.
In all my time of doing this I have maybe run into 2 people who had a problem with the download. Most people have computers and understand the limitations of mobile.
According to stackoverflow.com ""It is not possible to have Mobile Safari download a media file from your site to a device's library. That and many other parts of the iOS filesystem are protected from external access".
That would mean that most people would need an app like "'usb disk".
For a simple solution I would just add a line of text above the download link that says something to the effective of "It is not possible to download media files directly to a mobile device. If you are trying to access this download via a mobile device you will need an app such as "'usb disk".
I would think that would solve the issue for 99.9 percent of people.
Incidentally, you can also use our Viral Music Player to share the track as that works on mobile devices. We are also about to be adding a player C option that works just like a normal player. No sharing at all. Play and download as needed.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
Hey John -
Thanks for the reply, and for doing the research and checking out USB disk.
I ended up building the type of page I described earlier, where I included an HTML5 player and some explanatory text suggesting that the user return to the page on a regular computer - you can check it here if you're interested:
http://www.radionowhere.net/mm.....nding.html?
I'm glad you mentioned the VMP, as I was going to write to ask you guys about it. I have a page as part of my funnel that has a VMP instance on it. When I access it on my iPhone, I have the same no-download problem, which I thought made sense because it's inline with the stackoverflow info you mentioned.
Are you saying that there IS some way to download a track from the VMP if you access it on an iOS device? Am I missing something? Thanks again for the quick responses!
"Radio Nowhere? What the hell is that? We wanted him to be a lawyer" — My Mom
Okay, so she didn't like it. But you just might! Loud guitars, award-winning songwriting, and visits from the devil.
Check it out and pick up a free EP here..
4:12 am
June 7, 2011
Offline
No, the download issue with VMPO would be the same for mobile as this effects all downloads. But you can listen to the track and instruct people to download it on their computer.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
1 Guest(s)
