James R | On 07, Feb 2016

Let it never be said that the BBC iPlayer team isn’t busy. Last year saw the VOD service added to the new Apple TV, with the platform now available on around 10,000 devices in the UK for free, from computers and smartphones to tablets and Connected TVs. 2015 also saw a record 3.5bn TV and radio programme requests across all devices.

The Beeb’s developers, then, could easily rest on their laurels. Instead, they’ve been beavering away at another improvement for Apple users – this time, for iPad and iPhone.

Quietly released on 4th February, the latest version of the iPlayer app (4.16.0, if you’re counting) has introduced support for Spotlight search, meaning that you can now search for a film or TV show on BBC iPlayer using the pull-down search function on your home screen.

The upgrade also allows users to stop watching a programme on one iOS device and pick up viewing from the same point on another.

“In addition to all that good stuff, we’ve also included a fix for a particularly nasty crash on launch,” adds the BBC on its notes for the latest app release. You can also find an entire catalogue of iPlayer programmes for a channel via a new “A-Z” option in each channel’s page.

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