Why does the Network API not work in Safari?

• Default behaviour on Safari (iOS / macOS). When the Bitmovin player is used with Safari (iOS / macOS) for HLS playback, by default the stream is played through Safari Native Player - not through MSE/HTML5 API as occurs on other web browsers. In this way, HLS playback is handled directly by Safari and therefore the Bitmovin Network API’s support is limited - for details about what Network API’s functions are supported by Safari see Network API - HTTP request/response manipulations per Platform

• MSE/HTML5 playback support on Safari over macOS devices. Bitmovin player provides an alternative to force MSE/HTML5 playback on safari as well for macOS devices and therefore to support the Network API. To do so, the preferredTech configuration can be used as below:

1var conf = { 
2           key: "YOUR_PLAYER_KEY_HERE",
3           playback: {
4                      preferredTech: [{player: 'html5', streaming: 'hls'}]
5                     }
6           };

⚠️ Fairplay DRM is not supported when following this approach since Safari Native Player is not used

• MSE/HTML5 playback support on Safari over iOS devices. MSE/HTML5 playback is not supported on iOS, therefore using Bitmovin Player Network API is not feasible.