MacOS Catalina/Safari Upgrade no streaming in Safari

[larissaej]

I seem to remember having this issue before and I think it is related to Safari/browser versions being restricted by Xfinity but after upgrading my Mac this afternoon, I can no longer access live video streams via Xfinity in Safari Version 13.0 (15608.1.24.40.4).  I can view them in Chrome (which is a released version).

There is no error message just a black screen once I click on a listing in the guide.  

Can anyone confirm that beta versions of browsers aren't supported for Xfinity streaming?

[gatsbysdad]

Does not work form me. 

Safari Version: Version 13.0 (15608.1.27.40.1)

MacOS Version: Catalina 10.15 Beta (19A487m)

[Rustyben]

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@gatsbysdad wrote:

Does not work form me. 

Safari Version: Version 13.0 (15608.1.27.40.1)

MacOS Version: Catalina 10.15 Beta (19A487m)

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did you check to see if a new flash version is available for your PC (load while using safari). did you click on the 'lock' to left of url and 'allow' flash (each time)?

[gatsbysdad]

Thank you for replying. I did check. I'm running Flash version 32.0.0.207. Works on Chrome. 

[larissaej]

It's a little more complicated to allow Flash on a Mac especially in Safari.  This is done in the Safari Preferences and multiple settings must be enabled in order for streaming to work.

Safari>Preferences>Websites

AutoPlay > Allow All Auto-Play for Xfinity.com

Content Blockers > Off for Xfinity.com

Adobe Flash Player (32.0.0.192) >On for Xfinity.com 

These are all set correctly.  

I have another Mac running High Sierra and it is not a problem.  Xfinity Streaming is fine.

I believe this is a versioning issue where Comcast blocks streaming to browsers that it does not support/approve. In this case, browsers in development/beta.  Catalina is still only in Beta 2. 

[gatsbysdad]

I confirmed all the settings. Same issue. 

I suspect you are correct. Comcast must be blocking Safari. It used to work. I guess I'm stuck with Chrome on Catalina for now. Unless I can come up with a solution. 

Thank you for your help!!

[CCKenF]

Hey All, 

Thanks for posting on the forums! Appreciate you taking the time to bring this Safari issue to our attention. 

We still support Safari for XFINITY Stream. I'd be happy to get you all in contact with our advance repair team so we can track this and provide a resolution ASAP. Please send me a private message with your full name for help. Just click my name and then on the next page, you'll see an option to send me a private message on the top right hand side.  

[SarahGrave]

Hello,

  I am having the same problem--have gone through all of the steps to make sure Adobe Flash is on.  Just get the black "loading" screen when I click on a channel to stream it through Xfinity.

Thanks

[CCKenF]

SarahGrave, thanks for letting me know about the streaming issue with Catalina. I haven't worked with this Beta OS much so I'll get you in the right hands! I got your private message so I'll follow up there. Appreciate you reaching out on the forums! 

[CCKenF]

Hi All, 

I got a report from a forum user that they are now able to use the Stream portal via Catalina. Can anyone else confirm? 

Ken

[gatsbysdad]

Still no luck. I'm using Chrome. Gave up on Safari and working with Comcast on it. 

[CCKenF]

Still no luck. I'm using Chrome. Gave up on Safari and working with Comcast on it. 

Gotcha! I see you're working with Martin so I'll let him work with you! 

Ken

[gatsbysdad]

I just installed today's beta Catalina relase 10.15 (19A526h) Safari 13.0 (15608.1.37) and streaming now works. 

[shawnanthony90]

i have the same issues, however i cannot get it to stream on my chrome browser either.

[ComcastMichael]

Greetings, gatsbysdad and shawnanthony90! I appreciate you taking the time to reach out to us here on the forums. I hope you are having an amazing day. I apologize to hear you are having issues streaming after upgrading Safari. That's certainly frustrating. I just wanted to follow up to see if you were still having issues. If you are, feel free to send me a PM with your first and last name so I may further assist you.

To send a private message, please click my name "ComcastMichael" then select "Send a Message" on the right side.

[dr_jon]

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FWIW what is the plan going forward? Flash as a platform is dead. In July 2017, Adobe announced that it would declare Flash to be end-of-life at the end of 2020, and will cease support, distribution, and security updates for Flash Player.

Any official anouncement from the Xfinity team?

[Rustyben]

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@dr_jon wrote:

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FWIW what is the plan going forward? Flash as a platform is dead. In July 2017, Adobe announced that it would declare Flash to be end-of-life at the end of 2020, and will cease support, distribution, and security updates for Flash Player.

Any official anouncement from the Xfinity team?

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yes. the only use of flash currently is to 'prove' HDCP security. The use of flash will be ended by xfinity by end of December 2020.

[avalon]

If you're running Catalina and go to Adobe, you won't find a Flash player that supports Mac OS 10.15. Flash is only available up to Mojave, OS 10.14. You can download Flash 32 for 10.14 and attempt to install it, but it won't install. I've already tried this about ten times.

Why Comcast doesn't realize this is beyond me. It's not like Apple didn't announce Catalina over a year ago.I spoke with two levels of support yesterday at Comcast and no one knew what I was talking about. They said it was probably Apple's or Adobe's problem. Clueless... So if you're running Catalina and use a Safari browser, forget Comcast streaming till they replace Flash in 2020. Better yet, find another internet provider. Comcast's continued use of Flash is unconscionable.

[RobertWy]

https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/12/20908567/apple-macos-catalina-breaking-apps-32-bit-support-how-t...

[avalon]

Yes, I'd read that. Unfortunately it says nothing about solving the problem, but rather suggests that you don't upgrade to the newest operating system which is just ridiculous. Flash is the only app that doesn't work on my Catalina system. And since Comcast has indicated that Flash will be used till the end of 2020, am I supposed to wait for over a year to update my operating system. I don't think so. If I did, I'd be using  an app  that's inherently insecure and has been deprecated by its developer.

[avalon]

I may have found a work around for the Flash/Catalina/Safari problem. I re-downloaded the Flash installer from Adobe, selecting the version for Mojave 10.14/Safari. The most updated version shown at Adobe.

I then opened the Install Adobe Flash Player app and right-clicked to "Show Package Contents."

Then I opened the folder "MacOS" to reveal the Unix app "Adobe Flash Player Install Manager" and ran it. It installed Flash into my System Preferences, which it had not done before when just running the Adobe Flash Installer from the downloaded .dmg. So it seems there's a problem with Adobe's installer but not the Unix app. (?)

Interestingly, if I run the System Report @ About This Mac for installed "Applications" there's no evidence that Flash has been installed, only the installer is registered. I'm wondering if the installer is 32-bit and that's why it won't work. Under Catalina I can't see that in the System Reports as there is no column for 32-bit or 64-bit anymore, since I guess that the assumption is that all installed apps are now only 64-bit.

BTW, make sure that in Safari Preferences/Websites/Plug-ins that Adobe Flash has been installed and is set to either "on" or "ask."

Hope this works for everyone.

[Kp25]

It might have to due with Catalina being 64 not 32