A lot of Freesat users were left without access to BBC iPlayer for more than two weeks, when the app stopped working on several Humax boxes. Today, Humax confirmed to us that the bug has finally been fixed.
Affected users should automatically get an update on their Humax box – see below for Humax’s full response.
The whole issue started around April 4, when many Freesat users were facing an error notification – “Error Message 02001” – when trying to stream on-demand programmes on BBC iPlayer, the BBC’s streaming and catch-up app.
The affected Humax models were HDR1100S, HDR1010S, HDR1000s, HB1100S, and HB1000S.
Freesat, Humax and the BBC were all quick to acknowledge the issue, and were working together on a fix, but many users took to social media to voice their frustration with the long wait.
@freesat_tv Has anyone got problems accessing BBC iplayer on their Humax Sat Box? Contacted customer services and was told there's a problem but no timescale to fix! Missing iplayer progs!
— Sue Waterman (@SueWate38140689) April 21, 2022
It’s worth noting that no other Freesat boxes were affected by this issue, including the newer 4K Freesat recorders which were released in 2020 (and are not made by Humax).
Two months ago, Freesat viewers with Humax boxes suffered from another major technical issue, when scheduled recordings stopped working. That issue was fixed after a few days.
BBC iPlayer Resumes Working On Humax Boxes
Today (Thursday), the ongoing bug has finally been fixed.
According to Humax, BBC iPlayer should now be working correctly on all the affected boxes.
Although there’s a new version involved, the update should happen automatically on the affected boxes (though if it doesn’t, I always recommend a restart of the box, just to be safe).
A Humax spokesperson said:
“Customers with the affected Freesat models should find that BBC iPlayer is now working.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this issue and we thank everyone for their patience.”
Humax is urging anyone who is still facing this issue, despite the update, to contact their support team (and also, let us know here in the comments if things are working well for you now).
BBC iPlayer Alternatives
If you don’t want to be left with only one device that can run BBC iPlayer – there are several alternatives out there.
If you have a Smart TV that has streaming apps, it most likely has the BBC iPlayer app as well – so look for it, and as long as your TV is connected to broadband, it should work fine.
You can also watch BBC iPlayer directly on your browser, on any desktop PC/MAC or laptop.
BBC iPlayer also has an app for smartphones (both Android and iOS) and tablets.
And last but not least, you can also buy a cheap streaming device, such as the Amazon Fire TV, Roku or Chromecast, and connect it to your TV – as they all have a BBC iPlayer app (as well as apps for many other streaming services).
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