How to handle downloadable products with iOS, iPad, iPhone, etc??

Hi all! I just launched my online store today. I am only selling downloadable products (mp3, pdf's, etc). All of my product attributes for my files are in the store as ZIP files. I did this so that they are easily downloadable on any platform. I tried to upload the actual mp3 and pdf files without zipping them, and it creates a horrible user experience because once you download the file after purchase, it just opens and starts playing (mp3). As a zip, it downloads nicely.

My problem comes in with iOS users. Apparently, I am reading now that iOS doesn't know what to do with ZIP files? Are you kidding me?? So, when users try to download their files on their iPhone or iPad, it just sits there and doesnt download. This really sucks because I set up all my products with HTML 5 preview players and everything to make it iPhone and iPad compatible, and now, iOS users can't even download the files.

Please help! Has anyone out there found a workaround for this? Is there anything I can do to make my files able to be downloaded in iOS?

Any help is very much appreciated. My store URL is http://shop.dreamsongmusic.com. I am using Zen Cart 1.3.9h and a Template Monster template.

Thanks!

Any test I've done with Zen Cart and MP3/PDF files on iOS devices has downloaded the files flawlessly. Of course, you have to let them download as .mp3 or .pdf and not as .zip

There are some iOS apps capable of opening .zip files, but that won't accomplish the end result you're seeking, as it would require them to open the downloaded zip specifically into another app, and many users won't "get" that concept until they've been shown how to do it. So, that's NOT the way to go.
The right way is to serve your downloads in native file format, not zipped.

As for your files being opened in native apps on PCs, perhaps you need to change your /pub/.htaccess file and remove the # from these two lines as highlighted in red:

Code:

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  # tell all downloads to automatically be treated as "save as" instead of launching in an application directly
  # (just uncomment the next 2 lines by removing the '#'):
#  ForceType application/octet-stream
#  Header set Content-Disposition attachment


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Hi Dr Byte -
Thanks so much for looking into this for me! I think this is exactly the answer I need.

Just so I understand - removing that # will basically make browsers simply download the file instead of opening it up and playing it, correct? I just checked my file structure and I don't see a .htaccess file in the /pub directory. I guess that means I just haven't defined one? Another note: a native mp3 download opened in a native app when I ordered an item on my ipad as well. I uploaded a test item with a native mp3 file as the attribute, and instead of just downloading the file on the ipad, it opened and auto-played it in some sort of music player app.

I do have a few items that are "packages," for which I am offering one item that consists of a "package" of a mix of mp3's and pdf's. Is there an easy way to allow all of these files to be downloaded together in their native file format without zipping them up and making that ZIP file the one product attribute?

Thanks again for all of your help!

Allow me to clarify a few things:

- Yes, removing the # from the beginning of BOTH the lines mentioned will aid in telling the webserver to tell the browser that you want the file to have a "save as" option instead of opening directly in the normally-associated application. It usually works as-is, but some people need to uncomment those lines, as I mentioned. And for some, even these lines don't necessarily solve the "problem". But it's a good start.

- As for not seeing the .htaccess, it's a hidden file. The "." dot-prefix tells the computer that the file is hidden, so you won't see it in your normal file/explorer/finder window, and probably not in your FTP program either. You'll need to tell your FTP program to show hidden files if you want to see it.

- The comments I made earlier about iOS devices properly opening mp3 and pdf files does indeed refer to them opening in the iOS app normally associated with the file. So, an mp3 file would typically begin playback in the browser or perhaps a media player app such as iTunes, or prompt to open iTunes, or another app that's installed on the device. And pdf for example would probably trigger a request to open iBooks or similar.

- Your "package" option is rather confusing. How exactly were you expecting an iOS device to magically unpack your package and store or play them?

Zen Cart simply delivers the file to the browser. What the computer or mobile device does with the file after that is something outside the control of Zen Cart. You might need to engage an iOS programmer if you wish to get into changing standard behavior on iOS devices.

Hi
I went ahead and unhid the .htaccess file, and uncommented those two lines. A test order placed on my iPad still auto-played the file (a native .mp3 file) in some media player (not iTunes), while a download of the file from my PC worked correctly, and downloaded the mp3 file in my browser instead of auto-playing it. Am I understanding correctly from your comments that there is no way to get iOS to actually "download" the file onto the iPad/iPhone instead of playing it automatically in a player?

As far as the packages go, I'll try to explain better. Most of the items available in my store are set up as 1 item (like a song download), with one file attribute attached to make it a downloadable product. Each of those should be fine once I make the attributes the native files like we discussed above.

The "packages" that I was referring to, are an instance where, let's say, for one song I am selling, I have (1) an mp3 of the song, (2) an mp3 background track of the song, and (3) a pdf sheet music version of the song. I would like to sell all of these as 1 item in a "package", and give a discount on the item price for purchasing them all together. The way I have it set up now is that all 3 of those files are just zipped together, and that ZIP file is the product attribute that is downloaded. To answer your question, no, I didn't expect iOS to magically unzip them, but I was incorrectly assuming that iOS would at least download the ZIP file so the user could save it, unzip it, and view/play the files.

What I'm asking, is if there is a way to keep my package as the item (so selling the mp3 song, mp3 background track, and pdf download all in one item), with the three separate native items all attached to it separately, instead of all zipped together. Make sense? It's kind of hard to explain I guess. If it's possible, the user would still be able to purchase a "package" as 1 item, and just download each native file (mp3 song, mp3 bground track, pdf sheet music) separately, one at a time, from the download screen on checkout_success.

Let me know if that helps or if I just made it worse, lol. Thanks again for your help.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lperrie

I was incorrectly assuming that iOS would at least download the ZIP file so the user could save it, unzip it, and view/play the files.

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How do you envision the iOS device saving and unzipping the files? which app are you expecting to do that? where on the ios device do you expect it to save the files?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lperrie

Am I understanding correctly from your comments that there is no way to get iOS to actually "download" the file onto the iPad/iPhone instead of playing it automatically in a player?

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When you say "download the file onto the iPhone", please explain what you expect to take place on the device? Are you expecting it to open Siri and have her ask you whether you want to save the file to your iTunes Match library in iCloud?
Or where exactly do you envision it saving the "downloaded" file?
Walk me through your expectations.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lperrie

What I'm asking, is if there is a way to keep my package as the item (so selling the mp3 song, mp3 background track, and pdf download all in one item), with the three separate native items all attached to it separately, instead of all zipped together. Make sense? It's kind of hard to explain I guess. If it's possible, the user would still be able to purchase a "package" as 1 item, and just download each native file (mp3 song, mp3 bground track, pdf sheet music) separately, one at a time, from the download screen on checkout_success.

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Yes, simply attach 3 downloadable files to that product, instead of just one. You would need separate Option Names for each type of file, and then associate only a single Option Value to each Name when setting up the attributes with the files.

Hey,
For iOS, no special functionality, I thought it was basically just hard-coded into the OS to be able to download the file (in some sort of download window, or something) and then allow the user to unzip the files and play the mp3 in iTunes and view the PDF in the standard doc view.

Either way, doesn't really matter. I will just update all of my downloads to native file types and it should be fine. For the "packages," I will just add the multiple files as you detailed.

I guess I will just have to instruct users to make sure they download on a PC or Mac, not via iOS. I guess iOS will just auto play the file and then the user won't be able to find it. I have checked, and the file doesnt automatically show up in your iTunes list or anything beyond the first listen. Users will have to download via PC or Mac, and then transfer the file into iTunes and then onto mobile devices, etc.

Let me know if I am missing something that would allow the user to download the file via iPad or iPhone and have it permanently saved in iTunes for future listening, etc. As it is now, the file downloads, auto plays, and then the player goes away....and you have no idea where the file is or how to get back to it?

It's been awhile, but today I've finally gotten around to trying out both of these scenarios again.

When I buy and download a PDF, it opens it directly in the browser (using mobile Safari in this case), and in the upper right corner it gives me the option to Open in iBooks and another to Open In ... (which brings up a menu of other available apps for opening PDF files).

When I buy and download an MP3, I get the built-in safari media player, as you were saying. Hmmm... where did I see the option to Open in iTunes before? Grrrr

I've actually been testing mp3 downloads from some other larger companies that offer media downloads (like CBD.com), and they told me on the phone that I had to download to PC or Mac first and then transfer to mobile device. I think that is the only option. I am going through and updating all of my FAQ to instruct users to download to their PC or Mac computer FIRST and then transfer to mobile device in iTunes, etc.

I'm laughing at myself here. I think this is why people just offer their music directly through iTunes, lol. This is quite a hassle. By the time you pay a payment processor (like Paypal) their $.30 + 2.9%, the $.30 that iTunes charges doesn't look that awful. :-)

Another question - so, I'm sure I'm going to have quite a few people use up their 2 downloads (what I currently have set as the limit) trying to download on the iPad or iPhone. Is there any easy way to use Admin to go into someone's account and give them more downloads for a file AFTER they have used up the amount you originally set? I can't think of any other way I could help somebody out and get them the file at that point without just emailing it to them? That's pretty stinky lol. Any easy to way to do that?