Open Radar

 
Summary:
The error reporting of the App Preview Video upload for iOS apps in iTunes Connect is flawed. When a failure is encountered, it is in some cases not clear what the underlying problem is, whether it's the user's fault or a problem with the iTunes Connect service, and what the user can do, if anything, to correct it.

The particular issue we encountered is that there appears to be a very short timeout on the maximum allowed time for uploading app preview videos. The error message given, "Your file could not be loaded. Try again." does not even hint that this is the apparent problem. The only reason we even know this was the issue is because after many failed attempts with different video export parameters we eventually tried the upload on an internet connection with a faster upload speed, which worked on the first attempt.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Get an iOS app submission ready, using Safari on OS X Yosemite.
2. Prepare an App Preview video in iMovie, say with a file size of around 40MB.
3. Connect to the web using an internet connection that has an upload speed of probably over 90% of the world's internet connections, e.g. an ADSL connection with 800kbit/s uplink as is very common in Europe. Alternatively, use Link Conditioner to simulate such a connection.
4. Attempt to upload the video as the app preview.

Expected Results:
The upload should successfully complete in around 9-10 minutes.

Actual Results:
After 9-10 minutes, the video preview in the UI gets a red frame, and shows the error "Your file could not be loaded. Try again." if you hover over it with the mouse.

Version:
Safari 8.0.2, OSX Yosemite 10.10.2

Notes:
If the upload times out, or fails for some other reason, the error message should reflect that, and suggest what the user can do about it. If the message mentioned "timeout" or "took too long" at any point, this would have saved a lot of time.

Configuration:
 * OSX Yosemite 10.10.2
 * Safari 8.0.3
 * 38.5MB App Preview video created in iMovie

Fails: ADSL internet connection with 10Mbit/s download, 0.8Mbit/s upload speeds

Succeeds: Mac using an iPhone 5's 10Mbit/s down, 3.5 Mbit/s up 3G connection via Personal Hotspot.

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