Video Playlists on the iPad

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Video Playlists on the iPad

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Q: Is there any current way to view a smart video playlist on the iPad 2? I have smart playlist that contains videos from podcasts and TV shows (animated shorts and Sesame Street segments) that I use to play in the car for my toddler. It uploads the videos and changes them every time I sync so the content stays fresh. However, I can’t view all of the content shuffled, only by podcast or show. I’ve looked, and I can’t seem to find an app that would simply use my smart playlist so I can quickly play and randomize. Do anyone know of an alternative?

- Jon

A: Video playlists do not appear in the Videos app on the iPad, but if you’re still running iOS 4.x or earlier, you can access your video playlists through the iPod app on your device. Unfortunately, in iOS 5 Apple removed this capability when it redesigned the iPod app and rebranded it Music—the video playlists will oddly still appear in the Music app, but they won’t display any non-audio content contained in them.

Fortunately, there is a third-party app Video Playlist ($2), that can be used to sort of work around this, although it’s not nearly as efficient as using a Smart Playlist directly. What the Video Playlist app allows you to do is to import videos from a Smart Playlist or normal Playlist and then play them back in sequence from directly within the app. While you would need to update the playlist manually whenever you load the app, you can do this pretty quickly from your existing Smart Playlist, and the app provides options for both shuffling videos randomly or repeating the playlist. A free, ad-supported version, Video Playlist Lite is also available.

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