Question

Assume iOS 3.2 or later. What is the proper sequence of command to play a move with the controls initially hidden. When the movie is playing, the user has the option to tag on screen and show controls.

Thanks!

My (control not hidden) code:

- (void)playMovie
{
    NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"Test" ofType:@"m4v"]];  
    MPMoviePlayerController *moviePlayer = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:url];  

    // Register to receive a notification when the movie has finished playing.  
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self  
                                             selector:@selector(movieDone:)  
                                                 name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification  
                                               object:moviePlayer];  

    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self  
                                             selector:@selector(movieState:)  
                                                 name:MPMoviePlayerNowPlayingMovieDidChangeNotification  
                                               object:moviePlayer];  

    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self 
                                             selector:@selector(movieReady:) 
                                                 name:MPMoviePlayerLoadStateDidChangeNotification 
                                               object:nil];

    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(willEnterFullScreen:) name:MPMoviePlayerWillEnterFullscreenNotification object:moviePlayer];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(willExitFullScreen:) name:MPMoviePlayerWillExitFullscreenNotification object:moviePlayer];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(didFinishPlayback:) name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification object:moviePlayer];


    if ([moviePlayer respondsToSelector:@selector(setFullscreen:animated:)]) {  
        moviePlayer.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyleDefault; // MPMovieControlStyleNone MPMovieControlStyleEmbedded MPMovieControlStyleFullscreen MPMovieControlStyleDefault
        moviePlayer.scalingMode = MPMovieScalingModeAspectFill; // MPMovieScalingModeAspectFit MPMovieScalingModeAspectFill
    }   
}

- (void) movieReady:(NSNotification*)notification 
{
    MPMoviePlayerController *moviePlayer = [notification object];  

    if ([moviePlayer loadState] != MPMovieLoadStateUnknown) {
        // Remove observer
        [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self  
                                                        name:MPMoviePlayerLoadStateDidChangeNotification  
                                                      object:nil];

        // When tapping movie, status bar will appear, it shows up
        // in portrait mode by default. Set orientation to landscape
        [[UIApplication sharedApplication] setStatusBarOrientation:UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeLeft animated:NO];
        [[UIApplication sharedApplication] setStatusBarHidden:YES withAnimation:UIStatusBarAnimationNone];

        // Add movie player as subview
        [[self view] addSubview:[moviePlayer view]];   

        // Play the movie
        [moviePlayer play];
        [moviePlayer setFullscreen:YES animated:YES];       
    }
}

Answer 1

[Update] As proposed by @ReinYem, a much better solution is to rely on a MPMoviePlayerLoadStateDidChangeNotification instead of a timer.

Actually, the following solution should not be considered anymore:

Set controlStyle property to MPMovieControlStyleNone initially, and then set it to MPMovieControlStyleFullscreen one second later using a [performSelector:withObject:afterDelay:1].
It works well, controls do not appear until user taps on video.