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Old Mar 13, 2014, 12:52 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: sonyeoshin
All mainline UA aircfraft should have PDE available (April 2018)
Supported devices

Courtesy of JOSECONLSCREW28

If anybody can update this wiki with roll out dates, that will be helpful!

Entertainment options:

Post Merger aircraft:
737 MAX 8 AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
737 MAX 9 PDE/Satellite WiFi OR AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi (check aircraft registration)
777-300ER AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
787-10 AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi

Pre merger Continental Airlines aircraft:
777-200ER AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
767-400ER AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
787-8 AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
787-9 AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
757-300 PDE/Satellite WiFi
757-200 AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
737-900/900ER DirecTV/PDE/Satellite WiFi OR PDE/Satellite WiFi OR AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi (check aircraft registration)
737-800 DirecTV/PDE/Satellite WiFi OR PDE/Satellite WiFi OR AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi (check aircraft registration)
737-800 Guam Based Seatback screens with looping movies
737-700 DirecTV/PDE/Satellite WiFi OR PDE/Satellite WiFi (check aircraft registration)

Pre merger United Airlines aircraft:
777-200 International AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
777-200 HD AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi (most Y cabins don't have AVOD screens, check aircraft registration)
767-300 AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi
A319/A320 PDE/Satellite WiFi OR AVOD/PDE/Satellite WiFi (check aircraft registration)

This other thread is also invaluable for general fleet updates:

United Airlines Fleet Updates [2014 Thread]
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Watch inflight movies/TV on your personal device (PDE) - Experiences, discussion,...

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Old Aug 24, 2016 | 2:40 pm
  #391  
chgodon
 
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I did select the error OK box and it took me right back to the movie list. This happened with every movie and TV show with the add-on symbol.
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Old Aug 24, 2016 | 4:27 pm
  #392  
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Originally Posted by chgodon
I tried the PDE but it did not work. All the free movies add the application 'add-on' symbol next to the titles. I check my android Samsung tab specs. Version 4.0 or later. Yep, I have 6.0. Latest United Air app. Yep, I had that too. I was advised my android needed the Foxfire browser and not Chrome. OK, so I downloaded Foxfire. Still I could not play the free movies. What a disappointment. Anybody know what add-on United is looking for? I was able to play 'one' TV show on with no problems. They only offer a house hunting show without this add-on.

Anybody have the same problem? What am I missing here?
On Android you're supposed to use the United app, you don't need to use the browser. Look for the "Entertainment" button on the main screen, or scroll down to Entertainment in the menu. I've never had issues with this.*

On "desktop" you'll need a browser, I think I've used both Firefox and Safari without issues. (Chrome are starting to remove various kinds of plugin support, hence you can't use Chrome.)


*not entirely never: I had issues with the Android 7 developer preview, but that doesn't really count since it's experimental and explictly not supported by anyone.
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Old Aug 24, 2016 | 4:32 pm
  #393  
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Sometimes the app will redirect you to the unitedwifi.com website, and you have to pick the movie on there. I haven't figured out why or in what circumstances it does.
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Old Sep 5, 2016 | 10:52 am
  #394  
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Originally Posted by LarryJ
I've used PDE on the E170/175, A319/320, and 737 without any problems on my iPad. If it isn't working reliably try another device (yours or a neighbors). If it doesn't work properly on two devices let the F/A know so that it can be written up and repaired.
My Iphone gets PDE just fine on all United flights. However, my Ipad only works on non-Gogo flights. I have never gotten it to work on the EMB-175 for example. It starts loading a movie and looks like it's about to play and then promptly exits.

Any thoughts?
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Old Sep 5, 2016 | 6:36 pm
  #395  
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Originally Posted by porciuscato
My Iphone gets PDE just fine on all United flights. However, my Ipad only works on non-Gogo flights. I have never gotten it to work on the EMB-175 for example. It starts loading a movie and looks like it's about to play and then promptly exits.

Any thoughts?
I've had mixed success watching PDE movies on Express. I've had it where:
1. Some movies/shows played, some I couldn't get to work.
2. The show I wanted froze and reset after a few minutes. Eventually, I did get it to play through.
3. The last time, everything worked fine.

Not sure what the differences were, but I think it helps to have iOS and the United app updated before your flight.
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Old Sep 18, 2016 | 10:47 am
  #396  
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Flying IAD-DEN on a 737-900 on Wednesday, I got an error message that my up-to-date copy of the Android app wasn't compatible with PDE--I could only watch the small subset of TV shows that were listed as compatible with no-plug-in viewing in a browser. Phone is a Nexus 5X upgraded to Nougat, so it's not possible to run a more current or standard version of Android. Anybody else see that?
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Old Sep 18, 2016 | 11:11 am
  #397  
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Originally Posted by DCA writer
Flying IAD-DEN on a 737-900 on Wednesday, I got an error message that my up-to-date copy of the Android app wasn't compatible with PDE--I could only watch the small subset of TV shows that were listed as compatible with no-plug-in viewing in a browser. Phone is a Nexus 5X upgraded to Nougat, so it's not possible to run a more current or standard version of Android. Anybody else see that?
Yup.. the super amazing cutting-edge, state of the art, entertainment system (better than that horrible DirectTV/seat-back system) doesn't support Android 5 or 6 OS 😬 Idiotic strategy
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Old Sep 18, 2016 | 11:19 am
  #398  
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Originally Posted by NH_Clark
Yup.. the super amazing cutting-edge, state of the art, entertainment system (better than that horrible DirectTV/seat-back system) doesn't support Android 5 or 6 OS 😬 Idiotic strategy
Nougat is Android 7, no? So one more tick for the tally of fail.
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Old Sep 18, 2016 | 7:25 pm
  #399  
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Originally Posted by fumje
Nougat is Android 7, no? So one more tick for the tally of fail.
Correct, Android 7.0. I can see the app squawking about not supporting that, but Android 6.* has been around since last October. Not supporting that would be computing malpractice.
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Old Sep 27, 2016 | 3:07 pm
  #400  
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Android 6.0 & 737's
I have Samsung Galaxy S6 mobile phone and a Galaxy Tab S2 tablet. both are running Android 6.0. My experience using PDE this year has been great on A-319/320, E175's & even a 777-200 we recently flew to Hawaii.

However, every time I try to use it on a 737, no dice. The movies with icon's won't play. Unfortunately at least 1/3 of my 80 segments this year have been on a 737.

Looking at the UA website, it says that Android 6.0 is supported on all platforms EXCEPT the 737. I attached a screenshot of the website.

Since the Android OS is on such a large percentage of mobile devices, you would think UA would get this fixed. Any idea if there is a timeline to fix this limitation, or is there no plans make the 737's compatible with Android 6.0?
Attached Images  
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Old Sep 27, 2016 | 3:26 pm
  #401  
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I have Android version 5.1.1 and mine has not worked on the last 4 737 flights I've been on. Yes, I have the latest version of the United app. I have never been able to get it to work on any windows laptop no matter the browser or windows version.

Actually, I did get it to work on a laptop once, but it was disconnecting every 2 minutes, so I finally gave up.
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Old Sep 27, 2016 | 3:35 pm
  #402  
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Interestingly I was told my "Device is not secure" "You have to disable USB debugging (Developer Options) mode in Settings on your device" when trying to watch on my N6P. I think this is new, since I've used various debugging-enabled devices with PDE in the past. (Of course since I'm on Android 7 streaming just crashes once I disable debugging.)
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Old Sep 27, 2016 | 3:41 pm
  #403  
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I have gotten error messages on the 737 that states Android 5 & 6 not supported. Tried to esc through, click through and still get error msg.
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Old Sep 27, 2016 | 9:33 pm
  #404  
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PDE has worked great for me - just need fresh movie selections sooner the later
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 5:47 am
  #405  
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Originally Posted by Lani1
PDE has worked great for me - just need fresh movie selections sooner the later
What device are you using?
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