Improve stream quality: stop capping resolution, allow AVPlayer to ramp

SingleStream: pass preserveServerResolutionWhenBest=false so "best"
always reaches the server for a full multi-variant manifest. Increase
buffer to 8s and enable automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling so AVPlayer
can measure bandwidth and select higher variants. Add quality monitor
that nudges AVPlayer if observed bandwidth far exceeds indicated bitrate.

MultiStream: remove broken URL-param resolution detection that falsely
skipped upgrades, log actual indicatedBitrate instead. Extend upgrade
check windows from [2,4,7]s to [2,4,7,15,30]s for slow-to-stabilize
streams.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

mlbTVOS/Views/DashboardView.swift

@@ -260,7 +260,11 @@ struct DashboardView: View {
             mediaId: selection.broadcast.mediaId,
             streamURLString: selection.broadcast.streamURL
         )
-        guard let url = await viewModel.resolveStreamURL(for: stream) else { return nil }
+        guard let url = await viewModel.resolveStreamURL(
+            for: stream,
+            resolutionOverride: viewModel.defaultResolution,
+            preserveServerResolutionWhenBest: false
+        ) else { return nil }
         return SingleStreamPlaybackSource(url: url)
     }
 

mlbTVOS/Views/MultiStreamView.swift

@@ -702,7 +702,7 @@ private struct MultiStreamTile: View {
         let streamID = stream.id
         let label = stream.label
         qualityUpgradeTask = Task { @MainActor in
-            let checkDelays: [Double] = [2.0, 4.0, 7.0]
+            let checkDelays: [Double] = [2.0, 4.0, 7.0, 15.0, 30.0]
 
             for delay in checkDelays {
                 try? await Task.sleep(for: .seconds(delay))
@@ -715,20 +715,15 @@ private struct MultiStreamTile: View {
                 let itemStatus = multiViewItemStatusDescription(player.currentItem?.status ?? .unknown)
                 let likelyToKeepUp = player.currentItem?.isPlaybackLikelyToKeepUp ?? false
                 let bufferEmpty = player.currentItem?.isPlaybackBufferEmpty ?? false
-                let currentResolution = currentStreamResolution(for: player) ?? "unknown"
+                let indicatedBitrate = player.currentItem?.accessLog()?.events.last?.indicatedBitrate ?? 0
                 let stable = (itemStatus == "readyToPlay" || likelyToKeepUp) && !bufferEmpty
 
                 logMultiView(
-                    "qualityUpgrade check id=\(streamID) delay=\(delay)s currentResolution=\(currentResolution) targetResolution=\(targetResolution) stable=\(stable) rate=\(player.rate)"
+                    "qualityUpgrade check id=\(streamID) delay=\(delay)s targetResolution=\(targetResolution) stable=\(stable) rate=\(player.rate) indicatedBitrate=\(Int(indicatedBitrate))"
                 )
 
                 guard stable else { continue }
 
-                if currentResolution == targetResolution {
-                    logMultiView("qualityUpgrade skip id=\(streamID) reason=already-\(targetResolution)")
-                    return
-                }
-
                 guard let upgradedURL = await viewModel.resolveStreamURL(
                     for: stream,
                     resolutionOverride: targetResolution,
@@ -764,13 +759,6 @@ private struct MultiStreamTile: View {
         (player.currentItem?.asset as? AVURLAsset)?.url
     }
 
-    private func currentStreamResolution(for player: AVPlayer) -> String? {
-        guard let url = currentStreamURL(for: player) else { return nil }
-        return URLComponents(url: url, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false)?
-            .queryItems?
-            .first(where: { $0.name == "resolution" })?
-            .value
-    }
 
     private func installClipTimeLimit(on player: AVPlayer) {
         removeClipTimeLimit(from: player)

mlbTVOS/Views/SingleStreamPlayerView.swift

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ private func singleStreamTimeControlDescription(_ status: AVPlayer.TimeControlSt
 private func makeSingleStreamPlayerItem(from source: SingleStreamPlaybackSource) -> AVPlayerItem {
     if source.httpHeaders.isEmpty {
         let item = AVPlayerItem(url: source.url)
-        item.preferredForwardBufferDuration = 2
+        item.preferredForwardBufferDuration = 8
         return item
     }
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ private func makeSingleStreamPlayerItem(from source: SingleStreamPlaybackSource)
     ]
     let asset = AVURLAsset(url: source.url, options: assetOptions)
     let item = AVPlayerItem(asset: asset)
-    item.preferredForwardBufferDuration = 2
+    item.preferredForwardBufferDuration = 8
     logSingleStream(
         "Configured authenticated AVURLAsset headerKeys=\(singleStreamHeaderKeysDescription(source.httpHeaders))"
     )
@@ -553,15 +553,16 @@ struct SingleStreamPlayerView: UIViewControllerRepresentable {
 
             let playerItem = makeSingleStreamPlayerItem(from: source)
             let player = AVPlayer(playerItem: playerItem)
-            player.automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling = false
+            player.automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling = true
             player.isMuted = source.forceMuteAudio
-            logSingleStream("Configured player for fast start preferredForwardBufferDuration=2 automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling=false")
+            logSingleStream("Configured player for quality ramp preferredForwardBufferDuration=8 automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling=true")
             context.coordinator.attachDebugObservers(to: player, url: url, resolveNextSource: resolveNextSource)
             controller.player = player
             logSingleStream("AVPlayer assigned to controller; calling playImmediately(atRate: 1.0)")
             player.playImmediately(atRate: 1.0)
             context.coordinator.installClipTimeLimit(on: player, resolveNextSource: resolveNextSource)
             context.coordinator.scheduleStartupRecovery(for: player)
+            context.coordinator.scheduleQualityMonitor(for: player)
         }
 
         return controller
@@ -597,6 +598,7 @@ struct SingleStreamPlayerView: UIViewControllerRepresentable {
         private var playerObservations: [NSKeyValueObservation] = []
         private var notificationTokens: [NSObjectProtocol] = []
         private var startupRecoveryTask: Task<Void, Never>?
+        private var qualityMonitorTask: Task<Void, Never>?
         private var clipTimeLimitObserver: Any?
         private static let maxClipDuration: Double = 15.0
         var onTogglePitchInfo: (() -> Void)?
@@ -863,9 +865,38 @@ struct SingleStreamPlayerView: UIViewControllerRepresentable {
             }
         }
 
+        func scheduleQualityMonitor(for player: AVPlayer) {
+            qualityMonitorTask?.cancel()
+            qualityMonitorTask = Task { @MainActor [weak player] in
+                // Check at 5s, 15s, and 30s whether AVPlayer has ramped to a reasonable bitrate
+                for delay in [5.0, 15.0, 30.0] {
+                    try? await Task.sleep(for: .seconds(delay))
+                    guard !Task.isCancelled, let player else { return }
+
+                    let indicatedBitrate = player.currentItem?.accessLog()?.events.last?.indicatedBitrate ?? 0
+                    let observedBitrate = player.currentItem?.accessLog()?.events.last?.observedBitrate ?? 0
+                    let likelyToKeepUp = player.currentItem?.isPlaybackLikelyToKeepUp ?? false
+
+                    logSingleStream(
+                        "qualityMonitor check delay=\(delay)s indicatedBitrate=\(Int(indicatedBitrate)) observedBitrate=\(Int(observedBitrate)) likelyToKeepUp=\(likelyToKeepUp) rate=\(player.rate)"
+                    )
+
+                    // If observed bandwidth supports higher quality but indicated is low, nudge AVPlayer
+                    if likelyToKeepUp && indicatedBitrate > 0 && observedBitrate > indicatedBitrate * 2 {
+                        logSingleStream(
+                            "qualityMonitor nudge delay=\(delay)s — observed bandwidth \(Int(observedBitrate)) >> indicated \(Int(indicatedBitrate)), setting preferredPeakBitRate=0 to uncap"
+                        )
+                        player.currentItem?.preferredPeakBitRate = 0
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         func clearDebugObservers() {
             startupRecoveryTask?.cancel()
             startupRecoveryTask = nil
+            qualityMonitorTask?.cancel()
+            qualityMonitorTask = nil
             playerObservations.removeAll()
             for token in notificationTokens {
                 NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(token)