iPad MPMoviePlayerController - Disable Fullscreen

Just did it:

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self 
                                             selector:@selector(movieEventFullscreenHandler:) 
                                                 name:MPMoviePlayerWillEnterFullscreenNotification 
                                               object:nil];

    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self 
                                             selector:@selector(movieEventFullscreenHandler:) 
                                                 name:MPMoviePlayerDidEnterFullscreenNotification 
                                               object:nil];

    self.moviePlayer.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyleEmbedded;
}

- (void)movieEventFullscreenHandler:(NSNotification*)notification {
    [self.moviePlayer setFullscreen:NO animated:NO];
    [self.moviePlayer setControlStyle:MPMovieControlStyleEmbedded];
}

There's a cheat:

MPMoviePlayerController *mpc = (...some instance...)
UIView *fsbutton = [[mpc view] viewWithTag:512];
[fsbutton setHidden:YES];

The main catch is, you have to do it in viewDidAppear: or similar, because the MoviePlayer view sets itself up somewhere inside didMoveToWindow or didMoveToSuperview, which happen after viewWillAppear:. So you get a brief flash of the fullscreen button. Other obvious catches include: brittle vs. Apple changing that 512 tag value (although it works in 3.2 - 4.2); and of course Apple would rather you not do this.

The endorsed solution is to set the control style to MPMovieControlStyleNone and roll your own transport controls, which is more work.

I know, it's a little outdated, but anyway. I did some research in that direction, and looks like a found an answer. I do not know, why it's working, but it is.

-(void) playMovieAtURL: (NSURL*) theURL {

    MPMoviePlayerController* theMovie =
    [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL: theURL];
    //That line is for ARC. Without it, it may not work.
    self.moviePlayer = theMovie;
    theMovie.scalingMode = MPMovieScalingModeAspectFill;
    theMovie.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyleFullscreen;
    theMovie.repeatMode  = MPMovieRepeatModeOne;
    //Here you'd better use your custom ViewController subclass, if you want autorotating and all that stuff.
    UIViewController * vc = [UIViewController new];
    [vc.view addSubview:theMovie.view];
    theMovie.fullscreen  = YES;
    theMovie.view.frame = vc.view.bounds;
    vc.view = theMovie.view;
    [self presentModalViewController:vc animated:YES];
    theMovie.fullscreen  = YES;

    [theMovie prepareToPlay];
    [theMovie play];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(myMovieFinishedCallback:) name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification object:nil];
}

// When the movie is done, release the controller.

-(void) myMovieFinishedCallback: (NSNotification*) aNotification
{
    [self dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
    MPMoviePlayerController* theMovie = [aNotification object];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter]
 removeObserver: self
 name: MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification
 object: theMovie];
    [self.moviePlayer.view removeFromSuperview];
    self.moviePlayer = nil;
    // Release the movie instance created in playMovieAtURL:
}