diff --git a/ios/RCTVideo.m b/ios/RCTVideo.m
index 00b3ceb16b..f5fc612585 100644
--- a/ios/RCTVideo.m
+++ b/ios/RCTVideo.m
@@ -308,26 +308,26 @@ - (void)setSrc:(NSDictionary *)source
   [self removePlayerItemObservers];
   
   dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, (int64_t)(0 * NSEC_PER_SEC)), dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
-    
+
     // perform on next run loop, otherwise other passed react-props may not be set
     _playerItem = [self playerItemForSource:source];
     [self addPlayerItemObservers];
-    
+
     [_player pause];
     [_playerViewController.view removeFromSuperview];
     _playerViewController = nil;
-    
+
     if (_playbackRateObserverRegistered) {
       [_player removeObserver:self forKeyPath:playbackRate context:nil];
       _playbackRateObserverRegistered = NO;
     }
-    
+
     _player = [AVPlayer playerWithPlayerItem:_playerItem];
     _player.actionAtItemEnd = AVPlayerActionAtItemEndNone;
-    
+
     [_player addObserver:self forKeyPath:playbackRate options:0 context:nil];
     _playbackRateObserverRegistered = YES;
-    
+
     [self addPlayerTimeObserver];
 
     //Perform on next run loop, otherwise onVideoLoadStart is nil
@@ -347,8 +347,12 @@ - (void)setSrc:(NSDictionary *)source
 }
 
 - (NSURL*) urlFilePath:(NSString*) filepath {
-  NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
+  if ([filepath containsString:@"file://"]) {
+    return [NSURL URLWithString:filepath];
+  }
   
+  // code to support local caching
+  NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
   NSString* relativeFilePath = [filepath lastPathComponent];
   // the file may be multiple levels below the documents directory
   NSArray* fileComponents = [filepath componentsSeparatedByString:@"Documents/"];
@@ -384,7 +388,7 @@ - (AVPlayerItem*)playerItemForSource:(NSDictionary *)source
     NSArray *cookies = [[NSHTTPCookieStorage sharedHTTPCookieStorage] cookies];
     [assetOptions setObject:cookies forKey:AVURLAssetHTTPCookiesKey];
     asset = [AVURLAsset URLAssetWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:uri] options:assetOptions];
-  } else if (isAsset) { //  assets on iOS have to be in the Documents folder
+  } else if (isAsset) { //  assets on iOS can be in the Bundle or Documents folder
     asset = [AVURLAsset URLAssetWithURL:[self urlFilePath:uri] options:nil];
   } else { // file passed in through JS, or an asset in the Xcode project
     asset = [AVURLAsset URLAssetWithURL:[[NSURL alloc] initFileURLWithPath:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:uri ofType:type]] options:nil];
@@ -411,6 +415,7 @@ - (AVPlayerItem*)playerItemForSource:(NSDictionary *)source
                            atTime:kCMTimeZero
                             error:nil];
 
+  NSMutableArray* validTextTracks = [NSMutableArray array];
   for (int i = 0; i < _textTracks.count; ++i) {
     AVURLAsset *textURLAsset;
     NSString *textUri = [_textTracks objectAtIndex:i][@"uri"];
@@ -420,6 +425,8 @@ - (AVPlayerItem*)playerItemForSource:(NSDictionary *)source
       textURLAsset = [AVURLAsset URLAssetWithURL:[self urlFilePath:textUri] options:nil];
     }
     AVAssetTrack *textTrackAsset = [textURLAsset tracksWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeText].firstObject;
+    if (!textTrackAsset) continue; // fix when there's no textTrackAsset
+    [validTextTracks addObject:[_textTracks objectAtIndex:i]];
     AVMutableCompositionTrack *textCompTrack = [mixComposition
                                                 addMutableTrackWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeText
                                                 preferredTrackID:kCMPersistentTrackID_Invalid];
@@ -428,6 +435,9 @@ - (AVPlayerItem*)playerItemForSource:(NSDictionary *)source
                                 atTime:kCMTimeZero
                                  error:nil];
   }
+  if (validTextTracks.count != _textTracks.count) {
+    [self setTextTracks:validTextTracks];
+  }
 
   return [AVPlayerItem playerItemWithAsset:mixComposition];
 }
@@ -848,7 +858,10 @@ - (void) setSideloadedText {
         selectedTrackIndex = index;
       }
     }
-  } else { // type "system"
+  }
+  
+  // in the situation that a selected text track is not available (eg. specifies a textTrack not available)
+  if (![type isEqualToString:@"disabled"] && selectedTrackIndex == RCTVideoUnset) {
     CFArrayRef captioningMediaCharacteristics = MACaptionAppearanceCopyPreferredCaptioningMediaCharacteristics(kMACaptionAppearanceDomainUser);
     NSArray *captionSettings = (__bridge NSArray*)captioningMediaCharacteristics;
     if ([captionSettings containsObject:AVMediaCharacteristicTranscribesSpokenDialogForAccessibility]) {