react-native-video

A <Video> component for react-native, as seen in react-native-login!

Requires react-native >= 0.40.0

Version 4.0.0 breaking changes

Version 4.0.0 now requires Android SDK 26 or higher to use ExoPlayer. This is the default version as of React Native 0.56 and will be required by Google for all apps in October 2018.

Version 3.0.0 breaking changes

Version 3.0 features a number of changes to existing behavior. See Updating for changes.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Usage
• iOS App Transport Security
• Audio Mixing
• Android Expansion File Usage
• Updating

Installation

Using npm:

npm install --save react-native-video

or using yarn:

yarn add react-native-video

Then follow the instructions for your platform to link react-native-video into your project:

iOS

Standard Method

Run react-native link react-native-video to link the react-native-video library.

Using CocoaPods (required to enable caching)

Setup your Podfile like it is described in the react-native documentation.

Depending on your requirements you have to choose between the two possible subpodspecs:

Video only:

  pod 'Folly', :podspec => '../node_modules/react-native/third-party-podspecs/Folly.podspec'
+  `pod 'react-native-video', :path => '../node_modules/react-native-video/react-native-video.podspec'`
end

Video with caching (more info):

  pod 'Folly', :podspec => '../node_modules/react-native/third-party-podspecs/Folly.podspec'
+  `pod 'react-native-video/VideoCaching', :path => '../node_modules/react-native-video/react-native-video.podspec'`
end

tvOS

react-native link react-native-video doesn’t work properly with the tvOS target so we need to add the library manually.

First select your project in Xcode.

After that, select the tvOS target of your application and select « General » tab

Scroll to « Linked Frameworks and Libraries » and tap on the + button

Select RCTVideo-tvOS

Android

Run react-native link react-native-video to link the react-native-video library.

Or if you have trouble, make the following additions to the given files manually:

android/settings.gradle

The newer ExoPlayer library will work for most people.

include ':react-native-video'
project(':react-native-video').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../node_modules/react-native-video/android-exoplayer')

If you need to use the old Android MediaPlayer based player, use the following instead:

include ':react-native-video'
project(':react-native-video').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../node_modules/react-native-video/android')

android/app/build.gradle

dependencies {
   ...
   compile project(':react-native-video')
}

MainApplication.java

On top, where imports are:

import com.brentvatne.react.ReactVideoPackage;

Add the ReactVideoPackage class to your list of exported packages.

@Override
protected List<ReactPackage> getPackages() {
    return Arrays.asList(
            new MainReactPackage(),
            new ReactVideoPackage()
    );
}

Windows

Make the following additions to the given files manually:

windows/myapp.sln

Add the ReactNativeVideo project to your solution.

1. Open the solution in Visual Studio 2015
2. Right-click Solution icon in Solution Explorer > Add > Existing Project

• UWP: Select node_modules\react-native-video\windows\ReactNativeVideo\ReactNativeVideo.csproj
• WPF: Select node_modules\react-native-video\windows\ReactNativeVideo.Net46\ReactNativeVideo.Net46.csproj

windows/myapp/myapp.csproj

Add a reference to ReactNativeVideo to your main application project. From Visual Studio 2015:

1. Right-click main application project > Add > Reference...

• UWP: Check ReactNativeVideo from Solution Projects.
• WPF: Check ReactNativeVideo.Net46 from Solution Projects.

MainPage.cs

Add the ReactVideoPackage class to your list of exported packages.

using ReactNative;
using ReactNative.Modules.Core;
using ReactNative.Shell;
using ReactNativeVideo; // <-- Add this
using System.Collections.Generic;
...

        public override List<IReactPackage> Packages
        {
            get
            {
                return new List<IReactPackage>
                {
                    new MainReactPackage(),
                    new ReactVideoPackage(), // <-- Add this
                };
            }
        }

...

Usage

// Load the module

import Video from 'react-native-video';

// Within your render function, assuming you have a file called
// "background.mp4" in your project. You can include multiple videos
// on a single screen if you like.

<Video source={{uri: "background"}}   // Can be a URL or a local file.
       ref={(ref) => {
         this.player = ref
       }}                                      // Store reference
       onBuffer={this.onBuffer}                // Callback when remote video is buffering
       onEnd={this.onEnd}                      // Callback when playback finishes
       onError={this.videoError}               // Callback when video cannot be loaded
       style={styles.backgroundVideo} />

// Later on in your styles..
var styles = StyleSheet.create({
  backgroundVideo: {
    position: 'absolute',
    top: 0,
    left: 0,
    bottom: 0,
    right: 0,
  },
});

Configurable props

• allowsExternalPlayback
• audioOnly
• bufferConfig
• ignoreSilentSwitch
• muted
• paused
• playInBackground
• playWhenInactive
• poster
• posterResizeMode
• progressUpdateInterval
• rate
• repeat
• resizeMode
• selectedAudioTrack
• selectedTextTrack
• source
• stereoPan
• textTracks
• useTextureView
• volume

Event props

• onAudioBecomingNoisy
• onFullscreenPlayerWillPresent
• onFullscreenPlayerDidPresent
• onFullscreenPlayerWillDismiss
• onFullscreenPlayerDidDismiss
• onLoad
• onLoadStart
• onProgress
• onTimedMetadata

Methods

• dismissFullscreenPlayer
• presentFullscreenPlayer
• seek

Configurable props

allowsExternalPlayback

Indicates whether the player allows switching to external playback mode such as AirPlay or HDMI.

• true (default) - allow switching to external playback mode
• false - Don't allow switching to external playback mode

Platforms: iOS

audioOnly

Indicates whether the player should only play the audio track and instead of displaying the video track, show the poster instead.

• false (default) - Display the video as normal
• true - Show the poster and play the audio

For this to work, the poster prop must be set.

Platforms: all

bufferConfig

Adjust the buffer settings. This prop takes an object with one or more of the properties listed below.

Property	Type	Description
minBufferMs	number	The default minimum duration of media that the player will attempt to ensure is buffered at all times, in milliseconds.
maxBufferMs	number	The default maximum duration of media that the player will attempt to buffer, in milliseconds.
bufferForPlaybackMs	number	The default duration of media that must be buffered for playback to start or resume following a user action such as a seek, in milliseconds.
playbackAfterRebufferMs	number	The default duration of media that must be buffered for playback to resume after a rebuffer, in milliseconds. A rebuffer is defined to be caused by buffer depletion rather than a user action.

This prop should only be set when you are setting the source, changing it after the media is loaded will cause it to be reloaded.

Example with default values:

bufferConfig={{
  minBufferMs: 15000,
  maxBufferMs: 50000,
  bufferForPlaybackMs: 2500,
  bufferForPlaybackAfterRebufferMs: 5000
}}

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer

ignoreSilentSwitch

Controls the iOS silent switch behavior

• "inherit" (default) - Use the default AVPlayer behavior
• "ignore" - Play audio even if the silent switch is set
• "obey" - Don't play audio if the silent switch is set

Platforms: iOS

muted

Controls whether the audio is muted

• false (default) - Don't mute audio
• true - Mute audio

Platforms: all

paused

Controls whether the media is paused

• false (default) - Don't pause the media
• true - Pause the media

Platforms: all

playInBackground

Determine whether the media should continue playing while the app is in the background. This allows customers to continue listening to the audio.

• false (default) - Don't continue playing the media
• true - Continue playing the media

To use this feature on iOS, you must:

• Enable Background Audio in your Xcode project
• Set the ignoreSilentSwitch prop to "ignore"

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS

playWhenInactive

Determine whether the media should continue playing when notifications or the Control Center are in front of the video.

• false (default) - Don't continue playing the media
• true - Continue playing the media

Platforms: iOS

poster

An image to display while the video is loading
Value: string with a URL for the poster, e.g. "https://baconmockup.com/300/200/"

Platforms: all

posterResizeMode

Determines how to resize the poster image when the frame doesn't match the raw video dimensions.

• "contain" (default) - Scale the image uniformly (maintain the image's aspect ratio) so that both dimensions (width and height) of the image will be equal to or less than the corresponding dimension of the view (minus padding).
• "center" - Center the image in the view along both dimensions. If the image is larger than the view, scale it down uniformly so that it is contained in the view.
• "cover" - Scale the image uniformly (maintain the image's aspect ratio) so that both dimensions (width and height) of the image will be equal to or larger than the corresponding dimension of the view (minus padding).
• "none" - Don't apply resize
• "repeat" - Repeat the image to cover the frame of the view. The image will keep its size and aspect ratio. (iOS only)
• "stretch" - Scale width and height independently, This may change the aspect ratio of the src.

Platforms: all

progressUpdateInterval

Delay in milliseconds between onProgress events in milliseconds.

Default: 250.0

Platforms: all

rate

Speed at which the media should play.

• 0.0 - Pauses the video
• 1.0 - Play at normal speed
• Other values - Slow down or speed up playback

Platforms: all

Note: For Android MediaPlayer, rate is only supported on Android 6.0 and higher devices.

repeat

Determine whether to repeat the video when the end is reached

• false (default) - Don't repeat the video
• true - Repeat the video

Platforms: all

resizeMode

Determines how to resize the video when the frame doesn't match the raw video dimensions.

• "none" (default) - Don't apply resize
• "contain" - Scale the video uniformly (maintain the video's aspect ratio) so that both dimensions (width and height) of the video will be equal to or less than the corresponding dimension of the view (minus padding).
• "cover" - Scale the video uniformly (maintain the video's aspect ratio) so that both dimensions (width and height) of the image will be equal to or larger than the corresponding dimension of the view (minus padding).
• "stretch" - Scale width and height independently, This may change the aspect ratio of the src.

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS, Windows UWP

selectedAudioTrack

Configure which audio track, if any, is played.

selectedAudioTrack={{
  type: Type,
  value: Value
}}

Example:

selectedAudioTrack={{
  type: "title",
  value: "Dubbing"
}}

Type	Value	Description
"system" (default)	N/A	Play the audio track that matches the system language. If none match, play the first track.
"disabled"	N/A	Turn off audio
"title"	string	Play the audio track with the title specified as the Value, e.g. "French"
"language"	string	Play the audio track with the language specified as the Value, e.g. "fr"
"index"	number	Play the audio track with the index specified as the value, e.g. 0

If a track matching the specified Type (and Value if appropriate) is unavailable, the first audio track will be played. If multiple tracks match the criteria, the first match will be used.

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, iOS

selectedTextTrack

Configure which text track (caption or subtitle), if any, is shown.

selectedTextTrack={{
  type: Type,
  value: Value
}}

Example:

selectedTextTrack={{
  type: "title",
  value: "English Subtitles"
}}

Type	Value	Description
"system" (default)	N/A	Display captions only if the system preference for captions is enabled
"disabled"	N/A	Don't display a text track
"title"	string	Display the text track with the title specified as the Value, e.g. "French 1"
"language"	string	Display the text track with the language specified as the Value, e.g. "fr"
"index"	number	Display the text track with the index specified as the value, e.g. 0

Both iOS & Android (only 4.4 and higher) offer Settings to enable Captions for hearing impaired people. If "system" is selected and the Captions Setting is enabled, iOS/Android will look for a caption that matches that customer's language and display it.

If a track matching the specified Type (and Value if appropriate) is unavailable, no text track will be displayed. If multiple tracks match the criteria, the first match will be used.

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, iOS

source

Sets the media source. You can pass an asset loaded via require or an object with a uri.

The docs for this prop are incomplete and will be updated as each option is investigated and tested.

Asset loaded via require

Example:

const sintel = require('./sintel.mp4');

source={sintel}

URI string

A number of URI schemes are supported by passing an object with a uri attribute.

Web address (http://, https://)

Example:

source={ uri: 'https://www.sample-videos.com/video/mp4/720/big_buck_bunny_720p_10mb.mp4' }

Platforms: all

File path (file://)

Example:

source={ uri: 'file:///sdcard/Movies/sintel.mp4' }

Note: Your app will need to request permission to read external storage if you're accessing a file outside your app.

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, possibly others

iPod Library (ipod-library://)

Path to a sound file in your iTunes library. Typically shared from iTunes to your app.

Example:

source={ uri: 'ipod-library:///path/to/music.mp3' }

Note: Using this feature adding an entry for NSAppleMusicUsageDescription to your Info.plist file as described here

Platforms: iOS

Other protocols

The following other types are supported on some platforms, but aren't fully documented yet: content://, ms-appx://, ms-appdata://, assets-library://

stereoPan

Adjust the balance of the left and right audio channels. Any value between –1.0 and 1.0 is accepted.

• -1.0 - Full left
• 0.0 (default) - Center
• 1.0 - Full right

Platforms: Android MediaPlayer

textTracks

Load one or more "sidecar" text tracks. This takes an array of objects representing each track. Each object should have the format:

Property	Description
title	Descriptive name for the track
language	2 letter ISO 639-1 code representing the language
type	Mime type of the track * TextTrackType.SRT - SubRip (.srt) * TextTrackType.TTML - TTML (.ttml) * TextTrackType.VTT - WebVTT (.vtt) iOS only supports VTT, Android ExoPlayer supports all 3
uri	URL for the text track. Currently, only tracks hosted on a webserver are supported

On iOS, sidecar text tracks are only supported for individual files, not HLS playlists. For HLS, you should include the text tracks as part of the playlist.

Example:

import { TextTrackType }, Video from 'react-native-video';

textTracks={[
  {
    title: "English CC",
    language: "en",
    type: TextTrackType.VTT, // "text/vtt"
    uri: "https://bitdash-a.akamaihd.net/content/sintel/subtitles/subtitles_en.vtt"
  },
  {
    title: "Spanish Subtitles",
    language: "es",
    type: TextTrackType.SRT, // "application/x-subrip"
    uri: "https://durian.blender.org/wp-content/content/subtitles/sintel_es.srt"
  }
]}

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, iOS

useTextureView

Output to a TextureView instead of the default SurfaceView. In general, you will want to use SurfaceView because it is more efficient and provides better performance. However, SurfaceViews has two limitations:

• It can't be animated, transformed or scaled
• You can't overlay multiple SurfaceViews

useTextureView can only be set at same time you're setting the source.

• false (default) - Use a SurfaceView
• true - Use a TextureView

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer

volume

Adjust the volume.

• 1.0 (default) - Play at full volume
• 0.0 - Mute the audio
• Other values - Reduce volume

Platforms: all

Event props

onAudioBecomingNoisy

Callback function that is called when the audio is about to become 'noisy' due to a change in audio outputs. Typically this is called when audio output is being switched from an external source like headphones back to the internal speaker. It's a good idea to pause the media when this happens so the speaker doesn't start blasting sound.

Payload: none

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, iOS

onFullscreenPlayerWillPresent

Callback function that is called when the player is about to enter fullscreen mode.

Payload: none

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS

onFullscreenPlayerDidPresent

Callback function that is called when the player has entered fullscreen mode.

Payload: none

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS

onFullscreenPlayerWillDismiss

Callback function that is called when the player is about to exit fullscreen mode.

Payload: none

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS

onFullscreenPlayerDidDismiss

Callback function that is called when the player has exited fullscreen mode.

Payload: none

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS

onLoad

Callback function that is called when the media is loaded and ready to play.

Payload:

Property	Type	Description
currentPosition	number	Time in seconds where the media will start
duration	number	Length of the media in seconds
naturalSize	object	Properties: * width - Width in pixels that the video was encoded at * height - Height in pixels that the video was encoded at * orientation - "portrait" or "landscape"
audioTracks	array	An array of audio track info objects with the following properties: * index - Index number * title - Description of the track * language - 2 letter ISO 639-1 or 3 letter ISO639-2 language code * type - Mime type of track
textTracks	array	An array of text track info objects with the following properties: * index - Index number * title - Description of the track * language - 2 letter ISO 639-1 or 3 letter ISO 639-2 language code * type - Mime type of track

Example:

{ 
  canPlaySlowForward: true,
  canPlayReverse: false,
  canPlaySlowReverse: false,
  canPlayFastForward: false,
  canStepForward: false,
  canStepBackward: false,
  currentTime: 0,
  duration: 5910.208984375,
  naturalSize: {
     height: 1080
     orientation: 'landscape'
     width: '1920'
  },
  audioTracks: [
    { language: 'es', title: 'Spanish', type: 'audio/mpeg', index: 0 },
    { language: 'en', title: 'English', type: 'audio/mpeg', index: 1 }
  ],
  textTracks: [
    { title: '#1 French', language: 'fr', index: 0, type: 'text/vtt' },
    { title: '#2 English CC', language: 'en', index: 1, type: 'text/vtt' },
    { title: '#3 English Director Commentary', language: 'en', index: 2, type: 'text/vtt' }
  ]
}

Platforms: all

onLoadStart

Callback function that is called when the media starts loading.

Payload:

Property	Description
isNetwork	boolean
type	string
uri	string

Example:

{
  isNetwork: true,
  type: '',
  uri: 'https://bitdash-a.akamaihd.net/content/sintel/hls/playlist.m3u8'
}

Platforms: all

onProgress

Callback function that is called every progressInterval seconds with info about which position the media is currently playing.

Property	Type	Description
currentTime	number	Current position in seconds
playableDuration	number	Position to where the media can be played to using just the buffer in seconds
seekableDuration	number	Position to where the media can be seeked to in seconds. Typically, the total length of the media

Example:

{
  currentTime: 5.2,
  playableDuration: 34.6,
  seekableDuration: 888
}

onTimedMetadata

Callback function that is called when timed metadata becomes available

Payload:

Property	Type	Description
metadata	array	Array of metadata objects

Example:

{
  metadata: [
    { value: 'Streaming Encoder', identifier: 'TRSN' },
    { value: 'Internet Stream', identifier: 'TRSO' },
    { value: 'Any Time You Like', identifier: 'TIT2' }
  ]
}

Support for timed metadata on Android MediaPlayer is limited at best and only compatible with some videos. It requires a target SDK of 23 or higher.

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS

Methods

Methods operate on a ref to the Video element. You can create a ref using code like:

return (
  <Video source={...}
    ref => (this.player = ref) />
);

dismissFullscreenPlayer

dismissFullscreenPlayer()

Take the player out of fullscreen mode.

Example:

this.player.dismissFullscreenPlayer();

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS

FullscreenPlayer

presentFullscreenPlayer()

Put the player in fullscreen mode.

On iOS, this displays the video in a fullscreen view controller with controls.

On Android ExoPlayer & MediaPlayer, this puts the navigation controls in fullscreen mode. It is not a complete fullscreen implementation, so you will still need to apply a style that makes the width and height match your screen dimensions to get a fullscreen video.

Example:

this.player.presentFullscreenPlayer();

Platforms: Android ExoPlayer, Android MediaPlayer, iOS

seek()

seek(seconds)

Seek to the specified position represented by seconds. seconds is a float value.

seek() can only be called after the onLoad event has fired.

Example:

this.player.seek(200); // Seek to 3 minutes, 20 seconds

Platforms: all

Exact seek

By default iOS seeks within 100 milliseconds of the target position. If you need more accuracy, you can use the seek with tolerance method:

seek(seconds, tolerance)

tolerance is the max distance in milliseconds from the seconds position that's allowed. Using a more exact tolerance can cause seeks to take longer. If you want to seek exactly, set tolerance to 0.

Example:

this.player.seek(120, 50); // Seek to 2 minutes with +/- 50 milliseconds accuracy

Platforms: iOS

iOS App Transport Security

• By default, iOS will only load encrypted (https) urls. If you want to load content from an unencrypted (http) source, you will need to modify your Info.plist file and add the following entry:

For more detailed info check this article

Audio Mixing

At some point in the future, react-native-video will include an Audio Manager for configuring how videos mix with other apps playing sounds on the device.

On iOS, if you would like to allow other apps to play music over your video component, make the following change:

AppDelegate.m

#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>  // import

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
  ...
  [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryAmbient error:nil];  // allow
  ...
}

You can also use the ignoreSilentSwitch prop.

Android Expansion File Usage

Expansions files allow you to ship assets that exceed the 100MB apk size limit and don't need to be updated each time you push an app update.

This only supports mp4 files and they must not be compressed. Example command line for preventing compression:

zip -r -n .mp4 *.mp4 player.video.example.com

// Within your render function, assuming you have a file called
// "background.mp4" in your expansion file. Just add your main and (if applicable) patch version
<Video source={{uri: "background", mainVer: 1, patchVer: 0}} // Looks for .mp4 file (background.mp4) in the given expansion version.
       resizeMode="cover"           // Fill the whole screen at aspect ratio.
       style={styles.backgroundVideo} />

### Load files with the RN Asset System

The asset system [introduced in RN `0.14`](http://www.reactnative.com/react-native-v0-14-0-released/) allows loading image resources shared across iOS and Android without touching native code. As of RN `0.31` [the same is true](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/commit/91ff6868a554c4930fd5fda6ba8044dbd56c8374) of mp4 video assets for Android. As of [RN `0.33`](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases/tag/v0.33.0) iOS is also supported. Requires `react-native-video@0.9.0`.

<Video source={require('../assets/video/turntable.mp4')} />

### Play in background on iOS

To enable audio to play in background on iOS the audio session needs to be set to `AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback`. See [Apple documentation][3] for additional details. (NOTE: there is now a ticket to [expose this as a prop]( https://github.com/react-native-community/react-native-video/issues/310) )

## Examples

- See an [Example integration][1] in `react-native-login` *note that this example uses an older version of this library, before we used `export default` -- if you use `require` you will need to do `require('react-native-video').default` as per instructions above.*
- Try the included [VideoPlayer example][2] yourself:

   ```sh
   git clone git@github.com:react-native-community/react-native-video.git
   cd react-native-video/example
   npm install
   open ios/VideoPlayer.xcodeproj

Then Cmd+R to start the React Packager, build and run the project in the simulator.

• Lumpen Radio contains another example integration using local files and full screen background video.

Updating

Version 3.0

All platforms now auto-play

Previously, on Android ExoPlayer if the paused prop was not set, the media would not automatically start playing. The only way it would work was if you set paused={false}. This has been changed to automatically play if paused is not set so that the behavior is consistent across platforms.

All platforms now keep their paused state when returning from the background

Previously, on Android MediaPlayer if you setup an AppState event when the app went into the background and set a paused prop so that when you returned to the app the video would be paused it would be ignored.

Note, Windows does not have a concept of an app going into the background, so this doesn't apply there.

Use Android SDK 27 by default

Version 3.0 updates the Android build tools and SDK to version 27. React Native is in the process of switchting over to SDK 27 in preparation for Google's requirement that new Android apps use SDK 26 by August 2018.

You will either need to install the version 27 SDK and version 27.0.3 buildtools or modify your build.gradle file to configure react-native-video to use the same build settings as the rest of your app as described below.

Using app build settings

You will need to create a project.ext section in the top-level build.gradle file (not app/build.gradle). Fill in the values from the example below using the values found in your app/build.gradle file.

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

buildscript {
    ... // Various other settings go here
}

allprojects {
    ... // Various other settings go here

    project.ext {
        compileSdkVersion = 23
        buildToolsVersion = "23.0.1"

        minSdkVersion = 16
        targetSdkVersion = 22
    }
}

If you encounter an error Could not find com.android.support:support-annotations:27.0.0. reinstall your Android Support Repository.

TODOS

• Add support for playing multiple videos in a sequence (will interfere with current repeat implementation)
• Callback to get buffering progress for remote videos
• Bring API closer to HTML5 <Video> reference

---

MIT Licensed