Skip to main content
Version: iOS SDK v1.3.0

Concepts

The entry point for the player SDK is the PlayerProtocol protocol. This protocol provides functions to control video playback, content, position and rendering.

The player will forward all relevant events to subscribers that were registered with the addObserver function. We recommend listening at least to the error event:

class CustomPlayerObserver : PlayerObserver { 
func playerError(_ error: Error) {
// handle error
}
}
let player: PlayerProtocol = ...
let observer = CustomPlayerObserver()
player.addObserver(observer) // or more easily, self

We provide different implementations that can be used within your app depending on your needs, but all of them share the same API surface described below.

Player protocol

Playback control

Playback is controlled through simple play and pause functions.

// Starts playback of previously added content
func play()

// Pauses playback of previously added content
func pause()

// Calls play if paused, pause if playing
func toggle()

// Like pause(), but the content position is reset to 0
func stop()

Content control

All player implementations can play a single Video object, a list of Videos or a Playlist. As soon as the content is set through set (regardless of the play flag), it starts being buffered and prepared for playback.

// Stops playback and sets new content, which will be buffered.
// If play is true, starts playing as soon as possible.
func set(video: Video, play: Bool)
func set(videos: [Video], at: Int, play: Bool)
func set<P : Playlist>(playlist: P, at: Int, play: Bool)

// Stops playback and clears any content that was previously added
// through `set` functions.
func reset()

Position control

At any given time, you can retrieve the content duration and the current playback position. Buffering will proceed efficiently as the content is played.

We also offer seek* functions to change the current position.

// The duration of the current content 
var duration: TimeInterval { get }

// the current playback position
var position: TimeInterval { get }

// seeks to the given position
func seek(to: TimeInterval, completion: @escaping (Bool) -> Void)

Other options

We also offer a few extra options that can be used to configure the player:

  • aspectMode: either AspectMode.fill, AspectMode.crop or AspectMode.letterbox.
  • loop: whether the video should be re-played once it ends.
  • muted: whether the audio is muted or not.
  • playbackQuality: either .auto (recommended) or a fixed value (.fixed(Rendition)).
  • speed: a Float controlling the playback speed.

There are also more advanced options which are less frequently used. These can be found by checking the interface ABI.

var muted: Bool { get set }
var loop: Bool { get set }
var aspectMode: AspectMode { get set }
var transition: VideoTransition? { get set }
var playbackQuality: PlaybackQuality { get set }
var speed: Float { get set }