ExoPlayer in Android with Example

ExoPlayerView is one of the most used UI components in many apps such as YouTube, Netflix, and many video streaming platforms. ExoPlayerView is used for audio as well as video streaming in Android apps. Many Google apps use ExoPlayerView for streaming audios and videos. ExoPlayer is a media player library that provides a way to play audio and video with lots of customization in it. It is an alternative that is used to play videos and audios in Android along with MediaPlayer. ExoPlayer is a library that is the best alternative source for playing audio and videos on Android. This library will also help you to customize your media player according to our requirements. 

Advantages of Using ExoPlayer

• ExoPlayer provides the support for the playlist and with this, you can clip or merge your media.
• With the help of ExoPlayer, you can directly fetch media files such as audios and videos directly from the internet and play them inside the ExoPlayer.
• It provides smooth encryption and streaming of video and audio files.
• ExoPlayer provides you the ability to customize your media player according to your requirements.

ExoPlayer vs MediaPlayer 

Step by Step Implementation of ExoPlayer in Android

We will be creating a simple video player app in which we will be fetching a video from a URL and play that video inside our ExoPlayer.

Step 1: Create a New Project

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio.

Note: that select Java as the programming language.

Step 2: Add dependency to the build.gradle(Module:app)

Navigate to the Gradle Scripts > build.gradle(Module:app) and add the below dependency in the dependencies section. 

implementation "androidx.media3:media3-exoplayer:1.3.1"
implementation "androidx.media3:media3-exoplayer-dash:1.3.1"
implementation "androidx.media3:media3-ui:1.3.1"

After adding this dependency sync the project.

Note: This is the latest version androidx.media3 all the previous versions are considered depreciated.

Step 3: Add internet permission in your Manifest file

Navigate to the app > manifest folder and write down the following permissions to it. 

<!--Internet permission and network access permission-->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>

Step 4: Working with the activity_main.xml

Now we will start implementing our ExoPlayerView in our XML file. Navigate to the app > res > layout > activity_main.xml. Inside that file add the below code.

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <androidx.media3.ui.PlayerView
        android:id="@+id/player_view"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        app:use_controller="true"
        app:resize_mode="fit"/>
</RelativeLayout>

Step 5: Working with the MainActivity.java file

Navigate to the app > java > your apps package name > MainActivity.java file. Inside that file add the below code. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

package com.geeksforgeeks.exoplayer;

import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.media3.common.MediaItem;
import androidx.media3.exoplayer.ExoPlayer;
import androidx.media3.ui.PlayerView;


public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    private ExoPlayer player;
    private PlayerView playerView;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);


        playerView = findViewById(R.id.player_view);

        // Initialize ExoPlayer
        player = new ExoPlayer.Builder(this).build();
        playerView.setPlayer(player);

        // Build the MediaItem
        String videoUrl = "https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/20201217163353/Screenrecorder-2020-12-17-16-32-03-350.mp4";
        Uri uri = Uri.parse(videoUrl);
        MediaItem mediaItem = MediaItem.fromUri(uri);

        // Prepare the player with the media item
        player.setMediaItem(mediaItem);
        player.prepare();
        player.setPlayWhenReady(true); // Start playing when ready
    }

    @Override
    protected void onStop() {
        super.onStop();
        if (player != null) {
            player.release();
            player = null;
        }
    }
}

Note: We have used this video in this project.

Output: 

Check out the project in GitHub: Link for the Project