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I have minimal knowledge imaginable when it comes to videos. Nonetheless, I am building an app that requires the following functionality: given the url of a video, play the video. This seemingly simple task has proven very difficult for me. Here is my code:

XML:

 <VideoView 
 android:id="@+id/videoview" 
 android:layout_width="match_parent"
 android:layout_height="match_parent"
 android:layout_gravity="center"
 android:background="@color/primary_dark"/>

JAVA:

 private void setupVideoToPlay(Bundle savedInstanceState,View parent) { mVideoView=(VideoView)parent.findViewById(R.id.videoview);
 mMediaController=new MediaController(getContext()); mMediaController.setAnchorView(mVideoView); mVideoView.setMediaController(mMediaController);
 mVideoView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse(mVideoUrl));
 mVideoView.requestFocus(); if(null != savedInstanceState ) { int position = savedInstanceState.getInt(VIDEO_SEEK_POSITION); mVideoView.seekTo(position); } else { mVideoView.start();
 } }

And here is the error I am getting:

D/MediaPlayer﹕ setDataSource IOException happend : java.io.FileNotFoundException: No content provider: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=c4rSDxwHJI0 at android.content.ContentResolver.openTypedAssetFileDescriptor(ContentResolver.java:1074) at android.content.ContentResolver.openAssetFileDescriptor(ContentResolver.java:927) at android.content.ContentResolver.openAssetFileDescriptor(ContentResolver.java:854) at android.media.MediaPlayer.setDataSource(MediaPlayer.java:1085) at android.widget.VideoView.openVideo(VideoView.java:370) at android.widget.VideoView.access$2100(VideoView.java:73) at android.widget.VideoView$7.surfaceCreated(VideoView.java:651) at android.view.SurfaceView.updateWindow(SurfaceView.java:606) at android.view.SurfaceView$3.onPreDraw(SurfaceView.java:184) at android.view.ViewTreeObserver.dispatchOnPreDraw(ViewTreeObserver.java:895) at android.view.ViewRootImpl.performTraversals(ViewRootImpl.java:2158) at android.view.ViewRootImpl.doTraversal(ViewRootImpl.java:1185) at android.view.ViewRootImpl$TraversalRunnable.run(ViewRootImpl.java:6591) at android.view.Choreographer$CallbackRecord.run(Choreographer.java:777) at android.view.Choreographer.doCallbacks(Choreographer.java:590) at android.view.Choreographer.doFrame(Choreographer.java:560) at android.view.Choreographer$FrameDisplayEventReceiver.run(Choreographer.java:763) at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:739) at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:95) at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:145) at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5837) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:1388) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:1183)

The funny thing is I can see the controls fat the bottom of the VideoView for a brief moment. But there is no video playing and the VideoView background is all that shows. Does anyone know how I might fix this?

Aside

Otherwise are there known libraries out there that can do this? Ideally I want to be able to use youtube video links or any other video links. I have looked at ExoPlayer and Protyposis but both have words/concepts that are way above my head; words such as, TrackRenderer and ChunkSampleSource, to name two. Also, the Youtube API itself seems to have a few problematic requirements: the device must have the Youtube app installed, and I must provide videoId as opposed to url of video. (I haven’t looked deep enough to see if the videoId can be parsed from the url).

NOTE

I have tried this with Youtube video links and non-Youtube video links. And for the Youtube links, I right-click on the video itself to get the link.

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  • 1. the URL is not a video link, it is a link to a webpage that plays a video 2. its easy enough just to pass the link via intent to the YouTube app to play, if all your videos will be on YouTube that could be an easy way to play the video. Commented Sep 23, 2015 at 21:41
  • The videos will not all be youtube videos. And even if they were, I want users to watch the videos from inside my app. Here is a random video I found through a Google search http://i.istockimg.com/video_passthrough/63649595/153/63649595.mp4. And since it ends in .mp4, I assume it is a video, not just a website that plays a video. Commented Sep 23, 2015 at 21:48

1 Answer 1

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Does anyone know how I might fix this?

Provide a Uri to a video that is in one of the supported media formats and served via one of the supported protocols, instead of a Uri to a Web page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=c4rSDxwHJI0 is a Web page.

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4 Comments

Is this too a webpage? http://i.istockimg.com/video_passthrough/63649595/153/63649595.mp4? It is not working for that either. Also if you don't mind, do you know a valid video url I might try? I need any help I can get.
@KatedralPillon: No, that would appear to be a direct link to an MP4 video. I haven't used VideoView to play a remote video, nor would I. I'd manage my own MediaPlayer, TextureView, and custom controller.
@CommonsWare Do you know why in some cases VideoView through this error when we pass direct .mp4 link. In my case the same VideoView plays certain .mp4 from a link and for some it throws this error. Actually I a trying to play Google IMA ads on VideoView where I am facing this issue. Would you suggest Exoplayer? or it can be tackled by VideoView itself?
@VinayakBevinakatti: I recommend that you ask a separate Stack Overflow question, where you can provide a minimal reproducible example demonstrating your problem.

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