Android compatibility

Wowza Video (Formerly Streaming Cloud)
1

Hello,

I know that Android has limitations as a livestream receiver.

What is the best way to support Android with Wowza Streaming Cloud?

In my tests I always had to install something like VNC on the devices I want to play a livestream with.

I also set every transcoder rendition to H.264 baseline, but that I did for general mobile device compatibility.

Any recommendations?

Regards,

Andreas.

2

Hi,

If running the later releases of Android (from around 4.4.x upwards) then HLS streaming appears to be becoming the norm. Older devices may play RTSP but as I’m sure you know Flash is disappearing from mobile. As mobile devices are increasing screen resolution all the time you may find baseline is not enough if targeting the larger screen devices and a High profile is preferred if sending a high resolution stream. Unfortunately due to Android’s inherent fragmented device and OS availability it’s difficult to settle on one configuration.

One option is to use something like JW Player in a browser which can switch between HLS and Flash (RMTP) and a fallback link to RTSP, thus ensuring you reach more of your audience

<html>
<head>
<title>JW Player Example</title>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/jwplayer/jwplayer.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">jwplayer.key="[jwplayer-key]";</script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="player"><a href="rtsp://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/vod/mp4:sample.mp4">RTSP Link</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
	jwplayer("player").setup({
		sources: [{
			file: "rtmp://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/vod/mp4:sample.mp4"
		},{
			file: "http://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/vod/sample.mp4/playlist.m3u8"
		}],
		rtmp: {
			bufferlength: 3
		},
		fallback: false
	});
</script>
</body>
</html>

This will though require a web host for the embedded player.

Paul

3

Hi,

Yes, my mistake in not responding within the context of a Wowza Cloud question. Currently Wowza Cloud provides HDS and HLS streams, so I would again emphasise HLS as the target stream for Android devices. I can play the Wowza Cloud hosted page fine on my Android device, a Nexus 7 running Android 5.0, opening the web page in Chrome. I can also directly open the provided HLS URL in the browser. If it’s not working for you then I think this just highlights the point I was making earlier that the Android space is quite fragmented when it comes to providing a consistent playback experience across devices.

Paul

4

Hei Paul,

thanks for your feedback!

Wowza Streaming Cloud doesn’t serve RTSP-Streams, only HLS and HDS.

And I don’t want to buy JWPlayer, because of the integrated Player solution in Wowza Streaming Cloud.

Like I mentioned, I can play Livestreams from Wowza Streaming Cloud on Android devices only when I install VLC on that devices. Then VLC pops up and plays the HLS URL without problems.

Chrome on Android doesn’t play the stream itself.

I just wanted to know if there’s another way than installing Apps like VLC when playing streams from Wowza Streaming Cloud on Android.

Regards,

Andreas.

5

Hei Paul,

no problem, thank you for your answer.

Yes, Androids for Livestreams are a disaster… :frowning:

On A Nexus 4 with Android 5.x? the stream doesn’t play in Chrome only in VLC. Chrome always asks for an App to playback the (HLS) stream.