ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web allows you to play audio and video streams by using the HTML5 player or Flash player. Flash Player is out of service and not supported by mainstream browsers. If you use a browser such as Internet Explorer or another browser that does not support the HTML5 player, you can use the Flash player. This topic describes the features and supported browsers of the HTML5 and Flash players provided by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.
Supported audio and video formats
Supported protocols and formats for video-on-demand
Player | Video codec | Video protocol | Audio codec | Audio file format |
---|---|---|---|---|
H5 | H.264 | MP4, FLV, and HTTP-Live-Streaming (HLS) | AAC | MP3 |
Flash player (update stopped) | H.264 | MP4, FLV, HLS, and RTMP | AAC and MP3 | MP3 |
Supported protocols for live streaming
Protocol | Advantage | Disadvantage | Latency |
---|---|---|---|
HLS | HLS is compatible with a variety of browsers. | HLS has a considerably higher latency. | > 10s |
FLV | FLV supports high concurrency and is suitable for native applications. | Browsers require integration with ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web to play videos. | 1s to 3s |
RTMP | RTMP has a considerably lower latency. | RTMP is prone to stability issues in high-concurrency scenarios. | 1s to 3s |
RTS | RTS performs well under poor network conditions. You can smoothly play streams even at a packet loss rate of 30%. | Browsers require integration with ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web to play videos. | < 1s |
Browsers supported by the HTML5 player
The HTML5 player can be used in browsers on PCs and mobile devices.
Supported browsers on PCs
Browser | MP4 | FLV | HLS | MP3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Google Chrome | √ | Google Chrome 34 and later | Google Chrome 34 and later | √ |
Firefox | √ | Firefox 49 and later | Firefox 49 and later | √ |
Internet Explorer | Internet Explorer 9 and later |
Important You cannot play video streams in the FLV format in Internet Explorer 11 for Windows
8 and later. This is because the value of
mseLiveFlvPlayback is false in the flv.js file for Internet Explorer 11.
|
Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later |
Internet Explorer 9 and later |
Microsoft Edge | √ | √ | √ | √ |
Opera | √ | √ | √ | √ |
Safari | √ | Safari 8 and later | Safari 8 and later | √ |
Browser | MP4 | FLV | HLS | MP3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Google Chrome | √ | × | Google Chrome 34 and later | √ |
Firefox | √ | × | Firefox 49 and later | √ |
√ | × | √ | √ | |
Microsoft Edge | √ | × | √ | √ |
Opera | √ | × | √ | √ |
Browser | MP4 | FLV | HLS | MP3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Google Chrome | √ | × | Google Chrome 34 and later | √ |
Firefox | √ | × | Firefox 49 and later | √ |
√ | × | √ | √ | |
Microsoft Edge | √ | × | √ | √ |
Opera | √ | × | √ | √ |
Safari | √ | × | Safari 8 and later | √ |
Features of the HTML5 player supported by browsers
Feature | PC | Mobile device | References |
---|---|---|---|
Full-screen playback | By default, the full-screen playback feature is disabled. | By default, the full-screen playback feature is enabled. You can disable the feature
based on your needs.
Important
|
Advanced features |
Autoplay | The autoplay feature that is provided by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web is not supported
in specific browsers.
|
By default, autoplay is disabled. You can configure specific settings to enable this
feature.
Note Specific browsers and WebView-based apps allow autoplay. This commonly occurs on Android
devices.
|
Advanced features |
Volume adjustment | Supported |
The |
Basic features |
Playback speed | Supported | You cannot set the playback speed in specific mobile browsers, such as the WeChat browser for Android. | Basic features |
HLS-encrypted video playback |
|
Supported | Play an encrypted video |
Playback of videos encrypted by using Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography
Note For security reasons, you cannot use Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography to encrypt
actual videos in use for debugging.
|
Note Specific third-party browsers may modify the settings of ApsaraVideo Player SDK without
your authorization or knowledge. In this case, videos encrypted by using Alibaba Cloud
proprietary cryptography cannot be played. To resolve this issue, we recommend that
you use the HLS or digital rights management (DRM) encryption method to encrypt videos.
|
This feature is not supported in iOS browsers. This feature is supported only in Google Chrome for Android. |
|
Playback of DRM-encrypted live streams |
Windows
macOS
|
iOS
Android
|
|
Playback of VOD files encrypted by using DRM |
Windows
macOS
|
iOS
Android
|
Browsers supported by the Flash player
The Flash player is supported only by PC browsers. The following table describes the videos in different formats that can be played in the Flash player on specific browsers.
Browser | MP4 | FLV | HLS | RTMP | MP3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Chrome | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
Firefox | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
Internet Explorer | Internet Explorer 8 and later | Internet Explorer 8 and later | Internet Explorer 8 and later | Internet Explorer 8 and later | Internet Explorer 8 and later |
Microsoft Edge | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
Opera | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
Safari | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |