ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web allows you to play audio and video streams by using the HTML5 player or Flash player. Adobe Flash Player is out of service and mainstream browsers now do not support the Flash player. If you use a browser such as Internet Explorer that does not support the HTML5 player, you can use the Flash player. This topic describes the audio and video formats supported by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web for the HTML5 player and Flash player. This topic also describes the adaptation of the HTML5 player and Flash player to different browsers.

Supported audio and video formats

The following table describes the protocols and encoding formats of audio and video streams supported by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web.
Notice You must use earlier browsers that support a Flash Player plug-in to play videos in the Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) format. RTMP videos cannot be played by using the HTML5 player. The HTML5 player can be used to play videos in the Flash Video (FLV) format.
Player Video encoding format Video protocol Audio encoding format Audio file format
HTML5 H.264 MP4, FLV, and HTTP-Live-Streaming (HLS) Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) MP3
Flash player (update stopped) H.264 MP4, FLV, HLS, and RTMP AAC and MP3 MP3

Adaptation of the HTML5 player to browsers

The HTML5 player is supported by both desktop browsers and mobile browsers.

Adaptation to desktop browsers

Note To play video streams in the FLV or HLS format by using the HTML5 player in a desktop browser, you must enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) for the domain name for playback. For more information, see Configure CORS.
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
  • Video-on-demand (VOD) playback: Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later
  • Live streaming: Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later
Notice You cannot play video streams in the FLV format in Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 8 and later. This is because the value of the mseLiveFlvPlayback parameter 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 √
Adaptation to mobile browsers
Note ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web does not allow you to play video streams in the FLV format by using the HTML5 player in mobile browsers.
Table 1. Adaptation to browsers in Android
Browser MP4 FLV HLS MP3
Google Chrome √ × Google Chrome 34 and later √
Firefox √ × Firefox 49 and later √
WeChat √ × √ √
Microsoft Edge √ × √ √
Opera √ × √ √
Table 2. Adaptation to browsers in iOS
Browser MP4 FLV HLS MP3
Google Chrome √ × Google Chrome 34 and later √
Firefox √ × Firefox 49 and later √
WeChat √ × √ √
Microsoft Edge √ × √ √
Opera √ × √ √
Safari √ × Safari 8 and later √

Features of the HTML5 player supported by browsers

Feature Desktop browser Mobile browser References
Full-screen playback By default, the full-screen playback feature is disabled. By default, mobile browsers play videos in full-screen mode. In specific scenarios, you must complete the required settings to enable the full-screen playback feature.
Notice In iOS versions earlier than iOS 10, videos are played in full-screen mode by default when they are opened in Safari. You cannot disable the full-screen playback feature.
Advanced features
Autoplay The autoplay feature that is provided by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web is not supported in specific browsers.
  • Autoplay is not supported in Safari 11 or later in macOS High Sierra.
  • Autoplay is not supported in Google Chrome 55 or later.
By default, autoplay is disabled. To enable this feature, you must configure specific settings.
Note Autoplay may be allowed by specific browsers and WebView-based apps, especially those in Android.
Advanced features
Volume adjustment Supported

The video.volume property is read-only in iOS and specific Android systems. Therefore, the getVolume and setVolume methods provided by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web are invalid for iOS and specific Android systems.

Basic features
Playback speed Supported You cannot set the playback speed in specific mobile browsers, including the WeChat browser for Android. Basic features
Playback of videos encrypted by using HLS
  • Google Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later
 Supported Encrypt videos for playback
Playback of videos encrypted by using Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography
  • Google Chrome (recommended)
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later
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.

Not supported in browsers for iOS

Supported only in Google Chrome for Android

Playback of live streams encrypted by using DRM
Windows
  • Google Chrome
  • Opera
  • Firefox
  • Microsoft Edge
macOS
  • Google Chrome
  • Safari
  • Firefox
  • Opera
  • Microsoft Edge
iOS
  • Google Chrome
  • Safari
Android
  • Google Chrome for Android 10 and later
  • Microsoft Edge
Playback of VOD files encrypted by using DRM
Windows
  • Google Chrome
  • Opera
  • Firefox
  • Microsoft Edge
macOS
  • Google Chrome
  • Safari
  • Firefox
  • Opera
  • Microsoft Edge
iOS
  • Google Chrome
  • Safari
Android
  • Google Chrome for Android 10 and later
  • Microsoft Edge

Adaptation of the Flash player to browsers

The Flash player is supported only by desktop browsers. The following table describes whether videos in different formats can be played by using the Flash player in specific browsers.

Note To use the Flash player in Internet Explorer 8, you must add the reference to the json.min.js file in the browser. For more information, see Quick integration.
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 √ √ √ √ √