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
If you want to play H.265 videos, you must submit a request on Yida to apply for a license.
Supported protocols and formats for video-on-demand
The following table describes the audio and video protocols and codecs supported by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.
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 codec | Video protocol | Audio codec | Audio file format |
H5 | H.264 | MP4, FLV, and HTTP-Live-Streaming (HLS) | AAC | MP3 |
H.265 Note
| MP4, FLV, and HTTP-Live-Streaming (HLS) | AAC | - | |
Flash player (update stopped) | H.264 | MP4, FLV, HLS, and RTMP | AAC and MP3 | MP3 |
Supported protocols for live streaming
The following table describes the live streaming protocols and codecs supported by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.
Video codec | Video protocol | Audio codec | Audio file format |
H.264 | HLS, FLV, RTMP, and RTS | AAC | - |
H.265 | HLS, FLV (codec ID=12) | AAC | - |
The following table describes the benefits and limits of each live streaming protocol.
Protocol | Benefit | Limit | 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~3s |
RTMP | RTMP has a considerably lower latency. | RTMP is prone to stability issues in high-concurrency scenarios. | 1s~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.
We recommend that you use the browsers described in the following table for video playback. Otherwise, the playback may fail.
Supported browsers on PCs
To play video streams in the FLV or HLS format by using the HTML5 player on a PC browser, you must enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) for the domain name . 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 |
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 | 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 | √ |
Supported browsers on mobile devices
ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web does not allow you to play video streams in the FLV format by using the HTML5 player on mobile browsers.
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
| |
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. | |
Volume adjustment | Supported | The | |
Playback speed | Supported | You cannot set the playback speed in specific mobile browsers, such as the WeChat browser for Android. | |
HLS-encrypted video playback |
| Supported | |
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.
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 | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |