How to Implement YoutubePlayerView Library in Android?

If you are looking to display YouTube videos inside your app without redirecting your user from your app to YouTube then this library is very helpful for you to use. With the help of this library, you can simply play videos from YouTube with the help of a video id inside your app itself without redirecting your user to YouTube. Now we will see the implementation of this library in our Android App. We are going to implement this project using both Java and Kotlin Programming Language for Android.

Step by Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Project in Android Studio

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio. The code for that has been given in both Java and Kotlin Programming Language for Android.

Step 2: Add the JAR File inside the Libs Folder in Android Studio

Download the JAR file from this link. To add this file open your android project in “Project” mode as shown in the below image.

Then go to Your Project Name > app > libs and right-click on it and paste the downloaded JAR files. You may also refer to the below image. 

Note: You may also refer to this article How to Import External JAR Files in Android Studio?

Step 3: Adding Dependency to the build.gradle File

Go to Module build.gradle file and add this dependency.

implementation 'com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer:core:10.0.3'

Now click on the “sync now” option which you will get to see in the top right corner after adding this library. After that, we are ready for integrating the YouTube video player into the app. 

Step 4: Working with the activity_main.xml File

Now change the project tab in the top left corner to Android. After that navigate to the app > res > layout > activity_main.xml. Inside this, we will create a simple button that will redirect to a new activity where we will play our YouTube video. Below is the XML code snippet for the activity_main.xml file.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <!-- Button which is used to
    navigate to video player screen -->
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/idBtnPlayVideo"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:text="Play Youtube Video"
        android:textColor="@color/white" />
</RelativeLayout>

Step 5: Create a New Empty Activity

Now we will create a new activity where we will display our YouTube video player. To create a new activity navigate to the app > java > your app’s package name and right-click on it > New > Activity > Empty Activity > Give a name to your activity and select Java/Kotlin as its language. Now your new activity has been created. (Here we have given the activity name as VideoPlayerActivity). 

Step 6: Implement YoutubePlayerView inside the New Activity 

Below is the code for the activity_video_player.xml file.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".VideoPlayerActivity">

    <!-- Youtube Player view which
    will play our youtube video -->
    <com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.views.YouTubePlayerView
        android:id="@+id/videoPlayer"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
        app:showFullScreenButton="false">
    </com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.views.YouTubePlayerView>
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

Step 7: Working with the VideoPlayerActivity File

Before working with the VideoPlayerActivity file let’s have a look at how to get the video id of any YouTube video. Open YouTube and search for any video which you want to play inside your app. Play that video inside your browser. In the top section of your browser, there will be an address bar where you can get to see the URL for that video. For example, here we have taken the below URL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG2PNdI8axo

Inside the above URL, the video ID is present in the extreme left part i.e after the v = sign is your video id. In the above example, the video ID will be 

vG2PNdI8axo 

In this way, we can get the URL for any video. Now go to the VideoPlayerActivity file and refer to the following code. Below is the code for the VideoPlayerActivity file. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Java

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Window;
import android.view.WindowManager;
import androidx.annotation.NonNull;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.PlayerConstants;
import com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.YouTubePlayer;
import com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.listeners.AbstractYouTubePlayerListener;
import com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.views.YouTubePlayerView;

public class VideoPlayerActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    // id of the video which we are playing.
    String video_id = "vG2PNdI8axo";

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        // below two lines are used to set our screen orientation in landscape mode.
        requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
        getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN, WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);

        setContentView(R.layout.activity_video_player);

        // below line of code is to hide our action bar.
        getSupportActionBar().hide();

        // declaring variable for youtubePlayer view
        final YouTubePlayerView youTubePlayerView = findViewById(R.id.videoPlayer);

        // below line is to place your youtube player in a full screen mode (i.e landscape mode)
        youTubePlayerView.enterFullScreen();
        youTubePlayerView.toggleFullScreen();

        // here we are adding observer to our youtubeplayerview.
        getLifecycle().addObserver(youTubePlayerView);

        // below method will provides us the youtube player ui controller such
        // as to play and pause a video to forward a video and many more features.
        youTubePlayerView.getPlayerUiController();

        // below line is to enter full screen mode.
        youTubePlayerView.enterFullScreen();
        youTubePlayerView.toggleFullScreen();

        // adding listener for our youtube player view.
        youTubePlayerView.addYouTubePlayerListener(new AbstractYouTubePlayerListener() {
            @Override
            public void onReady(@NonNull YouTubePlayer youTubePlayer) {
                // loading the selected video into the YouTube Player
                youTubePlayer.loadVideo(video_id, 0);
            }

            @Override
            public void onStateChange(@NonNull YouTubePlayer youTubePlayer, @NonNull PlayerConstants.PlayerState state) {
                // this method is called if video has ended,
                super.onStateChange(youTubePlayer, state);
            }
        });
    }
}

Kotlin

import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.Window
import android.view.WindowManager
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.PlayerConstants
import com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.YouTubePlayer
import com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.listeners.AbstractYouTubePlayerListener
import com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer.core.player.views.YouTubePlayerView

class VideoPlayerActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    // id of the video which we are playing.
    var video_id = "vG2PNdI8axo"

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

        // below two lines are used to set our screen orientation in landscape mode.
        requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE)
        window.setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN, WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN)

        setContentView(R.layout.activity_video_player)

        // below line of code is to hide our action bar.
        supportActionBar?.hide()

        // declaring variable for youtubePlayer view
        val youTubePlayerView: YouTubePlayerView = findViewById(R.id.videoPlayer)

        // below line is to place your youtube player in a full screen mode (i.e landscape mode)
        youTubePlayerView.enterFullScreen()
        youTubePlayerView.toggleFullScreen()

        // here we are adding observer to our youtubeplayerview.
        lifecycle.addObserver(youTubePlayerView)

        // below method will provides us the youtube player ui controller such
        // as to play and pause a video to forward a video and many more features.
        youTubePlayerView.getPlayerUiController()

        // below line is to enter full screen mode.
        youTubePlayerView.enterFullScreen()
        youTubePlayerView.toggleFullScreen()

        // adding listener for our youtube player view.
        youTubePlayerView.addYouTubePlayerListener(object : AbstractYouTubePlayerListener() {
            fun onReady(youTubePlayer: YouTubePlayer) {
                // loading the selected video into the YouTube Player
                youTubePlayer.loadVideo(video_id, 0)
            }

            fun onStateChange(youTubePlayer: YouTubePlayer, state: PlayerConstants.PlayerState) {
                // this method is called if video has ended,
                super.onStateChange(youTubePlayer, state)
            }
        })
    }
}

Step 8: Working with the MainActivity File

Go to the MainActivity File and refer to the following code. Below is the code for the MainActivity File. Comments are added inside the code to understand the code in more detail.

Java

import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.Button;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    // variable for our button
    Button playBtn;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        // Initialize our Button
        playBtn = findViewById(R.id.idBtnPlayVideo);

        // we have set onclick listener for our button
        playBtn.setOnClickListener(v -> {
            // we have declared an intent to open new activity.
            Intent i = new Intent(MainActivity.this, VideoPlayerActivity.class);
            startActivity(i);
        });
    }
}

Kotlin

import android.content.Intent
import android.os.Bundle
import android.widget.Button
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    // variable for our button
    lateinit var playBtn: Button

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // Initialize our Button
        playBtn = findViewById(R.id.idBtnPlayVideo)

        // we have set onclick listener for our button
        playBtn.setOnClickListener {
            // we have declared an intent to open new activity.
            val i = Intent(this, VideoPlayerActivity::class.java)
            startActivity(i)
        }
    }
}

Step 9: Adding Permissions to the AndroidManifest.xml File

In AndroidManifest.xml, one needs to include the below permission, in order to access the internet. Navigate to the app > AndroidManifest.xml file there you have to add the below permissions. 

<!-- For internet usage -->    
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>    
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>

Along with this, you will get to see an activity section inside your application tag. Inside that, add your video player’s activity screen orientation to landscape mode. 

<!-- Here my activity name was VideoPlayerActivity -->
<activity android:name=".VideoPlayerActivity"
    android:screenOrientation="landscape">
</activity>    

Below is the code for the complete AndroidManifest.xml file:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.gfg.youtubeplayerview">

    <!-- For internet usage -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
        android:supportsRtl="true"
        android:theme="@style/Theme.YoutubePlayerView">

        <!-- Here my activity name was VideoPlayerActivity -->
        <activity android:name=".VideoPlayerActivity"
            android:screenOrientation="landscape">
        </activity>

        <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

Output: Run the App on a Physical Device

Check out the project on the below GitHub link: https://github.com/ChaitanyaMunje/YoutubePlayerView