Introduction to ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web - ApsaraVideo VOD

You can integrate ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web into your web applications and use the SDK for live streaming and video playback on demand. This topic describes the features of ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web and its compatibility with browsers.

Introduction

ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web uses the <video> tag of the HTML5 player and the Flash player to play videos in web applications. ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web is compatible with multiple browsers such as Chrome and Safari to provide unified video playback effects on multiple platforms. ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web also supports features such as hotlink protection, encrypted video playback, and quality monitoring based on ApsaraVideo Live and ApsaraVideo VOD.

Note

Flash Player is out of service and not supported by mainstream browsers. If you use Internet Explorer or a browser that does not support the HTML5 player, you can use the Flash player.

License service update

Starting from December 1, 2024, the license service is required before you can use ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web 2.28.0 and later. For more information, see Manage licenses. Versions earlier than 2.28.0 are not affected by this change. However, we recommend that you upgrade to the latest version for more comprehensive services and support.

Supported protocols

VOD scenarios

The following table describes the playback protocols and codecs supported by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.

Player	Video codec	Video protocol	Audio codec	Audio file format
H5	H.264	MP4 FLV HLS	AAC	MP3
	H.265 Note If you want to play H.265 videos, you must submit a request on Yida to apply for a license. Specific browsers do not support the playback of H.265 videos. If you enable playback of H.265 videos, the loading time is extended and traffic consumption increases.	MP4 FLV HLS	AAC	-
	H.266 Note If you want to play H.266 videos, submit a request on Yida to apply for a license. H.266 videos are not supported on specific browsers. If you enable playback of H.266 videos, the loading time is extended and traffic consumption increases.	MP4	AAC	-
Flash player (update stopped)	H.264	MP4 FLV HLS RTMP	AAC MP3	MP3

Live streaming scenarios

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, RTS, and DASH	AAC	-
H.265	HLS and FLV (codec ID = 12)	AAC	-
H.266	HLS and FLV	AAC	-

The following table describes the benefits and limits of each live streaming protocol.

Protocol	Advantage	Disadvantage	Latency
HLS	HLS is compatible with a variety of browsers.	The latency is high.	> 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
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
DASH	Adaptive bitrate is supported.	The latency is high.	> 10s

Browsers supported by the HTML5 player

Note

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

Important

To play videos in the FLV or HLS format by using browsers on PCs, you must enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS). For more information, see Configure CORS.

Browser	MP4	FLV	HLS	MP3
Chrome	✓	Google Chrome 34 and later	Google Chrome 34 and later	✓
Firefox	✓	Firefox 49 and later	Firefox 49 and later	✓
IE	Internet Explorer 9 and later	VOD: Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later Live streaming: Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 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
Edge	✓	✓	✓	✓
Opera	✓	✓	✓	✓
Safari	✓	Safari 8 and later	Safari 8 and later	✓

Supported browsers on mobile devices

Note

ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web does not allow you to play FLV videos by using the HTML5 player on mobile browsers.

Table 1. Supported browsers on Android devices

Browser	MP4	FLV	HLS	MP3
Chrome	✓	×	Google Chrome 34 and later	✓
Firefox	✓	×	Firefox 49 and later	✓
WeChat	✓	×	✓	✓
Edge	✓	×	✓	✓
Opera	✓	×	✓	✓

Table 2. Supported browsers on iOS devices

Browser	MP4	FLV	HLS	MP3
Chrome	✓	×	Google Chrome 34 and later	✓
Firefox	✓	×	Firefox 49 and later	✓
WeChat	✓	×	✓	✓
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. Note The full-screen playback feature cannot be disabled in Safari on iOS devices whose version is earlier than iOS 10. If you play videos in inline mode, you need to modify the video size based on the resolution of transcoded videos. Otherwise, black bars may be displayed.	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 and later on 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 Specific browsers and WebView-based apps allow autoplay. This commonly occurs on Android devices.	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	Chrome FireFox Safari Edge Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later	Supported	Play an encrypted video
Playback of videos encrypted by using Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography Note For security reasons, you cannot use actual videos that are encrypted by using Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography for debugging.	Google Chrome (Recommended) FireFox Safari 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.	This feature is supported on iOS 14 and later. Note To use this feature on iOS 17.1 or earlier versions, you must install player plug-ins. For more information, see Play an encrypted video. This feature is supported on most Android browsers. Note Specific browsers may modify the settings of ApsaraVideo Player SDK and hijack video playback without your permission or knowledge. The browsers include UC, Quark, and Baidu, and Wechat, DingTalk, and QQ Browser on iOS 17.1 or earlier versions. In this case, videos encrypted by using Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography cannot be played. You can instruct users to play videos on other browsers.
Playback of live streams encrypted by using DRM	Windows Chrome Opera FireFox Edge macOS Chrome Safari FireFox Opera Edge	iOS Chrome Safari Android Google Chrome for Android 10 and later Edge
Playback of DRM-encrypted VOD files	Windows Chrome Opera FireFox Edge macOS Chrome Safari FireFox Opera Edge	iOS Chrome Safari Android Google Chrome for Android 10 and later Edge

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.

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
Chrome	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Firefox	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
IE	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
Edge	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Opera	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Safari	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Version states and technical support policies

To optimize user experience, ApsaraVideo Player keeps updating player SDKs to release new features, improve player performance, and fix issues. ApsaraVideo VOD preserves the API compatibility to a great extent during version updates. We recommend that you update your player SDK to the latest version at your earliest opportunity to improve your playback experience.

ApsaraVideo Player SDK versions are classified into four states based on the release date: Recommended, Supported, Not Recommended, and Not Supported. ApsaraVideo VOD provides different technical support services for player SDKs in different states.

For more information about the versions of ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web, see Release notes for ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web. The following table describes the version states and technical support policies for ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.

Version state	Classification	Description
Recommended RECOMMENDED	The latest version.	The latest version contains the newest features and bug fixes. We recommend that you update your player SDK to the latest version. ApsaraVideo VOD provides comprehensive technical support for the latest version of player SDK.
Supported SUPPORTED	The versions that are released within 6 months before the latest version.	These versions contain the relatively new features and fix major issues. ApsaraVideo VOD provides general technical support for these versions of player SDKs.
Not Recommended DEPRECATED	The versions that are released 6 to 12 months before the latest version.	These versions may contain deprecated features, underlying issues, or unknown issues caused by the updates of browsers. ApsaraVideo VOD provides general technical support for these versions of player SDKs, but the efficiency or accuracy of troubleshooting cannot be guaranteed. We recommend that you update your player SDK to the latest version. Besides new features and bug fixes, the new version optimizes troubleshooting. This improves the efficiency of self-troubleshooting and technical support.
Not Supported UNSUPPORTED	The versions that are released more than 12 months before the latest version.	The features in these versions are most likely deprecated and no optimization is performed based on your current browser environment. We recommend that you do not use these versions of player SDKs for production. ApsaraVideo VOD does not provide technical support for these versions unless serious issues occur. We recommend that you update your player SDK to the latest version at your earliest opportunity.