Developing your own application for Android is an exciting process that opens the door to the world of mobile programming. Creation media player is one of the classic learning projects that allows you to understand the basics of working with multimedia, interfaces and operating system system resources. Despite the abundance of ready-made solutions on Google Play, your own player gives you full control over the functionality and design.
You don’t have to be a programming guru to put together a basic version of the application. However, understanding the structure of projects in Android Studio and knowledge of the language Kotlin or Java will significantly speed up the process. In this article we will look at the key stages: from setting up the development environment to implementing video file playback.
Modern standards require the use of AndroidX libraries and compliance with Material Design rules. This ensures that your player will look modern and work stably on different versions of the operating system. Let's start with the fundamental steps, without which it is impossible to run the code.
Preparing the development environment and tools
The first step is installation Android Studio —the official integrated development environment (IDE) from Google. It contains all the necessary compilers, emulators and debugging tools. Download the latest version from the official website of the developer, as older builds may not support the latest SDKs.
After installation, you need to create a new project. Choose a template Empty Activitythat will provide a blank canvas to work with. It is critically important to correctly specify the configuration parameters: the minimum SDK version (Minimum SDK) determines which devices your application can run on.
☑️ Check before starting
In the file build.gradle (Module level) you should add dependencies for working with multimedia. Although the base class is built into the system, the use of third-party libraries such as Media3 (now Media3) is often recommended for complex tasks. To get started, standard platform tools are enough. MediaPlayer built into the system, use of third party libraries such as ExoPlayer (now Media3), often recommended for complex tasks. To get started, standard platform tools are enough.
⚠️ Attention: Versions of libraries and tools in Android Studio are updated very often. What worked in the tutorial a year ago may cause a compilation error today. Always check the version numbers of dependencies in the official Google documentation.
User interface design
The appearance of the application is described in XML files located in the folder res/layout. For the player, the key element is the component VideoView or more flexible TextureViewon which the video stream will be displayed. The markup must be adaptive in order to be displayed correctly on screens of different diagonals.
In addition to the viewing area, the interface needs controls. The standard set includes Play/Pause buttons, rewind and a progress slider. Usage ConstraintLayout allows you to conveniently position these elements relative to each other and the edges of the screen without nesting groups.
Use vector drawable icons instead of raster images for control buttons. This will reduce the size of the APK file and ensure clear images on high-resolution screens.
Don't forget to add SeekBar to display playback progress. This element requires binding to application logic via Java or Kotlin code so that the slider moves in sync with the video. It is also worth providing for displaying the current time and total duration of the video in the format 00:00.
Implementation of media playback logic
The heart of the application is the activity that controls the life cycle of the player. In the method onCreate the interface components are initialized and the playback object is prepared. You need to get a link to VideoView through the findViewById or ViewBinding method.
To launch the file, use the setVideoPath or setVideoURImethod, where the path to the file on the device or a link to a network resource is passed. After setting the data source, the start()method is called, which initiates the process of decoding and outputting the image.
videoView.setVideoURI(videoUri)
videoView.setMediaController(mediaController)
videoView.setOnPreparedListener { mp ->
mp.isLooping = true
}
videoView.start()
It is important to process the state OnPreparedListener. This event fires when the player is ready to play but has not yet started playing. This is where you can set the video to loop or set the initial volume. Ignoring this step may result in the user clicking Play, but nothing will happen.
Working with permissions and file access
Starting with Android 6.0 (API 23), file permissions are requested dynamically while the application is running, not just during installation. To read video from a memory card or internal memory, you must request permission READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE.
In the application manifest (AndroidManifest.xml) you need to enter the corresponding lines. However, this is not enough: in the activity code it is necessary to check whether permission has been granted, and if not, request it from the user through the system dialog.
| Permission | Description | Danger level |
|---|---|---|
READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE |
Reading files from the drive | Dangerous |
INTERNET |
Network access for streaming | Normal |
WAKE_LOCK |
Disable sleep mode | Normal |
Without processing the user's refusal to grant rights, the application will simply end with an error or show a black screen. Implement validation logic in a method onRequestPermissionsResultto respond to user actions.
Application lifecycle management
Mobile applications constantly encounter interruptions: an incoming call, minimizing to the background, or rotating the screen. If these events are not processed, the video player may continue to play audio in the background or reset progress when the device is rotated.
The onPause() and onStop() activity lifecycle methods are used to pause playback and release resources. This is critical for saving battery and preventing memory leaks. When the user returns to the application (onResume), the player should be restored.
Problem with screen rotation
By default, when the screen is rotated, the activity is recreated and the video starts playing from the beginning. To avoid this, add the configChanges="orientation|screenSize" attribute to the Manifest and handle the rotation manually.
Use MediaSession allows you to integrate your player with system control buttons on the headset or in the notification shade. This improves usability by allowing you to control video even when the screen is turned off or blocked by another window.
Testing and debugging your project
Before a project is considered complete, it is necessary to conduct thorough testing on various devices. The emulator in Android Studio is convenient for quickly testing logic, but it does not always play heavy video formats correctly due to the lack of hardware acceleration of a specific GPU.
Connect a real device via USB and enable USB Debugging in the developer settings. Running the application on hardware will reveal problems with performance, overheating and actual memory consumption. The operation logic can be monitored through the window Logcat.
⚠️ Attention: When testing on real devices from different manufacturers (Samsung, Xiaomi, Pixel), you may encounter differences in the operation of standard codecs. What plays on one phone may slow down on another.
Pay attention to exception handling. If the file is damaged or the format is not supported, the application should not crash. Use blocks try-catch around media launch methods to display a clear error message to the user instead of a technical failure.
High-quality error handling and support for various video formats distinguishes a hobbyist project from a professional application.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Do I need to know Java if I want to write in Kotlin?
No, Kotlin is a completely independent language for Android development. Although knowledge of Java is useful for reading old documentation, all modern guides and libraries are focused primarily on Kotlin.
Why does the video play without sound?
Most often the problem lies in the lack of permission to change the sound settings or in the fact that the audio stream in the file is encoded in a format that is not supported by the device’s standard player without additional codecs.
Is it possible to create a player without using Android Studio?
Theoretically, you can write code in a text editor and compile via the command line, but this is extremely inefficient. Android Studio provides the necessary visualization and debugging tools, without which development will take months.
How to add support for subtitles?
To work with subtitles you will need to use a class MediaController with customization or connect a library that supports SRT/ASS formats. Standard VideoView has limited support for external tracks.
How long will it take to create your first player?
A basic version that can open a file and play it can be done in one evening (2-4 hours). Adding a beautiful interface, settings and support for network streams will require from several days to a week of work.