nexxPLAY for iOS

nexxPLAY for iOS is a native Player, that is inteded to work in native iOS Apps

You can find all necessary Binaries for Download and latest Changelogs always here:

GitHub - 3qnexx/nexxPLAY-iOS: nexxPLAY SDK for iOSGitHub

General Integration

1. In Xcode, select your project, select your target and open the tab “General”

2. Drag the nexxPlay.framework file from the Finder to the “Embedded Binaries” section

3. Please make sure that the framework is also included in “Linked Frameworks and Libraries”

4. Change your tab to “Build Phases”

5. Drag the nexxPlay.bundle from the Finder to the “Copy Bundle resources”

IMA SDK - 3rd Party Library

nexxPLAY contains presenting Video Ads via the Google IMA SDK. If the Player will use this functionality, an additional SDK need to be added to the project.

The current version of IMA used in nexxPLAY is 3.17.0 and can be downloaded here.

Please drag these frameworks into the "Embedded Binaries" section of your target (exactly as explained for the nexxPLAY framework) and make sure they also appear in the "Linked Frameworks and Libraries" section.

Adding a Player Instance

import UIKit
import nexxPlay

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    override func viewDidLoad() { 
        super.viewDidLoad()
        let player = NexxPLAYView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 300, height: 300)) 
        view.addSubview(player)
        player.setEnvironment(NexxPLAYEnvironment(domain: ":domainid"))
        player.startPlay(streamtype: ":streamtype", mediaID: ":mediaid", configuration: NexxPLAYConfiguration())
    }
}

As soon as the PlayerView is deallocated, the player will automatically stop.

Player Environment

The NexxPLAYEnvironment object contains global settings for the player object. Except for the domain all the settings are optional and have a predefined value. The settings are:

Attribute	Type	Value
domain	String	the ID of the domain (mandatory)
sessionID	String	the ID of the current Session
language	2-Letter-Code	the Player Langage, will be computed by the System Language and Domain Settings if omitted
userHash	String	an Identifer of the currently loggedin User
externalUserReference	String	an Identifier of a User, that is not registered by nexxOMNIA
campaign	int	the ID of an existing Campaign of the calling Domain
affiliatePartner	Int	the ID of an existing Affiliate Partner of the calling Domain
deliveryPartner	Int	the ID of an existing DeliveryPartner of the calling Domain
contextReference	String	the Context Reference for this Player (a free String of "where is this Player located" for Reporting)
platformVariant	String	the PlatformVariant for this Player (usefull Values will be given by 3Q)
platformVariantIndex	Int	if platformVariant is not empty, this might further specify the current platform Variant.
appVersion	String	the Version of the App, including the SDK
useSSL	Bool	set to false if the Player should not use SSL (default is true)
trackingOptOuted	Bool	if the App user explicitley opts out of Tracking and this Information is relevant for Ads, set this to true
consentString	String	in TCF/CMP Envrionments, the Player might need the User Consent String for Ad Calls
alwaysInFullscreen	Bool	initially and always show the Player in Fullscreen (default is false)
showCloseButtonOnFullscreen	Bool	set to false, if the Fullscreen should not show a "close" Button (default is true)
googleIMAReferenceViewController	UIViewController	the Google IMA SDK presents the advertisement modally on a UIViewController once the user taps the video ad. If the Google IMA SDK is used but no view controller is set, the advertisement will open in Safari (default is nil)
hideStatusbarOnFullscreen	Bool	if set to true, the status bar is automatically hidden when the player is in fullscreen mode (default is false)
openPodcastURLsDirectly	Bool	if set to true, podcast URLs will automatically be opened by the default browser application (default is false)

Player Configuration

Just like the Javascript Player, the Player can be configured by a Configuration Object. This Object will be used in one of the various play() Methods of the SDK.

All Options are identical to the general SDK Override Options, you will find here:

SDK Override Options

Please notice, that some Options only make sense in the Web and are therefore not supported.

If you are looking for the TCF Consent String Management, this is documented here:

GDPR and TCF 2.0

Public Methods

Preparing and Configuring the Player

//Sets the environment object for the player. This method must be called before any start method is called
setEnvironment(environment:NexxPLAYEnvironment)

//update a previously defined Environment Value
//domain, language, sessionID and alwaysInFullscreen cannot be updated
updateEnvironment(key:String, value:String)

//start the Player with the given Media
startPlay(streamtype:String, mediaID:String, configuration:NexxPLAYConfiguration)

//start the Player with a given GlobalID
startPlayWithGlobalID(globalID:String, configuration:NexxPLAYConfiguration)

//start the Player with a Remote Media Reference
startPlayWithRemoteMedia(streamtype:String, reference:String, provider:String, configuration:NexxPLAYConfiguration)

//update a previously defined Configuration. 
//supported are currently only the ad*URL Configuration Settings (and webURLRepresentation).
updateConfiguration(key:String, value:String) 

//will clear all currently cached Data
clearCache()

Playback Control

//restart a paused Player
play()

//pauses a playing Player
pause()

//pauses/restarts a Player, depending on its current State
toggle()

//mutes the Player
mute()

//unmutes the Player
unmute()

//seeks to the given Time, if the Media supports that
seekTo(time:Float)

//seeks relatively by a certain amount of Seconds, if the Media supports that
seekBy(seconds:Float)

//swap to the next Item in a Container Element
next()

//swap to the previous Item in a Container Element
previous()

//swap to a new Item in a Container Element
swapToPosition(position:Int)

//swap to a completely new Media Item
swapToMediaItem(mediaID:String, streamtype:String? = nil, startPosition:Int = 0, delay:Double = 0, reason:String? = nil, showReturnButton:Bool = false)

//swap to a completely new Media Item, referenced by a GlobalID
swapToGlobalID(globalID:String, startPosition:Int = 0, delay:Double = 0, reason:String? = nil, showReturnButton:Bool = false)

//swap to a completely new Media Item, referenced by a Remote Reference
swapToRemoteMedia(reference:String, streamtype:String? = nil, provider:String, delay:Double = 0, reason:String? = nil, showReturnButton:Bool = false)

Requesting Player Status and Details

//returns Information about the currently played Media Item
getCurrentMedia() -> [String:Any]

//returns Information about the Container Element of the currently played Media Item
getCurrentMediaParent() -> [String:Any]

//returns Information about the current Playback State of the Player
getCurrentPlaybackState() -> [String:Any]

//returns the text tracks of the current media item
getTextTracks() -> [String:Any]

//returns all available Audio Tracks of the current Media
getAudioTracks() -> [String:Any]

//returns the current playback time of the Player
getCurrentTime() -> Float

//returns true, if the Player is currently playing
isPlaying() -> Bool

//returns true, if the Player is currently playing an Ad
isPlayingAd() -> Bool

//returns true, if the Player is currently muted
isMuted() -> Bool

//returns true, if the Player is currently in PictureToPicture Mode
isInPiP() -> Bool

LocalMedia and Offline Playback

nexxPLAY for iOS also supports playback of previously downloaded media items and therefore offers some SDK methods to manage localMedia.

//start a Download of a given Media Item (internal ID or Remote Reference)
startDownloadLocalMedia(mediaID:String, streamtype:String, provider:String? = nil)

//returns a List of currently available localMedia Items
listLocalMedia(streamtype:String) -> [[String:String]] 

//returns true, if the referenced Media Item is already available locally
hasDownloadOfLocalMedia(mediaID:String, streamtype:String, provider:String? = nil) -> Bool

//remove a previously downloaded Media Item
removeLocalMedia(mediaID:String, streamtype:String, provider:String? = nil)

//remove all previously downloaded Media Items
clearLocalMedia(streamtype:String? = nil)

//returns the currently used Storage by downloaded Media Items
diskSpaceUsedForLocalMedia() -> Int64

This Feature must be enabled within nexxOMNIA. Furthermore, various Settings to finetune the Details of the localMedia Behaviour can be setup there. Contact 3Q for more Information.

Player Notifications

Just like the JavaScript Player, the Player emits all Events to a Listener Function.

The notifications are sent by the NSNotificationCenter. To receive a notification you can use the following code snippet:

NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "notificationReceived:", name: nexxPlay.nexxPlayErrorNotification, object: playerView)

The appropriate function that is called when the notification is received:

@objc func notificationReceived(notification:NSNotification) {
    println(notification.name)        // prints “NexxPlayErrorNotification”
    if notification.name == nexxPlay.nexxPlayPlayPosNotification, let userInfo = notification.userInfo {
        // use the additional data in userInfo
    }
}

If you have multiple players you can determine the player that sent the notification by checking notification.object

If you want to receive all notifications from the player, there is a convenience function:

playerView.addObserverForAllNotifications(observer, selector:”notificationReceived:”)

Whenever a notification from playerView is received by the observer, the functionnotificationReceived is called. With notification.name you can determine which notification was received and act accordingly.

There is also a convenience function to remove the observer for all notifications:

playerView.removeObserverForAllNotifications(observer)

You can find a List of all Player Notifications here:

Player Events

Please notice, that on iOS, the Events (Notifications) have a different name, that is built by the following Rule: "nexxPlay" + EventName.camelCase() + "Notification".

So for example, a "pause" Notification will become a "nexxPlayPauseNotification", and a "changeplaypos" Notification will become a "nexxPlayChangePlayPosNotification"

Additional Information

Fullscreen Behaviour

When the player switches to fullscreen, a subview (containing the video and all controls) of the PlayerView is added to the applications key window UIApplication.sharedApplication().keyWindow. Once the user switches back, the subview is added back to the PlayerView.

Orientation Behaviour

When the device is rotated, the video automatically rotates accordingly.

AirPlay and Picture-in-Picture Support

The player does support AirPlay and PiP, if it is also supported by the device.

Furthermore the Background Modes capability Audio, Airplay and Picture in Picture must be activated in your project settings in Xcode.

Picture-in-Picture AND AirPlay also requirs to be enabled in nexxOMNIA Player Settings and/or Configuration with Overrides.

Additionally, it may not be available on all Devices, depending on Hardware Capabilities.

Widgets

The iOS Platform also supports native Widgets by nexxPLAY.

Widgets for native Apps