Android video player SDK with offline DRM and Shorts

One Kotlin dependency gives your Android app a Kinescope player, a vertical Shorts feed and offline downloads with Widevine DRM. The player plays HLS, DASH and live streams and supports picture-in-picture, Chromecast and Android TV.

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Quick start

Install io.kinescope:kotlin-kinescope-player and play your first video. Commands and code are from the package README.

  1. Add the dependency

    The SDK is published on Maven Central. New projects should not use JitPack.

    build.gradle
    implementation 'io.kinescope:kotlin-kinescope-player:0.1.20'

  2. Add the player view

    Place KinescopePlayerView in your layout.

    layout.xml
    <io.kinescope.sdk.view.KinescopePlayerView
    android:id="@+id/player_view"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="250dp" />

  3. Create the player and load a video

    Create KinescopeVideoPlayer, attach it to the view and load a video by ID. With autoplay on, playback starts after loading.

    kotlin
    val options = KinescopePlayerOptions().apply {
    accentColor = "#6161FC"
    syncLegacyChromeFlags()
}
val kinescopePlayer = KinescopeVideoPlayer(context, options)

playerView.setPlayer(kinescopePlayer)
playerView.applyTemplateOptions()

kinescopePlayer.loadVideo(videoId, onSuccess = { video ->
    if (!kinescopePlayer.kinescopePlayerOptions.autoplay) {
        kinescopePlayer.play()
    }
}, onFailed = { it?.printStackTrace() })

What is in the Android SDK

Player

HLS, DASH and live streams with a ready UI: seek bar, chapters, fullscreen, picture-in-picture, pinch-to-zoom and a settings menu for quality, speed, audio and subtitles.

Widevine DRM

Plays DRM-protected video. Pass drmAuthToken when your authorization backend approves each play.

Offline downloads

DownloadVideoOffline and VideoDownloadService save HLS and DASH videos with Widevine DRM for playback without a connection.

Shorts feed

A vertical feed in the TikTok style with a player pool and adaptive preload and cache. Plug in your own feed API through KinescopeVideoProvider.

Chromecast and Android TV

Cast to a TV through the Kinescope receiver, with position sync on connect and disconnect. Android TV and other Google Cast receivers work as targets.

Dashboard API helper

KinescopeApiHelper reads the video catalog and manages player templates through api.kinescope.io.

ExoPlayer on its own vs the Kinescope SDK

The SDK runs on ExoPlayer. Here is what you would otherwise build around it yourself.

ExoPlayer on its ownKinescope Android SDK
HLS, DASH and live playback✓built in✓ExoPlayer inside
Hosting, transcoding and CDN✗your own backend✓Kinescope platform
Widevine DRM✓playback; license server is yours✓licenses from Kinescope, drmAuthToken for your backend
Player UI: settings, chapters, PiP, cast✗basic PlayerView, the rest you build✓ready, with templates from the dashboard
Offline downloads with DRM✓DownloadManager; offline licenses are yours✓DownloadVideoOffline and VideoDownloadService
Vertical Shorts feed✗build it yourself✓player pool, preload and cache
Viewing analytics✗your own pipeline✓Kinescope analytics
ExoPlayer on its own
HLS, DASH and live playback
✓built in
Hosting, transcoding and CDN
✗your own backend
Widevine DRM
✓playback; license server is yours
Player UI: settings, chapters, PiP, cast
✗basic PlayerView, the rest you build
Offline downloads with DRM
✓DownloadManager; offline licenses are yours
Vertical Shorts feed
✗build it yourself
Viewing analytics
✗your own pipeline
Kinescope Android SDK
HLS, DASH and live playback
✓ExoPlayer inside
Hosting, transcoding and CDN
✓Kinescope platform
Widevine DRM
✓licenses from Kinescope, drmAuthToken for your backend
Player UI: settings, chapters, PiP, cast
✓ready, with templates from the dashboard
Offline downloads with DRM
✓DownloadVideoOffline and VideoDownloadService
Vertical Shorts feed
✓player pool, preload and cache
Viewing analytics
✓Kinescope analytics

The platform behind the SDK

Upload and transcoding

Upload through the dashboard, the API or resumable TUS upload. Every video is encoded into adaptive renditions up to 4K. Video hosting

Own CDN

Kinescope delivers the streams your app plays from its own CDN, with points of presence in Latin America, the United States, Europe and the CIS. Video CDN

DRM on the Super plan

Widevine and FairPlay licenses are included on the Super plan. Your backend can approve each play. DRM video hosting

Live streams

Send RTMP or sRTMP from OBS, vMix or a hardware encoder and keep an automatic recording. The SDK players show the stream live. Live streaming

Analytics

Views, watch depth and drop-off points for every video. Pass your user ID from the app to see data per viewer. Video analytics

Pay as you go

Start on the free plan with 100 minutes of video and 200 GB of traffic a month. Paid usage: storage and delivery from €0.03/GB, processing €0.01/min. Pricing

Documentation

Every guide for this SDK in its repository, on GitHub.

Player

Playback modes

Casting

Offline

Shorts feed

Analytics and API

FAQ

Can’t find the answer you need? Check out our All developer tools.

Yes. The player runs on ExoPlayer with a native Kinescope UI on top, so you get ExoPlayer playback without building the UI, DRM and download pipeline yourself.

On Maven Central under io.kinescope. JitPack is no longer supported for new projects; existing JitPack pins may keep working.

Yes. The SDK downloads HLS and DASH videos with Widevine DRM through Android DownloadManager and plays them without a connection.

Yes. The repository has a demo APK and an app module to try the player, templates, Shorts, online and offline DRM and casting before you integrate.
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