Android Player

It is possible to launch an external Android player (VLC, MX Player & Co.) via a system action (system:tvx:launch or system:tvx:launch:{APP_ID}) and to handle the result (e.g. the last video/audio position) via an application event (app:result). This API is available in Media Station X version 0.1.136 or higher for all Android and FireTV devices.

Note: Please note that iOS devices also support the TVX system actions. However, the syntax for launching external applications is different. For iOS devices, the {APP_ID} part must be replaced with a URL (e.g. system:tvx:launch:vlc://http://link.to.media), for Android devices, it must be replaced with a package name (e.g. system:tvx:launch:org.videolan.vlc). Additionally, iOS devices do not support extra data, but it is possible to check if the application could be launched.

Syntax

{
    "action": "system:tvx:launch:com.example.app",
    "data": {
        "id": "request_id",
        "uri": "http://link.to.media",
        "type": "video/*",
        "component": {
            "package": "com.example.app",
            "class": "com.example.app.player"
        },
        "extra": {
            "extra_string": "Value",        
            "extra_boolean": true,
            "extra_int": 1,
            "extra_long": 1234567890123,
            "extra_double": 1.1,
            "extra_string_array": ["Value 1", "Value 2", "Value 3"],
            "extra_boolean_array": [true, false, true],
            "extra_int_array": [1, 2, 3],
            "extra_long_array": [1234567890123, 1234567890123, 1234567890123],
            "extra_double_array": [1.1, 2.2, 3.3],        
            "extra_uri": {
                "type": "uri",
                "value": "http://link.to.media"
            },
            "extra_string_alt": {
                "type": "string",
                "value": "Value"
            },        
            "extra_boolean_alt": {
                "type": "boolean",
                "value": true
            },
            "extra_byte": {
                "type": "byte",
                "value": 1
            },           
            "extra_short": {
                "type": "short",
                "value": 1
            },            
            "extra_int_alt": {
                "type": "int",
                "value": 1
            },
            "extra_long_alt": {
                "type": "long",
                "value": 1234567890123
            },
            "extra_float": {
                "type": "float",
                "value": 1.1
            },
            "extra_double_alt": {
                "type": "double",
                "value": 1.1
            },
            "extra_string_array_alt": {
                "type": "string",
                "values": ["Value 1", "Value 2", "Value 3"]
            },
            "extra_boolean_array_alt": {
                "type": "boolean",
                "values": [true, false, true]
            },
            "extra_byte_array": {
                "type": "byte",
                "values": [1, 2, 3]
            },           
            "extra_short_array": {
                "type": "short",
                "values": [1, 2, 3]
            },
            "extra_int_array_alt": {
                "type": "int",
                "values": [1, 2, 3]
            },
            "extra_long_array_alt": {
                "type": "long",
                "values": [1234567890123, 1234567890123, 1234567890123]
            },
            "extra_float_array": {
                "type": "float",
                "values": [1.1, 2.2, 3.3]
            },
            "extra_double_array_alt": {
                "type": "double",
                "values": [1.1, 2.2, 3.3]     
            },
            "extra_uri_array": {
                "type": "uri",
                "values": ["http://link.to.media1", "http://link.to.media2", "http://link.to.media3"]
            },
            "extra_string_list": {
                "type": "list:string",
                "values": ["Value 1", "Value 2", "Value 3"]
            },
            "extra_int_list": {
                "type": "list:int",
                "values": [1, 2, 3]
            },
            "extra_uri_list": {
                "type": "list:uri",
                "values": ["http://link.to.media1", "http://link.to.media2", "http://link.to.media3"]
            }
        }
    }
}

Property syntax of application launch action data

Property	Type	Default Value	Mandatory	Since Version	Description
id	string	null	No	0.1.136	A custom request ID. Note: This property must be set in order to trigger application result events. For iOS devices, the result event is directly triggered. For Android devices, the result event is triggered after the launched application is closed (or the application could not be launched).
uri	string	null	No	0.1.136	The data URI. Typically, this property is set to a video/audio URL that should be played. Note: This property is not supported by iOS devices.
type	string	null	No	0.1.136	The data mime type. Typically, this property is set to "video/*" or "audio/*". Note: This property is not supported by iOS devices.
component	object	null	No	0.1.136	The component that should be launched. The object must conain a package property (of type string) and a class property (of type string). Typically, this property is not set, because the package name is indicated in the action syntax (i.e. the {APP_ID} part) and the appropriate component is determined by the system. Note: This property is not supported by iOS devices.
extra	object	null	No	0.1.136	The extra data handled by the launched application. Note: Please note that some applications require special data types (e.g. android.net.Uri objects) for the extra data. In such cases, you can use the type property to perform the required conversions (please see the syntax examples). This property is not supported by iOS devices.

Result

{
    "event": "app:result",
    "id": "request_id",
    "code": -1,
    "extra": {
        "extra_string": "Value",        
        "extra_boolean": true,
        "extra_int": 1,
        "extra_long": 1234567890123,
        "extra_double": 1.1,
        "extra_string_array": ["Value 1", "Value 2", "Value 3"],
        "extra_boolean_array": [true, false, true],
        "extra_int_array": [1, 2, 3],
        "extra_long_array": [1234567890123, 1234567890123, 1234567890123],
        "extra_double_array": [1.1, 2.2, 3.3],
        "extra_uri": "http://link.to.media",
        "extra_byte": 1,
        "extra_short": 1,
        "extra_float": 1.1,
        "extra_byte_array": [1, 2, 3],
        "extra_short_array": [1, 2, 3],
        "extra_float_array": [1.1, 2.2, 3.3],
        "extra_uri_array": ["http://link.to.media1", "http://link.to.media2", "http://link.to.media3"],
        "extra_string_list": ["Value 1", "Value 2", "Value 3"],
        "extra_int_list": [1, 2, 3],
        "extra_uri_list": ["http://link.to.media1", "http://link.to.media2", "http://link.to.media3"]
    }
}

Property syntax of application result event

Property	Type	Since Version	Description
event	string	0.1.136	The event type. For application result events, this property is set to "app:result".
id	string	0.1.136	The custom request ID.
code	number	0.1.136	The result code. -3: Internal error occurred. -2: Application could not be launched. -1: Operation succeeded (Android-compliant). 0: Operation canceled (Android-compliant). 1: All codes of 1 or higher are application-specific (Android-compliant). Note: For iOS devices, only negative codes are possible (i.e. -1, -2, and -3).
extra	object	0.1.136	The extra data returned by the launched application. Note: Please note that the properties of the extra data are converted to the appropriate JSON types (e.g. byte/short/int/long/float/double values are converted to number values, android.net.Uri objects are converted to string values, etc.). This property is always set to null for iOS devices.

Example

This example uses an interaction plugin to create the content and to handle the application result events. Please have a look at this implementation script: https://msx.benzac.de/interaction/js/android.js.

Screenshot

Example Screenshot (Android Player)

Code

{
    "reference": "request:interaction:init@http://msx.benzac.de/interaction/android.html",
    "pages": []
}

Demo

• Launch via App: https://msx.benzac.de/?start=content:https://msx.benzac.de/info/xp/data/android_test.json
• Launch via Demo Page: https://msx.benzac.de/info/?start=content:https://msx.benzac.de/info/xp/data/android_test.json

Note: This demo will only work properly on an Android or FireTV device with Media Station X 0.1.136 or higher.

See also

• Android Plugin