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Version: 0.1.x

Interactive Livestream (HLS) - Android

Interactive live streaming (HLS) refers to a type of live streaming where viewers can actively engage with the content being streamed and with other viewers in real-time.

In an interactive live stream (HLS), viewers can take part in a variety of activities like live polling, Q&A sessions, and even sending virtual gifts to the content creator or each other.

VideoSDK also allows you to configure the interactive livestream layouts in numerous ways like by simply setting different prebuilt layouts in the configuration or by providing your own custom template to do the livestream according to your layout choice.

This guide will provide an overview of how to implement start and stop Interactive live streaming (HLS).

info

To initiate automatic Interactive live streaming (HLS) at the beginning of a session, simply provide the autoStartConfig feature hls during room creation. For more information on configuring the autoStartConfig, please refer to the provided documentation here.

startHls()​

startHls() can be used to start a interactive livestream of the meeting which can be accessed from the Meeting class. This method accepts one parameter:

  • config: This parameter will define how the interactive livestream layout should look like.
val config = JSONObject()

// Layout Configuration
val layout = JSONObject()
JsonUtils.jsonPut(layout, "type", "GRID") // "SPOTLIGHT" | "SIDEBAR",  Default : "GRID"
JsonUtils.jsonPut(layout, "priority", "SPEAKER") // "PIN", Default : "SPEAKER"
JsonUtils.jsonPut(layout, "gridSize", 4) // MAX : 25
JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "layout", layout)

// Theme of interactive livestream layout
JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "theme", "DARK") //  "LIGHT" | "DEFAULT"

// `mode` is used to either interactive livestream video & audio both or only audio.
JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "mode", "video-and-audio") // "audio", Default : "video-and-audio"

// Quality of interactive livestream and is only applicable to `video-and-audio` type mode.
JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "quality", "high") // "low" | "med",  Default : "med"

// This mode refers to orientation of interactive livestream.
// landscape : Start interactive livestream of the meeting in horizontally
// portrait : Start interactive livestream of the meeting in vertically (Best for mobile view)
JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "orientation", "portrait") // "landscape",  Default : "landscape"

meeting!!.startHls(config)

stopHls()​

  • stopHls() is used to stop interactive livestream of the meeting which can be accessed from the Meeting class.

Example​

// keep track of hls
val hls = false

findViewById<View>(R.id.btnHls).setOnClickListener { view: View? ->
  if (!hls) {
    val config = JSONObject()
    val layout = JSONObject()
    JsonUtils.jsonPut(layout, "type", "GRID")
    JsonUtils.jsonPut(layout, "priority", "SPEAKER")
    JsonUtils.jsonPut(layout, "gridSize", 4)
    JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "layout", layout)
    JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "theme", "DARK")
    JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "mode", "video-and-audio")
    JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "quality", "high")
    JsonUtils.jsonPut(config, "orientation", "portrait")

    // Start Hls
    meeting!!.startHls(config)
  } else {
    // Stop Hls
    meeting!!.stopHls()
  }
}
tip

If you want to learn more about the Interactive Livestream and how you can implement it in your own platform, you can checkout this guide.

Event associated with HLS​

  • onHlsStateChanged - Whenever meeting HLS state changes, then onHlsStateChanged event will trigger.

  • You can get the playbackHlsUrl and livestreamUrl of the HLS to play it on the Viewer side when the state changes to HLS_PLAYABLE.

    • playbackHlsUrl - Live HLS with playback support
    • livestreamUrl - Live HLS without playback support
note

downstreamUrl is now depecated. Use playbackHlsUrl or livestreamUrl in place of downstreamUrl

private val meetingEventListener: MeetingEventListener = object : MeetingEventListener() {
  override fun onHlsStateChanged(HlsState: JSONObject) {
    when (HlsState.getString("status")) {
        "HLS_STARTING" -> Log.d("onHlsStateChanged", "Meeting hls is starting")
        "HLS_STARTED" -> Log.d("onHlsStateChanged", "Meeting hls is started")
        "HLS_PLAYABLE" -> {
            Log.d("onHlsStateChanged", "Meeting hls is playable now")
             // on hls playable you will receive playbackHlsUrl and livestreamUrl
            val playbackHlsUrl = HlsState.getString("playbackHlsUrl")
            val livestreamUrl = HlsState.getString("livestreamUrl")
        }
        "HLS_STOPPING" -> Log.d("onHlsStateChanged", "Meeting hls is stopping")
        "HLS_STOPPED" -> Log.d("onHlsStateChanged", "Meeting hls is stopped")
    }
  }
}

override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
  //...

  // add listener to meeting
  meeting!!.addEventListener(meetingEventListener)
}

Custom Template​

With VideoSDK, you can also use your own custom designed layout template to livestream the meetings. In order to use the custom template, you need to create a template for which you can follow this guide. Once you have setup the template, you can use the REST API to start the livestream with the templateURL parameter.

API Reference​

The API references for all the methods utilised in this guide are provided below.

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Last updated on by BhumiSalat

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