VideoView in Kotlin

Last Updated : 29 Jan, 2025

VideoView class of Kotlin is used to display video files in the Android application. This class supports the 3gp and MP4 video formats. VideoView class is capable of playing a video file either from local storage, a specific URL or from a resource file. The drawback of this class is that it does not retain the full state of the video file if the application goes into the background it means that the current play position, play state, or any kind of subtitle track can not be restored.

Class Hierarchy:

kotlin.Any
   ↳  android.view.View
        ↳  android.view.SurfaceView
             ↳  android.widget.VideoView

Some Important XML attributes of the VideoView widget

XML attribute	Description
android:id	Use to uniquely identify a VideoView
android:layout_width	To set width of the VideoView
android:layout_height	To set height of the VideoView
android:layout_margin	To fix the margin from top, bottom, start and end
app:layout_constraint	To fix the position in an activity

Example of VideoView in Kotlin

This example demonstrates steps involved in adding a video file in an android activity from local storage. A media controller is also added to the activity to control the play and pause the position of the video.

Step 1: Create new project

Click on File, then New => New Project.
Select language as Kotlin.
Select the minimum SDK as per your need.

Step 2: Add VideoView in activity_main.xml file

Below is the code for activity_main.xml file to add a TextView and a VideoView in an activity.

activity_main.xml:

activity_main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="#168BC34A"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <VideoView
        android:id="@+id/simpleVideoView"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

Step 3: Open MainActivity.kt file

Below is the code for MainActivity.kt file to access VideoView widget in Kotlin file and to add a media controller for it.

Note: Make sure to create a directory named raw in the resource file of your project and add the video file in that directory using file explorer.

MainActivity.kt:

Kotlin

package org.geeksforgeeks.demo

import android.net.Uri
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.View
import android.widget.MediaController
import android.widget.Toast
import android.widget.VideoView
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity


class MainActivity :  AppCompatActivity() {

    // declaring a lateinit variable for VideoView
    lateinit var simpleVideoView: VideoView

    // declaring a lateinit variable for MediaController
    lateinit var mediaControls: MediaController

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?){
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // assigning id of VideoView from
        // activity_main.xml layout file
        simpleVideoView = findViewById<View>(R.id.simpleVideoView) as VideoView

        if (!::mediaControls.isInitialized) {
            // creating an object of media controller class
            mediaControls = MediaController(this)

            // set the anchor view for the video view
            mediaControls.setAnchorView(this.simpleVideoView)
        }

        // set the media controller for video view
        simpleVideoView.setMediaController(mediaControls)

        // set the absolute path of the video file which is going to be played
        simpleVideoView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse("android.resource://"
                + packageName + "/" + R.raw.sample_video))

        simpleVideoView.requestFocus()

        // starting the video
        simpleVideoView.start()

        // display a toast message
        // after the video is completed
        simpleVideoView.setOnCompletionListener {
            Toast.makeText(applicationContext, "Video completed",
                Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
            true
        }

        // display a toast message if any
        // error occurs while playing the video
        simpleVideoView.setOnErrorListener { mp, what, extra ->
            Toast.makeText(applicationContext, "An Error Occurred " +
                    "While Playing Video !!!", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
            false
        }
    }
}

Step 4: Run as emulator

VideoView in Android

RISHU_MISHRA

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