iOS Player FAQ

Symptom: A bitcode-related error occurs when submitting an Xcode 14 build to the App Store:

 ITMS-90482: Invalid Executable - The executable 'xxx.app/Frameworks/alivcffmpeg.framework/alivcffmpeg' contains bitcode.

Solution: Run the xcrun bitcode_strip command to remove bitcode from the framework. ${framework_path} is the path of the framework binary.

xcrun bitcode_strip ${framework_path} -r -o ${framework_path}

Symptom: A cURL-related error occurs when submitting an Xcode 14 build to the App Store:

ITMS-90338: Non-public API usage - The app references non-public symbols in Frameworks/AliyunPlayer.framework/AliyunPlayer: _curl_multi_poll, _curl_multi_wakeup. If method names in your source code match the private Apple APIs listed above, altering your method names will help prevent this app from being flagged in future submissions. In addition, note that one or more of the above APIs may be located in a static library that was included with your app. If so, they must be removed. For further information, visit the Technical Support Information at http://developer.apple.com/support/technical/

Solution:

• If your project integrates only the ApsaraVideo Player SDK (AliPlayerSDK_iOS), upgrade the SDK to a version later than 5.4.9.2.

• If your project integrates both the ApsaraVideo Player SDK (AliPlayerPartSDK_iOS) and the short video SDK, upgrade the ApsaraVideo Player SDK to a version later than 5.4.9.2, alivcffmpeg (QuCore-ThirdParty) to version 4.3.6, and the short video SDK to a version later than 3.26.

Symptom: An error about non-public APIs occurs when submitting an Xcode 14 build to the App Store:

Symptom: An error related to post-processing plugins (mpf_filter.framework, vfi_filter.framework) for frame interpolation and sharpening occurs when submitting an Xcode 14 build to the App Store:

Solution:

• If your project does not use the plugin that is mentioned in the error message, you can delete the plugin. This does not affect the player's features and can reduce the package size.

• If your project must use the plugin mentioned in the error, you can temporarily remove the "_" from the value string in the "Bundle identifier" key-value pair in the Info.plist file under the framework path, and then compile and build the project.

• You can upgrade to version 5.5.2.0 or later, in which the naming is corrected.

The ApsaraVideo Player SDK reports playback progress every 500 ms by default. Shorten the interval for more frequent updates:

AVPConfig *config = [self.player getConfig];
config.positionTimerIntervalMs = 100; // Change the callback interval. Unit: ms.
[self.player setConfig:config];

/**
 @brief: The callback for the current playback position.
 @param player: The player pointer.
 @param position: The current playback position.
 */
- (void)onCurrentPositionUpdate:(AliPlayer*)player position:(int64_t)position {
    // The current playback progress.
    long currentPosition = position;
}

Three methods are available:

• Method 1: After the player is prepared (AVPEventPrepareDone), read the width and height from the AliPlayer instance.

  -(void)onPlayerEvent:(AliPlayer*)player eventType:(AVPEventType)eventType {
      if (eventType == AVPEventPrepareDone) {
        NSLog(@"Video width: %d, height: %d", player.width, player.height);
      }
  }

• Method 2: Listen for the video size change callback, which returns the width and height directly.

  - (void)onVideoSizeChanged:(AliPlayer*)player width:(int)width height:(int)height rotation:(int)rotation {
      NSLog(@"Video width: %d, height: %d", width, height);
  }

• Method 3: Listen for the track information callback and read videoWidth and videoHeight from the AVPTrackInfo in the info array.

  Note

  This method depends on a network request. Use Method 1 or Method 2 for better reliability.

  - (void)onTrackReady:(AliPlayer*)player info:(NSArray<AVPTrackInfo*>*)info {
      for (int i=0; i<info.count; i++) {
        AVPTrackInfo *trackInfo = info[i];
        NSLog(@"Video width: %d, height: %d", trackInfo.videoWidth, trackInfo.videoHeight);
    }
  }

Example:

// Switch to inaccurate seek.
[self.player seekToTime:1000 seekMode:AVP_SEEKMODE_INACCURATE];
// Switch to accurate seek.
[self.player seekToTime:1000 seekMode:AVP_SEEKMODE_ACCURATE];

Solution: Increase the maximum interval for accurate seek to reduce fallback to inaccurate seek. A larger interval improves accuracy but may increase seek time when keyframes are far apart:

// Unit: ms.
[self.player setMaxAccurateSeekDelta:10000];

The following code provides an example of how to obtain audio and video source data:

// Set the rendering callback.
self.player.renderingDelegate = self;

// Listen for the rendering callback.
- (BOOL)onRenderingFrame:(CicadaFrameInfo*) frameInfo {
    if (frameInfo.frameType == Cicada_FrameType_Video) { // Underlying video data.

    } else if (frameInfo.frameType == Cicada_FrameType_Audio) { // Underlying audio data.

    }
    return NO;
}

After enabling adaptive bitrate switching with the [self.player selectTrack:SELECT_AVPTRACK_TYPE_VIDEO_AUTO]; API, the SDK monitors the network speed. If the speed reaches the next bitrate level within 10 seconds, the player switches; otherwise, it stays on the current bitrate.

• High to low: the player switches after the cached high-bitrate content finishes playing.

• Low to high: the player switches immediately.

To customize retry logic, set the retry count to 0 and handle retry events externally:

AVPConfig *config = [self.player getConfig];
config.networkRetryCount = 0; // Set the number of retries. In this example, the value is set to 0.
[self.player setConfig:config];

/**
 @brief: The callback for player events.
 @param player: The player pointer.
 @param eventWithString: The player event type.
 @param description: The description of the player event.
 @see AVPEventType
 */
-(void)onPlayerEvent:(AliPlayer*)player eventWithString:(AVPEventWithString)eventWithString description:(NSString *)description {
    if (eventWithString == EVENT_PLAYER_NETWORK_RETRY) { // Network error. A retry is required.
        // TODO: Add the processing logic.
    }
}

Solution: You can configure AVAudioSession in a unified manner at an appropriate location in your project. For example, you can configure the audio session of the app as the playback category and allow mixing with other apps. You can also configure the audio session of the app as the PlayAndRecord category for recording and playback scenarios. If an error occurs during the operation, the error message is stored in the err variable.

[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback withOptions:AVAudioSessionCategoryOptionMixWithOthers error:&err];

You can also set a custom AVAudioSession proxy on the SDK side to bypass its internal AVAudioSession logic and prevent preemption:

1. Set the proxy.

   [AliPlayer setAudioSessionDelegate:self];

2. Set the listener for the proxy.

   return TRUE indicates that the SDK no longer configures AVAudioSession internally.

   #pragma mark CicadaAudioSessionDelegate
   - (BOOL)setActive:(BOOL)active error:(NSError **)outError
   {
       return YES;
   }
   
   - (BOOL)setCategory:(NSString *)category withOptions:(AVAudioSessionCategoryOptions)options error:(NSError **)outError
   {
         return YES;
   }
   
   - (BOOL)setCategory:(AVAudioSessionCategory)category mode:(AVAudioSessionMode)mode routeSharingPolicy:(AVAudioSessionRouteSharingPolicy)policy options:(AVAudioSessionCategoryOptions)options error:(NSError **)outError
   {
       return YES;
   }

If a stack crash that points to the SDK occurs when you use ApsaraVideo Player SDK for iOS, follow these steps:

1. Upgrade to the latest ApsaraVideo Player SDK for iOS, which includes ongoing stability improvements. Download the latest SDK from SDK introduction.

2. If the crash persists after the upgrade, provide complete crash information to Alibaba Cloud technical support. Get technical support.

To identify the cause:

1. Check whether the crash occurs in the ApsaraVideo Player SDK.

   Check whether the crash stack contains the AliyunPlayer prefix. If it does, the issue occurs in the ApsaraVideo Player SDK.

2. Upgrade to the latest version of the ApsaraVideo Player SDK and verify whether the issue is resolved.

3. If the issue persists, prepare the crash files (all threads), crash logs, and crash scenarios as described in How to obtain logs.

The following code provides an example of how to implement this feature:

UIInterfaceOrientation orientation = UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeLeft; // Rotate to full screen
......

// For iOS 16.0 and later
if (@available(iOS 16.0, *)) {
    @try {
            NSArray *array = [[[UIApplication sharedApplication] connectedScenes] allObjects];
      UIWindowScene *ws = (UIWindowScene *)array[0];
        Class GeometryPreferences = NSClassFromString(@"UIWindowSceneGeometryPreferencesIOS");
      id geometryPreferences = [[GeometryPreferences alloc]init];
      UIInterfaceOrientationMask orientationMask = UIInterfaceOrientationMaskLandscapeRight;
      if (orientation == UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait) {
          orientationMask = UIInterfaceOrientationMaskPortrait;
      }
      [geometryPreferences setValue:@(orientationMask) forKey:@"interfaceOrientations"];
      SEL sel_method = NSSelectorFromString(@"requestGeometryUpdateWithPreferences:errorHandler:");
      void (^ErrorBlock)(NSError *err) = ^(NSError *err){
            NSLog(@"Screen rotation error:%@", [err debugDescription]);
      };
      if ([ws respondsToSelector:sel_method]) {
          (((void (*)(id, SEL,id,id))[ws methodForSelector:sel_method])(ws, sel_method,geometryPreferences,ErrorBlock));
      }
  } @catch (NSException *exception) {
      NSLog(@"Screen rotation error:%@", exception.reason);
  } @finally {
  }
} else { // For systems earlier than iOS 16.0
  if ([[UIDevice currentDevice] respondsToSelector:@selector(setOrientation:)]) {
      SEL selector = NSSelectorFromString(@"setOrientation:");
      NSInvocation *invocation = [NSInvocation invocationWithMethodSignature:[UIDevice instanceMethodSignatureForSelector:selector]];
      [invocation setSelector:selector];
      [invocation setTarget:[UIDevice currentDevice]];
      [invocation setArgument:&Orientation atIndex:2];
      [invocation invoke];
  }
  [[UIApplication sharedApplication]setStatusBarOrientation:orientation animated:YES];
}

To identify the cause:

1. Check whether the video source itself has black bars.

2. You can call the following API to adjust the scaling mode of the player.

   /*
   AVP_SCALINGMODE_SCALEASPECTFILL: The video is scaled to fill the screen. The video may be cropped.
   AVP_SCALINGMODE_SCALEASPECTFIT: The video is scaled to fit the screen. Black bars may appear.
   AVP_SCALINGMODE_SCALETOFILL: The video is scaled to fill the screen without preserving the aspect ratio. The video may be distorted.
   */
   self.player.scalingMode = AVP_SCALINGMODE_SCALETOFILL;

3. If the scaling mode does not meet your requirements, you can adjust the width and height of the custom view for self.player.playerView by modifying the frame of self.player.playerView.

To identify the cause:

1. Use another player to play the video and check whether it is an audio-only file.

2. If the video plays normally on another player and the video dimensions change, you can switch to software decoding. The following code shows how to switch to software decoding:

   player.enableHardwareDecoder = NO

Versions of the ApsaraVideo Player SDK earlier than V5.4.5.0 do not support using the list player AliListPlayer to play HLS (m3u8) videos. Versions V5.4.5.0 and later support playing HLS (m3u8) videos, but you must enable local caching. Local caching.

Example:

// The following code provides an example of playback using VidSts.
AVPVidStsSource *stsSource = [[AVPVidStsSource alloc] init];
stsSource.vid = @"<vid>";
stsSource.accessKeyId = @"<accessKeyId>";
stsSource.securityToken = @"<securityToken>";
stsSource.accessKeySecret = @"<accessKeySecret>";
stsSource.quality = @""; // The expected definition for playback. Valid values: FD, LD, SD, HD, 2K, 4K, and OD.
stsSource.forceQuality = NO; // Specifies whether to forcibly play the video in the expected definition. NO: The video is not forcibly played in the expected definition. The player searches for definitions in the default order and plays the video in the first definition that it finds. YES: The video is forcibly played in the expected definition. If the expected definition is not found, the video is not played.