How to use Media Player to play multiple video (mp4) files in Android Studio using Kotlin.

Last updated Dec 29, 2021

In this android example tutorial, we will see how to play multiple mp4 video files using Media Player in Android Studio using Kotlin language.

What is Media Player?
In Android, the MediaPlayer Class is used to play media files. Those are audio and video files, respectively. It can also be used to stream audio or video across the network.

Implementation:

Step 1: Create a new Project in android studio.

Go to File > New > New Project > Empty Activity > Next > Enter Name > Select Language Kotlin > Finish

Step 2: Open activity_main.xml file and add the recyclerview Widget.

<androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
android:id="@+id/rv"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

RecyclerView is a more flexible and adaptable variant of ListView and GridView. It is a container for presenting a huge number of data sets that may be scrolled very efficiently by keeping a restricted number of views.

Step3: Create a new xml file

app > res > layout > right-click > new > layout resource file > Enter file name (recycler_layout) > Ok.

Step 4: Open recycler_layout.xml file and add the following code.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:background="#F8B0C8"
android:id="@+id/ll"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:padding="16dp">

</LinearLayout>

Step 5: Create a new Kotlin file (VideoModel) and add the following code

class VideoModel {
var videoUrl: String? = null

constructor(videoUrl: String) {
this.videoUrl = videoUrl
}

}

Step 6: Create a adapter kotlin class (VideoAdapter) and add the following kotlin code

class VideoAdapter(val requireContext: Context, val videoList: ArrayList) :
RecyclerView.Adapter() {

inner class ViewHolder(itemView: View) : RecyclerView.ViewHolder(itemView) {
val title = itemView.findViewById(R.id.tvTitle)
val layout = itemView.findViewById(R.id.ll)
}

override fun onCreateViewHolder(parent: ViewGroup, viewType: Int): ViewHolder {
val view = LayoutInflater.from(requireContext).inflate(R.layout.recycler_layout, parent, false)
return ViewHolder(view)
}

override fun onBindViewHolder(holder: ViewHolder, position: Int) {
val video = videoList[position]
val no = position+1
holder.title.setText("Video " + no)
holder.layout.setOnClickListener {
// Using intent will go to another screen
val intent = Intent(requireContext, VideoActivity::class.java)

// putExtra is used for passing the data to the new activity and use key value pairs phenomenon.
intent.putExtra("videoUrl", video.videoUrl)
requireContext.startActivity(intent)
}
}

override fun getItemCount() = videoList.size
}

Step 7: Go to MainActivity.kt file

Initialize the recylerview and AudioAdapter class instance

lateinit var rv: RecyclerView
lateinit var adapter: VideoAdapter

override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
rv = findViewById(R.id.rv)
// Used to set the recyclerview data in vertical direction
rv.layoutManager = LinearLayoutManager(this)

Create a new arrayList of VideoModel type

var list = ArrayList()

Add video url in List

list.add(VideoModel("http://techslides.com/demos/sample-videos/small.mp4"))
list.add(VideoModel("http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/ElephantsDream.mp4"))
list.add(VideoModel("http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/ForBiggerEscapes.mp4"))
list.add(VideoModel("http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/BigBuckBunny.mp4"))
list.add(VideoModel("http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/Sintel.mp4"))

Set list data in adapter and set adapter in recyclerView

adapter = VideoAdapter(this, list)
rv.adapter = adapter

Final Code of MainActivity.kt file

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
lateinit var rv: RecyclerView
lateinit var adapter: VideoAdapter
var list = ArrayList()

override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
rv = findViewById(R.id.rv)
rv.layoutManager = LinearLayoutManager(this)
loadVideos()
}

fun loadVideos() {
list.clear()
list.add(VideoModel("http://techslides.com/demos/sample-videos/small.mp4"))
list.add(VideoModel("http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/ElephantsDream.mp4"))
list.add(VideoModel("http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/ForBiggerEscapes.mp4"))
list.add(VideoModel("http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/BigBuckBunny.mp4"))
list.add(VideoModel("http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/Sintel.mp4"))

adapter = VideoAdapter(this, list)
rv.adapter = adapter

}

Step 8: Create new activity (VideoActivity) and add the VideoView widget in the activity_video.xml file

The VideoView class in Android is used to display a video file. It can import images from a variety of sources (such as content providers or resources), determining its measurement from the video so that it can be utilised by any layout manager and offering display choices such as scaling and tinting.

Step 9: Open VideoActivity.kt file and add the following code:

class VideoActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
var videoUrl: String? = null

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

// Used to make fullscreen activity
requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE)
window.setFlags(
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN
)
// Hiding the action bar
supportActionBar!!.hide()
setContentView(R.layout.activity_video)

// VideoView instance created
val videoView = findViewById(R.id.videoView)

// Get string from adapter
videoUrl = intent.getStringExtra("videoUrl")

// Uri object to refer the
// resource from the videoUrl
val uri = Uri.parse(videoUrl);

// sets the resource from the
// videoUrl to the videoView
videoView.setVideoURI(uri);

// creating object of
// media controller class
val mediaController = MediaController(this);

// sets the anchor view
// anchor view for the videoView
mediaController.setAnchorView(videoView);

// sets the media player to the videoView
mediaController.setMediaPlayer(videoView);

// sets the media controller to the videoView
videoView.setMediaController(mediaController);

// starts the video
videoView.start();
}
}

Step 10: Final step, go to AndroidManifest.xml file and add the following permissions.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE" />

If you got any issue of type "Can't play the video..."

Please add the following line to resolve the issue

android:usesCleartextTraffic="true"

Step 11: Now run the app in your emulator or real device, you will get the given output

OUTPUT:

Android Video Media Player to list of videos

Complete Source Code of Video Media Player Example:

activity_main.xml file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
tools:context=".MainActivity">

<androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
android:id="@+id/rv"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

</LinearLayout>

MainActivity.kt file

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.LinearLayoutManager
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
lateinit var rv: RecyclerView
lateinit var adapter: VideoAdapter
var list = ArrayList()

adapter = VideoAdapter(this, list)
rv.adapter = adapter

}

recycler_layout.xml file

</LinearLayout>

VideoModel.kt file

class VideoModel {
var videoUrl: String? = null

constructor(videoUrl: String) {
this.videoUrl = videoUrl
}

}

VideoAdapter.kt file

import android.content.Context
import android.content.Intent
import android.view.LayoutInflater
import android.view.View
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.*
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView

class VideoAdapter(val requireContext: Context, val videoList: ArrayList) :
RecyclerView.Adapter() {

inner class ViewHolder(itemView: View) : RecyclerView.ViewHolder(itemView) {
val title = itemView.findViewById(R.id.tvTitle)
val layout = itemView.findViewById(R.id.ll)
}

override fun onBindViewHolder(holder: ViewHolder, position: Int) {
val video = videoList[position]
val no = position+1
holder.title.setText("Video " + no)
holder.layout.setOnClickListener {
val intent = Intent(requireContext, VideoActivity::class.java)
intent.putExtra("videoUrl", video.videoUrl)
requireContext.startActivity(intent)
}
}

override fun getItemCount() = videoList.size
}

activity_video.xml file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
tools:context=".VideoActivity">

<VideoView
android:id="@+id/videoView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" />

</RelativeLayout>

VideoActivity.kt file

import android.net.Uri
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.Window
import android.view.WindowManager
import android.widget.MediaController
import android.widget.VideoView

class VideoActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
var videoUrl: String? = null

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

// Used to make fullscreen activity
requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE)
window.setFlags(
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN
)
// Hiding the action bar
supportActionBar!!.hide()
setContentView(R.layout.activity_video)

// VideoView instance created
val videoView = findViewById(R.id.videoView)

// Get string from adapter
videoUrl = intent.getStringExtra("videoUrl")

// Uri object to refer the
// resource from the videoUrl
val uri = Uri.parse(videoUrl);

// sets the resource from the
// videoUrl to the videoView
videoView.setVideoURI(uri);

// creating object of
// media controller class
val mediaController = MediaController(this);

// sets the anchor view
// anchor view for the videoView
mediaController.setAnchorView(videoView);

// sets the media player to the videoView
mediaController.setMediaPlayer(videoView);

// sets the media controller to the videoView
videoView.setMediaController(mediaController);

// starts the video
videoView.start();
}
}

AndroidManifest.xml file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.example.videomediaplayerkotlin">
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />

</manifest>

Conclusion: In this example we have covered how to play multiple mp4 videos using Media Player in Android Studio using Kotlin Language.