AVPlayer too long and with delay to readyToPlay and play server music in swift

Question

I tried to buffer and immediately play remote url audio with swift language.

but problem is with long time to readyToPlay case and play.

for example a sound url takes about 12 to 15 second to run.

this is my code :

var asset: AVAsset!
var player: AVPlayer!
var playerItem: AVPlayerItem!

private var playerItemContext = 0

let requiredAssetKeys = [ "playable","hasProtectedContent"]

---

let url = URL(string: "http://sound_link.mp3")!
asset = AVAsset(url: url)

playerItem = AVPlayerItem(asset: asset,
                              automaticallyLoadedAssetKeys: requiredAssetKeys)
playerItem.addObserver(self,
                       forKeyPath: #keyPath(AVPlayerItem.status),
                       options: [.old, .new],
                       context: &playerItemContext)

player = AVPlayer(playerItem: playerItem)

that according to this (ExploringAVFoundation) documentation've done that

and for handle that player is ready to player to play i use observeValue func :

override func observeValue(forKeyPath keyPath: String?,of object: Any?, change: [NSKeyValueChangeKey : Any]?, context: UnsafeMutableRawPointer?) {

   guard context == &playerItemContext else {
        super.observeValue(forKeyPath: keyPath, of: object, change: change, context: context)
        return
    }

    if keyPath == #keyPath(AVPlayerItem.status) {
        let status: AVPlayerItemStatus
        if let statusNumber = change?[.newKey] as? NSNumber {
            status = AVPlayerItemStatus(rawValue: statusNumber.intValue)!
        } else {
            status = .unknown
        }
        // Switch over status value
        switch status {
        case .readyToPlay:
            print("readyToPlay \(status.rawValue)")
            player.play() // here play remote sound
        case .failed:
            print("readyToPlay \(status.rawValue)")
        case .unknown:
            print("failed \(status.rawValue)")
        }

    }
}

and this is returned log :

2017-02-08 13:44:00.626036 [15144:3747850] [aqme] 255: AQDefaultDevice (1): skipping input stream 0 0 0x0
readyToPlay 1
2017-02-08 13:44:02.631182 [15144:3747850] [aqme] 255: AQDefaultDevice (173): skipping input stream 0 0 0x0

in above log , take 4 sec to appear readyToPlay 1 then take 10 sec to play sound

sever speed is good and i tried to play server sound in Android and max time to buffer and play sound is about 3 sec.(in Android application) but in IOS buffering and play sound totally , totally take about 15 sec!

Thanks for your attention

Dendrite

Is your issue that it takes too long for iOS to download enough of the file to make it playable? Can you post a link to the file that you're testing with so we can do some comparisons? – Commissary

@DaveWeston , No matter with which links - i tried several link - too , links work correctly in Android but not in IOS – Dendrite

The reason I ask is because in my tests, the sound starts playing nearly instantly. I took the code from your question, and used this URL: mfiles.co.uk/mp3-downloads/… – Commissary

@DaveWeston and average waiting second to buffer and play sound? – Dendrite

Less than a second. If you use the same URL as I did, do you still see the slowness? – Commissary

@DaveWeston let me try this url – Dendrite

@DaveWeston - u tried above link - this late 25 sec! – Dendrite

I have also tried and it takes less than 1 second, make sure that you're running the code form the Main thread – Skardol

any updates here? have you solved this problem? – Soemba

@VladHatko not yet - i tried many ways but not resolved - I hope and try that this problem be solved - if solve problem certainly update this page – Dendrite

In my case it takes more than 2minutes.! can anyone tell me how to decrease wait of stalling? I can not use player.automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling = false because due to this player stops again and again, and user have to play this manually. – Litton

Answer 1

Try to use this:

player.automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling = false

Soemba

according developer.apple.com/reference/avfoundation/avplayer/… , this feature is available iOS 10.0 not lower version – Dendrite

@Saeid, yes it is, but, as I understand, for prior versions it works as if this property was false; in iOS 10 it is true by default. it resolved my issue – Soemba

It can not be used - Because it requires conditions and Handel IOS version – Dendrite

I was struggling really hard with playing the avpalyerItem. and you my friend is a life saver.. – Copley

Answer 2

Try to instantiate your avPlayerItem with URL and then fetch other assets in global thread , I think the problems happens because avPlayer is trying to fetch assets in main UI thread I had the same problem when I was trying to read subtitle options from avAssets it took 5-6 seconds more to load the movie in my player.

This is how I solved my problem (in Swift 2), I hope it helps:

            dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), {
            let avMediaSelectionGroup : AVMediaSelectionGroup? = self.container.player.currentItem?.asset.mediaSelectionGroupForMediaCharacteristic(AVMediaCharacteristicLegible)
            dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), {

                if  (avMediaSelectionGroup != nil && (avMediaSelectionGroup!.options.count != 0) && avMediaSelectionGroup?.options[0].valueForKey("title") != nil)
                {
                  // show hide subtitle button
                }

            })

        })

Munford

i tried to put second section of questions's code inside DispatchQueue.global(qos: .userInitiated).async {code} , readyToPlay is ready faster but for play sound it takes many seconds yet! – Dendrite