Last Updated: February 25, 2016

Android Video Encoding with Webview Trials and Tribulations

Just wanted to share some information about Android video and retain for my records.

Android Encoding (tested on 2.3.x, 4.3, 4.42):

H.264 
Profile: baseline 
Level: 1,4 (deadlines did not allow for more level testing, as level 4 would be the most efficient) 
Average Bitrate (kbps): 1000

I used Handbrake to encoded the videos and tested them in an Android VideoView. This was the successful part of my Android video encoding adventures. Initially, we were trying to make HTML5's <video> tag work correctly in an Android WebView. That did not go well. I could get it to play on my Droid X 2.3 phone, but it wouldn't work on any other 4.0+ device, at least not with autoplay. Webview is generally a bad idea when it comes to displaying video on devices.

#androidvideo

#androidh264

#androidwebviewvideosucks