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Mastering ExoPlayer in Android: Playing Audio, Video & Streaming Content

Oct 07, 2025 |

9 minutes read

Choosing the Right Media Player for Android

If your Android app plays media, whether it’s background music, podcasts, short videos, or full-length movies, choosing the right media player is critical.

While Android’s built-in MediaPlayer is fine for basic needs, it falls short when handling adaptive streaming, DRM protection, offline caching, or custom playback controls. That’s why many top apps (YouTube, Spotify, Netflix) rely on ExoPlayer, Google’s open-source media library.

Partnering with a skilled Android App development company can help integrate ExoPlayer efficiently, ensuring smooth playback and an enhanced user experience. Choosing the right development team guarantees your app leverages advanced media features without compromising performance.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

Why ExoPlayer is better than MediaPlayer
How to set it up in your Android project
Playing audio, video, and streaming content
Advanced features you can leverage

Let’s dive in.

Why ExoPlayer?

Wide Format Support: MP3, AAC, MP4, FLAC, HLS, DASH, SmoothStreaming, and more.
Adaptive Streaming: Adjusts video quality dynamically based on network conditions.
Customizable UI: Use ExoPlayer’s PlayerView or design your own playback controls.
Background Playback: Essential for music, podcast, or radio apps.
Scalability: Works seamlessly in small apps or large-scale streaming platforms.

Setting Up ExoPlayer

Add ExoPlayer to your project by including the dependency in your Gradle file:
implementation “androidx.media3:media3-exoplayer:1.4.0”
implementation “androidx.media3:media3-ui:1.4.0”
That’s it, you’re ready to integrate powerful media playback.

Playing Audio in Seconds

Imagine you’re building a podcast app. With ExoPlayer, audio playback is as simple as:


val player = ExoPlayer.Builder(this).build()
val mediaItem = MediaItem.fromUri("https://samplelib.com/lib/preview/mp3/sample-3s.mp3")
player.setMediaItem(mediaItem)
player.prepare()
player.play()

This works for both local files and online streams. Just change the URI accordingly.

Playing Video

For video apps, ExoPlayer ships with PlayerView, a ready-made UI component.

Layout (XML):


<com.google.android.exoplayer2.ui.PlayerView
    android:id="@+id/playerView"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    app:use_controller="true"/>

Attach Player in Activity/Fragment:

`
val player = ExoPlayer.Builder(this).build()
findViewById(R.id.playerView).player = player
val videoUrl = "https://samplelib.com/lib/preview/mp4/sample-5s.mp4"
player.setMediaItem(MediaItem.fromUri(videoUrl))
player.prepare()
player.play()

And just like that, you have a fully functional video player with controls.

Streaming Live & On-Demand Content

Streaming is where ExoPlayer truly shines. For example, playing an HLS live stream (.m3u8):


val liveUrl = "https://test-streams.mux.dev/x36xhzz/x36xhzz.m3u8"
val player = ExoPlayer.Builder(this).build()
player.setMediaItem(MediaItem.fromUri(liveUrl))
player.prepare()
player.play()

ExoPlayer automatically handles adaptive bitrate streaming so the user always gets the best possible quality based on network conditions.

Advanced Features Developers Love

Once you’ve mastered the basics, here’s what sets ExoPlayer apart:

Offline Caching – Save media locally for playback without internet.
DRM Support – Protect premium video with Widevine or PlayReady.
Playback Speed Control –

player.setPlaybackParameters(PlaybackParameters(1.5f)) // 1.5x speed

Custom UI – Replace default controls with your own branded design.
Seamless Integration – Works with ads (IMA SDK), subtitles, and analytics.

Best Practices

Always release the player in onStop() or onDestroy():

override fun onStop() {

super.onStop()

player.release()

}

Use lifecycle-aware components when working with Fragments.
For apps with multiple screens, build a centralized PlayerManager.

Optimize streaming with bandwidth monitoring and caching.

Enhance your Flutter web with smart session sync

The Way Forward

ExoPlayer is more than a media player; it’s a framework for immersive media experiences, supporting DRM content, offline caching, and adaptive streaming. Partnering with a skilled Android App development company ensures smooth integration, optimized performance, and a seamless user experience for apps handling audio, video, or interactive media.