How to Play YouTube Video in Android App

We can see lot of android apps playing videos inside the app demonstrating app overview or an intro. Storing the video inside the project will increase the app size. So instead, we can upload the video to YouTube and stream it in the app to decreases the app size.

In this tutorial we are going to learn how to play YouTube video in the app. This app will have a single screen with a video playing in it. This article covers very basics of YouTube Android API. If you want to dig deep and build a fully fledged youtube app, please go through YouTube Android Player API docs provided by Google.

As we are interacting with Google APIs, we need to get the Google Developer API Key first. Follow below steps to obtain your Google Developer Android API Key.

1. Obtaining the Android API Key

1. First we need to get the SHA-1 fingerprint on your machine using java keytool. Execute the below command in cmd/terminal to get the SHA-1 fingerprint.

On Windows

keytool -list -v -keystore "%USERPROFILE%\.android\debug.keystore" -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

On Linux or Mac

keytool -list -v -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

2. Go to Google Developer Console and select or create a new project.

3. On the left sidebar, select APIs under APIs & auth and turn the status ON for YouTube Data API v3.

4. On the left sidebar, select Credentials and Create new key under Public API acess.

5. When popup comes asking you to choose platform, select Android Key.

6. Paste the SHA-1 key and your project’s package name separated by semicolon(;).

7. Click on create. Now you should see the API KEY on the dashboard.

Now we have the API Key required for this project. Let’s create a new android project and start building the app.

2. Creating the Android Project

1.In Eclipse create a new android project by navigating to File ⇒ New ⇒ Android Application Project and fill out all the required details.

2. Download the latest of version of YouTube Android Player API and extract it. Once extracted, you can find YouTubeAndroidPlayerApi.jar file inside libs folder.

3. Paste the YouTubeAndroidPlayerApi.jar file in your project’s libs folder.

4. Add the below string values to strings.xml located under res ⇒ values.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

    <string name="app_name">Youtube Player</string>
    <string name="title_logo">NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC</string>
    <string name="btn_skip_intro">Skip Intro</string>
    
    
    <string name="error_player">There was an error initializing the YouTubePlayer (%1$s)</string>

</resources>

5. Also add these color values to colors.xml located under res ⇒ values. If you don’t see colors.xml, create a new file with the same name.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <color name="shadow">#555555</color>
    <color name="title">#777777</color>
</resources>

6. Create a class named Config.java to keep our app configuration variables like Google Developer Key and YouTube video id.

package info.androidhive.youtubeplayer;

public class Config {
	// Google Console APIs developer key
	// Replace this key with your's
	public static final String DEVELOPER_KEY = "AIzaSyABYoczeHg4XABx_jMRfv-CqmA2YMsIY4A";
	
	// YouTube video id
	public static final String YOUTUBE_VIDEO_CODE = "_oEA18Y8gM0";
}

7. Download this drawable folder and paste it in your project’s res folder. This folder contains few images required for this project.

8. Create an xml file named rouned_corner_shadow.xml inside drawable folder. This drawable layout gives rounded corner background with a shadow effect to the view.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >

    <item>
        <shape android:shape="rectangle" >
            <solid android:color="@color/shadow" />

            <corners android:radius="4dp" />
        </shape>
    </item>
    <item
        android:bottom="2dp"
        android:left="0dp"
        android:right="0dp"
        android:top="0dp">
        <shape android:shape="rectangle" >
            <solid android:color="@android:color/white" />

            <corners android:radius="4dp" />
        </shape>
    </item>

</layer-list>

9. Now open the layout file of your main activity (activity_main.xml) and add below code. This creates a simple layout with YouTubePlayerView.

<RelativeLayout 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" >

    <ImageView
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:scaleType="centerCrop"
        android:src="@drawable/snake_bg" />

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:layout_marginLeft="30dp"
        android:layout_marginRight="30dp"
        android:orientation="vertical" >

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:background="@drawable/rouned_corner_shadow"
            android:gravity="center_horizontal"
            android:orientation="vertical" >

            <com.google.android.youtube.player.YouTubePlayerView
                android:id="@+id/youtube_view"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_marginBottom="30dp" />

            <ImageView
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="70dp"
                android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
                android:scaleType="fitCenter"
                android:src="@drawable/nat_geo_logo" />

            <TextView
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
                android:text="@string/title_logo"
                android:textColor="@color/title"
                android:textSize="20dp"
                android:textStyle="bold" />

            <ImageView
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="40dp"
                android:layout_marginBottom="30dp"
                android:scaleType="fitCenter"
                android:src="@drawable/wild" />
        </LinearLayout>

        <Button
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginTop="40dp"
            android:background="@drawable/rouned_corner_shadow"
            android:text="@string/btn_skip_intro" />
    </LinearLayout>

</RelativeLayout>

10.Open your main activity class (MainActivity.java) and do the below simple changes. Here the activity is extended from YouTubeBaseActivity which will be present in YouTubeAndroidPlayerApi.jar. This activity also contains few initialization listener methods to know the status of the youtube player.

package info.androidhive.youtubeplayer;

import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Window;
import android.view.WindowManager;
import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.android.youtube.player.YouTubeBaseActivity;
import com.google.android.youtube.player.YouTubeInitializationResult;
import com.google.android.youtube.player.YouTubePlayer;
import com.google.android.youtube.player.YouTubePlayer.PlayerStyle;
import com.google.android.youtube.player.YouTubePlayerView;

public class MainActivity extends YouTubeBaseActivity implements
		YouTubePlayer.OnInitializedListener {

	private static final int RECOVERY_DIALOG_REQUEST = 1;

	// YouTube player view
	private YouTubePlayerView youTubeView;

	@Override
	protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
		requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
		getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,
				WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);

		setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

		youTubeView = (YouTubePlayerView) findViewById(R.id.youtube_view);

		// Initializing video player with developer key
		youTubeView.initialize(Config.DEVELOPER_KEY, this);

	}

	@Override
	public void onInitializationFailure(YouTubePlayer.Provider provider,
			YouTubeInitializationResult errorReason) {
		if (errorReason.isUserRecoverableError()) {
			errorReason.getErrorDialog(this, RECOVERY_DIALOG_REQUEST).show();
		} else {
			String errorMessage = String.format(
					getString(R.string.error_player), errorReason.toString());
			Toast.makeText(this, errorMessage, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
		}
	}

	@Override
	public void onInitializationSuccess(YouTubePlayer.Provider provider,
			YouTubePlayer player, boolean wasRestored) {
		if (!wasRestored) {

			// loadVideo() will auto play video
			// Use cueVideo() method, if you don't want to play it automatically
			player.loadVideo(Config.YOUTUBE_VIDEO_CODE);

			// Hiding player controls
			player.setPlayerStyle(PlayerStyle.CHROMELESS);
		}
	}

	@Override
	protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
		if (requestCode == RECOVERY_DIALOG_REQUEST) {
			// Retry initialization if user performed a recovery action
			getYouTubePlayerProvider().initialize(Config.DEVELOPER_KEY, this);
		}
	}

	private YouTubePlayer.Provider getYouTubePlayerProvider() {
		return (YouTubePlayerView) findViewById(R.id.youtube_view);
	}

}

11. Finally open your AndroidManifest.xml and add INTERNET permission.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="info.androidhive.youtubeplayer"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk
        android:minSdkVersion="11"
        android:targetSdkVersion="21" />
    
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
        <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name" 
            android:screenOrientation="portrait">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

</manifest>

Now if you run the project, you should see the youtube video playing on launching of the app. Below is the final output of this tutorial.

Ravi Tamada

Hi there! I am Founder at androidhive and programming enthusiast. My skills includes Android, iOS, PHP, Ruby on Rails and lot more. If you have any idea that you would want me to develop? Let’s talk: ravi@androidhive.info