Videos Inline Player - iOS

The Blaze Videos Inline Player is a flexible component for embedding video content within your iOS application. It provides a video playback experience that can be integrated into any UI context, from dedicated video screens to scrolling feeds. The player is framework-agnostic at its core, with specialized wrappers for both UIKit and SwiftUI integration. Use it in a scrolling feed or as a standalone player in any shape, place, or form.

Key features

• Display modes: choose between interactive mode (full controls) or preview mode (minimal overlay)
• Seamless transitions: smooth transitions between inline and full screen states while maintaining playback continuity
• Placeholder support: display thumbnail images that can be tapped to start playback
• Comprehensive controls: play/pause, seek, mute, share, like, and fullscreen functionality
• Rich customization: extensive styling options for colors, buttons, text, and layout
• Lifecycle management: automatic handling of player creation, embedding, and cleanup
• Event delegation: event notifications for player state changes and user interactions
• Performance optimized: efficient resource management for smooth scrolling in feed contexts

Implementation approaches

UIKit integration

Use the BlazeVideosInlinePlayer class directly with UIKit view controllers:

let player = BlazeVideosInlinePlayer(
    playerMode: .interactive(interactivePlyerStyle: .base()),
    dataSourceType: .labels(.singleLabel("highlights")),
    containerIdentifier: "main-player"
)

// Embed as placeholder or active player
player.embedPlayer(
    in: containerViewController,
    containerView: videoContainerView,
    shouldAutoPlayOnStart: true
)

SwiftUI integration

Use the BlazeSwiftUIVideosInlinePlayerView struct in SwiftUI views:

BlazeSwiftUIVideosInlinePlayerView(
    configuration: config,
    playerController: playerController,
    embeddedState: .placeholder
)
.inlinePlayerDelegate(myDelegate)

Player modes

Interactive mode

A fully interactive inline player with comprehensive overlay controls, including play/pause, seek bar, mute, share, and fullscreen buttons. Ideal for dedicated video viewing areas where users want full control over playback.

Preview mode

A minimal overlay player that shows a streamlined interface with only essential controls. Any interaction outside the minimal buttons will automatically open a full screen player. Perfect for video feeds, lists, or thumbnails where space is limited.

Styling system

The player offers extensive customization options through a comprehensive styling system:

• Background colors: customize the player background
• Button styling: control visibility, colors, and sizes of all player buttons
• Text styling: configure heading text appearance and visibility
• Seek bar: customize the appearance and behavior of the playback progress bar
• CTA buttons: add and style call-to-action buttons

Best practices

• Use unique identifiers: always provide unique container identifiers for proper analytics tracking and player management. For SwiftUI it is especially crucial to provide a stable identifier to prevent unintentional recreations of the player.
• Choose appropriate modes: use interactive mode for focused video viewing and preview mode for feeds
• Handle lifecycle events: implement delegate methods to respond to player events like loading completion and errors
• Optimize for scrolling: in feed contexts, consider using placeholders until a video is actively viewed
• Customize thoughtfully: apply styling that matches your app's design language while maintaining usability
• Manage the player's lifecycle: think carefully about who should own the playerController and how you tie its lifecycle to the owner

The Blaze Videos Inline Player provides a robust foundation for video playback needs across any iOS application, regardless of the UI framework used.