Add workaround for invalid buffering info on android

[timoxd7]

Info

As already described in multiple issues, there is currently a problem with android reporting "isBuffering" with true even if the video is already playing, preventing the video controls to be displayed. This is a workaround, checking (on android only) if the video is actually buffering. Tested with a network- and file-based video.

NOTE: This is only a workaround until video_player and flutter is fixed. See flutter/flutter#165149 for more information. Also thanks to @wenwangwill who added a workaround as comment i got inspired from.

Additional Issues not solved

If pausing the video and seeking to some point (using seekTo, so clicking on the progress bar) still leads to the infinit loading bar, as no callback is called by the video controller and thus the buffering not updated.

As workaround, just start playing on seekTo like this:

  // Your init code can be above
  videoController.addListener(yourListeningMethod);

  // ...

  bool wasPlayingBefore = false;
  void yourListeningMethod() {
    if (!videoController.value.isPlaying && !wasPlayingBefore) {
      // -> Workaround if seekTo another position while it was paused before
      //    on Android this might lead to infinite loading, so just play the
      //    video again.
      videoController.play();
    }

    wasPlayingBefore = videoController.value.isPlaying;

  // ...
  }

Related to

#909
#907
#906
#903

[codecov]

Codecov Report

Attention: Patch coverage is 66.66667% with 5 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.

Project coverage is 44.74%. Comparing base (b0ccd83) to head (85cddc5).
Report is 14 commits behind head on master.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
lib/src/helpers/utils.dart	44.44%	5 Missing ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##           master     #912      +/-   ##
==========================================
- Coverage   44.95%   44.74%   -0.22%     
==========================================
  Files          22       22              
  Lines        1546     1569      +23     
==========================================
+ Hits          695      702       +7     
- Misses        851      867      +16     

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[diegotori]

@timoxd7 can you add that additional workaround in the README so that it doesn't get lost after this version is eventually released? Thanks in advance.

[yann-elpyoo]

For information until the bug is fixed, and for chewie users only : it is possible to use a simple and complete workaround.

The thing is to add a long duration for the loader to appear. Then nothing is blocked anymore even at the end of the video! No need for looping too. It just shows the video paused and played each time seek to is called...

 _chewieController = ChewieController(
          videoPlayerController: _videoPlayerController,
          progressIndicatorDelay:
              PlatformProvider.isAndroid() ? const Duration(days: 1) : null,
        );

For non chewie users suffering from it, maybe wrapping with chewie could be a temporary solution...

[naghinezhad]

@timoxd7 @diegotori
Please review and merge this pull request so the related bug can be resolved. We are waiting for it.

[timoxd7]

@naghinezhad i am a bit in two minds about this pr. I will incorporate the requested changes, but it still is not a complete fix.

I don't know if it works good with live streams. As @yann-elpyoo wrote, you could fix it by disabling indirectly the loading spinner for android, but this also removes the feedback to the user that something is buffering.

@diegotori i updated according to your review. I also tested @yann-elpyoo solution and added it to the readme, both work together too (as my workaround will just be hidden by disabling the loader anyway).

As maintainer you can decide wether to merge this, as the root problem is not relying in chewie itself. However, we now have it documented here at least and if someone needs a fix, can use it util it is fixed in flutter itself.

[diegotori]

For the new utility method, add comments related to the issue your changes are trying to address.

Thanks.

[diegotori]

@timoxd7 other than the final nit that I called out, the rest LGTM.

[diegotori]

LGTM.