How to implement oncompletionlistener to detect end of media file in Exoplayer

2 min read 07-10-2024
How to implement oncompletionlistener to detect end of media file in Exoplayer


Detecting the End of Your Media Files: Implementing OnCompletionListener in ExoPlayer

ExoPlayer, a powerful and flexible media player for Android, offers robust control over your media playback experience. But what if you need to know when a media file has finished playing? This is where the OnCompletionListener comes in.

Scenario: Imagine you're building a music player app. When a song ends, you want to automatically start playing the next song in the playlist. To achieve this, you'll need a way to detect the end of the current track.

The Solution: ExoPlayer provides a simple and efficient mechanism to handle this situation: the OnCompletionListener. This listener, attached to your SimpleExoPlayer instance, gets notified when the current media file has finished playing.

Code Example:

SimpleExoPlayer player = new SimpleExoPlayer.Builder(this).build();

player.addListener(new Player.Listener() {
    @Override
    public void onPlayerStateChanged(boolean playWhenReady, int playbackState) {
        if (playbackState == Player.STATE_ENDED) {
            // Media file playback has ended
            // Start the next song in your playlist here
        }
    }
});

Explanation:

  1. We create a SimpleExoPlayer instance.
  2. We add a listener to the player using player.addListener().
  3. Within the listener, we implement the onPlayerStateChanged() method.
  4. This method receives two arguments: playWhenReady (whether playback is allowed) and playbackState (the current player state).
  5. We check if the playbackState is Player.STATE_ENDED. If it is, we know that the media file has finished playing.
  6. Inside the if block, we implement the logic to handle the end of the media file. This could include starting the next song, displaying a notification, or performing other actions.

Key Points:

  • Flexibility: OnCompletionListener is not limited to music players. It can be used in any context where you need to be notified when media playback has finished.
  • Efficiency: This method is lightweight and does not require any complex logic on your part.
  • Extensibility: You can customize the behavior of OnCompletionListener to suit your specific needs.

Additional Tips:

  • For more complex scenarios, consider using other player events provided by ExoPlayer, such as onPlaybackParametersChanged() or onPlayerError().
  • Refer to the official ExoPlayer documentation (https://exoplayer.dev/) for a comprehensive list of available listeners and events.

By understanding and utilizing OnCompletionListener, you can seamlessly integrate media playback into your Android applications and provide a more robust and user-friendly experience.