Starting with iOS 10, Safari on iPhone and iPod supports inline video
playback . This opens up some new rendering options for your video player and
the IMA SDK, but also introduces some caveats.
So what changed?
Previously, Safari on iPhone played all video in a fullscreen player. With iOS
10, Safari now supports the playsinline parameter on a video
element to play that content inline.
Fullscreen playback on iPhone Mobile Safari. The default with iOS 10+ and the
only option for iOS <= 10
Inline playback on iPhone Mobile Safari. A new option in iOS 10+
How will the IMA SDK work with inline video playback on mobile Safari?
On iPhone Safari, the IMA SDK re-uses your content player to play ads. We call
this "custom playback." So if you add the playsinline parameter to
your content video tag, IMA ads will also play inline - it's as easy as that.
Inline video playback also opens the door for the IMA SDK to play skippable ads
on iPhone Mobile Safari. Previously these ads were dropped by the SDK because we
could not render a skip button on top of the fullscreen player. If your player
is inline, however, we can render that skip button, but there's
a catch .
So what's the catch?
IMA SDK skippable ads are not supported with the "custom playback" method. To
use skippable ads, you'll need to use our new API, ImaSdkSettings.setDisableCustomPlaybackForIOS10Plus() does support skippable ads.
Disabling "custom playback", however, will break your fullscreen
implementation for iPhone web.
Why do I need custom playback on iOS?
The need for "custom playback" on iOS boils down to one thing - fullscreen
support. Mobile Safari only supports fullscreen via videoPlayer.webkitEnterFullscreen()
What if I want skippable ads and fullscreen support?
Unfortunately, this is not possible on mobile Safari today - you must choose
between support for skippable ads and support for fullscreen.
What's the deal with iOS <10?
Prior versions of iOS (<10) do not have support for playsinline, so
pages in those environments will always use "custom playback" mode, with support
for fullscreen but no support for skippable ads.
I'm still confused.
That's OK! This is a complicated change with a lot of moving parts. Below is a
support matrix outlining what is and is not supported based on your content
player's playsinline mode and the "custom playback" mode you've set
for the IMA SDK. Remember, this matrix only applies to iOS 10 and above -
anything running version iOS 9 or below falls into the top left quadrant of the
matrix, as this is the only option.
Shawn Busolits , IMA SDK Team
