GitHub - Morteza-Rastgoo/Android-ExoPlayer-AirPlay-Receiver: Android app to run on a set-top box and play video URLs "cast" to it with a stateless HTTP API (based on AirPlay).

ExoPlayer AirPlay Receiver

(less formally named: "ExoAirPlayer")

Android app to run on a set-top box and play video URLs "cast" to it with a stateless HTTP API (based on AirPlay).

Overview:

There is no UI when the app starts. It's a foreground service with a notification, which runs a web server on port 8192. The IP address of the server is given in the notification message.

When a video URL is "cast" to the server, a video player opens full-screen.

When an audio URL is "cast" to the server, the music plays in the background.. even when the screen is off.

When either audio or video media is playing and the player's window doesn't have focus (ex: listening to background audio, or by pressing the "home" button while watching a video), another notification is added to control playback or refocus the player's window.

This page is the simplest way to send signals to a running instance, though other "high level" tools exist to capture media URLs from the wild.

Audio or video files/playlists can also be started directly from the Android file system, which makes this app a very suitable replacement for a general-purpose video player.

Playlists can be generated dynamically from:

a single directory in the Android file system
a recursive directory tree in the Android file system
any HTML page with anchor tags that link to media files
- very useful for playing files from a remote directory listing

Playlists can be read explicitly from any text file with an .m3u file extension, which lists one media item path per line:

the .m3u file can be read from either the Android file system or a remote URL
each item path can refer to either the Android file system or a remote URL

When a video file is played from the Android file system, its directory is automatically scanned for matching subtitle file(s). A match will have the same filename and any of the following extensions: srt,ttml,vtt,webvtt,ssa,ass. Nested extension(s) can optionally be used to distinguish between different languages (ex: .en-US.srt, .es-MX.vtt).

Background:

I use Chromecasts a lot
- they are incredibly adaptable
  - though their protocol is proprietary and locked down
- I very rarely cast video from Android apps
  - though the Google Cast SDK for Android is nearly ubiquitous
- I find much better video content to stream on websites, and wrote some tools to identify and cast these URLs
  - Chrome extension to use with desktop web browsers
  - Android app to use with mobile devices
I also really like using Android set-top boxes
- mainly to play video files stored on an attached drive
- they are incredibly adaptable
  - able to run any Android apk, such as:
    - VPN client
    - torrent client
    - FTP client
    - HTTP server
I thought it would be "fun" to write an app to run on Android set-top boxes that could provide the same functionality that I enjoy on Chromecasts
- and will work equally well on smaller screens (ex: phones and tablets)

Scope:

the goal is not to provide an app that is recognized on the LAN as a virtual Chromecast device
- CheapCast accomplished this in 2013
  - Google quickly changed its protocol
AirPlay uses a very simple stateless HTTP API
- this is a great starting point
  - it supports: play, pause, seek, stop
- I'd like to extend this API (for a custom sender)
  - to add support for:
    - video queue, next, previous, mute, set volume
    - audio playlists (m3u, html directory index)

Design:

ExoPlayer
- media player used to render video URLs
HttpCore
- low level HTTP transport components used to build a custom HTTP service
jmDNS
- multi-cast DNS service registration used to make AirPlay-compatible HTTP service discoverable on LAN

Usage (low level):

AirPlay APIs:

  # network address for running instance of 'ExoPlayer AirPlay Receiver'
  airplay_ip='192.168.1.100:8192'

  # file path for test image (on sender):
  image_path='/path/to/image.jpg'

  # URL for test image:
  image_page='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Android_robot.svg'
  image_url='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Android_robot.svg/654px-Android_robot.svg.png'

  # URLs for test video:
  videos_page='https://players.akamai.com/hls/'
  video_url_1='https://multiplatform-f.akamaihd.net/i/multi/will/bunny/big_buck_bunny_,640x360_400,640x360_700,640x360_1000,950x540_1500,.f4v.csmil/master.m3u8'
  video_url_2='https://multiplatform-f.akamaihd.net/i/multi/april11/hdworld/hdworld_,512x288_450_b,640x360_700_b,768x432_1000_b,1024x576_1400_m,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8'
  video_url_3='https://multiplatform-f.akamaihd.net/i/multi/april11/cctv/cctv_,512x288_450_b,640x360_700_b,768x432_1000_b,1024x576_1400_m,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8'

  # URLs for test video text captions:
  captions_page='https://github.com/gpac/gpac/tree/master/tests/media/webvtt'
  caption_url_1='https://github.com/warren-bank/Android-ExoPlayer-AirPlay-Receiver/raw/v02/tests/.captions/counter.workaround-exoplayer-issue-7122.srt'
  caption_url_2='https://github.com/warren-bank/Android-ExoPlayer-AirPlay-Receiver/raw/v02/tests/.captions/counter.vtt'
  caption_url_3='https://github.com/gpac/gpac/raw/master/tests/media/webvtt/comments.vtt'

  # URLs for test audio:
  audio_flac_nfo='https://archive.org/details/tntvillage_457399'
  audio_flac_url='https://archive.org/download/tntvillage_457399/Black%20Sabbath%201970-2013/Studio%20Albums/1970%20Black%20Sabbath/1970%20Black%20Sabbath%20%5B1986%20France%20NELCD%206002%20Castle%5D/Black%20Sabbath%20-%20Black%20Sabbath%20%281986%2C%20Castle%20Communications%2C%20NELCD%206002%29.flac'
  audio_m3u_page='https://archive.org/details/Mozart_Vesperae_Solennes_de_Confessore'
  audio_mp3s_m3u='https://archive.org/download/Mozart_Vesperae_Solennes_de_Confessore/Mozart%20-%20Vesper%C3%A6%20Solennes%20de%20Confessore%20%28Cooke%29.m3u'
  audio_htm_page='https://archive.org/details/tntvillage_455310'
  audio_mp3s_htm='https://archive.org/download/tntvillage_455310/S%26G/Live/1967%20-%20Live%20From%20New%20York%20City%20%40320/'

  # file paths for test media (on receiver):
  video_path='/storage/external_SD/test-media/video/file.mp4'
  subtt_path='/storage/external_SD/test-media/video/file.srt'
  audio_path='/storage/external_SD/test-media/audio/file.mp3'
  plist_path='/storage/external_SD/test-media/all audio and video files.m3u'

  # directory paths for test media (on receiver):
  video_dir_path='/storage/external_SD/test-media/video/'
  audio_dir_path='/storage/external_SD/test-media/audio/'
  recursive_path='/storage/external_SD/test-media/'

display image from local file system (on sender):

  curl --silent -X POST \
    --data-binary "@${image_path}" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/photo"

display image from remote URL:

  curl --silent "$image_url" | \
  curl --silent -X POST \
    --data-binary @- \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/photo"

play video #1 (add text captions, set 'Referer' request header, seek to beginning):

  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${video_url_1}\nCaption-Location: ${caption_url_1}\nReferer: ${videos_page}\nStart-Position: 0" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/play"

seek to 30 seconds within currently playing video:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/scrub?position=30.0"

pause the currently playing video:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/rate?value=0.0"

resume playback of the currently paused video:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/rate?value=1.0"

increase speed of playback to 10x:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/rate?value=10.0"

stop playback:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/stop"

extended APIs:

seek 30 seconds forward relative to current position within currently playing video (30 second = 30*1e3 milliseconds):
```
  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/add-scrub-offset?value=30000"
```
seek 30 seconds backward relative to current position within currently playing video (30 second = 30*1e3 milliseconds):
```
  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/add-scrub-offset?value=-30000"
```

add video #2 to end of queue (add text captions, set 'Referer' request header, seek to 50%):

  # note: position < 1 is a percent of the total track length
  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${video_url_2}\nCaption-Location: ${caption_url_2}\nReferer: ${videos_page}\nStart-Position: 0.5" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/queue"

add video #3 to end of queue (add text captions, set 'Referer' request header, seek to 30 seconds):

  # note: position >= 1 is a fixed offset (in seconds)
  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${video_url_3}\nCaption-Location: ${caption_url_3}\nReferer: ${videos_page}\nStart-Position: 30" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/queue"

skip forward to next video in queue:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/next"

skip backward to previous video in queue:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/previous"

mute audio:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/volume?value=0.0"

set audio volume to 50%:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/volume?value=0.5"

set audio volume to 100%:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/volume?value=1.0"

turn text captions off:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/show-captions?toggle=0"

turn text captions on:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/show-captions?toggle=1"

set time offset for text captions (1 second = 1e6 microseconds):

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/set-captions-offset?value=1000000"

add to current time offset for text captions (60 second = 60*1e6 microseconds):

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/add-captions-offset?value=60000000"

remove time offset for text captions:

  curl --silent -X GET \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/set-captions-offset?value=0"

play audio .flac file (set 'Referer' request header, seek to 50%):

  # note: position < 1 is a percent of the total track length
  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${audio_flac_url}\nReferer: ${audio_flac_nfo}\nStart-Position: 0.5" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/play"

play audio .m3u playlist (6 songs, set 'Referer' request header for all songs, seek to 30 seconds in first song):

  # note: position >= 1 is a fixed offset (in seconds)
  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${audio_mp3s_m3u}\nReferer: ${audio_m3u_page}\nStart-Position: 30" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/play"

add audio .html directory index playlist to end of queue (20 songs, set 'Referer' request header for all songs, seek to beginning of first song):

  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${audio_mp3s_htm}\nReferer: ${audio_htm_page}\nStart-Position: 0" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/queue"

play video from file system on receiver (add text captions, seek to beginning):

  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${video_path}\nCaption-Location: ${subtt_path}\nStart-Position: 0" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/play"

add audio from file system on receiver to end of queue (seek to 50%):

  # note: position < 1 is a percent of the total track length
  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${audio_path}\nStart-Position: 0.5" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/queue"

play combination of audio and video files in order specified by .m3u playlist from file system on receiver:

  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${plist_path}" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/play"

play all audio and video files in specified directory from file system on receiver:

  # note: IF the specified directory contains one or more media files, THEN does not recursively search for media files in subdirectories
  #       IF the specified directory does not contain any media files, THEN does recursively search for media files in all subdirectories
  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${video_dir_path}" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/play"

queue all audio and video files in specified directory from file system on receiver:

  # note: IF the specified directory contains one or more media files, THEN does not recursively search for media files in subdirectories
  #       IF the specified directory does not contain any media files, THEN does recursively search for media files in all subdirectories
  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${audio_dir_path}" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/queue"

play all audio and video files by recursively searching within specified directory from file system on receiver:

  # note: IF the specified directory contains one or more media files, THEN does not recursively search for media files in subdirectories
  #       IF the specified directory does not contain any media files, THEN does recursively search for media files in all subdirectories
  curl --silent -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: text/parameters" \
    --data-binary "Content-Location: ${recursive_path}" \
    "http://${airplay_ip}/play"

Usage (high level):

single-page application (SPA) that can run in any web browser, and be used to:
- send commands to a running instance of ExoPlayer AirPlay Receiver
  - "cast" video URLs to its playlist
  - control all aspects of playback
Chrome extension that can run in any Chromium-based desktop web browser, and be used to:
- intercept the URL of (nearly) all videos on any website
- display these video URLs as a list of links
  - clicking on any link will transfer the URL of the video (as well as the URL of the referer webpage) to the SPA (above)
    - more precisely, the link to the SPA is displayed as a small AirPlay icon
    - the other links transfer the video URL to other tools
      - webpage to watch the video in an HTML5 player with the ability to "cast" the video to a Chromecast
      - a running instance of HLS-Proxy
Greasemonkey userscripts
- that can run in any web browser with support:
  - Tampermonkey for Chrome/Chromium
  - Greasemonkey for Firefox
  - etc…
- and be used to:
  - apply site-specific knowledge to obtain the URL of a video on the requested page as it loads
  - automatically redirect to the SPA (above)
- list of available scripts for supported websites:
  - script for CBS News
  - script for PBS
  - script for Tubi TV
  - script for Youtube
  - script for Crackle
  - script for US TV Go
  - script for StreamLive To
  - script for YourSports Stream
  - script for 123TV
  - script for Arconai TV
  - script for embedded videos hosted by ok.ru
Android app that is open-source, and can be used to:
- discover AirPlay receivers on the same LAN
- display images from the local file system
  - sends the entire file in POST data to the receiver
- stream videos from the local file system
  - runs a local web server
  - casts the URL of the video to the receiver
  - serves the video file when requested by the receiver

Credits:

AirPlay-Receiver-on-Android
- brilliant
- what I like:
  - quality of code is excellent
  - implements 90% of what I've described
    - media player used to render video URLs
    - HttpCore web server that implements all AirPlay video APIs
    - jmDNS Bonjour registration
- what I dislike:
  - all libraries are 5 years old
  - doesn't use ExoPlayer
  - the repo includes a lot of unused code
    - needs a little housekeeping

Legal:

copyright: Warren Bank
license: GPL-2.0

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 83 Commits
android-studio-project		android-studio-project
credits		credits
tests		tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE.txt		LICENSE.txt
README.md		README.md
package.json		package.json

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ExoPlayer AirPlay Receiver

(less formally named: "ExoAirPlayer")

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ExoPlayer AirPlay Receiver

(less formally named: "ExoAirPlayer")

Overview:

Background:

Scope:

Design:

Usage (low level):

Usage (high level):

Credits:

Legal:

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