Most effective method for video as background in iOS

Question

Perhaps you have noticed one of the latest trend in iOS-apps: Using videos as backgrounds - mainly at login- or \"first launch\" screens. Yesterday I attempted to mimic this

Answer 1

Best way is to use AVFoundation then you control the video layer itself

In header file declare @property (nonatomic, strong) AVPlayerLayer *playerLayer;

- (void)viewDidLoad {
      [super viewDidLoad];


      [self.view.layer addSublayer:self.playerLayer];

      // loop movie
      [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver: self
                                             selector: @selector(replayMovie:)
                                             name: AVPlayerItemDidPlayToEndTimeNotification 
                                             object:nil];
}
-(AVPlayerLayer*)playerLayer{
      if(!_playerLayer){

         // find movie file
         NSString *moviePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"arenaVideo" ofType:@"mp4"];
         NSURL *movieURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:moviePath];
         _playerLayer = [AVPlayerLayer playerLayerWithPlayer:[[AVPlayer alloc]initWithURL:movieURL]];
         _playerLayer.frame = CGRectMake(0,0,self.view.frame.size.width, self.view.frame.size.height);
         [_playerLayer.player play];

      }
    return _playerLayer
}
-(void)replayMovie:(NSNotification *)notification
{
    [self.playerLayer.player play];
}

Swift 2.0

lazy var playerLayer:AVPlayerLayer = {

    let player = AVPlayer(URL:  NSURL(fileURLWithPath: NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("LaunchMovie", ofType: "mov")!))
    player.muted = true
    player.allowsExternalPlayback = false
    player.appliesMediaSelectionCriteriaAutomatically = false
    var error:NSError?

    // This is needed so it would not cut off users audio (if listening to music etc.
    do {
        try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setCategory(AVAudioSessionCategoryAmbient)
    } catch var error1 as NSError {
        error = error1
    } catch {
        fatalError()
    }
    if error != nil {
        print(error)
    }

    var playerLayer = AVPlayerLayer(player: player)
    playerLayer.frame = self.view.frame
    playerLayer.videoGravity = "AVLayerVideoGravityResizeAspectFill"
    playerLayer.backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor().CGColor
    player.play()
    NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector:"playerDidReachEnd", name:AVPlayerItemDidPlayToEndTimeNotification, object:nil)
    return playerLayer
    }()

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    self.view.layer.addSublayer(self.playerLayer)
}
override func viewWillDisappear(animated: Bool) {
    NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().removeObserver(self)
}
// If orientation changes
override func willAnimateRotationToInterfaceOrientation(toInterfaceOrientation: UIInterfaceOrientation, duration: NSTimeInterval) {
    playerLayer.frame = self.view.frame
}
func playerDidReachEnd(){
    self.playerLayer.player!.seekToTime(kCMTimeZero)
    self.playerLayer.player!.play()

}

Tested on iOS7 - iOS9