How can I check if my AVPlayer is buffering?

Question

I want to detect if my AVPlayer is buffering for the current location, so that I can show a loader or something. But I can\'t seem to find anything in the documentation for

Answer 1

Updated for Swift 4.2

    var player : AVPlayer? = nil

    let videoUrl = URL(string: "https://wolverine.raywenderlich.com/content/ios/tutorials/video_streaming/foxVillage.mp4")
    self.player = AVPlayer(url: videoUrl!)
    self.player?.addPeriodicTimeObserver(forInterval: CMTimeMake(value: 1, timescale: 600), queue: DispatchQueue.main, using: { time in

        if self.player?.currentItem?.status == AVPlayerItem.Status.readyToPlay {

            if let isPlaybackLikelyToKeepUp = self.player?.currentItem?.isPlaybackLikelyToKeepUp {
                //do what ever you want with isPlaybackLikelyToKeepUp value, for example, show or hide a activity indicator.

                //MBProgressHUD.hide(for: self.view, animated: true)
            }
        }
    })

Answer 2

The accepted answer didn't work for me, I used the code below to show the loader efficiently.

Swift 3

//properties 
var observer:Any!
var player:AVPlayer!


self.observer = self.player.addPeriodicTimeObserver(forInterval: CMTimeMake(1, 600), queue: DispatchQueue.main) {
    [weak self] time in

    if self?.player.currentItem?.status == AVPlayerItemStatus.readyToPlay {

        if let isPlaybackLikelyToKeepUp = self?.player.currentItem?.isPlaybackLikelyToKeepUp {
            //do what ever you want with isPlaybackLikelyToKeepUp value, for example, show or hide a activity indicator.
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

Swift 4 observations:

var playerItem: AVPlayerItem?
var playbackLikelyToKeepUpKeyPathObserver: NSKeyValueObservation?
var playbackBufferEmptyObserver: NSKeyValueObservation?
var playbackBufferFullObserver: NSKeyValueObservation?

private func observeBuffering() {
    let playbackBufferEmptyKeyPath = \AVPlayerItem.playbackBufferEmpty
    playbackBufferEmptyObserver = playerItem?.observe(playbackBufferEmptyKeyPath, options: [.new]) { [weak self] (_, _) in
        // show buffering
    }

    let playbackLikelyToKeepUpKeyPath = \AVPlayerItem.playbackLikelyToKeepUp
    playbackLikelyToKeepUpKeyPathObserver = playerItem?.observe(playbackLikelyToKeepUpKeyPath, options: [.new]) { [weak self] (_, _) in
        // hide buffering
    }

    let playbackBufferFullKeyPath = \AVPlayerItem.playbackBufferFull
    playbackBufferFullObserver = playerItem?.observe(playbackBufferFullKeyPath, options: [.new]) { [weak self] (_, _) in
        // hide buffering
    }
}

Observers need to be removed after we are done observing.

To remove these three observers just set playbackBufferEmptyObserver, playbackLikelyToKeepUpKeyPathObserver and playbackBufferFullObserver to nil.

No need to remove them manually (this is specific for observe<Value>(_ keyPath:, options:, changeHandler:) method.

Answer 4

Solution for Xamarin inspired by Marco's answer

// KVO registrations
private void Initialize()
{
    playbackBufferEmptyObserver?.Dispose();
    playbackBufferEmptyObserver = (NSObject)playerItem.AddObserver("playbackBufferEmpty",
        NSKeyValueObservingOptions.New,
        AVPlayerItem_BufferUpdated);

    playbackLikelyToKeepUpObserver?.Dispose();
    playbackLikelyToKeepUpObserver = (NSObject)playerItem.AddObserver("playbackLikelyToKeepUp",
        NSKeyValueObservingOptions.New,
        AVPlayerItem_BufferUpdated);

    playbackBufferFullObserver?.Dispose();
    playbackBufferFullObserver = (NSObject)playerItem.AddObserver("playbackBufferFull",
        NSKeyValueObservingOptions.New,
        AVPlayerItem_BufferUpdated);
}

private void AVPlayerItem_BufferUpdated(NSObservedChange e)
{
    ReportVideoBuffering();
}

private void ReportVideoBuffering()
{
    // currentPlayerItem is the current AVPlayerItem of AVPlayer
    var isBuffering = !currentPlayerItem.PlaybackLikelyToKeepUp;
    // NOTE don't make "buffering" as one of your PlayerState.
    // Treat it as a separate property instead. Learned this the hard way.
    Buffering?.Invoke(this, new BufferingEventArgs(isBuffering));
}