How to configure a different stream to Chromecast

Some streaming setups require you to cast a different stream to a Chromecast Receiver device than the one playing on a Chromecast Receiver device. For example, if your playing HLS + FairPlay DRM on your iOS application, you need to cast a different source with DASH + Widevine DRM to your Chromecast application, because Chromecast applications aren't able to support FairPlay.

There are two approaches to achieve this use case:

1. ChromecastConnection API (available as of THEOplayer 2.90.0)
2. Chromecast source API (deprecated as of THEOplayer 2.90.0)

You should no longer use the second approach as of THEOplayer 2.90.0 because this API is no longer maintained (even though it may be available).

ChromecastConnection API

The ChromecastConnection API allows you to implement callbacks related to Chromecast playback. To achieve the described use case you can use the onStart (i.e. the start of a Chromecast session) to set a new stream, and onStop (i.e. the end of a Chromecast session) to (re)set your previous stream.

You may also be interested in onJoin (i.e. joining an existing Chromecast session with a new device) or onLeave (i.e. leaving an existing Chromecast session on a device).

SDKs

Web SDK	Android SDK	iOS SDK	tvOS SDK	Android TV SDK	Chromecast SDK	Roku SDK
Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Web SDK

The snippet below has two sources:

1. senderSource is intended for playback on your sender device (i.e. your browser)
2. chromecastSource is intended for playback on your Chromecast application

The ChromecastConnectionCallback interface is used to:

1. Set the chromecastSource when Chromecast playback starts through the onStart callback.
2. Revert to the senderSource when Chromecast playback stops through the onStop callback.

var senderSource = {
  sources: {
    src: 'https://cdn.theoplayer.com/video/elephants-dream/playlist.m3u8',
    type: 'application/x-mpegurl',
  },
};
var chromecastSource = {
  sources: {
    src: 'https://cdn.theoplayer.com/video/big_buck_bunny/big_buck_bunny_metadata.m3u8',
    type: 'application/x-mpegurl',
  },
};
player.source = senderSource;
player.cast.chromecast.connectionCallback = {
  onStart: function (source) {
    return chromecastSource;
  },
  onStop: function (source) {
    return senderSource;
  },
  onJoin: function (source) {
    return source;
  },
  onLeave: function (source) {
    return source;
  },
};

The onJoin and onLeave implementations in the above snippet adhere to the default behavior.

Android SDK

The snippet below has two sources:

1. senderSource is intended for playback on your sender device (i.e. your Android app)
2. chromecastSource is intended for playback on your Chromecast application

The setConnectionCallback method is used to through the `THEOplayerView' object:

1. Set the chromecastSource when Chromecast playback starts through the onStart callback.
2. Revert to the senderSource when Chromecast playback stops through the onStop callback.

SourceDescription senderSource = new SourceDescription.Builder(new TypedSource.Builder("https://cdn.theoplayer.com/video/elephants-dream/playlist.m3u8").type(SourceType.HLS).build())
        .build();
SourceDescription chromecastSource = new SourceDescription.Builder(new TypedSource.Builder("https://cdn.theoplayer.com/video/big_buck_bunny/big_buck_bunny_metadata.m3u8").type(SourceType.HLS).build())
        .build();
theoPlayerView.getPlayer().setSource(senderSource);
theoPlayerView.getCast().getChromecast().setConnectionCallback(new ChromecastConnectionCallback() {
    @Nullable
    @Override
    public SourceDescription onStart(@Nullable SourceDescription sourceDescription) {
        return chromecastSource;
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public SourceDescription onStop(@Nullable SourceDescription sourceDescription) {
        return senderSource;
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public SourceDescription onJoin(@Nullable SourceDescription sourceDescription) {
        return sourceDescription;
    }

    @Nullable
    @Override
    public SourceDescription onLeave(@Nullable SourceDescription sourceDescription) {
        return sourceDescription;
    }
});

The onJoin and onLeave implementations in the above snippet adhere to the default behavior.

iOS/tvOS SDK and Legacy iOS/tvOS SDK (4.12.x)

To achieve this use case on the iOS SDK, you have to leverage the ChromecastConnectionDelegate of your THEOplayer object.

The snippet below is an example of how your ChromecastConnectionDelegate could look like. This particular snippet has two sources:

1. senderSource is intended for playback on your sender device (i.e. your iOS app)
2. chromecastSource is intended for playback on your Chromecast application

The ChromecastConnectionCallback interface is used to:

1. Set the chromecastSource when Chromecast playback starts through the onStart callback.
2. Revert to the senderSource when Chromecast playback stops through the onStop callback.

import UIKit
import THEOplayerSDK

class ChromecastController: ChromecastConnectionDelegate {

    weak var theoplayer : THEOplayer?

    private var senderSource: SourceDescription {
        let typedSource = TypedSource(
            src: "https://cdn.theoplayer.com/video/big_buck_bunny/big_buck_bunny_metadata.m3u8",
            type: "application/x-mpegurl"
        )
        return SourceDescription(source: typedSource)
    }

    private var chromecastSource: SourceDescription {
        let typedSource = TypedSource(
            src: "https://amssamples.streaming.mediaservices.windows.net/622b189f-ec39-43f2-93a2-201ac4e31ce1/BigBuckBunny.ism/manifest(format=mpd-time-csf)",
            type: "application/dash+xml",
            drm: WidevineDRMConfiguration(licenseAcquisitionURL: "https://amssamples.keydelivery.mediaservices.windows.net/Widevine/?KID=1ab45440-532c-4399-94dc-5c5ad9584bac")
        )
        return SourceDescription(source: typedSource)
    }

    init(theo : THEOplayer) {
        self.theoplayer = theo
        self.theoplayer?.cast?.chromecast?.setConnectionDelegate(self)
    }

    func onStart(sourceDescription: SourceDescription?) -> SourceDescription? {
        return chromecastSource
    }

    func onStop(sourceDescription: SourceDescription?) -> SourceDescription? {
        return senderSource
    }

    func onJoin(sourceDescription: SourceDescription?) -> SourceDescription? {
        return sourceDescription
    }

    func onLeave(sourceDescription: SourceDescription?) -> SourceDescription? {
        return sourceDescription
    }

}

The onJoin and onLeave implementations in the above snippet adhere to the default behavior.

Once you've implemented your ChromecastConnectionDelegate, you have to initialize an instance of this near the code of your where you're setting your player.source (e.g. https://github.com/THEOplayer/samples-ios-sdk/blob/master/Google-Cast/Google_Cast/PlayerViewController.swift). The snippet below demonstrates this concept:

...
class PlayerViewController: UIViewController {

    ...
    var chromecastController : ChromecastController!
    var senderSource: SourceDescription {
        let typedSource = TypedSource(
            src: "https://cdn.theoplayer.com/video/big_buck_bunny/big_buck_bunny_metadata.m3u8",
            type: "application/x-mpegurl"
        )
        return SourceDescription(source: typedSource)
    }
    ...

    override func viewDidLoad() {

        ...
        player.source = senderSource
        chromecastController = ChromecastController(theo: theoplayer)
        ...

    }

    ...

}
...

Chromecast source API

The Chromecast source API is a straightforward technique to configure a different source to be loaded for Chromecast playback.

This API is unmaintained (and deprecated) as of THEOplayer 2.90.0, and developers should use the ChromecastConnection API instead.

SDKs

Web SDK	Android SDK	iOS SDK	tvOS SDK	Android TV SDK	Chromecast SDK	Roku SDK
Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Web SDK

The Chromecast API allows you to configure a different source (i.e. SourceDescription) to be Chromecasted. The snippet below demonstrates this API.

const source = {
  sources: [
    {
      src: '//cdn.theoplayer.com/video/star_wars_episode_vii-the_force_awakens_official_comic-con_2015_reel_(2015)/index.m3u8',
      type: 'application/x-mpegurl',
    },
  ],
};
player.cast.chromecast.source = source;

Android SDK

The Chromecast API allows you to configure a different SourceDescription to be Chromecasted through the Cast of your `THEOplayerView' object.

SourceDescription source = new SourceDescription.Builder("//cdn.theoplayer.com/video/star_wars_episode_vii-the_force_awakens_official_comic-con_2015_reel_(2015)/index.m3u8").build();
theoPlayerView.getCast().getChromecast().setSource(source);

iOS/tvOS SDK and Legacy iOS/tvOS SDK (4.12.x)

The Chromecast API allows you to configure a different SourceDescription to be Chromecasted through the Cast instance of your THEOplayer object.

var theoplayerChromecast = theoplayer.cast?.chromecast
theoplayerChromecast?.source = SourceDescription(
    source: TypedSource(
        src: "https://amssamples.streaming.mediaservices.windows.net/622b189f-ec39-43f2-93a2-201ac4e31ce1/BigBuckBunny.ism/manifest(format=mpd-time-csf)",
        type: "application/dash+xml",
        drm: WidevineDRMConfiguration(licenseAcquisitionURL: "https://amssamples.keydelivery.mediaservices.windows.net/Widevine/?KID=1ab45440-532c-4399-94dc-5c5ad9584bac")
    )
)