Switch video quality

Let viewers lock a fixed video quality or return to adaptive bitrate (ABR) auto mode in the FastPix Android Player.

By default, the FastPix Android Player streams adaptively (ABR), choosing a rendition based on network conditions. Use these APIs, which are available on FastPixPlayer, to let users pick a fixed quality, such as 1080p, or switch back to auto. Quality switching doesn’t recreate the player or reset the playback position.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following:

• The FastPix Android Player SDK installed, with a player backed by FastPixPlayer. See Install FastPix Android player and Set up the player.

Get the FastPixPlayer instance from your PlayerView:

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val player = binding.playerView.player as? FastPixPlayer ?: return

Get available and current qualities

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// All available video quality tracks for current media
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val qualities: List<VideoTrack> = player.getVideoQualities()
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// Current active quality (in auto mode this reflects currently rendered quality)
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val current: VideoTrack? = player.getCurrentVideoQuality()

Each VideoTrack exposes id, width, height, bitrate, label, isSelected, and isAuto. Use id when you call setVideoQuality.

Lock a fixed quality

Pass a quality id from getVideoQualities() to lock playback to that rendition.

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// Pick a quality id from getVideoQualities()
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player.setVideoQuality(trackId)

Return to auto (ABR)

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player.enableAutoQuality()

Listen for quality changes

The onVideoQualityChanged callback tells you both the new quality and whether the change came from a user action or the SDK’s automatic ABR switching.

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player.addPlaybackListener(object : PlaybackListener {
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    override fun onVideoQualityChanged(
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        quality: VideoTrack?,
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        source: PlaybackListener.VideoQualityChangeSource
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    ) {
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        // source = MANUAL when you call setVideoQuality/enableAutoQuality
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        // source = ABR when SDK switches rendition automatically
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        updateQualityUi(quality, source)
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    }
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    override fun onPlay() {}
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    override fun onPause() {}
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    override fun onPlaybackStateChanged(isPlaying: Boolean) {}
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    override fun onError(error: PlaybackException) {}
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})

Things to know

• Quality switching doesn’t recreate the player or reset the playback position.
• If a seek is in progress, the quality change is applied safely after the seek completes.
• Keep an Auto option in your quality menu that calls enableAutoQuality(), so viewers can return to adaptive bitrate.

What’s next

• Set playback resolution to cap or fix resolution before playback starts.
• Control rendition order to set the adaptive streaming preference order.
• Listen to playback events for time, buffering, and error callbacks.