Supported Formats & Codecs
Better Player leverages the best-in-class native media players for each platform: ExoPlayer (Media3) on Android, AVPlayer (AVFoundation) on iOS, and Shaka Player on the Web.
Because we rely on these native engines without applying custom decoding, Better Player supports whatever formats the underlying platform player supports.
Here is a comprehensive breakdown of supported formats, streaming protocols, and codecs across platforms.
1. Streaming Protocols
| Protocol | Android | iOS | Web |
|---|---|---|---|
| HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) | ✓ | ✓ (Native) | ✓ |
| MPEG-DASH | ✓ | x | ✓ |
| SmoothStreaming (MSS) | ✓ | x | ✓ |
| RTSP | ✓ | x | x |
| Progressive HTTP (MP4, WebM…) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Low-latency HLS (LL-HLS) | ✓ | ✓ (iOS 15+) | ✓ |
| Low-latency DASH | ✓ | x | ✓ |
Note on iOS: iOS is heavily HLS-centric. Apple does not provide native support for DASH or SmoothStreaming in AVFoundation. If you need to support iOS, HLS is strongly recommended.
Note on RTSP: RTSP streaming is supported on Android via the ExoPlayer RTSP module. Native support for RTSP is not available on iOS (
AVPlayer) or Web, and typically requires server-side proxying (e.g. transmuxing to WebRTC or HLS).
2. Video Codecs
| Codec | Android | iOS | Web (Chrome) | Web (Safari) | Web (Firefox) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H.264 / AVC | ✓ All devices | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| H.265 / HEVC | ⚠️ HW only (Android 5+) | ✓ (A9+) | ⚠️ Limited | ✓ (Safari 11+) | x |
| VP8 | ✓ | x | ✓ | x | ✓ |
| VP9 | ✓ (Android 4.4+) | ⚠️ Safari 14+ | ✓ | ✓ (Safari 14+) | ✓ |
| AV1 | ⚠️ HW only (Android 10+) | ⚠️ iOS 17+ | ✓ | ⚠️ Safari 17+ | ✓ |
| MPEG-4 / H.263 | ✓ (Legacy) | ✓ | ⚠️ | x | ⚠️ |
Recommendation: H.264 Baseline/Main/High is the only truly universal codec that guarantees safe playback across all old and new devices on all three platforms.
3. Audio Codecs
| Codec | Android | iOS | Web |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAC-LC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AAC-HE v1 / v2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| MP3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Opus | ✓ | ✓ (iOS 11+) | ✓ |
| Vorbis | ✓ | x | ✓ |
| FLAC | ✓ (Android 3.1+) | ✓ | ✓ |
| AC-3 / E-AC-3 (Dolby) | ⚠️ Passthrough / HW | ✓ | ⚠️ Browser-dependent |
| ALAC | ✓ | ✓ | x |
| PCM / WAV | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
4. Container Formats
| Container | Android | iOS | Web |
|---|---|---|---|
| MP4 / M4V | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| fMP4 (Fragmented MP4) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| WebM | ✓ | x | ✓ |
| MKV (Matroska) | ✓ | x | x |
| MPEG-TS (.ts) | ✓ via HLS | ✓ via HLS | ✓ via HLS |
| OGG | ✓ | x | ✓ |
| MOV (QuickTime) | ⚠️ Limited | ✓ | x |
5. DRM (Digital Rights Management)
| DRM System | Android | iOS | Web |
|---|---|---|---|
| Widevine L1/L3 | ✓ | x | ✓ (Chrome, Firefox) |
| FairPlay (FPS) | x | ✓ | ✓ (Safari only) |
| PlayReady | x | x | ⚠️ (Edge only) |
| ClearKey | ✓ | x | ✓ |
Note on Multi-DRM: To achieve full cross-platform DRM coverage, your backend streaming architecture must provide both Widevine (for Android and Chrome/Web) and FairPlay (for iOS and Safari) in parallel.
6. Subtitle & Caption Formats
Subtitle handling is broken down into two distinct categories in Better Player: external subtitles (parsed by Flutter) and in-stream embedded subtitles (parsed by the native player).
External Subtitles (Flutter Layer)
These formats are loaded manually via PlayerSubtitlesSource and rendered using Better Player's custom Flutter UI overlay. They behave identically across all platforms.
| Format | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SRT (SubRip) | ✓ Full | Plain text, no styling. |
| WebVTT | ✓ Full | Supports inline styling (<b>, <i>, <c.color>), HTML entity decoding, and X-TIMESTAMP-MAP sync for HLS live streams. |
Embedded / In-Stream Subtitles (Native Layer)
These tracks are embedded directly inside the HLS/DASH manifest or MP4 file. They are rendered natively by ExoPlayer/AVPlayer/Shaka, not by the Flutter overlay.
| Format | Android | iOS | Web (Shaka) |
|---|---|---|---|
| WebVTT (in HLS / DASH) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| TTML / DFXP | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CEA-608 (EIA-608) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CEA-708 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMPTE-TT | ✓ | x | ⚠️ |
| SubStation Alpha (SSA) | x | x | x |
⚠️ Important: Because embedded subtitles are rendered by the native player's surface (below the Flutter widget tree), they cannot be customized using Better Player's
PlayerSubtitlesConfiguration.
Reference Links
- Android (ExoPlayer): ExoPlayer Supported Formats
- iOS (AVFoundation): Apple HTTP Live Streaming Overview and Apple Supported Media Formats
- Web (Shaka Player): Shaka Player Project