Android Video Problem (or, a case for reading the docs)

[Gene]

I was really intent on establishing how I to play video clips on the Android, and spent a number of hours tilting at windmills trying to accomplish that goal trying different video formats. Nothing worked, and I became convinced that the player wasn't finding the file on the Android device itself, or that the video file wasn't being written to the device. So, I spent more time investigating the Android file system without any solution to the video playback problem.

Finally, out of desperation, I reread the 4.6.1 Android release notes, and discovered that they unequivocally state that "videoclips/player functionality is planned for a future release." Well, finding the answer in the docs took about three minutes, max. Plowing around on my own looking for a solution spanned a couple of days. I think there are some things that I got out of this exercise:

1. I am one thousand percent convinced that the release notes are correct on this issue (you can't play video yet in runtime on Android).
2. The time and effort spent learning about the Android file structure will be well worth it in the future.
3. From now on, I won't treat new release notes and documentation like a letter from Grandma describing the progress on her flower garden. I will actually study them.

Have a great day!

[jacque]

ROFL! What a great post.

I don't think you'll be sorry you understand the file system, so it was worth the time but maybe not worth the frustration. For what it's worth, I usually read the release notes before I even open any stacks in a new version. Like you, I learned the hard way, but unlike you, I was too embarrassed to admit it.