vlitejs

vLitejs

vlitejs (pronounced /viːlaɪt/) is a fast and lightweight JavaScript library for customizing video and audio player. Written in native JavaScript without dependency, it is built around an API of providers and plugins to extend these capabilities and keep the core with the minimal functionalities.

HTML5 video and audio players are automatically included. Other providers like Youtube or Vimeo can be loaded on demand with the Provider API. Plugins uses the same logic and can be loaded on demand by the Plugin API. Others providers and plugins can be created and loaded by the library.

Why vLitejs?

• If you are concerned about your app's loading performance, this library makes sense as it is extremely lightweight compared to the competition (only 6 KB).
• It is quite rare to need to be compatible with HTML5, Youtube, Vimeo and Dailymotion at the same time. The library contains by default only HTML5 capabilities and exposed the Provider API to extend capabilities with other providers.
• If you need specific behaviors, the plugin API allows to extends the library capabilities.
• If you need to create a video or audio player with a custom skin harmonized for all web browsers.

Sizes of the vlitejs bundle compared to the competition:

	vlitejs	plyr	video.js
Uncompressed	68 KB	299 KB	2100 KB
Compressed	27 KB	110 KB	560 KB
Gzip	6 KB	32 KB	159 KB

Note vlitejs 5.0.1, plyr 3.7.8, videojs 8.3.0

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Features

• Video & audio - HTML5 video, HTML5 audio, Youtube, Vimeo, Dailymotion.
• Customization - Choose the control elements you want to display.
• No dependency - Written in native Javascript without any framework.
• Fullscreen - Supports native fullscreen API.
• Provider API - Use the available providers or create your own.
• Plugin API - Use the available plugins or create your own.
• Streaming - Support HLS.js streaming playback.
• Sticky - Support for sticky.
• Events - Standardized events for all web browsers, providers and plugins.
• Autoload API - Youtube, Vimeo and Dailymotion API are automatically loaded by their provider.
• Subtitles - Supports multiple subtitle tracks (VTT).
• Picture-in-Picture - Supports Picture-in-Picture API.
• Cast - Supports for Google Cast API.
• AirPlay - Supports for Apple AirPlay API.
• Monetization - Supports for Google IMA SDK.
• Playsinline - Supports the playsinline attribute.
• SVG icons - SVG are inlined into the library, no sprites to includes.
• Shortcuts - Supports keyboard shortcuts.
• Accessibility - W3C and A11Y valid.

:sparkles: You can support this project with GitHub Sponsors! ♡

Playground

If you're interested in playing around with vLitejs, you can use the online code playgrounds on Glitch:

• HTML5 video
• HTML5 video HLS.js
• HTML5 video with Google Ima SDK
• HTML5 audio
• Youtube
• Vimeo
• Dailymotion

Examples

The project includes several examples of vlitejs implementation in the directory examples. Run the following commands to build the assets for the examples:

npm run build && npm run build:example

Installation

Warning vlitejs@6 is ESM and uses the Node.js package exports.

NPM

NPM is the recommended installation method. Install vlitejs in your project with the following command:

npm install vlitejs --save-dev

yarn add vlitejs --dev

Note Minimum supported Node.js version is 16.20.0.

CDN

You can also download it and include it with a script tag as an ESM.

<link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/vlitejs@6/dist/vlite.css" rel="stylesheet" crossorigin />
<script type="module">
  import Vlitejs from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/vlitejs@6';
</script>

Note You can browse the source of the NPM package at jsdelivr.com/package/npm/vlitejs.

How it works

HTML

HTML5 video

<video id="player" src="<path_to_video_mp4>"></video>

HTML5 audio

<audio id="player" src="<path_to_audio_mp3>"></audio>

Youtube

<div id="player" data-youtube-id="<video_id>"></div>

Vimeo

<div id="player" data-vimeo-id="<video_id>"></div>

Dailymotion

<div id="player" data-dailymotion-id="<video_id>"></div>

Initialization

Import vlitejs styleheet and the JavaScript library as an ES6 modules.

import 'vlitejs/vlite.css';
import Vlitejs from 'vlitejs';

The vlitejs constructor accepts the following parameters:

Arguments	Type	Default	Description
selector	String|HTMLElement	null	Unique CSS selector string or HTMLElement to target the player
config	Object	{}	Player configuration (optional)

Initialize the player with a CSS selector string.

new Vlitejs('#player');

Or, initialize the player with an HTMLElement.

new Vlitejs(document.querySelector('#player'));

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Configuration

The second arguments of the contructor is an optional object with the following parameters:

Arguments	Type	Default	Description
options	Object	{}	Player options
onReady	Function|null	null	Callback function executed when the player is ready
provider	String	'html5'	Player provider
plugins	Array	[]	Player plugins

new Vlitejs('#player', {
  options: {},
  onReady: function (player) {},
  provider: 'html5',
  plugins: []
});

Options

The player controls can be customized with the following parameters:

Options	Type	Default	Description
controls¹ ²	Boolean	true	Display the control bar of the video
autoplay	Boolean	false	Enable the autoplay of the media
playPause	Boolean	true	Display the play/pause button on the control bar
progressBar	Boolean	true	Display the progress bar on the control bar
time	Boolean	true	Display the time information on the control bar
volume	Boolean	true	Display the volume button on the control bar
fullscreen¹ ⁴	Boolean	true	Display the fullscreen button on the control bar
poster¹	String|null	null	Customize the video poster url
bigPlay¹	Boolean	true	Display the big play button on the poster video
playsinline¹	Boolean	true	Add the playsinline attribute to the video
loop	Boolean	false	Whether to loop the current media
muted¹	Boolean	false	Whether to mute the current media
autoHide¹	Boolean	false	Auto hide the control bar in the event of inactivity
autoHideDelay¹	Integer	3000	Auto hide delay in millisecond
providerParams³	Object	{}	Overrides the player parameters of the provider

Note

• ¹ Video only.
• ² Vimeo provider requires a Plus or Pro account to use this feature (see Vimeo plans).
• ³ See Youtube embed options and Vimeo embed options.
• ⁴ Fullscreen API not yet supported on iPhone.

The autoplay parameter automatically activates the muted option because the API can only be initiated by a user gesture (see Autoplay policy changes).

Example of customization for the autoHide and the poster options.

new Vlitejs('#player', {
  options: {
    autoHide: true,
    poster: '/path/to/poster.jpg'
  }
});

Player ready

The callback function onReady is automatically executed when the player is ready. The HTML5 video and audio listen to the canplay|loadedmetadata event. The Youtube, Vimeo and Dailymotion provider listen to the onready event returned by their API.

The function exposes the player parameter as the player instance. You can use it to interact with the player instance and the player methods.

Example of a player muted when ready:

new Vlitejs('#player', {
  onReady: function (player) {
    player.mute();
  }
});

Note The onReady function can also be written with an arrow function.

Events

vlitejs exposes the following native Event on the .v-vlite element. Events are standardized for all providers. Each plugin has its own events which are detailed in their dedicated documentation.

Event Type	Description
play	Sent when the playback state is no longer paused, after the play method or the autoplay
pause	Sent when the playback state is changed to paused
progress	Sent periodically to inform interested parties of progress downloading the media.
timeupdate	Sent when the currentTime of the media has changed
volumechange	Sent when audio volume changes
enterfullscreen¹	Sent when the video switches to fullscreen mode
exitfullscreen¹	Sent when the video exits fullscreen mode
ended	Sent when playback completes

Note > ¹ Video only.

Example of a listener when the media triggers a play event.

new Vlitejs('#player', {
  onReady: (player) => {
    player.on('play', () => {
      // The video starts playing
    });
  }
});

Methods

The player instance exposes the following methods, accessible when the player is ready.

Method	Parameters	Promise	Description
play()	-	-	Start the playback
pause()	-	-	Pause the playback
setVolume(volume)	Number	-	Set the volume between 0 and 1
getVolume()	-	Promise	Get the volume
getCurrentTime()	-	Promise	Get the current time
getDuration()	-	Promise	Get the duration
mute()	-	-	Mute the volume
unMute()	-	-	Unmute the volume
seekTo(time)	Number	-	Seek to a current time in seconds
requestFullscreen()	-	-	Request the fullscreen
exitFullscreen()	-	-	Exit the fullscreen
getInstance()	-	-	Get the player instance
loading()	Boolean	-	Set the loading status
on(event, function)	String, Function	-	Add an event listener
off(event, function)	String, Function	-	Remove an event listener
destroy()	-	-	Destroy the player

Example of media duration recovery.

new Vlitejs('#player', {
  onReady: (player) => {
    player.getDuration().then((duration) => {
      // The duration is available in the "duration" parameter
    });
  }
});

Custom CSS properties

The player exposes some custom CSS properties, locally scopped under the .v-vlite selector. You can use them to customize the design.

Name	Value	Description
--vlite-colorPrimary	#ff7f15	Primary color
--vlite-transition	0.25s ease	Transition
--vlite-controlBarHeight	50px	Control bar height
--vlite-controlBarHorizontalPadding	10px	Control bar horizontal padding
--vlite-controlBarBackground	linear-gradient(to top, #000 -50%, transparent)	Control bar background
--vlite-controlsColor	#fff|#000	Controls color (video|audio)
--vlite-controlsOpacity	0.9	Controls opacity
--vlite-progressBarHeight	5px	Progress bar height
--vlite-progressBarBackground	rgba(0 0 0 / 25%)	Progress bar background

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Shortcuts

The player accepts the following keyboard shortcuts.

Key	Action
space	Toggle playback
Esc	Exit the fullscreen
←	Seek backward of 5s
→	Seek forward of 5s
↑	Increase volume of 10%
↓	Decrease volume of 10%

Contributors

Many thanks to Victor Schirm for the vlitejs logo.

License

vlitejs is licensed under the MIT License.

Created with ♡ by @yoriiis.