Plugins Overview

The React Native Video library offers a robust plugin system to extend and customize video functionality on Android and iOS. With plugins, you can override source handling, implement custom DRM, modify media factories, and respond to player lifecycle events.

Use in Third Party Library Guide

If you are looking how to import React Native Video in your native code to use plugins, you can checkout Use in Third Party Library page.

What Are Plugins?

Plugins are modular extensions that hook into the video player's lifecycle and processing pipeline. They allow you to:

• Customize video sources before playback
• Implement custom DRM for protected content
• Override media factories (Android only)
• React to player lifecycle events for analytics, logging, or cleanup
• Control caching behavior for performance

Architecture

The plugin system consists of three main components:

Component	Description
PluginsRegistry	Singleton that manages plugin registration and coordinates plugin interactions
ReactNativeVideoPluginSpec	Interface/protocol defining the contract all plugins must implement
ReactNativeVideoPlugin	Base implementation with convenient defaults; override only the methods you care about

tip

Plugins are automatically registered when you instantiate a class that extends ReactNativeVideoPlugin.

Core Concepts

Plugin Lifecycle

Plugins receive notifications for key events:

• Player creation/destruction — react to player instance lifecycle
• Video view creation/destruction — handle UI component lifecycle
• Source processing — modify video sources before playback
• DRM requests — provide custom DRM handling
• Media factory overrides — customize ExoPlayer components (Android)

caution

All player and view references passed to plugins are weak references to prevent memory leaks.

Platform Differences

Feature	Android (Kotlin / ExoPlayer)	iOS (Swift / AVFoundation)
Underlying player	ExoPlayer	AVFoundation
Media factory customization	Extensive	Limited
Cache control	Supported	Limited
Plugin method style	Synchronous	Async/await
Memory management	Manual cleanup	Manual cleanup

Getting Started

Example: Android Plugin

// Android
class MyPlugin : ReactNativeVideoPlugin("MyPluginName") {
    override fun onPlayerCreated(player: WeakReference<NativeVideoPlayer>) {
        // Custom logic here
    }
}

Example: iOS Plugin

// iOS
class MyPlugin: ReactNativeVideoPlugin {
    init() {
        super.init(name: "MyPluginName")
    }

    override func onPlayerCreated(player: Weak<NativeVideoPlayer>) {
        // Custom logic here
    }
}

Next Steps

• Plugin Registry — Learn about plugin management and registration
• Plugin Interface — Complete API reference for plugin methods
• Usage Examples — Practical implementations and common patterns