https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/vlyntm/lets_talk_about_the_video_player/
created by such084 on 27/06/2022 at 15:53 UTC
2330 upvotes, 160 top-level comments (showing 25)
Let’s get right to the point—I’m here today to talk about the video player. I lead a number of teams at Reddit including a team focused on Media & Video. Specifically, I want to provide background on what currently is and isn’t working, and what comes next.
A few weeks ago, u/kriketjunkie made a post[1] detailing what Reddit’s product team will be working on over the next year. The comments on that post rang loud and clear: there is a fundamental ask from you all that we do more to improve video player. In fact, I’m pretty sure a year’s worth of Reddit Premium was given to the person who made the first comment[2] about it.
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/v3frc1/what_were_working_on_this_year/?sort=top
And while the comment “Please fix the video player” does help us know that we need to, well, fix the video player, we dove a bit deeper and noticed some emerging themes from some of the more prescriptive comments, including:
To be sure, this is not the first time we’ve seen this type of feedback (look no further than this post[3], or this one[4], or my personal favorite—this one[5]). And, while we have teams dedicated to video and working on the efforts u/kriketjunkie outlined in his post, it’s apparent that we have not devoted enough resources to solving our core video issues in a robust and efficient manner. So, we’re investing in an effort across multiple internal teams to understand what is and isn’t working today, make continued improvements to our product, and consistently and transparently communicate our efforts around the video player—starting with this post.
3: https://www.reddit.com/r/place/comments/twb3gq/ill_miss_you_rplace/
4: https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/uoqq32/thank_god/
5: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/utk1j3/found_reddit_video_player_source_code/
Quickly, a bit of context. It’s hard to imagine, but video started as a bet for us at Reddit, as we weren’t sure how a text and link-centric platform would respond to video. TL;DR, y'all watch a lot of videos. [Insert obligatory joke about the type of content here]. Over the past six months, we’ve seen video become the fastest growing content type on Reddit, with over half of redditors contributing, watching, and engaging with video every day. For those who like numbers, that’s 150 billion views of over 1 billion hours of video on Reddit in the last six months. And, as some of you may know, we have over 11 different video players on Reddit—these things happen when you’re a 17 year-old company—and we’ve been working to consolidate them into a unified experience. Suffice to say it’s been…a long, ongoing journey[6].
6: https://i.redd.it/sxwq5283il791.gif
Our team spent time scoping out the current problems by looking through feedback in comments made about the video player across Reddit as well as our own internal analytics data. We’ve identified a list of frequent issues we’ll be addressing, which we’ve listed in order of how disruptive they are to the user experience:
1. Video player freezes and can result in crashing the app
2. Video doesn’t start playing, shows a blank screen, or freezes before it starts
3. Dissatisfaction with the full-screen video experience—it’s hard to get to the comments, and there’s a lack of auto-play or auto-muting settings
4. Audio doesn’t play
5. Frequent rebuffering
6. Video quality degradation
7. Interface not working as expected
Okay admins, we get it, you’ve heard us, but what happens now?
So glad you asked, anonymous redditor! Here’s what you can expect over the next few months:
First: We’re committing to making swift and immediate improvements to some of the most pressing and disruptive issues with the player on our mobile apps. We are also going to make continued and accelerated investments across platforms to resolve some of the most pressing and common pain points and improve the UX in common error cases. We have also set up improved channels to monitor reports and triage appropriately. (Live feed[7] of one of our engineers).
7: https://i.redd.it/ycldk7mql2791.gif
Second: We want to hear more from you—and not just on this post, but in a shiny new subreddit, lovingly entitled r/fixthevideoplayer. If you want to be a part of the solution and help us shape the future of video at Reddit, we ask that you join us there. This community will be run by the admins working on all elements pertaining to the video player (myself included). They’ll be there to field questions, log feedback, and provide regular updates on our progress. Don’t feel like having a new subreddit to keep track of? No problem. We’ll also be rolling out additional features on our mobile apps to report issues with the necessary information needed for our engineering team to investigate. You’ll see those soon.
While you may not believe us—we are truly grateful for all the comments, feedback, and yes, even the memes you’ve shared these past few months. Our hope is to come as close to fixing the video player as possible, but this is an ever-evolving journey and journeys take time. We are focused on building richer media capabilities on Reddit over the next five years, and inevitably some of those changes and innovations may feel jarring at first, or even create unintended problems. So while we may never truly “fix” the video player, we’re committed to creating the best possible video experience on Reddit, and continuously communicating and listening to you as we do it.
The team and I look forward to ~~reading your sh*tposts~~ hearing from you over in r/fixthevideoplayer!
Comment by capskinfan at 27/06/2022 at 16:18 UTC
1141 upvotes, 8 direct replies
Specifically:
1. Videos should not go full screen without explicit user action (tapping a Fullscreen button). Tapping just the play button or comment button doesn't count.
2. Videos should not advance to a different video without user action.
2a. The action to advance to a different video should be unique. For example, if I'm in a view with the video playing at the top, and the comments below, a swipe down of the separator hides the comments and makes the video full screen. A swipe up should bring back the comments, not change to the next video.
Comment by solateor at 27/06/2022 at 17:29 UTC
106 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Can we discuss third-party audio/video too?
Figured this is good a place as any to ask "Why does reddit's mobile app mute audio on submissions from 3rd party hosts like imgur and gfycat[1]?"
^ this is a question I posted to r/help about a year ago. Submission question:
Look at the bottom "This video doesn't have sound"
Here's the submission in the subreddit[2], which if you're using another mobile app like Apollo, Bacon Reader, Narwhal or are on the desktop site, will have audio on or the ability to turn it on. Seems that everywhere but Reddit's mobile app offers audio/sound from 3rd party hosts like imgur and gfycat, but reddit's app doesn't even make sound an option. It's just off by default.
Why?
Comment by Eyes_and_teeth at 27/06/2022 at 16:53 UTC
84 upvotes, 1 direct replies
The fact I didn't even know this speaks either to the fact that I don't watch many NSFW videos on Reddit or that I don't use the official Reddit app that often. You be the judge.
But meanwhile, if you are going to allow NSFW videos at all on Reddit, why would you restrict their audio component? It doesn't make sense.
Comment by Bloodwalker09 at 27/06/2022 at 16:58 UTC
155 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Please make it a video player and not a bad TikTok copy. I hate that if I swipe it goes to another video.
For starters. Just copy Apollo and how it handles videos (and gifs). That’s all.
Comment by DawnPaladin at 27/06/2022 at 16:28 UTC
146 upvotes, 4 direct replies
First: We’re committing to making swift and immediate improvements to some of the most pressing and disruptive issues with the player on our **mobile apps**.
Please don't forget the web app too. Often I'll open a video on your website and the first couple of seconds will play several times, or the video will fail to play altogether.
Comment by AZymph at 27/06/2022 at 15:56 UTC
124 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Thank you! This has been a particular pain point of the app for me, I am really glad to see it getting priority.
Comment by ctwilliams1024 at 27/06/2022 at 17:31 UTC
81 upvotes, 2 direct replies
You should seriously consult u/iamthatis and r/ApolloApp, he knocked it out of the park with the video player in Apollo
Comment by AbsolutelyMullered at 27/06/2022 at 16:08 UTC
89 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Comment by RoyalDragon56 at 27/06/2022 at 16:02 UTC
20 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thank you! Hopefully some real changes come quick
Comment by awesomesaucebigg at 27/06/2022 at 15:58 UTC
173 upvotes, 5 direct replies
THEY ARE FIXING VIDEO PLAYER!!!
possibly the best admin update of all time
Thanks so much.
Comment by [deleted] at 27/06/2022 at 17:08 UTC*
28 upvotes, 1 direct replies
First of all, thank you for listening! I had a specific thought after reading your post:
Our hope is to come as close to fixing the video player as possible...
(...)
So while we may never truly “fix” the video player...
These kind of came out of nowhere near the end. Is there a reason why your confidence in being able to actually fix the player is so low?
Is it the difficulty of working with legacy code? Just too many issues to solve them all? Funding?? It being more if an architecture issue?
Maybe dropping this code and starting over with a different solution would be best. Maybe even licensing a 3rd-party solution or using open-source software.
Video players are essentially a solved problem nowadays, so if fixing what you have would essentially be reinventing the wheel, (or upgrading wagon wheels to work on modern roads instead of just buying modern tire wheels for probably less money overall), maybe go with an off-the-shelf solution.
Comment by Sandy-Anne at 27/06/2022 at 16:31 UTC
24 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I always assume the video player issue is on my end with my device. It would be awesome if it were better!
I love these glimpses into how Reddit works behind the scenes. I feel like an insider. I also love that y’all listen to the feedback and care. Good job!
Comment by [deleted] at 27/06/2022 at 17:57 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The ability to pause the video whilst reading posts would be nice instead of it constantly looping in the background even when you can't see it you hear it. You're welcome.
Comment by reusens at 27/06/2022 at 17:23 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Awesome!
Some feeback from me:
The videoplayer in the app seems to be working fine for me. My only annoyance is that swiping up or down in full screen mode gives a new video, instead of exiting full screen mode, which would have been consistent with full screen images. I'm used to it now, but it was not intuitive.
The webpage however, often the first few seconds play correctly, and then it's stuck buffering.
Comment by Tony49UK at 27/06/2022 at 16:50 UTC
9 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I belong to a sub, where one of the mods is your very own /u/The1Rgood.
Do you know how much grief we've given him over the years concerning v.reddit and new.reddit being useless?
Then the next Monday he bans us for 999 Reddit days, which in human terms is about 2 days.
Comment by [deleted] at 27/06/2022 at 21:07 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
As someone who uses Apollo[1] and Stellar[2], this is cute.
1: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575
2: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stellar-for-reddit/id1566795636?mt=12
Comment by anuj392 at 27/06/2022 at 16:41 UTC
8 upvotes, 0 direct replies
So RN I'm in the comment section of this post
And video from the next post is playing in background.
Also I usually face 2nd and 5th problem.
Comment by vekstthebest at 27/06/2022 at 15:56 UTC
43 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It's actually happening??? Holy shit
Comment by redditmixer at 27/06/2022 at 16:01 UTC
14 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I'm so glad you're fixing everything!!! You're finally listening to us!!!! Thank you for doing everything you've been doing lately!!! <3
Comment by _PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ at 27/06/2022 at 18:15 UTC*
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The most annoying issue I have with the app video player is the gestures being the opposite of image posts.
On an image: swipe down to close, swipe left for next post.
On a video: swipe down for next post, swipe left to close.
Also, why is it the next video in the subreddit in which the video was originally posted, in some indeterminate order? It should always be the next post in the current feed I’m looking at, regardless of post type.
Comment by blitzkriegger at 27/06/2022 at 16:04 UTC
13 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Wow, I cannot believe this is actually happening! Am i dreaming?!
Comment by PolylingualAnilingus at 27/06/2022 at 16:42 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Amazing, thank you for the update.
Now please give us back sort options on our feed on the mobile app. Or just let us choose if we want it in the feed or the settings.
Comment by QuestionablyFlamable at 27/06/2022 at 16:04 UTC
16 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Let’s goooo! Thank you for finally listening to our feedback!
Comment by mikupoiss at 27/06/2022 at 16:07 UTC
25 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I'll believe it, when I see it.
Also, care to do a deeper dive into video-metrics?
Comment by DutchBlob at 27/06/2022 at 15:56 UTC
18 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Yay! Somebody finally listened. Although, honestly, the person who approved of this video player in the first place should be fired.
