Video freezes for a few seconds after reattaching surface and resuming

[egorponomarev]

Exoplayer version: 2.9.3
Android OS versions: 4.4.2, 5.1.1
Devices: Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime (Android 5.1.1); Motorola MotoG3 (Android 5.1.1); Motorola RAZR XT907 (Android 4.4.2); Motorola DROID RAZR M (Android 4.4.2)

We are using a static instance of Exoplayer, which can attach to/detach from TextureView (e.g. when the orientation changes). On older Android versions (4.4.2 - 5.1.1) there is an issue: after the surface is reattached and the playback is resumed, the video may freeze for 3-10 seconds while the audio keeps playing, then continues normally.

We were able to reproduce it in the demo app: https://github.com/egorponomarev/Exoplayer-frame-issue-demo

Steps to reproduce in the demo:

• open the app and wait for the video to start playing;
• tap on the video to pause it;
• send the app to background and then bring it back to foreground, or lock and then unlock the screen;
• tap the video to resume playback.

[tonihei]

We added a way to seamlessly switch surfaces on API levels 23+ (see #677). Unfortunately that's not available for older versions and we need to wait for a new keyframe in the video stream before being able to continue rendering on the new surface.

You can probably try to force the player to reload the stream at the current position (at the cost of extra buffering) by calling player.seekTo(player.getCurrentPosition()) directly after setting the new surface on these devices.

[egorponomarev]

The "seekTo" solution works fine, thanks for your help.

[nikunjparadva]

I have facing same issue and player.seekTo(player.getCurrentPosition()) is not worked for me.
issue scenario:

• SimpleExoplayer play in Activity A
• pause playing with player.setPlayWhenReady(false); and intent to Activity B
• backpress on Activity B and back to Activity A
• and resume exoplayer with player.setPlayWhenReady(true);

issue :- video frame forward more than 3 seconds, audio is working fine, but video frames forward more than 3 second , and after resuming video, video freez until that frame comes