Android 16 (Samsung) - embedded player never becomes ready (onReady not called), black screen

[bbratu]

Hi, thanks for the library.

We’re using android-youtube-player:

• com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer:core:13.0.0
• com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer:custom-ui:13.0.0
• com.pierfrancescosoffritti.androidyoutubeplayer:chromecast-sender:0.32

Problem

On some Samsung devices running Android 16, the embedded player shows a black area and never calls onReady. Playback works when opening the same video in the YouTube app and on other devices.

Environment (example)

• Device: Samsung SM-F766B / SM-F766U
• Android: 16
• WebView: com.google.android.webview 134.0.6998.135

What we observed

The internal HTML loads (baseUrl https://<appPackage>/) and the WebView requests:

• https://www.youtube.com/iframe_api

But inside the WebView:

• typeof window.YouTubePlayerBridge === "object"
• typeof window.onYouTubeIframeAPIReady === "function"
• window.YT stays undefined even after several seconds

JS probe result:

{"location":"https:///","bridge":"object","callbacks":"object","YT":"undefined","YTPlayer":"missing","onYouTubeIframeAPIReady":"function","hasDOM":true}So the script is requested but window.YT never becomes available, therefore new YT.Player(...) is never reached and onReady is never fired.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install on Samsung Android 16 (WebView ~134)
2. Create YouTubePlayerView with app:enableAutomaticInitialization="false"
3. Initialize with:

IFramePlayerOptions options = new IFramePlayerOptions.Builder(context)
.controls(0)
.fullscreen(0)
.rel(0)
.ivLoadPolicy(1)
.ccLoadPolicy(1)
.build();

youTubePlayerView.initialize(new AbstractYouTubePlayerListener() {}, true, options);4. Call YouTubePlayerUtils.loadOrCueVideo(...)
5. Result: black screen, onReady never called.

Expected

onReady is called and playback works.

Actual

onReady is never called (black screen).

Workaround

We implemented a timeout + fallback (open video in YouTube app) and a “Retry” that recreates the YouTubePlayerView. We’d prefer a library-side fix or recommended configuration.

Question

Is this a known issue with Android 16 / Samsung WebView? Any recommended workaround (different baseUrl/origin, iframe_api loading strategy, required WebView settings/cookies, etc.)?

[PierfrancescoSoffritti]

Hi, can you replicate this in the sample app?

[bbratu]

I don't have a Samsung device but I have tested the sample app in Samsung Remote Lab where I tested my app (after users complained they can not see the videos and all had Samsung phones and Android 16). The place where the video should be remains black.

Inregistrare.de.ecran.de.la.2025-12-18.13-55-41.webm

[PierfrancescoSoffritti]

Thanks for sharing the video. This is not a known issue, so we should look into it.

[bbratu]

Hi! Update: we found the root cause and fixed it.
The issue was release-only (R8/ProGuard): in Play Store builds (minifyEnabled=true) R8 was obfuscating/removing the @JavascriptInterface bridge methods used by the library’s internal WebView. As a result, the JS bridge couldn’t be called and the player never reached onReady (black screen / init timeout).
Fix: we added ProGuard keep rules to preserve JS interface methods:
-keepclassmembers class * { @android.webkit.JavascriptInterface <methods>;}
After rebuilding the release, playback works again on affected devices (including Samsung Remote Test Lab).

[viacheslavivankov]

Hi! Update: we found the root cause and fixed it. The issue was release-only (R8/ProGuard): in Play Store builds (minifyEnabled=true) R8 was obfuscating/removing the @JavascriptInterface bridge methods used by the library’s internal WebView. As a result, the JS bridge couldn’t be called and the player never reached onReady (black screen / init timeout). Fix: we added ProGuard keep rules to preserve JS interface methods: -keepclassmembers class * { @android.webkit.JavascriptInterface <methods>;} After rebuilding the release, playback works again on affected devices (including Samsung Remote Test Lab).

It's not a root cause of the issue. It can be reproduced even with minifyEnabled=false. For some reason youtube returns error 150 for Android 16 devices. And it happens only on physical devices (not on emulator)

[PierfrancescoSoffritti]

@bbratu thanks a lot for getting back with the fix! we should probably include this in the proguard rules shipped with the library.

[dholakiya-pankaj]

I agree with @viacheslavivankov, I also facing the same issue with Samsung Ultra S24, YouTube player is not working and error (VIDEO_NOT_PLAYABLE_IN_EMBEDDED_PLAYER) says open this video on you tube app or in browser. @PierfrancescoSoffritti can you please look into it? FYI, I am using latest version of the library which is 13.0.0

[Naguchennai]

yes not playing, getting black screen both the emulator and Samsung... but sometimes playing, most of time black screen oly

[altieresbianchi]

Problem: YouTube players fail when mixed with WebViews in the same RecyclerView (black screen / init errors after scroll).

Root cause: Calling pauseTimers() and destroy() in WebView cleanup breaks global WebView behavior — pauseTimers() freezes all WebViews (including YouTube’s internal one) and destroy() corrupts the shared pool.

Solution: Avoid those methods. Use safe cleanup instead:

webView.stopLoading();
webView.loadUrl("about:blank");

This stops content without affecting other WebViews and fixes YouTube player initialization issues.