AMP Component Updates

• Updated our amp-jwplayer documentation on  amp.dev including all the attributes mentioned in the release notes. 
• To the amp-jwplayer component, added support for a new attribute, data-config-json, which accepts a full JSON configuration using any key values listed in the web player configuration reference, with the exception of media, which should use the media ID or playlist ID attribute, and the floating player, which should use the amp-video-docking component and the dock attribute on the player element. 
• Added support for appending the iframe source url before player setup, to support token signing for example, with new attributes data-player-param-* and data-player-querystring. 
• Added an attribute, data-ad-cust-params, which supports a JSON string of custom parameters that will be appended to the end of an ad tag on ad request. 
• Added an attribute, data-config-skin-url, which accepts a url to an externally-hosted CSS file that will be loaded inside of the iframe, and can be used to target JWP elements. You can also load this file as skin.url in your JSON setup configuration using data-config-json. See our documentation on how to create your own CSS file. 
• Added an attribute, data-config-plugin-url, which accepts a url to an externally-hosted Javascript file that will be loaded inside of the iframe, and can be used to apply custom Javascript to the player. 
• Added support for populating ad tag macros in AMP with a new attribute, data-ad-macro-*. The following macros are supported: An attribute used to override the default value of macros in ad tags. Supported macros include: domain, referrer, page-url, item-{custparam}, and item-{custparam}-list. For example, setting data-ad-macro-domain=jwplayer.com would ensure the requested ad tag populates the domain parameter with the defined page url. See our ad tag macro documentation for more information. 
• In AMP, added support for the amp-consent component, which a way for publishers to collect and store user’s consent through a UI and is a way to block AMP components based on the user’s consent. Added a new attribute, data-block-on-consent, which if set blocks the player from loading until the consent state is resolved. The consent data will then be passed to the player's iframe as query parameters for use with advertising implementations. See the amp-consent blocking behaviors documentation for possible values that this attribute accepts. 
• Fixed an issue in amp-jwplayer where play events erroneously fired when an ad played. 
• Remove existing logic which was manually sending additional pause events during ads with AMP, which are no longer needed. 

General Improvements

• Added the aria-expanded attribute to the settings menu button to improve accessibility. 
• When hovering over the timeline where there are chapter markers, the chapter's name and the current time will always be shown. 

Fixes

• Reintroduced a fix from 8.20.5: Fixed a bug preventing a floating player with auto pause configured from pausing when the tab is backgrounded while an ad is loading.
• Removed a demo key value from customTargetingKey in the Freewheel ad client.
• Fixed an accessibility issue where upon exiting the settings menu the focus did not return to the settings menu icon in the control bar. 

Updates

• Updated our Shaka dependency to 3.2. 
• Added 15+ new 246xxx error codes related to DASH DRM failures. 
• In the VAST client, we now define the creative type as video when making ad requests with OMID-enabled players, which should improve measurement accuracy. 
• Improved settings menu ARIA labeling for accessibility by removing the ariahaspopup attribute and changing the role attribute on many elements to better suit the screen reader experience. 
• Improved accessibility of the seek slider by adding the aria-valuenow attribute and ensuring the current time is read aloud by screen readers for both VOD and live streams. 

Fixes

• Fixed a bug in picture in picture mode where videos would pause when the player's original container was backgrounded if the player was configured to autoPause. Autopause behavior should not apply to picture in picture mode because the PiP player is always in view even if the page where the player is embedded no longer is. 
• Removed the picture in picture icon from the control bar on Tizen, where it is not supported. 
• Fixed a bug with the playlist shelf widget where if the items in the playlist do not have thumbnail images, paginating with the left and right arrow buttons breaks the component. 
• Reverted an earlier fix from 8.20.5: Fixed a bug preventing a floating player with auto pause configured from pausing when the tab is backgrounded while an ad is loading. This will be reintroduced in an upcoming release. 

New Features

• Updated the "About This Video" modal (accessible via the right click menu) to include stats for nerds, including information about the stream including media ID, buffer health, resolution, and more.
• Configuration: Added a new configuration option, allowFullscreen, which defaults to true. When set to false, fullscreen functionality is completely disabled in the player including tapping, clicking, keyboard shortcuts, and API access.
• Javascript events: Added a new method, setAllowFullscreen, which through updating the boolean, disables or re-enables the above fullscreen behavior.
• Updated the Freewheel Ad Manager SDK dependency to v6.43.
• Improved player and page security by whitelisting allowed HTML markup elements that may render in media title and description fields; links, scripts, and Javascript functions are no longer rendered.

Fixes

• Fixed a bug preventing the on('adblock') and getAdblock() methods from working as expected in all browsers.
• Fixed a bug preventing remove() from having its namesake effect on the player when it is in picture in picture mode.
• Fixed an issue where clicking and holding the seek bar fires a pause event with "unknown" pauseReason, rather than "interaction."
• Fixed an issue where opening the playlist overlay fires a pause event with "unknown" pauseReason, rather than "interaction."
• Fixed a bug in Freewheel where the adPod sequence was off by one.
• Reintroduced an earlier fix from 8.20.5: Fixed a bug preventing a floating player with auto pause configured from pausing when the tab is backgrounded while an ad is loading. This will be reverted again in the next release.

Updates

• This release was briefly available but was removed due to fatal setup errors occurring in our AMP component. This will be fixed in 8.22.1. We apologize for the inconvenience. 

Changes

• Reverted an earlier fix from 8.20.5: Fixed a bug preventing a floating player with auto pause configured from pausing when the tab is backgrounded while an ad is loading. This will be reintroduced in an upcoming release.

Fix

• Improved memory management.

General Changes

• JWPlayerView has been decoupled from the JWPlayer API, which enables your layouts to inflate quickly and provide a responsive user experience on screens that have a JWPlayerView. 
• JW Android SDK 4.0 uses fully native controls, which simplified control customization by using ViewModels. 
• Updated Java package root to be com.jwplayer. 
• Added support for Picture-in-Picture, Related feeds, and JW Recommendations. 
• Thumbnail preview is shown as the user seeks across the content if a thumbnail track is specified for a PlaylistItem 
• Improved accessibility support for screen readers. 
• Added helper classes to better support Background Audio. 
• Minimum OS is set to API 21. 

User Interface

• Created new menu system for new design and updated seek bar thumbnail style, Casting menu, error code screen, Next Up card, and Live interface. 

Ads

• JW Android SDK 4.0 supports IMA, IMA DAI, and JWP VAST. 
• Added support for background loading of the next playlist item and VAST ads. 
• Added ads cue points for IMA. 
• Added feature to make IMA ad request before the ad break. 
• Added AdErrorEvent and AdImpressionEvent to help the customers to track ad related events. 

API Updates

• Created a JWPlayerCompat class that contains all of the addOnXListener() and removeOnXListener() methods. 
• Added CaptionsListEven, ErrorEvent, and SetupErrorEvent to help the customers to track the list of captions and all error related events. 
• Renamed AdSource to AdClient. 
• Renamed ImaAdvertising to ImaAdvertisingConfig. 
• Renamed ImaDaiAdvertising to ImaDaiAdvertisingConfig. 
• Renamed ImaVMAPAdvertising to ImaVmapAdvertisingConfig. 
• Renamed VMAPAdvertising to VmapAdvertisingConfig. 

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where TalkBack would not read the controlbar contents correctly. 
• Fixed an issue where the player does not maintain the selected resolution when replaying a video. 

Deprecated features

• VPAID and FreeWheel support. 
• CSS support. 
• Caption Styling Configuration. 

Fixes

• Fixed an issue preventing video thumbnails from playing when the playlist item is loaded with jwplayer().load().
• Removed harmless console errors outputted after the VAST ad client loads the OMID SDK.
• Fixed a bug preventing the picture in picture icon released in 8.21.0 from inheriting styling set in the skin.controlbar.icons configuration.
• Fixed an issue where the value for playReason after a playlist item automatically advances to the next video was erroneously interaction.

New Features

• Added support for playback in Picture in Picture mode across all supported browsers, including ads, captions, and playlists. Firefox and Internet Explorer do not support this feature.
• Configuration: Added a new configuration option, pipIcon, which defaults to enabled and adds a Picture in Picture icon and right click menu options to supported desktop browsers only. Setting this option to disabled will remove this icon, which you can also hide with CSS. On mobile devices, we have elected not to add an icon to our controls, but rather, PiP can be enabled through the operating system's native gestures and user interface on both iOS and Android.
• Added automatic localization support for the Picture in Picture icon tooltip and right click menu option across all supported languages, which can also be customized via the intl block with pipIcon.
• Javascript API: added a new event, adLoadedXML, which fires when the VAST ad client loads an ad tag. The response contains the same object properties as other ad events, such as adBreakId, adPlayId, adPosition, client, tag, etc, as well as an XML parameter that exposes the XML downloaded from the tag.
• Improved recovery of live DASH streams that buffer infinitely by implementing segment timeouts.

Fixes

• Fixed a bug preventing TTML1 captions from being displayed in DASH streams.
• Fixed an accessibility issue where the focus did not return to the settings menu icon after closing the settings menu.
• Fixed typos in German and Swedish player automatic localization translation files. We thank you for your feedback and encourage submissions via the form on our support page.
• Fixed a bug causing seek events to copy their play reason from the preceding play event.
• Fixed an issue in the IMA ad client with VMAP ad schedules where ad events incorrectly report the ad position as pre on mid-roll and post-roll ads.

Updates

• Following the resolution of the Chrome 91 bug by Google IMA, we reverted the workaround released yesterday in 8.20.9. Version 8.20.10 is identical to 8.20.8. Stay tuned for 8.21.0 next week, which includes Picture in Picture support.