[Icecast] Re What HTML5 radio player do you use ?

[Tim Baker]

I used MediaElement.js - far from great (no tracknames) but it does usually work on mobile (Android, I don't have an IOS machine to text but I suspect it will be Ok)…problem is with HTML5 is it's spotty across the browsers even on Mac, and on Android pre 4.1 forget it - some work, some don't. 

Firefox for instance is HTML5 on paper, in reality because of file formats (MP3 support in HTML5 isn't supported yet like MP4 in video, or wasn't in previous versions...) you need a Flash fallback unless you want to simultaneously stream OGG and MP3 - given the fact very few of the directories and players support OGG I'm a little wary of devoting a stream to it. I'm sure it's wonderful yaddayaddayadda for the geeks but in a Flash streaming world, MP3 gets the shout(cast). seems to be much more compatible - my Pure Contour Internet radio can't play OGG for example, but does do AAC and MP3.

So yes you do need a Flash fallback - I use MediaElement.js as part pf a Wordpress plugin. I wish it was more customisable…some of the others that purport to be HTML5 players don't seem to work, with a libShout or Icecast stream at all - JPlayer works but the skins are *awful* and I don't have the time to make one as it looks really hard, but JWPlayer refused to work with my stream. Shame because JWPlayer's HTML5 > Flash fallback is really good. The only other one I got to work but not with stream info is svnlabs HTML5 player. There is a free Wordpress plugin, but the rest are paid for, and you can't redesign or customise it, which makes it a little pointless.

The other one I've come across which is Flash but seems to have mobile-HTML5 solution (?) is Streema. If you register your station they have a free player, which seems to work really well - I thought only Flash but looking at the code it seems to be HTML based…might be wrong, but I couldn't find any SWF or Silverlight in the code.

Hope this helps

Tim