Reporting continuous play

The IMA SDK for Android allows for setting the continuous play context for an ads request. The



setContinuousPlayback()

method notifies the SDK whether the player intends to continuously play the content videos one after another, similar to a TV broadcast. When set to true, the ads returned from the request are those designated by the ads server as suitable for continuous play. Not calling this method leaves the setting as unknown. The following sample demonstrates how to set continuous play in an ads request.

AdsRequest request = mSdkFactory.createAdsRequest();
request.setAdTagUrl(adTagUrl);
request.setContinuousPlayback(true);
adsLoader.requestAds(request);

For those using the Exoplayer-IMA extension, version 2.13 or later, or the BasicExample which implements the extension, the following sample shows how to set continuous play.

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_my);

    playerView = findViewById(R.id.player_view);

    ImaAdsLoader.Builder builder = new ImaAdsLoader.Builder(this).setContinuousPlayback(true);
    adsLoader = builder.build();
}

How continuous play differs from ad auto-play

The IMA SDK for Android also allows for setting whether the player will start playing automatically or wait for user action to begin playing. This is done using the



setAdWillAutoPlay()

method. When set to true, the ads returned are those designated by the ads server as suitable for an auto-play environment.

This table details when to request ads for continuous play and auto-play, based on the video content the ads are paired with.

Video Content	Parameter for setContinuousPlayback()	Parameter for setAdWillAutoPlay()
A single content video that plays upon user interaction	`false`	`false`
A single content video that autoplays	`false`	`true`
A video playlist that plays the first video upon user interaction but autoplays the following videos	`true`	`false`
A video playlist that autoplays the first video and autoplays the following videos	`true`	`true`