Add AVPlayerLayer to UIViewController - ios

Question

Is it possible to display AVPlayerLayer inside a UIViewController which is later on displayed in UIView.
The sample code of what I'm trying to do:
...
UIView *parentView = reinterpret_cast<UIView *>(window->winId());
AVPlayer *_player;
AVURLAsset *_asset;
AVPlayerItem *_playerItem;
AVPlayerLayer *m_playerLayer;
_player = [[AVPlayer alloc] init];
NSURL *baseURL = [[NSURL alloc] initWithString: #"http://devimages.apple.com/iphone/samples/bipbop/bipbopall.m3u8"];
_asset = [AVURLAsset assetWithURL:baseURL];
_playerItem = [AVPlayerItem playerItemWithAsset: _asset];
[_player replaceCurrentItemWithPlayerItem:_playerItem];
m_playerLayer = [AVPlayerLayer playerLayerWithPlayer:_player];
// works with AVPlayerViewController
// AVPlayerViewController *playerController = [[AVPlayerViewController alloc] init];
// playerController.player = _player;
UIViewController *viewController = [[UIViewController alloc] init];
[viewController.view.layer addSublayer:m_playerLayer];
viewController.view.frame = CGRectMake(this->x(), this->y(), this->width(), this->height());
[parentView addSubview:viewController.view];
[_player play];
...
It works if I try to add the player to AVPlayerViewController and then display it, but I would want to use only AVPlayerLayer since I don't need video controls as I'll implement the functionality separately.

Answer 1

You can use AVPlayerViewController with
avController.showsPlaybackControls = false;
Or simply add the layer
_player = [[AVPlayer alloc] init];
NSURL *baseURL = [[NSURL alloc] initWithString: #"http://devimages.apple.com/iphone/samples/bipbop/bipbopall.m3u8"];
_asset = [AVURLAsset assetWithURL:baseURL];
_playerItem = [AVPlayerItem playerItemWithAsset: _asset];
[_player replaceCurrentItemWithPlayerItem:_playerItem];
m_playerLayer = [AVPlayerLayer playerLayerWithPlayer:_player];
m_playerLayer.frame = self.view.bounds;
[self.view.layer addSublayer:m_playerLayer ];
[_player play];

Answer 2

I subclassed UIView and added on the AVPlayerLayer via SH_Khans method
_player = [[AVPlayer alloc] init];
NSURL *baseURL = [[NSURL alloc] initWithString: #"http://devimages.apple.com/iphone/samples/bipbop/bipbopall.m3u8"];
_asset = [AVURLAsset assetWithURL:baseURL];
_playerItem = [AVPlayerItem playerItemWithAsset: _asset];
[_player replaceCurrentItemWithPlayerItem:_playerItem];
m_playerLayer = [AVPlayerLayer playerLayerWithPlayer:_player];
m_playerLayer.frame = self.view.bounds;
[self.view.layer addSublayer:m_playerLayer ];
[_player play];
Then treat the subclassed UIView how you want. Couple of things though, if you resize the AVPlayerLayerUIView you have to resize the AVPlayerLayer as the system does not do that automatically.
Additionally remember to clip to bounds on the AVPlayerLayerUIView or it will not match your frame as you want.