Latest 0.4.0
License MIT
Platforms ios 7.1, requires ARC
Frameworks QuartzCore, MediaPlayer


ALMoviePlayerController is a drop-in replacement for MPMoviePlayerController that exposes the UI elements and allows for maximum customization.


ALMoviePlayerController on iPad, iOS 7.0


ALMoviePlayerController on iPhone, iOS 6.1



  • Drop-in replacement for MPMoviePlayerController
  • Many different customization options, or you can go with the stock Apple look
  • Portrait and landscape support
  • Universal (iPhone and iPad) support
  • iOS 5.0 – iOS 7 support
  • Lightweight, stable component with small memory footprint


Installation is easy.


  1. Add pod 'ALMoviePlayerController', '~>0.3.0' to your Podfile
  2. #import <ALMoviePlayerController/ALMoviePlayerController.h> in your view of choice


  1. Download the ZIP from Github and copy the ALMoviePlayerController directory to your project
  2. Link the QuartzCore.framework and MediaPlayer.framework library in your project’s Build Phases
  3. #import "ALMoviePlayerController.h" in your view of choice

Tested Environments

ALMoviePlayerController has been tested to work on iOS 5.0, 5.1 and 6.0 (simulator), and iOS 6.1 and 7.0 (device). ALMoviePlayerController requires that ARC be enabled.

Example Usage

The process is as follows:

  1. Create an ALMoviePlayerController movie player and assign yourself as its delegate
  2. Create the ALMoviePlayerControls controls (and optionally customize)
  3. Assign the controls to the movie player
  4. Set the movie player’s contentURL, which will start playing the movie
  5. On device rotation, adjust movie player frame if it’s not in fullscreen (when in fullscreen, rotation is handled automatically)
  6. Implement ALMoviePlayerController delegate methods

In code:

@property (nonatomic, strong) ALMoviePlayerController *moviePlayer;


// create a movie player
self.moviePlayer = [[ALMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithFrame:self.view.frame];
self.moviePlayer.delegate = self; //IMPORTANT!

// create the controls
ALMoviePlayerControls *movieControls = [[ALMoviePlayerControls alloc] initWithMoviePlayer:self.moviePlayer style:ALMoviePlayerControlsStyleDefault];

// optionally customize the controls here...
[movieControls setBarColor:[UIColor colorWithRed:195/255.0 green:29/255.0 blue:29/255.0 alpha:0.5]];
[movieControls setTimeRemainingDecrements:YES];
[movieControls setFadeDelay:2.0];
[movieControls setBarHeight:100.f];
[movieControls setSeekRate:2.f];

// assign the controls to the movie player
[self.moviePlayer setControls:movieControls];

// add movie player to your view
[self.view addSubview:self.moviePlayer.view];

//set contentURL (this will automatically start playing the movie)
[self.moviePlayer setContentURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@""]];

On rotation:

if (!self.moviePlayer.isFullscreen) {
    [self.moviePlayer setFrame:frame];
    //"frame" is whatever the movie player's frame should be at that given moment

Note: you MUST use [ALMoviePlayerController setFrame:] to adjust frame, NOT [ALMoviePlayerController.view setFrame:]

Delegate methods

- (void)moviePlayerWillMoveFromWindow;
- (void)movieTimedOut;

Note: moviePlayerWillMoveFromWindow is required for fullscreen mode to work properly. It should be used to re-add the movie player to your view controller’s view (because during the transition to fullscreen, it was moved to [[UIApplication sharedApplication] keyWindow].

Your code might look something like this:

- (void)moviePlayerWillMoveFromWindow {
    if (![self.view.subviews containsObject:self.moviePlayer.view])
        [self.view addSubview:self.moviePlayer.view];

    [self.moviePlayer setFrame:frame];

Controls Properties

ALMoviePlayerControls has the following editable properties:

 The style of the controls. Can be changed on the fly.

 Default value is ALMoviePlayerControlsStyleDefault
@property (nonatomic, assign) ALMoviePlayerControlsStyle style;

 The state of the controls.
@property (nonatomic, readonly) ALMoviePlayerControlsState state;

 The color of the control bars. 

 Default value is black with a hint of transparency.
@property (nonatomic, strong) UIColor *barColor;

 The height of the control bars. 

 Default value is 70.f for iOS7+ and 50.f for previous versions.
@property (nonatomic, assign) CGFloat barHeight;

 The amount of time that the controls should stay on screen before automatically hiding.

 Default value is 5 seconds.
@property (nonatomic, assign) NSTimeInterval fadeDelay;

 The rate at which the movie should fastforward or rewind.

 Default value is 3x.
@property (nonatomic, assign) float seekRate;

 Should the time-remaining number decrement as the video plays?

 Default value is NO.
@property (nonatomic) BOOL timeRemainingDecrements;

 Are the controls currently showing on screen?
@property (nonatomic, readonly, getter = isShowing) BOOL showing;

Controls Styles

typedef enum {
    /** Controls will appear in a bottom bar */

    /** Controls will appear in a top bar and bottom bar */

    /** Controls will appear as ALMoviePlayerControlsStyleFullscreen when in fullscreen and ALMoviePlayerControlsStyleEmbedded at all other times */

    /** Controls will not appear */

} ALMoviePlayerControlsStyle;


If you have any suggestions, let me know! If you find any bugs, please open a new issue.

Contact Me

You can reach me anytime at the addresses below. If you use the library, feel free to give me a shoutout on Twitter to let me know how you like it. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Github: alobi
Twitter: @lobi4nco
Email: [email protected]

Credits & License

ALMoviePlayerController is developed and maintained by Anthony Lobianco (@lobi4nco). Licensed under the MIT License. Basically, I would appreciate attribution if you use it.



Latest podspec

    "name": "WPMoviePlayerController",
    "version": "0.4.0",
    "summary": "A drop-in replacement for MPMoviePlayerController that exposes the UI elements and allows for maximum customization.",
    "homepage": "",
    "authors": {
        "Anthony Lobianco": "[email protected]"
    "license": "MIT",
    "platforms": {
        "ios": "7.1"
    "requires_arc": true,
    "source": {
        "git": "",
        "tag": "0.4.0"
    "source_files": "ALMoviePlayerController/*.{h,m}",
    "resources": "ALMoviePlayerController/Images/*.{png}",
    "frameworks": [

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