Playing a video

Videos allow complex information to be presented to a user. This can just be a background, or it can be an information animation. Regardless of the exact reason, videos can enhance apps.

How to do it...

One of the simplest ways to display a video is to use a VideoView instance, which wraps an underlying SurfaceView and a MediaPlayer:

1. The first thing we add to the layout is a VideoView instance, using either code or the layout resources:

   <VideoView
     android:layout_width="match_parent"
     android:layout_height="wrap_content"
     android:layout_gravity="center"
     android:id="@+id/videoView" />

2. If we are using a layout resource, we get hold of the VideoView from the layout:

   var videoView = FindViewById<VideoView>(Resource.Id.videoView); 

3. Once we have the VideoView property, we can set the source of the video. This can either be from a remote source, or from a local resource, such as one of the app resources:

   var path = string.Format(
     "android.resource://{0}/{1}",
     PackageName...