Android Kotlin - Intent createChooser - share the video file of VideoView / MediaPlayer from cache / memory

Issue

var medPlay: MediaPlayer
holder.vidPlayer.setVideoPath(fileUrl)
holder.vidPlayer.setOnPreparedListener { mp ->
    medPlay = mp
}

Instead of downloading the Video separately again for sharing, I'd like to share the file that is already loaded in the VideoView / MediaPlayer and then:

Intent sharingIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
sharingIntent.setType("video/*");
sharingIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "Hey this is the video text");
sharingIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM,uriFromVideoView);
startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sharingIntent,"Share Video");

Is that possible? I would also accept alternatives / suggestions

Solution

Is that possible?

No. For starters, it is not physically possible for all types of streams. Beyond that, VideoView/MediaPlayer are not writing the media to disk. They download in chunks, to minimize RAM consumption, and use it solely for playback.

I would also accept alternatives / suggestions

Download the video yourself, such as by using OkHttp. Use the downloaded copy both for setVideoPath() and for ACTION_SEND (the latter by way of FileProvider, most likely). Note that this will only work for video streams that are actual files (e.g., not some livestream), and it would require downloading the entire video first.

Answered By - CommonsWare