warren-bank / crx-webcast-reloaded

Cast web videos to Google Chromecast from any Chromium-based desktop browser.

WebCast-Reloaded

Background:

• WebCast is a really nice enhancement to Chromium-based desktop web browsers
• Its purpose is to identify video files as they are loaded into a webpage, and provide a mechanism by which to cast their links
  • when a link is "cast", Chromecast uses its embedded HTML5 browser to play the video
  • the device which was used to "cast" the link doesn't proxy the stream
• The tool consists of two parts:
  • an external website
    • an AngularJS SPA (single page app)
    • the default route allows a user to enter the URL to a video file
    • another route can be passed a base64 encoded URL to a video file
    • after a URL is received, the following page elements are rendered:
      • an HTML5 video player
      • a Chromecast button, which uses Google APIs to scan for Chromecasts on the LAN and display a list of devices that could be used to play the video file
  • a Chromium extension
    • it hooks into the HTTP API to listen for requested URLs that end with a supported file extension
    • each URL that matches is made available to "cast"
    • clicking on any such video will open a new browser tab to WebCast's "external website" component
      • it's provided with the base64 encoded URL of the video file

Status:

• WebCast hasn't been updated since:
  • version 0.2.1
  • June 2, 2014
• It tests for the following file extensions:
  • .mp4
  • .mov

Purpose for Fork:

• keep a backup of the "external website"
• detect more types of video formats:
  • .3gp
  • .avi
  • .m1v
  • .m4v
  • .mkv
  • .mov
  • .mp4
  • .mp4v
  • .mpeg
  • .mpg
  • .mpg2
  • .mpv
  • .ogm
  • .ogv
  • .webm
  • .xvid
  • .m3u8
    • HLS: HTTP Live Streaming
  • .mpd
    • MPEG-DASH
  • .ism, .ismv, .ismc, .ism/Manifest
    • Microsoft Smooth Streaming

Additional Notes:

• not all of the videos detected ( see above ) will work in Chromecast
  • the preference is to find too many video links, rather than too few
• the "external website":
  • can be used without any Chromium extension
    • the URL to cast would need to be manually entered into a form field
  • can be loaded into the Chromium desktop web browser from the local filesystem
    • ex: file:///C:/path/to/external_website/index.html#/watch/:base64-encoded-URL
    • ex: file:///C:/path/to/external_website/index.html#/watch/:base64-encoded-URL/subtitle/:base64-encoded-URL
    • no server is required
  • hosted:
    • original WebCast player
    • GitHub Pages (HTTPS)
      • main entry-point
        • mirror of WebCast player
        • VisualOn HTML5 Player
        • THEOplayer HTML5 Video Player
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - stable release
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - stable release w/ experimental support for using external subtitles on Chromecast
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - latest release
        • Video.js HTML5 Video Player - stable release
        • Video.js HTML5 Video Player - latest release
      • redirect entry-point for HLS-Proxy
    • mirror: surge.sh CDN (HTTP)
      • main entry-point
        • mirror of WebCast player
        • VisualOn HTML5 Player
        • THEOplayer HTML5 Video Player
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - stable release
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - stable release w/ experimental support for using external subtitles on Chromecast
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - latest release
        • Video.js HTML5 Video Player - stable release
        • Video.js HTML5 Video Player - latest release
      • redirect entry-point for HLS-Proxy
    • mirror: raw.githack.com CDN (HTTP)
      • main entry-point
        • mirror of WebCast player
        • VisualOn HTML5 Player
        • THEOplayer HTML5 Video Player
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - stable release
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - stable release w/ experimental support for using external subtitles on Chromecast
        • Clappr HTML5 Video Player - latest release
        • Video.js HTML5 Video Player - stable release
        • Video.js HTML5 Video Player - latest release
      • redirect entry-point for HLS-Proxy

Possible To-Dos:

• add an option to the Chromium extension that allows the user to change the URL of the "external website"
• change the methodology used by the Chromium extension to detect matching video files
  • inspect the HTTP response "Content-Type" header

Links to Related Apps for Android:

• WebCast for Android
  • minimal app
    • apk size is around 3.5 MB
    • only does what it says it will do
      • open source, no ads, no data collection, no communication with any 3rd-party server
      • uses the same methodology to detect video formats (as the WebCast-Reloaded Chromium extension)
    • not perfect, but works pretty darn good
• EZ Web Video Cast
  • a minimal app that doesn't have ads and works great

Legal:

• copyright:
  • WebCast
  • THEOplayer HTML5 Video Player
  • VisualOn HTML5 Player
  • Warren Bank
• license:
  • GPL-2.0
    • only applies to changes made to code in the original WebCast extension

crx-webcast-reloaded's Issues

Requests to "Play" media via the SPA fail on Firefox nightly Android

After installing the extension on Firefox Nightly Android v130.0a1, I was able to use the extension to find streams on a page I tested, and was able to open the SPA.

But after filling in my IP information and port, hitting play did nothing. What's strange is, if I copy and paste the link into my regular Firefox Android, it'll play as normal.

For reference, this firefox nightly android was a fresh install, with the only changes/additions being the installation of ublock origin, this extension, and the config change to allow unsigned XPI installations.

I attempted to debug via my desktop firefox browser, but I didn't see any errors or warnings in the console when loading the page or hitting play.

Chromium 72+ removed the ability to cast videos from insecure pages (ex: HTTP)

official changelog:

• https://www.chromestatus.com/feature/5766218384408576
• https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=733381
• https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/1306336

relevant comments from similar issues originating in other projects:

• jellyfin/jellyfin#791

  • Hi folks, we've tracked down the issue.
    If your server is HTTP and not HTTPS, local Casting is broken with Chrome (Computer or Mobile), starting with version 72.

  • Specifically, from the Chrome dev console on 71:

      cast_sender.js:67 [Deprecation] Using the Presentation API on insecure origins is deprecated and will be removed in M72. You should consider switching your application to a secure origin, such as HTTPS. See https://goo.gl/rStTGz for more details.
    

    So, it looks like 72 fully removes cast-over-HTTP support.