FFmpegKit
FFmpegKit
is a collection of tools to use FFmpeg
in Android
, iOS
, Linux
, macOS
, tvOS
, Flutter
and React Native
applications.
It includes scripts to build FFmpeg
native libraries, a wrapper library to run FFmpeg
/FFprobe
commands in
applications and 8 prebuilt binary packages available at Github,
Maven Central, CocoaPods, pub and npm.
1. Features
- Scripts to build FFmpeg native libraries
FFmpegKit
wrapper library to runFFmpeg
/FFprobe
commands in applications- Supports native platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, macOS and tvOS
- Supports hybrid platforms: Flutter, React Native
- Based on FFmpeg
v4.5-dev
or later with optional system and external libraries - 8 prebuilt binary packages available at Github, Maven Central, CocoaPods, pub and npm
- Licensed under
LGPL 3.0
by default,GPL v3.0
if GPL licensed libraries are enabled
2. Android
See Android to learn more about FFmpegKit
for Android
.
3. iOS, macOS, tvOS
See Apple to use FFmpegKit
on Apple
platforms (iOS
, macOS
, tvOS
).
4. Flutter
See Flutter to learn more about FFmpegKit
for Flutter
.
5. Linux
See Linux to learn more about FFmpegKit
for Linux
.
6. React Native
See React Native to learn more about FFmpegKit
for React Native
.
7. Build Scripts
Use android.sh
, ios.sh
, linux.sh
, macos.sh
and tvos.sh
to build FFmpegKit
for each native platform.
All scripts support additional options to enable optional libraries and disable platform architectures. See Building wiki page for the details.
8. FFmpegKit Library
FFmpegKit
is a wrapper library that allows you to easily run FFmpeg
/FFprobe
commands in applications. It
provides additional features on top of FFmpeg
to enable platform specific resources, control how commands are
executed and how the results are handled.
Android
library of FFmpegKit
has a Java
API, Apple
libraries (iOS
, macOS
, tvOS
) have an Objective-C
API, Flutter
library comes with a Dart
API, Linux
library has a C++
API and React Native
library provides
a JavaScript
API with Typescript
definitions, which are identical in terms of features and capabilities.
9. Packages
There are eight different ffmpeg-kit
packages distributed on
Github,
Maven Central, CocoaPods, pub and
npm.
Below you can see which system libraries and external libraries are enabled in each one of them.
Please remember that some parts of FFmpeg
are licensed under the GPL
and only GPL
licensed ffmpeg-kit
packages
include them.
min | min-gpl | https | https-gpl | audio | video | full | full-gpl | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
external libraries | - | vid.stab x264 x265 xvidcore |
gmp gnutls |
gmp gnutls vid.stab x264 x265 xvidcore |
lame libilbc libvorbis opencore-amr opus shine soxr speex twolame vo-amrwbenc |
dav1d fontconfig freetype fribidi kvazaar libass libiconv libtheora libvpx libwebp snappy zimg |
dav1d fontconfig freetype fribidi gmp gnutls kvazaar lame libass libiconv libilbc libtheora libvorbis libvpx libwebp libxml2 opencore-amr opus shine snappy soxr speex twolame vo-amrwbenc zimg |
dav1d fontconfig freetype fribidi gmp gnutls kvazaar lame libass libiconv libilbc libtheora libvorbis libvpx libwebp libxml2 opencore-amr opus shine snappy soxr speex twolame vid.stab vo-amrwbenc x264 x265 xvidcore zimg |
android system libraries | zlib MediaCodec |
|||||||
ios system libraries | bzip2 AudioToolbox AVFoundation iconv VideoToolbox zlib |
|||||||
macos system libraries | bzip2 AudioToolbox AVFoundation Core Image iconv OpenCL OpenGL VideoToolbox zlib |
|||||||
tvos system libraries | bzip2 AudioToolbox iconv VideoToolbox zlib |
AVFoundation
is not available ontvOS
VideoToolbox
is not available on LTS releases ofiOS
andtvOS
zimg
is supported sincev4.5.1
10. Versions
FFmpegKit
binaries generated use the same major and minor version numbers as the upstream FFmpeg
project. The
third and last number in the version string, if exists, is specific to FFmpegKit
. It shows different releases from
the same FFmpeg
release branch.
dev
part in the version string indicates that FFmpeg
source code is cloned from the FFmpeg
master
branch and
the exact version number of FFmpeg
is obtained using the git describe --tags
command.
Platforms | FFmpegKit Version | FFmpeg Version | Release Date |
---|---|---|---|
React Native | 5.1.0 | 5.1.2 | Oct 02, 2022 |
Flutter | 5.1.0 | 5.1.2 | Oct 02, 2022 |
Android | 5.1 | 5.1.2 | Sep 29, 2022 |
Apple | 5.1 | 5.1.2 | Sep 29, 2022 |
React Native | 4.5.2 | 4.5-dev-3393 | May 25, 2022 |
Flutter | 4.5.1 | 4.5-dev-3393 | Jan 02, 2022 |
React Native | 4.5.1 | 4.5-dev-3393 | Jan 02, 2022 |
Android | 4.5.1 | 4.5-dev-3393 | Jan 01, 2022 |
Apple | 4.5.1 | 4.5-dev-3393 | Dec 30, 2021 |
Flutter | 4.5.0 | 4.5-dev-2008 | Oct 05, 2021 |
React Native | 4.5.0 | 4.5-dev-2008 | Oct 01, 2021 |
Android Apple |
4.5 | 4.5-dev-2008 | Sep 18, 2021 |
Android Apple |
4.4 | 4.4-dev-3015 | Mar 03, 2021 |
11. LTS Releases
FFmpegKit
binaries are published in two release variants: Main Release
and LTS Release
.
-
Main releases include complete functionality of the library and support the latest SDK/API features.
-
LTS releases are customized to support a wider range of devices. They are built using older API/SDK versions, so some features are not available on them.
This table shows the differences between two variants.
Main Release | LTS Release | |
---|---|---|
Android API Level | 24 | 16 |
Android Camera Access | Yes | - |
Android Architectures | arm-v7a-neon arm64-v8a x86 x86-64 |
arm-v7a arm-v7a-neon arm64-v8a x86 x86-64 |
iOS Min SDK | 12.1 | 10 |
iOS VideoToolbox | Yes | - |
iOS AVFoundation | Yes | - |
iOS Architectures | arm64 arm64-simulator arm64-mac-catalyst x86-64 x86-64-mac-catalyst |
armv7 arm64 i386 x86-64 |
iOS Bundle Format | XCFrameworks | Frameworks |
Mac Catalyst Min Version | 14.0 | - |
macOS Min SDK | 10.15 | 10.12 |
macOS AVFoundation | Yes | - |
macOS Architectures | arm64 x86-64 |
x86-64 |
macOS Bundle Format | XCFrameworks | Frameworks |
tvOS Min SDK | 11.0 | 10.0 |
tvOS VideoToolbox | Yes | - |
tvOS Architectures | arm64 x86-64 arm64-simulator |
arm64 x86-64 |
tvOS Bundle Format | XCFrameworks | Frameworks |
12. Documentation
A more detailed documentation is available under Wiki.
13. Test Applications
You can see how FFmpegKit
is used inside an application by running test applications created under
FFmpegKit Test project.
All applications are identical and supports command execution, video encoding, accessing https urls, encoding audio, burning subtitles, video stabilisation, pipe operations and concurrent command execution.
14. License
FFmpegKit
library alone is licensed under the LGPL v3.0
.
FFmpegKit
bundles (.aar
archives, frameworks
, xcframeworks
), which include both FFmpegKit
and FFmpeg
libraries, are also licensed under the LGPL v3.0
. However, if the source code is built using the optional
--enable-gpl
flag or prebuilt binaries with -gpl
postfix are used, then FFmpegKit
bundles become subject to the
GPL v3.0
. Because, FFmpeg
is licensed under the GPL v3.0
in those bundles. And that makes the whole bundle
effectively subject to the GPL v3.0
.
FFmpegKit
build scripts always configure FFmpeg
with --enable-version3
option. And never enable non-free
libraries. Thus, FFmpeg
libraries created by FFmpegKit
are licensed under the LGPL v3.0
by default. Only when
--enable-gpl
is provided they become subject to GPL v3.0
. That is how prebuilt binaries with -gpl
postfix are
compiled.
Refer to Licenses to see the licenses of all libraries.
Trademark lists the trademarks used in the FFmpegKit
documentation.
15. Patents
It is not clearly explained in their documentation, but it is believed that FFmpeg
, kvazaar
, x264
and x265
include algorithms which are subject to software patents. If you live in a country where software algorithms are
patentable then you'll probably need to pay royalty fees to patent holders. We are not lawyers though, so we recommend
that you seek legal advice first. See FFmpeg Patent Mini-FAQ.
openh264
clearly states that it uses patented algorithms. Therefore, if you build ffmpeg-kit
with openh264
and
distribute that library, then you are subject to pay MPEG LA licensing fees. Refer to
OpenH264 FAQ page for the details.
16. Contributing
See our CONTRIBUTING guide.