Widevine support on Android - required for sites like Spotify, Hulu, etc

[vishnubhadri]

Description

Spotify webplayer is not opening in brave browser version 1.33.106

Steps to reproduce

1. open open.spotify.com

Actual result

Spotify page is displaying playback disabled
Screenshot from brave version 1.33.106 and chromium 96.0.4664.110

Expected result

Spotify should be open. Screenshot from chrome 96.0.4664.104

Issue reproduces how often

Version/Channel Information:

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current Play Store version? 1.33.106
• Can you reproduce this issue with the current Play Store Beta version?
• Can you reproduce this issue with the current Play Store Nightly version?

Device details

• Install type (ARM, x86): ARM
• Device type (Phone, Tablet, Phablet): Phone
• Android version: 11

Brave version

1.33.106

Website problems only

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields? No
• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Rewards? No
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome? No

Additional information

[srirambv]

Can you check if autoplay is disabled under site settings? It should be enabled by default

[vishnubhadri]

Auto play is enabled.

[vishnubhadri]

Can you check if autoplay is disabled under site settings? It should be enabled by default
Auto play is already enabled.
#20241 (comment)

[ryanbr]

This is related to the DRM support/playback, #13820

[ghost]

It has been 6 months since this issue was opened. Any updates?

[vishnubhadri]

as @ryanbr mentioned. it is related to DRM and Widevine. by default brave mobile browser block Widevine.

[ghost]

I wonder what is taking so long for them to at least give us the option to toggle DRM manually like on desktop.

[HarshPatel5940]

Still waiting for an option to enable DRM in brave mobile

[redshark314]

Still waiting for developers to give updates on this. How long till we get the widevine solution on mobile app

[HarshPatel5940]

We are still waiting for Widevine to come in the Brave mobile version.

Getting access to some extensions in mobile versions to increase productivity.

[timchilds]

@deeppandya here is the spec to add Widevine support to Android. Currently in the design phase.

https://bravesoftware.slack.com/archives/C03MMJ4CHEZ/p1667502899967819?thread_ts=1667330661.351209&cid=C03MMJ4CHEZ

[urbenlegend]

Just ran into this issue after corridordigital.com added DRM to all their videos. Would very much appreciate Widevine support on Brave Android as well.

[timchilds]

Designs for Android Widevine:
https://www.figma.com/file/rC3BcDQZD1VQOWa1DQP7AY/Widevine-DRM-Support?t=4QtWH5htIN0JJIrI-1

[realnyamasege]

Hello developers, any solution to the problem?

[samvv]

Would really appreciate if this issue could be fixed. Brave is awesome but this is a real downer.

[dinosoeren]

I can't use brave to watch content I paid for, therefore switching back to chrome until this is fixed.

[BrajBliss]

I switched to Firefox for the same reason @dinosoeren.

[deeppandya]

@dinosoeren @vrindavan we are adding widevine support with brave/brave-core#18958. It would land on nightly soon.

[lukemulks]

+1 on this thread; I ran into issues playing back content purchased on YouTube in Brave as a result of not having Widevine support in Brave on Android. Having to watch that content in the YT native app on Android reminded me how much I appreciate the better UX with YT in Brave. If we support this it will make that support even better.

[alembiq]

+1

[iJosiasCastro]

Any update? We need this

[deeppandya]

Any update? We need this

@iJosiasCastro we have the feature merged to the nightly channel. Please checkout the brave nightly application

[BrajBliss]

It made it to the nightly so hopefully stable soon. Thanks!

[hffvld]

Verified on Pixel 2 XL, Galaxy Tab S8 and Pixel 7 using version(s):

Device/OS: 
- Pixel 2 XL [taimen-user  8.1.0 OPM2.171026.006.H1 release-keys]
- Galaxy Tab S8 [gts8wifixx-user 13 TP1A.220624.014 release-keys]
- Pixel 7 [panther_beta-user 14 U1B1.230908.003 release-keys]
Brave build: 1.60.88 
Chromium: 118.0.5993.70 (Official Build) beta (64-bit) 
Revision: ff9150ac5dd9934a7f431ddf478ad3e45ae68546

---

`Fresh install` flow

STEPS:

1. Fresh install and launch Brave
2. Three-dot menu > Settings
3. Media > Widevine DRM > Verify
4. Go back to NTP and open any of these: https://corridordigital.com, https://open.spotify.com, https://hulu.com, https://tv.apple.com, https://youtube.com, https://play.max.com > Verify
5. Tap Learn more about Widevine > Verify
6. Go back from the support page > Tap Allow (Relaunch Now)
7. After Brave is relaunched go to the Widevine settings > Verify that the toggle switch is ON
8. Go back to the website > Tap any file to play > Verify
9. Refresh the page > Verify

ACTUAL RESULTS:

• Verified that the Widevine DRM toggle switch is shown in the Settings > Media and disabled by default.
• Verified when opening the Widevine required website, a pop-up message is shown.
• Verified tapping Learn more about Widevine is opening How do I enable Widevine DRM on Android? support page https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/17428756610061.
• Verified when the Widevine DRM toggle switch is ON, media files are playing normally.
• Verified when the Widevine DRM toggle switch is ON already, a pop-up message is not shown again if refreshing the page.
• Verified also when the Widevine DRM toggle switch is OFF, media files can't be played and a pop-up message is shown again if refreshing the page, and the Don't ask again checkbox is not selected.
• Verified the same in the Dark and Light modes.

NOTE:

• Some websites like Hulu and YT require you to open Desktop site to watch movies. The same behavior is in Chrome.
• Netflix is not playing for me in Chrome as well.

---

Pixel 7 / Android 14

Widevine DRM is OFF

1	2	3	4

Widevine DRM is ON

1	2	3

Light Mode

1	2	3	4

Galaxy Tab S8 / Android 13

Widevine DRM is OFF

1	2	3

Widevine DRM is ON

1	2	3

Light Mode

1	2	3	4

Pixel 2 XL / Android 8.1.0

Widevine DRM is OFF

1	2	3

Widevine DRM is ON

1	2	3

`Upgrade install` flow

STEPS:

1. Install and launch Brave 1.59.x
2. Three-dot menu > Settings
3. Confirm that the Media section (which will contain Widevine DRM settings) doesn't exist
4. Go back to NTP and open https://open.spotify.com > Sign in to your account
5. Confirm that you can't play files and the Learn more about Widevine pop-up message is not shown
6. Upgrade Brave to 1.60.88 or newer > Launch Brave
7. Three-dot menu > Settings > Verify that the Media section is there
8. Tap Media > Verify that the Widevine DRM toggle switch is shown and disabled by default
9. Return to https://open.spotify.com, for example > Try to play something > Verify pop-up message is shown
10. Tap Allow (Relaunch Now)
11. After Brave is relaunched tap any file to play > Verify

ACTUAL RESULTS:

• Verified that after Brave upgrade from 1.59.x to 1.60.88 or newer the Widevine DRM toggle switch is shown in the Settings > Media and disabled by default.
• Verified when opening the Widevine required website, a pop-up message is shown.
• Verified tapping Learn more about Widevine is opening How do I enable Widevine DRM on Android? support page https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/17428756610061.
• Verified when the Widevine DRM toggle switch is ON, media files are playing normally.
• Verified when the Widevine DRM toggle switch is ON already, a pop-up message is not shown again if refreshing the page.
• Verified when the Widevine DRM toggle switch is OFF, media files can't be played and a pop-up message is shown again if refreshing the page, and the Don't ask again checkbox is not selected.

---

Pixel 7 / Android 14

2023-10-19_15-04-00.mp4

Galaxy Tab S8 / Android 13

2023-10-19_15-37-19.mp4

Pixel 2 XL / Android 8.1.0

2023-10-19_15-18-19.mp4

[foreachthing]

Works on Android, but not Windows 11:

Widevine is activated:

[kjozwiak]

@foreachthing I'm on Win 11 x64 and everything seems to be working. I double checked Netflix, Max and Spotify. Can you try the following?

• go into brave://settings/extensions and disable Widevine (you'll need to restart the browser)
• once restarted, go into Spotify or any other website that needs Widevine (you should see a modal requesting to enable)

Once enabled, does that work? I tried it a few times on my Win 11 x64 machine and everything seems to be working:

Brave | 1.62.90 Chromium: 120.0.6099.35 (Official Build) nightly (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 276c6d1745bff39888cedcc6aa54e9c5c35e764e
OS | Windows 11 Version 22H2 (Build 22621.2715)

Example	Example

[foreachthing]

@kjozwiak , thanks for your reply. No, it does not work. Interestingly, it does work "at work" (where I get blocked to play content but I don't see this message). Could it be a firewall setting or something else with Bitdefender?
I pretty much sync all settings across devices and should not have an addon messing with Brave.
Thanks again!

EDIT: Works on Android ... so, I guess it must be my system. But, where to start debugging?!