Detect if a VideoVIew is buffering

Following code will show a buffering dialog every time the VideoView is buffering.

    final ProgressDialog bufferingDialog;
    bufferingDialog = ProgressDialog.show(context,
            "Buffering", "Please wait", true, true);

    VideoView videoView;
    videoView = (VideoView) findViewById(R.id.video_view);
    videoView.setVideoPath(path);
    videoView.setMediaController(new MediaController(context));
    videoView.requestFocus();
    videoView.start();
    videoView.setOnPreparedListener(new MediaPlayer.OnPreparedListener() {
        @Override
        public void onPrepared(MediaPlayer mp) {
            mp.setOnInfoListener(new MediaPlayer.OnInfoListener() {
                @Override
                public boolean onInfo(MediaPlayer mp, int what, int extra) {
                    if (what == MediaPlayer.MEDIA_INFO_BUFFERING_START)
                        bufferingDialog.show();
                    if (what == MediaPlayer.MEDIA_INFO_BUFFERING_END)
                        bufferingDialog.dismiss();
                    return false;
                }
            });
        }
    });
    videoView.setOnErrorListener(new MediaPlayer.OnErrorListener() {
        @Override
        public boolean onError(MediaPlayer mp, int what, int extra) {
            bufferingDialog.dismiss();
            return false;
        }
    });

I came with the following hack in order to not implement a custom VideoView. The idea is to check every 1 second if the current position is the same as 1 second before. If it is, the video is buffering. If not, the video is really playing.

final Handler handler = new Handler(); 
Runnable runnable = new Runnable() { 
    public void run() {
        int duration = videoView.getCurrentPosition();
        if (old_duration == duration && videoView.isPlaying()) {
            videoMessage.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        } else {
            videoMessage.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        }
        old_duration = duration;

        handler.postDelayed(runnable, 1000);
    }
};
handler.postDelayed(runnable, 0);

videoMessage is just a TextView with the text "Buffering..." placed in the center of my VideoView.

Since API level 17, you can now access the InfoListener from the MediaPlayer:

final MediaPlayer.OnInfoListener onInfoToPlayStateListener = new MediaPlayer.OnInfoListener() {

    @Override
    public boolean onInfo(MediaPlayer mp, int what, int extra) {
        switch (what) {
            case MediaPlayer.MEDIA_INFO_VIDEO_RENDERING_START: {
                mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                return true;
            }
            case MediaPlayer.MEDIA_INFO_BUFFERING_START: {
                mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                return true;
            }
            case MediaPlayer.MEDIA_INFO_BUFFERING_END: {
                mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                return true;
            }
        }
        return false;
    }

});

mVideoView.setOnInfoListener(onInfoToPlayStateListener);