Should I use vnd.youtube:videoID?

Question

While playing around with the emulator, I noticed that when trying to view a YouTube video the browser gives an error saying it can not load the page at vnd.youtube:ngc978y6rCU?some=parameters. I don't have an Android device, but by this I can suppose that launching a VIEW intent with the data URI set to vnd.youtube:VIDEO_ID would launch the default YouTube application and watch that video.

Now, my application has to be able to display YouTube videos. Right now I have a custom-made YouTube activity which does just that, but I'm thinking of:

• Removing my custom activity and just launching a VIEW intent with a vnd.youtube:VIDEO_ID Uri, or
• Testing whether that Intent is available and using it, or, if it's not available, using my custom activity.

Is this a good idea? Does this work at all (as I said I have no Android device, I'll just be borrowing one from a friend to test my final application)? Which way should I go?

Answer 1

It's up to you. You could use the Youtube Intent but since those details have never been released it could be changed and break your code.

Answer 2

Test if an VIEW intent with data set to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxx will work. It is possible for Android applications to hook like this. This would provide a better experience if the phone is somehow missing the Youtube app (and you don't want to rely in your custom player).