Getting Started

The BB Channel Compose SDK embeds Blue Billywig video channels in Jetpack Compose apps with native video playback, Chromecast support, and full navigation (swim lanes, grids, carousels, search, detail pages).

Compatibility

Requirement	Minimum Version
Android API	24+
Kotlin	1.9+
Jetpack Compose	1.5+
Compose BOM	2024.01+

Package Access

BBChannelCompose is distributed as a pre-built AAR from a private GitHub repository. Contact Blue Billywig to receive access.

Installation

Add the Blue Billywig Maven repository to your settings.gradle.kts:

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        maven {
            url = uri("https://maven.pkg.github.com/bluebillywig/channel-sdks")
            credentials {
                username = providers.gradleProperty("bb.maven.user").orNull
                    ?: System.getenv("BB_MAVEN_USER")
                password = providers.gradleProperty("bb.maven.token").orNull
                    ?: System.getenv("BB_MAVEN_TOKEN")
            }
        }
    }
}

Then add the dependency to your module-level build.gradle.kts:

dependencies {
    implementation("com.bluebillywig:bbchannel-compose:<version>")
}

Authentication

Set credentials in ~/.gradle/gradle.properties:

bb.maven.user=YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME
bb.maven.token=YOUR_GITHUB_PAT

The PAT needs read:packages scope.

## Quick Start

```kotlin
import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
import com.bluebillywig.channel.compose.BBChannelWithPlayerView
import com.bluebillywig.channel.compose.BBChannelWithPlayerViewModel
import com.bluebillywig.channel.compose.BBChannelCallbacks

@Composable
fun ChannelScreen() {
    val viewModel = BBChannelWithPlayerViewModel()

    BBChannelWithPlayerView(
        channelUrl = "https://demo.bbvms.com/ch/1152.json",
        viewModel = viewModel,
        callbacks = BBChannelCallbacks(
            onReady = { println("Channel loaded") }
        )
    )
}

BBChannelWithPlayerView renders the channel with a native video player using the Blue Billywig Android native player, providing hardware-accelerated playback, Chromecast support, and a modal fullscreen player. See Native Player Integration for configuration details.

Channel URL

Channel URLs follow this format:

https://{publication}.bbvms.com/ch/{channelId}.json

Where {publication} is your Blue Billywig publication name and {channelId} is the numeric channel ID.

Configuration Options

Pass a BBChannelOptions to customize behavior:

val options = BBChannelOptions(
    autoPlay = false,
    searchBar = true,
    noStats = false,
    playout = "default",
    jwt = "eyJ..."
)

BBChannelView(
    channelUrl = "https://demo.bbvms.com/ch/1152.json",
    options = options,
    viewModel = viewModel,
    callbacks = callbacks
)

Property	Type	Description
autoPlay	Boolean?	Auto-play the first video. Default: true.
searchBar	Boolean?	Show the search bar. Default: from channel config.
noStats	Boolean?	Disable analytics/statistics. Default: false.
playout	String?	Override the playout used for players.
jwt	String?	JWT for content protection.
rpcToken	String?	RPC token (legacy, prefer jwt).
nativePlayerMode	Boolean?	Enable native video playback via BB Native Player SDK. Default: true.

Events

Handle events via BBChannelCallbacks:

val callbacks = BBChannelCallbacks(
    onReady = {
        println("Channel is ready")
    },
    onMediaPlay = { media ->
        println("Playing: ${media.clipId}")
    },
    onNavigate = { event ->
        println("Page: ${event.pageType}, can go back: ${event.canGoBack}")
    },
    onError = { error ->
        println("Error [${error.code}]: ${error.message}")
    }
)

Navigation

Use the view model to control navigation:

// Navigate to a detail page
viewModel.navigateTo(page = "detail", clipId = "4701337")

// Go back
viewModel.goBack()

// Search
viewModel.search("keyword")

// Check if back navigation is available
if (viewModel.canGoBack) {
    viewModel.goBack()
}

tip

Integrate with Android's system back button using BackHandler:

BackHandler(enabled = viewModel.canGoBack) {
    viewModel.goBack()
}

Deep Linking

Open the channel at a specific page by passing initialNavigationState:

BBChannelView(
    channelUrl = "https://demo.bbvms.com/ch/1152.json",
    initialNavigationState = BBNavigationState(
        page = "detail",
        clipId = "4701337"
    ),
    viewModel = viewModel,
    callbacks = callbacks
)

Supported pages: main, detail (requires clipId), overview (requires clipListId), search (requires query).

Authentication

For content protected with Blue Billywig Content Protection, pass a JWT in options or update it at runtime:

// Via options
val options = BBChannelOptions(jwt = "eyJ...")

// At runtime
viewModel.setJwt("eyJ...")

What's Next

• Native Player Integration — set up native video playback with BB Native Player SDK
• API Reference — complete type and method reference