Step 1: Integrate Your Catalog (VSK Fire TV)
Before you can integrate with the VSK, you must complete catalog integration.
Sample App Notes
If you're just exploring the sample app, you don't need to complete catalog integration. The sample app uses the IMDb catalog, so you should be able to request any media on IMDb and get a result. The catalog for the sample app requires the package name to start with
If you're just exploring the sample app, you don't need to complete catalog integration. The sample app uses the IMDb catalog, so you should be able to request any media on IMDb and get a result. The catalog for the sample app requires the package name to start with
com.example.vskfiretv. (There's a mapping between this package prefix and the IMDb catalog on the backend, so if you change com.example.vskfiretv, the app won't connect with any catalog.) The sample app will not actually play the requested content (due to copyright and other ownership reasons) but will instead play a generic video.Catalog Integration
Catalog integration involves two main steps:
- Catalog ingestion. Catalog ingestion refers to the process of describing your app's media according to Amazon's Catalog Data Format (CDF) (an XML schema) and then regularly uploading your catalog into an S3 bucket whose content Amazon ingests. Catalog ingestion is restricted to apps that have long-form movies or episodic TV shows (such as those listed in IMDb). See Getting Started with Catalog Ingestion for details.
- Universal search and browse integration. Universal search and browse refers to integration with the Fire TV launcher. This launcher integration allows your catalog file to surface media metadata into Amazon's user interface and global search results — regardless of whether customers have your app installed. When users search for content that your app contains, they will see it in the search results on Fire TV. See Getting Started with Universal Search and Browse on Fire TV for details.
Make sure you complete both aspects of catalog integration before continuing on here to implement the VSK.
Tip: Both catalog and VSK app-only integration follow the same pattern of using intents and a BroadcastReceiver. This means the development patterns for app-only implementation will likely already be familiar to you if you already completed catalog integration.
Parallel Integration with Both Catalog and VSK
The recommended sequence for integration is to first complete catalog integration, and then work on VSK integration. However, you can work on both integrations at the same time. You could start the VSK integration using the same catalog as is used in the sample app, and then later switch to your own catalog. To do this, you would need to change your app's package name to start with
The recommended sequence for integration is to first complete catalog integration, and then work on VSK integration. However, you can work on both integrations at the same time. You could start the VSK integration using the same catalog as is used in the sample app, and then later switch to your own catalog. To do this, you would need to change your app's package name to start with
com.example.vskfiretv because the sample catalog requires this package naming convention for the first three package levels. Later, when you complete catalog integration, you would switch back to your own package name.Next Steps
Go to the next step: Step 2: Integrate with MediaSession.