feat: improve viewer autoplay experience with a 'tap to play' overlay and reorder video codecs.

public/viewer.js

@@ -5,6 +5,34 @@ const overlay = document.getElementById('overlay');
 let device;
 let recvTransport;
 let consumers = {}; // consumerId -> consumer
+let hasUserInteracted = false;
+
+// Track user interaction — Chrome mobile needs this before play() works
+document.addEventListener('click', () => { hasUserInteracted = true; }, { once: true });
+document.addEventListener('touchstart', () => { hasUserInteracted = true; }, { once: true });
+
+// Make overlay clickable to start playback on mobile
+overlay.addEventListener('click', () => {
+    if (remoteVideo.srcObject) {
+        remoteVideo.muted = false;
+        remoteVideo.play().then(() => {
+            overlay.classList.add('hidden');
+            remoteVideo.classList.add('active');
+        }).catch(e => console.error('Play failed:', e));
+    }
+});
+
+function tryPlay() {
+    remoteVideo.play().then(() => {
+        overlay.classList.add('hidden');
+        remoteVideo.classList.add('active');
+    }).catch(() => {
+        // Autoplay blocked — show tap prompt
+        overlay.classList.remove('hidden');
+        overlay.querySelector('h1').innerText = 'Tap to Play';
+        overlay.querySelector('.status-indicator span:last-child').innerText = 'Stream ready — tap anywhere';
+    });
+}
 
 async function init() {
     try {
@@ -94,9 +122,6 @@ async function consumeProducer(producerId, kind) {
             remoteVideo.srcObject = new MediaStream();
         }
         remoteVideo.srcObject.addTrack(track);
-        
-        remoteVideo.classList.add('active');
-        overlay.classList.add('hidden');
 
         // Resume the consumer (server starts them paused)
         await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
@@ -106,6 +131,9 @@ async function consumeProducer(producerId, kind) {
             });
         });
 
+        // Try to play after resuming
+        tryPlay();
+
         consumer.on('trackended', () => {
             console.log(`Track ended for consumer ${consumer.id}`);
         });
@@ -130,7 +158,6 @@ socket.on('newProducer', async ({ producerId, kind }) => {
 socket.on('producerClosed', ({ consumerId }) => {
     const consumer = consumers[consumerId];
     if (consumer) {
-        // Remove the track from the video element
         if (remoteVideo.srcObject) {
             const track = consumer.track;
             if (track) {
@@ -141,7 +168,6 @@ socket.on('producerClosed', ({ consumerId }) => {
         delete consumers[consumerId];
     }
 
-    // If no more consumers, show overlay
     if (Object.keys(consumers).length === 0) {
         remoteVideo.classList.remove('active');
         remoteVideo.srcObject = null;
@@ -151,14 +177,11 @@ socket.on('producerClosed', ({ consumerId }) => {
 
 // Broadcaster connected - try to initialize
 socket.on('broadcasterConnected', () => {
-    // Re-init to pick up new producers
     if (!device) {
         init();
     } else {
-        // Just fetch new producers
         socket.emit('getProducers', async (producers) => {
             for (const { producerId, kind } of producers) {
-                // Check if we're already consuming this producer
                 const alreadyConsuming = Object.values(consumers).some(c => c.producerId === producerId);
                 if (!alreadyConsuming) {
                     await consumeProducer(producerId, kind);
@@ -170,7 +193,6 @@ socket.on('broadcasterConnected', () => {
 
 // Broadcaster disconnected
 socket.on('broadcasterDisconnected', () => {
-    // Close all consumers
     Object.values(consumers).forEach(consumer => {
         consumer.close();
     });
@@ -184,12 +206,6 @@ socket.on('broadcasterDisconnected', () => {
     overlay.querySelector('.status-indicator span:last-child').innerText = 'Waiting for new stream...';
 });
 
-// Auto-unmute when the user interacts with the document
-document.addEventListener('click', () => {
-    remoteVideo.muted = false;
-    remoteVideo.volume = 1.0;
-}, { once: true });
-
 // Initialize on connect
 socket.on('connect', () => {
     socket.emit('viewer');

server.js

@@ -38,6 +38,12 @@ const mediaCodecs = [
       minptime: 10
     }
   },
+  {
+    kind: 'video',
+    mimeType: 'video/VP8',
+    clockRate: 90000,
+    parameters: {}
+  },
   {
     kind: 'video',
     mimeType: 'video/H264',
@@ -47,12 +53,6 @@ const mediaCodecs = [
       'profile-level-id': '42e01f',
       'level-asymmetry-allowed': 1
     }
-  },
-  {
-      kind: 'video',
-      mimeType: 'video/VP8',
-      clockRate: 90000,
-      parameters: {}
   }
 ];