iPhone app plays video and audio in iOS’s own player

Opening a video or audio file in the General Input iPhone app used to show a small web player inside the preview. It now plays in iOS's own player, so it behaves like media everywhere else on your phone. Videos fill the screen under a simple control bar, turn sideways in fullscreen, keep playing in Picture in Picture while you use other apps, and play on an Apple TV or speaker over AirPlay. Audio, like a meeting recording or a voice note a workflow produced, keeps playing when you lock the phone or switch apps, with play, pause, and skip on the lock screen and in Control Center.

How it works

• One control bar. A progress line runs the width of the screen and shows how much has loaded; drag anywhere on it to jump. Under it sit play, the time left, speed from 0.5× to 2×, and for videos mute, fullscreen, and Picture in Picture. Tap a video to hide the controls.
• Starts right away. The player streams the file from a short-lived signed link and fetches only the parts you play, so a long recording starts in moments.
• Plays on silent. Video and audio you open play with the ring switch set to silent, as other media apps do.
• Every format still opens. WebM and Ogg files, and any file iOS's player can't open, play in the in-app preview as before. An MP3 saved as .m4a is served as an MP3, so it plays on iPhone and in Safari too.

Also shipped

• Audio files on the web play in the same kind of player: a card with play, the time, speed, mute, and a progress line you can drag or step with the arrow keys.