Unsupported Video Codec?

[bee8bit]

Describe the bug
Repeatedly stumbled across toots with a video that won't play In the last few days. Instead a very technical error message appears:

Wiedergabe fehlgeschlagen: Decoder init failed: c2.qti.avc.decoder, Format(1, null, null, video/ avc, avc1.4D0033, -1, null, [2232, 1340, 56.39198, ColorInfo(BT709, Limited range, SDR SMPTE 170M, false, 8bit Luma, 8bit Chroma)], [-1, -1])

”Wiedergabe fehlgeschlagen“ is ”Playback failed in German.

I cannot tell if users have started posting videos in a new and unsupported format, if it is a bug in my version of Pachli, or if it is the fault of my new device (Moto g84 5G, Android 14).

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Open https://front-end.social/@chriscoyier/113439004295620843 in Pachli
2. Click on the video
3. See an error message instead of a video

Expected behavior
The video plays (or, if that's beyond possible, I can find a helpful explanation. That is, for non-developers: File is corrupted; Codec is missing. See here to install; Android 1138 required; Device with special hardware required; ...)

Versions
Pachli Current 2.8.3+adc7060b

Device:
motorola moto g84 5G
Android-Version: 14
SDK-Level: 34

Account:
@[email protected]
Version: 4.3.1

Affirmation
I have checked other issues for this project (open and closed) and I cannot find one that matches the problem I am reporting.

[nikclayton]

Thanks for the report.

Note to self: ViewVideoFragment has this:

            override fun onPlayerError(error: PlaybackException) {
                val message = getString(
                    R.string.error_media_playback,
                    error.cause?.message ?: error.message,
                )
                Snackbar.make(binding.root, message, Snackbar.LENGTH_INDEFINITE)
                    .setAction(app.pachli.core.ui.R.string.action_retry) { player?.prepare() }
                    .show()
            }

which preferentially shows the inner error message from cause. Changing that to just use error.message might provide a better error, which is worth trying.

[nikclayton]

Today's Pachli Current is going to include a change that prefers the "higher level" error message from the video player (if it exists). I'd be grateful if you could let me know if that provides better / more actionable information.

[bee8bit]

Thank you for the effort. The message is different now:

Wiedergabe fehlgeschlagen: MediaCodec VideoRenderer error, index=0, format-Format(1, null, null, video/ avc, avc1.4D0033, -1, null, [2232, 1340, 56.39198, ColorInfo(BT709, Limited range, SDR SMPTE 170M, false, 8bit Luma, 8bit Chroma)], [-1, -1]), format_su...

Well, that is still very technical. And now the message is cropped.
The last word might be something readable but right now it is not useful yet.

Idea:
What about a simple message like "Playback failed" (localized), followed by a "details" button/link/collapse_toggle that reveals the full details.
I suppose the exceptions themselves are too unpredictable or complex so it would be out of scope to translate them into anything understandable. We're talking about a mastodon client, not a video authoring tool.