Android quickstart | LiveKit Docs

tip

This quickstart is for Android apps using the traditional view-based system. If you are using Jetpack Compose, check out the Compose Quickstart Guide.

1. Install LiveKit SDK

LiveKit for Android is available as a Maven package.

...
dependencies {
  implementation "io.livekit:livekit-android:<current version>"
}

See the releases page for information on the latest version of the SDK.

You'll also need JitPack as one of your repositories. In your settings.gradle file:

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        //...
        maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }
    }
}

2. Permissions

LiveKit relies on the RECORD_AUDIO and CAMERA permissions to use the microphone and camera. These permission must be requested at runtime, like so:

private fun requestPermissions() {
    val requestPermissionLauncher =
        registerForActivityResult(
            ActivityResultContracts.RequestMultiplePermissions()
        ) { grants ->
            for (grant in grants.entries) {
                if (!grant.value) {
                    Toast.makeText(
                        this,
                        "Missing permission: ${grant.key}",
                        Toast.LENGTH_SHORT
                    )
                        .show()
                }
            }
        }
    val neededPermissions = listOf(Manifest.permission.RECORD_AUDIO, Manifest.permission.CAMERA)
        .filter {
            ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(
                this,
                it
            ) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_DENIED
        }
        .toTypedArray()
    if (neededPermissions.isNotEmpty()) {
        requestPermissionLauncher.launch(neededPermissions)
    }
}

3. Connect to a Room using a VideoView

LiveKit uses SurfaceViewRenderer to render video tracks. A TextureView implementation is also provided through TextureViewRenderer. Subscribed audio tracks are automatically played.

Note that this example hardcodes a token we generated for you that expires in 2 hours. In a real app, you’ll need your server to generate a token for you.

// !! Note !!
// This sample hardcodes a token which expires in 2 hours.
const val wsURL = "<your LiveKit server URL>"
const val token = "<generate a token>"
// In production you should generate tokens on your server, and your frontend
// should request a token from your server.

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    lateinit var room: Room

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // Create Room object.
        room = LiveKit.create(applicationContext)

        // Setup the video renderer
        room.initVideoRenderer(findViewById<SurfaceViewRenderer>(R.id.renderer))

        connectToRoom()
    }

    private fun connectToRoom() {

        lifecycleScope.launch {

            // Setup event handling.
            launch {
                room.events.collect { event ->
                    when (event) {
                        is RoomEvent.TrackSubscribed -> onTrackSubscribed(event)
                        else -> {}
                    }
                }
            }

            // Connect to server.
            room.connect(
                wsURL,
                token,
            )

            // Publish audio/video to the room
            val localParticipant = room.localParticipant
            localParticipant.setMicrophoneEnabled(true)
            localParticipant.setCameraEnabled(true)
        }
    }

    private fun onTrackSubscribed(event: RoomEvent.TrackSubscribed) {
        val track = event.track
        if (track is VideoTrack) {
            attachVideo(track)
        }
    }

    private fun attachVideo(videoTrack: VideoTrack) {
        videoTrack.addRenderer(findViewById<SurfaceViewRenderer>(R.id.renderer))
        findViewById<View>(R.id.progress).visibility = View.GONE
    }
}

(For more details, you can reference the complete sample app.)

4. Next Steps

Set up a server to generate tokens for your app at runtime by following this guide: Generating Tokens.
View the full SDK reference and GitHub repository for more documentation and examples.

Happy coding!