[Feature request] play local files (downloads) in PipePipe

[johndh]

Related to #1113 and #1088

Checklist (Your issue will be automatically closed if you delete this part)

• [ *] I make sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - which I could contribute my information to.
• [* ] I believe this feature request will benefit more than 10% of users, not just myself.

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** Description
It would be nice to have the ability to play files in PipePipe from a folder on the device, such as videos downloaded in PipePipe, rather than playing them in a different app.

Currently, the usual case for most users will be that their device's video player is whatever Google, Samsung, etc spyware was installed by default on their device, or another photo gallery app with very limited video functionality, so we're missing out on the great video playing features of PipePipe, like skipping sponsor segments and being able to play in the background while the screen is locked or another app is in focus.

Ideally, it would be able to play the video as if it were streaming (ie, with comments, likes, etc) but without using the device's data connection, similar to what the proprietary YT app does.

[InfinityLoop1308]

1. The design of PipePipe assumes that you have an internet connection. Many existing playback features, including SponsorBlock, bullet comments (danmu), and subtitles, require an internet connection. All existing designs are based on this premise, so supporting offline playback is almost equivalent to rewriting an entirely new application.
2. Playing downloaded files is a highly standardized requirement. There are numerous mature open-source projects focused on this need, offering many features that we cannot provide in PipePipe (for example, VLC supports software decoding, allowing devices that do not support the AV01 format to still play such files). "Reinventing the wheel" is very unwise, and what you truly need to do is download VLC to replace the default player on your device.
3. Regarding "caching previously played videos to save data" -> track in Feature Request: Caching Songs for Offline Playback #525; regarding "applying SponsorBlock during downloads" -> track in [Feature request] use sponsorblock during downloading #1088.

[johndh]

Thank you for a perfectly reasonable and understandable explanation. I'll try using PipePipe as a video downloader and VLC as a player.

[smellymoo]

+1

I would like to be able to download without adverts to watch offline with VLC.

to add some info from research, there is a VLC plugin to skip using sponsorblock info, but it doesn't look like it supports Android.

https://github.com/fenollp/vlc-sponsor-skip