Support and compatibility

Apple AirPlay support

The IMA SDK does not currently support Apple AirPlay. Either disable AirPlay or disable ad requests when AirPlay is detected.

This page provides general information on IMA DAI support and compatibility for browsers, video formats, and platforms.

Supported video formats and browsers

HTML5 is still a new and evolving standard. As a result, support for various features differs among browsers, and there is no single default video format supported by all major browsers. The three main video formats used in the majority of browsers are H.264, HLS, and Dash.

VAST event compatibility

This section lists the VAST events that are automatically reported to the server based on the information returned in the VAST response.

Fully supported

complete, creativeView, firstQuartile, impression, midpoint, pause, resume, rewind (fired when there is any significant seeking in the backward direction), start, thirdQuartile.

Partially supported

  • click

    The Click event is only sent for video ads. Clicks cannot be captured on the native fullscreen players on Android, iOS, or desktop, but clicks can still be captured by an in-page click tracking element when the video is closed. However, if the video element uses native controls on the iPad, clicks cannot be captured.

  • fullscreen

    IMA supports a simulated full screen mode, in which the video takes up the whole browser window. IMA considers a video to be in full screen mode when its offsetWidth and offsetHeight are at least the size of the document body. This mode is supported on all browsers.

    On the iPhone and pre-3.0 Android platforms, video always plays in full screen mode.

  • mute, unmute

    iOS and Android only have native control of the volume. As such, IMA cannot determine the volume or mute state, nor is the SDK notified of changes. Below is a list of the browser versions which do and do not support mute, unmute:

    • Supported: Firefox 3.5+, Chrome 8+, Safari 4+
    • Not supported: iOS, Android

Refer to the IAB guidelines for further details on VAST ad serving.

Supported video player platforms

The Google IMA SDKs are supported on the following platforms:

Platform Version
HTML5 Desktop: Chrome, Firefox 4.0+, Safari 5+, Internet Explorer 11
Mobile: Chrome/Android Browser (Android 4.1+ for phone, and Android 4.1+ for tablet), Safari (iOS 9.0+)
iOS iOS 10.0+
Android Android 4.1+
Google Cast All Cast devices
tvOS tvOS 10.1+
Roku All devices that are still receiving software updates from Roku

Video features and SDK versions

To learn more about the following features, read video advertising overview.

IAB Video Suite Support
VAST 4 Warning 1
VAST 3 Warning 2
VAST 2 Checkmark
VPAID 2 Red-X
VMAP 1.0.1 Warning 3
Ad Manager Video features Support
Linear ads Checkmark
Non-linear ads (Overlays) Red-X
Companions Warning 4
VAST 3 alternate companion ad resources Red-X
Active View viewability Checkmark
VAST Redirects Checkmark
Companion backfill with display request Red-X
Google Publisher Tag (GPT) compatibility Red-X
Content awareness Red-X
Ad rules Checkmark
Podding Checkmark
Bumpers Checkmark
Reporting on multi-event tracking (MET) Checkmark
Skippable (reservation / non-TrueView) Warning 5
AdSense for Video features Support
TrueView InStream Warning 6
InStream Select Checkmark
Standard InStream Checkmark
Full-slot Red-X
Companions Warning 4
Companion backfill Red-X
Overlays Red-X
Ad Manager Ad Exchange features Support
TrueView InStream Warning 6
InStream Select Checkmark
Standard InStream Checkmark
Full-slot Red-X
Companions Warning 4
Companion backfill Red-X
Overlays Red-X
Active View viewability Checkmark
Why This Ad? Warning 7

1 The following VAST 4.0 features are supported:

  • AdID
  • Mezzanine File
  • New VAST error codes
  • New VAST macros

2 The following VAST 3.0 features are not yet supported:

  • Companion adSlotId
  • Companion delivery options
  • Icons
  • Any VAST 3.0 feature not yet supported by the Ad Manager front end

3 The following VMAP features are not yet supported:

  • VMAP-specific tracking events
  • VMAP-specific error codes
  • Overlay ads
  • Time offsets other than hh:mm:ss or "start" and "end"
  • Display breakType attribute
  • repeatAfter attribute

4 Only image companionions are supported. Image companions require custom implementation for populating ads.

5 Traditional skippable ads are only supported in the IMA DAI SDKs for HTML5, iOS, tvOS, Roku, and Android (including Android TV).

6 TrueView skippable ads are only supported in the IMA DAI SDKs for HTML5, iOS, Roku, and Android (including Android TV).

7 Why This Ad? requires that the adUiElement parameter be passed when creating the StreamManager.