Meet Aurora, Wistia's latest video player and our biggest media player update since the release of Vulcan V2 in 2018!
The Aurora update is designed to be as seamless as possible for all users, whether you're brand new to Wistia or a long-time customer. In most cases, the embedding and viewing experience will feel almost identical between the two players, although Aurora may feel a bit faster. Read on to learn what to expect when you use an Aurora embed.
For a more technical overview of Aurora, refer to our developer documentation.
Note
The Aurora Player is available on all Wistia accounts.
What is new about the Aurora player?
On the surface, the Aurora player looks almost identical to the older Vulcan player. The updated Aurora player primarily involves redesigning the backend code and improving the embedding experience. Major changes include:
A new embed code with a custom Web Component that makes dynamic embedding easier and provides encapsulation from on-page style conflicts.
A new JavaScript API designed for a more convenient and expected developer experience.
Page load improvements, including our lightest JavaScript bundle yet.
What is an Aurora embed?
Perhaps the most visible difference between Aurora and the classic Vulcan player is Aurora's new embed code. Both players have that familiar Wistia look, feel, and function, but Aurora's redesigned embed code makes it faster than ever and more resilient to common on-page conflicts.
The Aurora player works the same way as the classic Vulcan player. All information in our embedding and sharing documentation applies to both Aurora and Vulcan embeds unless otherwise noted.
How to identify an Aurora embed
Aurora embeds can be identified based on their two essential parts:
the
<wistia-player></wistia-player>component,the
https://fast.wistia.com/player.jsscript
Consider the fixed-size, standard Aurora embed code below:
<script src="https://fast.wistia.com/player.js" async></script>
<script src="https://fast.wistia.com/embed/c625h4plph.js" async type="module"></script>
<style>wistia-player[media-id='c625h4plph']:not(:defined) { background: center / contain no-repeat url('https://fast.wistia.com/embed/medias/c625h4plph/swatch'); display: block; filter: blur(5px); }</style>
<wistia-player media-id="c625h4plph" seo="false" style="width: 640px;height: 360px;"></wistia-player>
In the embed code above, note the presence of the player.js script at the top:
<script src="https://fast.wistia.com/player.js" async></script>
And the wistia-player component at the bottom:
<wistia-player media-id="c625h4plph" seo="false" style="width: 640px;height: 360px;"></wistia-player>
If you see these in your embed code, you're using the new Aurora player!