Meet Aurora, Wistia's new video player- this is Wistia's biggest media player update since the release of our current player, Vulcan V2, back 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. This article will explain what you can expect when your account gets access to the new player.
The Aurora Player is currently available to all new Wistia accounts, and rolling out to existing Wistia accounts in stages starting on November 19th. Contact support if you have any questions!
What is new about the Aurora player?
On the surface, the Aurora player might seem almost identical to the older Vulcan player. That's because this update is primarily a redesign of the media player back-end, and the initial changes are focused on improving the developer experience around embedding.
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
This is just the beginning - there are plenty of updates coming down the line, including visual tweaks, new UI elements, and new customization options.
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 in all the same ways as the classic Vulcan player. This means all of the information in our Embedding and Sharing category 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
Example
Aurora embed - Standard embed type, fixed size:
<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!