JW8 Changelog

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For information about new features, deprecations, and updates that may affect workflows or integrations, see our web player release notes.

June 22, 2026

• Fixed an issue where the player retried indefinitely after receiving a 404 HTTP error response instead of throwing an error, restoring the behavior from version 8.38.0 and prior.
• Extended 4xx error handling to throw an error on all 4xx HTTP statuses (not just 404), with errors now classified as CRITICAL rather than RECOVERABLE.
• Fixed an issue on Android where jwplayer().getWidth() and jwplayer().getHeight() could return stale container dimensions across orientation change, URL-bar collapse, and fullscreen transitions, causing approximately 1% of events to misreport player orientation.
• Fixed an issue where the local player entered an error state after advancing to the next playlist item during an active Chromecast session. Playback and casting now continue successfully, and player controls remain interactive.
• Improved error handling in the SSAI plugin (advertising.client: 'ssai'). When a playlist item is missing a lowercase mediaid (for example, camelCase mediaId is used), the plugin now emits an adError and logs the cause instead of silently locking player controls. Lowercase mediaid remains the only supported spelling.
• Fixed an issue where the player failed to initialize with Error 100013, causing users to see "Sorry, the video player failed to load" when loading the library script from cdn.jwplayer.com/libraries.

June 16, 2026

• Fixed an issue where the player did not resume the primary asset after an HLS interstitial completed and transport controls did not work correctly during interstitial playback.

June 04, 2026

• Fixed an issue where preroll ad breaks could be canceled when the player scrolled out of view during loading. autoPause viewability no longer cancels preroll breaks that are still in auction or loading state, helping preserve ad fill.
• Added frame-accurate seeking support through the new player.getFrameRate() API and frameRateChange event, enabling frame-by-frame forward and backward seeking for DASH and HLS streams.
• Updated the Vertical Video player to automatically load the optimized jwplayer-all-nocontrols-ads bundle, reducing payload size while maintaining full ad support for Google IMA, JWX, and VAST.
• Fixed a null crash where async error handlers could fire after the player model was destroyed, causing TypeError: null is not an object errors, particularly on iOS Safari and during rapid page teardown.
• Fixed a crash in the Google IMA adapter on iOS/WebKit where a queued Promise callback could fire after the player was destroyed, causing TypeError: undefined is not an object errors in googima.js when backgrounding a tab or locking the screen during ad initialization.

May 05, 2026

• Empty VMAP ad tags are now correctly handled as valid (no more false errors), keeping ad metrics accurate.
• Vertical video motion thumbnails now display in their proper aspect ratio on standard players instead of being distorted.

April 27, 2026

• Fixed Chromecast casting failure on media containing alternate audio tracks.
• Corrected browser local storage entries being created before receiving user consent.

April 20, 2026

• Fixed an issue where programmatically selected audio tracks were not retained during DASH playback with Shaka when ABR switching occurred.

March 23, 2026

• Fixed an issue where HLS (m3u8) playback failed on Samsung Tizen Smart TVs (2018+), triggering error 100000 on initial load or subsequent playback attempts.
• Enforced automatic upgrading of requests to HTTPS for HTTP sources.

February 24, 2026

• Fixed an issue where the player failed to load on certain SmartTV web browsers, including Samsung Tizen.
• Fixed an issue where third-party ad measurement tracking pixels did not fire correctly when using the JWX ad client.

February 18, 2026

• Added new device-specific floating player configuration options, including support for a pinned-top position (mobile only) and customizable close button behavior.
• Fixed an issue where valid early dynamic ad break suggestions could be incorrectly skipped when useContentWatchTime method is selected.

February 12, 2026

Service release. No new changes.

February 9, 2026

• Added pauseOnDismiss to floating player configuration, allowing publishers to control whether playback pauses when the floating player is dismissed.

February 2, 2026

• AutoPause now works correctly when the player is re-initialized on the same page

January 26, 2026

• Resolved a player issue that caused some videos to stop playback immediately after loading in Chrome

January 21, 2026

Service release and maintenance updates. No new changes.

December 18, 2025

• DRM playback now works correctly on Microsoft Edge when using default browser settings.

December 8, 2025

• Fixed an issue where the player auto-scrolls back into view after video ends on mobile and in small viewports
• Added a disableInManifestCaptions configuration option, allowing in-manifest captions to be hidden when side-loaded captions are present

December 2, 2025

Service release. No new features.

November 14, 2025

• Improved iOS stability by adding validation for invalid VMAP URLs, ensuring the analytics plugin no longer crashes when VMAP XML includes unresolved paths.
• Enhanced compatibility with Shaka Player 4.5.0+ by updating how quality labels are handled to prevent playback issues.