Orbix: An Ad-Free Android Video Player

Overview

Orbix is Dizity's own Android app: a fast, modern video player for the videos on your phone and your home network. It has no ads, no accounts and no tracking. We designed it, built it and prepared it for Google Play in-house, from the first line of code to the store listing.

The Challenge

Most free video players on Android are crowded with full-screen ads, upsell banners and features nobody asked for. Many also collect usage data. We wanted to prove a player could be fast, good-looking and private at the same time.

The goals we set:

• No ads and no analytics, with the video library never leaving the device
• Controls that respond instantly, with no waiting on taps or sheets
• A modern Material You design that follows the phone's own colours
• Everything a serious viewer needs: gestures, subtitles, picture-in-picture and network playback
• A build that passes Google Play's policies on permissions and data safety

The Solution

We built Orbix as a native Android app in Kotlin, using Jetpack Compose for the interface and Media3 (ExoPlayer) for playback.

Playback that stays out of the way

• Swipe for brightness, volume and seeking, double-tap to skip, pinch to zoom
• Playback speed from 0.25x to 4x, A-B repeat, sleep timer and chapter markers
• Picture-in-picture and background audio
• Resume from where you stopped, remembered for every video

Subtitles and audio

• Embedded and external subtitles in SRT, ASS/SSA and VTT
• Subtitle delay, size and background controls
• Audio track selection and an equalizer

A library that organises itself

• Folders, all videos and playlists, in list or grid view
• A "Continue watching" row, search and sorting
• Hidden folders and a PIN-locked private area
• Playback from Windows, Mac and NAS shares, stream links and Chromecast

Built for Privacy and Play Store Approval

Before release we put the app through security, performance, accessibility and store-policy reviews, and fixed what they found.

• Privacy: no accounts, no analytics and no cloud backup of personal data. The only data that ever leaves the phone is a subtitle search the user starts themselves.
• Security: other apps cannot control playback or open the app's private files, and the private folder locks after repeated wrong PINs.
• Accessibility: screen-reader labels on every control, full-size touch targets and layouts that adapt to portrait and landscape.
• Store compliance: only the permissions the app needs, a published privacy policy and a complete data-safety declaration.

The Results

• The app opens in under half a second on a current mid-range phone
• A complete player in a download of about 13 MB
• Zero ads and zero trackers
• Designed, built, audited and submitted to Google Play by one in-house team
• Now in early access on Google Play

What We Used

Kotlin, Jetpack Compose with Material 3, AndroidX Media3 (ExoPlayer), Google Cast, and SMB networking for home shares. Brand identity, app icon, store graphics and the privacy policy were produced alongside the app.

Have an App Idea?

Orbix shows how we take a product from idea to store listing. If you want an Android app built with the same care, book a free call with us and tell us what you have in mind.