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You can put a real exercise video into a fitness app in about five minutes if you choose the delivery model before writing code. Use a hosted YouTube player for a quick prototype, a dedicated exercise-video API when you need clips and structured metadata, or a licensed asset library when your app must control local files and offline playback. Those options are not interchangeable: YouTube keeps the standard player and imposes strict caching and gating rules; YMove Exercise API v2 returns temporary 48-hour video URLs and often portrait clips; a licensed library such as MoveKit gives you downloadable assets but still restricts redistribution.
The fastest safe implementation is to fetch one exercise, verify its rights and orientation, render the provider-supported player or a standard HTML <video> element, then test expiry, watermarks, attribution, and commercial permissions before shipping.
Which video integration should you choose?
Choose based on rights and delivery rather than on the number of lines of code. A hosted player is quickest, a dedicated API gives better in-app control, and licensed files offer the most control at the cost of asset management and licensing work.
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| Pattern | Best for | Playback control | Storage and caching | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosted YouTube player | Prototype, discovery, or a catalog that can live inside an external player | Use the standard player experience and controls | Do not download, copy, or cache the displayed video | Your API service must reflect a user’s standard experience on YouTube; special gating is not allowed |
| YMove Exercise API v2 | Apps that need exercise clips plus structured records | Place the returned signed URL in your own video component | Signed URLs expire after 48 hours; fetch fresh data instead of storing the URL | Trial and Starter plans watermark videos; most clips are portrait |
| Licensed asset library such as MoveKit | Commercial products needing local control, editing, or offline playback | Full control over files subject to the license | Store and deliver files according to the asset license | Raw animation files may not be resold or publicly shared |
| wger exercise API | Open-source workout metadata and routine data | Metadata service; provide video delivery separately | Review AGPL and CC-BY-SA obligations before reuse | Public exercise endpoints are unauthenticated; user-owned routines require authentication |
If your product requirement is simply “show a clip beside an exercise,” start with a hosted player or YMove. If the requirement is “download, edit, and serve our own catalog,” start with a properly licensed asset pack instead.
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How do I add a hosted YouTube workout video?
Use the YouTube IFrame Player API rather than downloading the file. The player remains hosted by YouTube, while your app supplies the video identifier and surrounding exercise information.
Five-minute implementation
- Create or select the video record in your server-side exercise catalog. Store the provider’s video identifier, title, target muscle group, difficulty, and any attribution text you intend to display.
- Load the IFrame Player API in the page or native WebView integration recommended for your platform.
- Render the provider player in a responsive container. Keep controls and branding visible; do not replace the player with a custom downloader or a hidden background stream.
- Associate your own “Start exercise” action with the player’s supported play controls or events. Do not require a user to complete an external advertising or subscription action before playback.
- Test on mobile data, a slow connection, portrait and landscape orientation, and an account that is not signed in.
<div class="exercise-video" aria-label="Squat demonstration">
<div id="exercise-player"></div>
</div>
<script>
// Load the official IFrame Player API as documented by Google.
// Pass the catalog's video identifier to the API's player constructor.
const player = createProviderPlayer('exercise-player', {
videoId: exercise.videoId,
playerVars: { controls: 1, rel: 0 }
});
</script>The example deliberately leaves API loading to the provider-supported integration for your platform. The critical implementation detail is that exercise.videoId is an identifier, not a file you fetch into your storage.
What YouTube policies change in a fitness app?
Google’s policy says your API service must reflect a user’s standard experience on YouTube. You cannot download, import, back up, cache, or store information that YouTube displays during the relevant authentication and playback flows, and you should not build a replacement player around the stream.
That makes a hosted embed suitable for a prototype, but a poor foundation for offline workouts, paid access controls around the video itself, or a catalog that must remain available if the source creator removes a clip. Keep your own exercise notes and progress data separate from the hosted playback.
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How do I show a YMove Exercise API v2 clip in a web or React Native app?
Fetch an exercise record from your server, read the pre-signed CDN URL returned by YMove, and pass it to the platform’s video component. Because the URL is temporary, your client must be able to refetch the exercise record when playback fails because the signature has expired.
Server-side request flow
- Create the YMove account and API credential required by your plan. Keep the credential on your server; never bundle it in a mobile app.
- Expose a narrow endpoint in your own backend, such as
/api/exercises/42, that requests the current YMove record and returns only the fields your client needs. - Include the exercise name, instructions, thumbnail, orientation, rights metadata, and signed video URL in the response. Treat the URL as a delivery token, not as a permanent asset address.
- Have the client request that endpoint when the exercise screen opens. Do not persist the signed URL in a database, long-lived cache, or offline download queue.
// Your backend response, simplified
{
"id": 42,
"name": "Bodyweight squat",
"thumbnail": "provider-thumbnail",
"orientation": "portrait",
"videoUrl": "temporary-signed-cdn-url",
"rights": "provider-rights-metadata"
}Client playback and expiry recovery
async function loadExercise(id) {
const response = await fetch(`/api/exercises/${id}`);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error('Exercise request failed');
return response.json();
}
async function playExercise(id, videoElement) {
const exercise = await loadExercise(id);
videoElement.poster = exercise.thumbnail;
videoElement.src = exercise.videoUrl;
videoElement.playsInline = true;
await videoElement.play();
}
videoElement.addEventListener('error', async () => {
// Refetch the record once, then retry with a new signed URL.
await playExercise(currentExerciseId, videoElement);
});Use a retry limit and display a useful error if the second request fails. Repeatedly retrying a provider outage can create a request loop and make an already slow workout screen worse.
How should the layout handle portrait clips?
Most YMove clips are portrait, so reserve a 9:16 container rather than forcing every video into a wide 16:9 box. A portrait-first layout avoids black bars and prevents cropping hands or feet during demonstrations.
.exercise-video {
width: min(100%, 420px);
aspect-ratio: 9 / 16;
margin-inline: auto;
background: #111;
}
.exercise-video video {
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
object-fit: contain;
}Trial and Starter plans watermark YMove videos. Pro and Enterprise provide clean videos, so confirm the plan’s current terms before promising a watermark-free experience in your product screenshots or paid tier.
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Can I use a licensed exercise asset library instead of streaming?
Yes. A licensed library is the right route when your app needs local files, editing, predictable playback, or offline workouts. MoveKit states that its license covers mobile and web apps, fitness and coaching platforms, and commercial products, while prohibiting resale or public sharing of the raw animation files.
Asset-library setup
- Read the license for the exact package and territory you plan to buy. Confirm that your app type, number of products, distribution channels, and commercial model are covered.
- Download the permitted source files into a private asset store. Keep the license record, invoice, and package version with your engineering documentation.
- Transcode only as the license allows. Generate platform-appropriate derivatives such as mobile resolution, poster images, and captions without exposing the raw source files.
- Serve the derivatives through your authenticated media layer. Do not publish a directory listing or a public download route that reveals the original animation files.
- When a license ends or an asset is removed, delete the affected files and any derived copies that the agreement requires you to remove.
Editing permission does not automatically mean redistribution permission. A customized animation can still be a derivative of a protected raw file, so keep the original and edited versions behind your app’s delivery controls.
How can wger supply exercise metadata?
wger exposes a REST API at /api/v2/ and can provide open-source exercise and routine metadata. Public exercise endpoints can be called without authentication, while user-owned routines require authentication.
The project states that its application is licensed AGPL-3-or-later and that initial exercise and ingredient data is CC-BY-SA 3.0. Those are separate obligations: review how the AGPL affects a service or modified application, and preserve the attribution and share-alike requirements that apply to CC-BY-SA data.
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Combining wger metadata with video delivery
- Use wger for names, instructions, muscle groups, equipment, or routine structure where its data license fits your use.
- Store your video provider’s identifier or licensed asset identifier in your own mapping table rather than assuming every wger exercise includes a usable video.
- Display the required attribution and license information in an accessible credits screen or exercise detail view.
- Separate user-created routines from public catalog data and protect routine endpoints with authentication.
wger is a metadata source, not a substitute for securing video rights. You still need a YouTube, YMove, or separately licensed media strategy.
What should the five-minute implementation checklist include?
The first five minutes should establish a working vertical slice, not a production-ready catalog. Use one exercise and verify the entire path before importing hundreds of records.
- Choose the delivery model. Decide whether your app can accept a hosted player, needs expiring direct URLs, or requires downloadable licensed files.
- Create credentials safely. Put API keys and provider secrets on the server. A public client should receive only an exercise record or playback token intended for that client.
- Fetch one record. Inspect its video identifier or URL, thumbnail, orientation, watermark status, and rights metadata.
- Render the supported player. Use the standard hosted player for YouTube, or pass a fresh YMove URL to
<video>. For licensed files, serve a derivative from your own media layer. - Handle failure. Add a loading state, a playback error message, and one controlled refetch for expired YMove URLs.
- Check the legal and product boundaries. Verify attribution, branding, territories, commercial use, offline behavior, and whether caching is permitted.
- Test a real device. Check portrait layout, captions, muted autoplay behavior, screen-reader labels, and playback over a constrained connection.
What commonly breaks, and how do I fix it?
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Video works once, then returns a 403 or similar network error | An expiring YMove URL was stored and reused | Discard the URL and refetch the exercise record; never treat the CDN address as permanent |
| Portrait demonstration is cropped | The container assumes a landscape aspect ratio | Use a 9:16 container and object-fit: contain |
| A watermark appears in production | The account is on a YMove Trial or Starter plan | Confirm whether the product can accept watermarks or move to a plan that supplies clean videos |
| Compliance review rejects the YouTube integration | The app downloads, caches, hides, or gates the standard player | Return to the supported IFrame player experience and remove local-copy behavior |
| Users can download licensed source animations | Raw files were placed in a public bucket or predictable URL | Publish only permitted derivatives through controlled delivery and remove directory indexing |
| Exercise data appears without expected attribution | License information was treated as optional metadata | Add the required credit and license text to the app’s exercise or credits view |
How should you compare cost and long-term control?
Implementation time is only one part of the decision. Compare licensing and redistribution, hosted versus self-controlled playback, URL lifetime, watermarks and branding, offline support, metadata depth, maintenance, and total cost.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors- Hosted YouTube: usually the smallest engineering effort, but the least control. It depends on the source video’s availability and cannot become your offline catalog.
- YMove: reduces the work of sourcing and tagging clips and supplies direct playback URLs, but your integration must refresh them every 48 hours and your plan determines watermark status.
- Licensed files: require more storage, transcoding, delivery, and catalog administration, but they provide the strongest control over playback and availability within the license.
- wger: can reduce metadata work where its licenses fit, yet it does not remove the need to obtain and deliver video lawfully.
Run a small pilot with one exercise from each viable source. Measure the time to display a clip, the number of fields your workout screen needs, the behavior after expiry or revocation, and the work required to show credits. That evidence is more useful than choosing solely by API documentation length.
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What is the practical recommendation?
For a five-minute prototype, use the hosted YouTube player and accept its standard-player, no-cache rules. For a production app that needs consistent exercise records and in-app playback, use YMove with server-side credentials, fresh URL fetching, and a portrait-first layout. For offline or heavily branded products, use a licensed asset library and keep raw files private. Add wger only as a metadata source after reviewing its AGPL and CC-BY-SA obligations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cache an exercise video URL in my app for faster loading?
Only if the provider’s license explicitly allows it. YMove’s signed URLs expire after 48 hours, so caching the URL creates failures; YouTube’s cited policies prohibit downloading and caching displayed information.
How do I support offline workouts legally?
Use assets whose license expressly permits local storage and offline playback, then distribute controlled derivatives rather than raw source files. A hosted YouTube embed and an expiring YMove URL should not be treated as offline media.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWhy is my exercise video stretched on iPhone or Android?
The source is often portrait while the app container is landscape. Preserve the source aspect ratio, use a 9:16 box for portrait clips, and choose containment over forced cropping.
Do I need authentication to read every wger endpoint?
No. Public exercise endpoints can be called without authentication, but routines owned by users require authentication. Keep those user-specific requests separate from your public catalog calls.
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