JavaScript with Anki default media

AnkiDroid (Android) Help
1

In AnkiDroid there are currently two ways to use media in notes.

Standard Anki media:

sound:meuaudio.mp3\] \[sound:meuvideo.mp4

and HTML media:

<audio src=“meuaudio.mp3” controls></audio> <video src=“meuvideo.mp4” controls></video>

The problem is that manually using HTML media is inconvenient because:

it is very tedious; you need to write HTML in every note; and you still need to include [sound:…] anyway, otherwise media export/sync may not work correctly.

So normally we just use:

sound:file

However, I noticed that in recent versions the video behavior changed.

Even when using:

sound:meuvideo.mp4

the rendered HTML in the reviewer now becomes an HTML5 <video> element, so JavaScript works normally (playbackRate, events, controls, etc.), as if the video had been manually written as:

<video src=“meuvideo.mp4” controls></video>

But with audio this does not happen.

When using:

sound:meuaudio.mp3

the audio is still rendered as:

<a class=“soundLink” href=“playsound:q:1”>

instead of an HTML5 <audio> element.

Because of this, JavaScript cannot access native audio properties.

What is intriguing is that previously video was rendered the same way audio is rendered today, only with:

<a class=“soundLink” href=“playsound:q:1”>

So my questions are:

Why is video now rendered as HTML5 <video>? Will this HTML5 video rendering be permanent? Is there any chance the same will eventually happen for audio? Or will audio permanently continue to be rendered as: <a class=“soundLink” href=“playsound:q:1”>

This would help a lot of users who rely on JavaScript in their cards.

2

Consider editing your message to put sound tags and HTML tags `between backticks in code blocks. Right now some of your message is being processed by the forum as LaTeX or HTML, so some of it is unclear.

3

In AnkiDroid there are currently two ways to use media in notes.

Standard Anki media:

[sound:audio.mp3]
[sound:video.mp4]

and HTML media:

<audio src="audio.mp3" controls></audio>
<video src="video.mp4" controls></video>

The problem is that manually using HTML media is inconvenient because:

it is very tedious; you need to write HTML in every note; and you still need to include [sound:...] anyway, otherwise media export/sync may not work correctly.

So normally we just use:

[sound:file]

However, I noticed that in recent versions the video behavior changed.

Even when using:

[sound:video.mp4]

the rendered HTML in the reviewer now becomes an HTML5 <video> element, so JavaScript works normally (playbackRate, events, controls, etc.), as if the video had been manually written as:

<video src="video.mp4" controls></video>

But with audio this does not happen.

When using:

[sound:audio.mp3]

the audio is still rendered as:

<a class="soundLink">

instead of an HTML5 <audio> element.

Because of this, JavaScript cannot access native audio properties.

What is intriguing is that previously video was rendered the same way audio is rendered today, only with:

<a class="soundLink">

So my questions are:

Why is video now rendered as HTML5 <video>? Will this HTML5 video rendering be permanent? Is there any chance the same will eventually happen for audio? Or will audio permanently continue to be rendered as:

<a class="soundLink">

This would help a lot of users who rely on JavaScript in their cards.

5

Sorry, Denika. I tried to edit the post, but it’s not working anymore because it’s no longer allowed. I also tried to delete it, but that’s not allowed anymore either. So I made another post like you advised. Then I created a new post with this name: “JavaScript with Anki default media”. When you have time, please take a look.

6

I saw that and merged it here. I’ve also un-deleted it now.
Thanks for trying, but let’s keep this in a single thread.

7

Thanks again, Denika

But do you know the answer to this?

8

I do not – I don’t use video or JavaScript. But let’s see what the devs have to say about it.

While you’re waiting, go to Settings > About – click Copy debug info – and paste that entire result here, so they know the details of your setup.

9

I’m using only the standard Anki syntax:

[sound:audio.mp3]
[sound:video.mp4]

No custom media handling or special configuration.

This behavior is not specific to my device. It happens on any phone running a recent version of AnkiDroid.

I only noticed that videos are now rendered as HTML5 <video> elements, which is great for JavaScript because properties like playbackRate, events, and other native APIs work normally.

However, audio generated with

[sound:audio.mp3]

still rendered as something like:

<a class="soundLink" href="playsound:q:1">

instead of an HTML5 <audio> element, so JavaScript cannot access the native audio properties and methods.

My question is whether this difference is intentional and meant to be long-term, and if there are any plans for audio to eventually use <audio> as well.

AnkiDroid Version = 2.23.3 (9001068fd4819c6fb66cb8239e7166868ab47859)
Backend Version = 0.1.62-anki25.09.2 (25.09.2 3890e12c9e48c028c3f12aa58cb64bd9f8895e30)
Android Version = 11 (SDK 30)
ProductFlavor = play
Device Info = samsung | samsung | a20s | a20sub | SM-A207M | qcom
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ACRA UUID = 007663ac-11e9-4f1f-8648-521800eff6c1
FSRS = 5.1.0 (Enabled: null)
Crash Reports Enabled = true