Hi,
I was expecting, that a panel extension gets loaded automatically when the live streaming channel is opened by the viewer. After logging some usage data I noticed that this seems not to be true. So I tested different scenarios on the loading behavior of panel extensions and the result is sadly that it’s a bit unpredictable.
Where did my expectation come from?
=> When developing an extension I do most of the work on an offline testing channel. If the channel is offline the panel below the stream window gets loaded every time. On about-tab the panel gets loaded always, too. On testing with live channel you expect loading and scroll down to see if everything works - so it isn’t really noticeable.
Sadly I have not found any documentation about this. The panels seem to be a lazy load iframes which gets loaded after the area below the stream moves into viewpoint (at least) partly. So I tried different things.
What loading behavior have I found out:
- If you open a live channel with 16:9/desktop screen the panel does not load
- If you open a live channel with 16:9/desktop Screen and you scroll down the panel does load
- If you open a live channel in portrait mode the panel does load only if the screen is high enough otherwise does not
- If you navigate from overview to stream page the panel does load every time (independent of live status or screen)
From developer POV this seems to be a bit too random behavior. Also giving false impression of always loading panel extension while developing with offline channels. So is this a “bug”/unwanted behavior or fully wanted?
For best user experience I want my extension to load (and run some scripts) at the point the viewer opens the channel. Is there a way to ensure this? I noticed overlays seem to not have this problem but I don’t want to waste the streamers overlay slot.
Thanks in advance