Ant Media Server v2.17.0: SSAI, Web SDK v2 & LL-HLS

Ant Media Server v2.17.0 reflects our ongoing goal to make Ant Media Server extensible and to build a strong AMS ecosystem. This allows both AMS users and our internal team to develop new plugins and add new features.

We are continuously adding new plugins into the AMS ecosystem. At the same time, we continuously improve Ant Media Server to simplify its usage and enhance the overall user experience.

We release new versions on a quarterly basis, and v2.17.0 is the Q4 2025 release.

In this post, I’ll walk through the key features and improvements introduced in v2.17.0.

Professional Ad Insertion Without the Hassle

SSAI with SCTE-35

The first new feature in v2.17.0 is Server Side Ad Insertion with SCTE-35. Monetizing live streams is important feature for the content providers and event broadcasters. According to the demands from Ant Media Server user, we have added SCTE-35 support in AMS.

It shortly works like this:

Because ads are stitched on the server side, viewers don’t see buffering or player reloads. Ads play smoothly, just like the content itself-and they’re much harder to skip or block.

If you want to learn more about this feature and understand how it works on AMS, please check this detailed blog post on **SCTE-35 ad insertion**

A Simpler, More Stable Web SDK

Web SDK v2

We rebuilt our JavaScript SDK with one clear goal: make it easier to use and easier to trust.

• The SDK now fully supports async/await, so your code is cleaner and easier to follow.
• Connection and reconnection handling is more reliable, even on unstable networks.

This means fewer bugs, smaller bundles, and faster development.

You may reach the new Web SDK in v2 folder of the web applications deployed with AMS installation.

We will continue to support the old Web SDK till the users adapt the new version.

Low Latency HLS at Scale

Among the small improvements and fixes in the new release, one of the most important one is improvements in the Low Latency HLS.

Firstly, Low Latency HLS is no longer limited to a single server. You can now deliver low-latency streams across a cluster while keeping delays around 2–5 seconds-even for very large audiences. Streams are distributed across multiple nodes in the cluster.

Also we had improvements on Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) with LL-HLS playback. You feel smooth switches among the different resolutions while playing your stream with LL-HLS.

Conclusion

I have shared the recent key features in the latest release v2.17.0 above. You can check the other improvements and fixes list here.

We are planning to release a new version each quarter. The next big release will be at the end of the March. See you then.

Originally published at https://antmedia.io on February 24, 2026.