@mediagrid/capacitor-native-audio

Description

Play audio in a Capacitor app natively (Android/iOS) from a URL/web source simultaneously with background audio. Also supports background playing with an OS notification.

Install

npm install @mediagrid/capacitor-native-audio
npx cap sync

Android

AndroidManifest.xml required changes

Located at android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

<application>
    <!-- OTHER STUFF -->

    <!-- Add service to be used for background play -->
    <service
        android:name="us.mediagrid.capacitorjs.plugins.nativeaudio.AudioPlayerService"
        android:description="@string/audio_player_service_description"
        android:foregroundServiceType="mediaPlayback"
        android:exported="true">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="androidx.media3.session.MediaSessionService"/>
        </intent-filter>
    </service>

    <!-- OTHER STUFF -->
</application>

<!-- Add required permissions -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />

strings.xml required changes

Located at android/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml

<resources>
    <!-- OTHER STUFF -->

    <!-- Describes the service in your app settings once installed -->
    <string name="audio_player_service_description">Allows for audio to play in the background.</string>
</resources>

iOS

Enable Audio Background Mode

This can be done in XCode or by editing Info.plist directly.

<!-- ios/App/App/Info.plist -->

<dict>
    <!-- OTHER STUFF -->

    <key>UIBackgroundModes</key>
    <array>
        <string>audio</string>
    </array>

    <!-- OTHER STUFF -->
</dict>

Add Now Playing Icon (optional) - DEPRECATED

⚠️⚠️ This is DEPRECATED. Use artworkSource now. ⚠️⚠️

If you would like a now playing icon to show in the iOS notification, add an image with the name NowPlayingIcon to your Asset catalog. See Managing assets with asset catalogs on how to add a new asset.

A PNG is recommended with the size of 1024 x 1024px. The same image can be used for the three different Asset wells (1x, 2x, 3x).

Metadata Updates

This plugin supports playing audio streams and in order to update the metadata in the native OS notification, there is the ability for this plugin to fetch metadata from a specified URL at a set interval.

The URL shall return a JSON response with the following format:

{
    "album_title": "My Album Title",
    "artist_name": "My Artist Name",
    "song_title": "My Song Title",
    "artwork_source": "https://example.com/example_artwork.png"
}

The update interval starts when the audio is played or un-paused and stops when paused, stopped or the audio ends.

API

• create(...)
• initialize(...)
• changeAudioSource(...)
• changeMetadata(...)
• updateMetadata(...)
• getDuration(...)
• getCurrentTime(...)
• play(...)
• pause(...)
• seek(...)
• stop(...)
• setVolume(...)
• setRate(...)
• isPlaying(...)
• destroy(...)
• onAppGainsFocus(...)
• onAppLosesFocus(...)
• onAudioReady(...)
• onAudioEnd(...)
• onPlaybackStatusChange(...)
• onMetadataUpdate(...)
• Interfaces

create(...)

create(params: AudioPlayerPrepareParams) => Promise<{ success: boolean; }>

Create an audio source to be played.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerPrepareParams

Returns: Promise<{ success: boolean; }>

Since: 1.0.0

---

initialize(...)

initialize(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<{ success: boolean; }>

Initialize the audio source. Prepares the audio to be played, buffers and such.

Should be called after callbacks are registered (e.g. onAudioReady).

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Returns: Promise<{ success: boolean; }>

Since: 1.0.0

---

changeAudioSource(...)

changeAudioSource(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { source: string; }) => Promise<void>

Change the audio source on an existing audio source (audioId).

This is useful for changing background music while the primary audio is playing or changing the primary audio before it is playing to accommodate different durations that a user can choose from.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { source: string; }

Since: 1.0.0

---

changeMetadata(...)

changeMetadata(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { albumTitle?: string; artistName?: string; friendlyTitle?: string; artworkSource?: string; }) => Promise<void>

Change the associated metadata of an existing audio source

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { albumTitle?: string; artistName?: string; friendlyTitle?: string; artworkSource?: string; }

Since: 1.1.0

---

updateMetadata(...)

updateMetadata(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<void>

Update metadata from Update URL

This runs async on the native side. Use the onMetadataUpdate listener to get the updated metadata.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Since: 2.2.0

---

getDuration(...)

getDuration(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<{ duration: number; }>

Get the duration of the audio source.

Should be called once the audio is ready (onAudioReady).

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Returns: Promise<{ duration: number; }>

Since: 1.0.0

---

getCurrentTime(...)

getCurrentTime(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<{ currentTime: number; }>

Get the current time of the audio source being played.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Returns: Promise<{ currentTime: number; }>

Since: 1.0.0

---

play(...)

play(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<void>

Play the audio source.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Since: 1.0.0

---

pause(...)

pause(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<void>

Pause the audio source.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Since: 1.0.0

---

seek(...)

seek(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { timeInSeconds: number; }) => Promise<void>

Seek the audio source to a specific time.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { timeInSeconds: number; }

Since: 1.0.0

---

stop(...)

stop(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<void>

Stop playing the audio source and reset the current time to zero.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Since: 1.0.0

---

setVolume(...)

setVolume(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { volume: number; }) => Promise<void>

Set the volume of the audio source. Should be a decimal less than or equal to 1.00.

This is useful for background music.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { volume: number; }

Since: 1.0.0

---

setRate(...)

setRate(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { rate: number; }) => Promise<void>

Set the rate for the audio source to be played at. Should be a decimal. An example being 1 is normal speed, 0.5 being half the speed and 1.5 being 1.5 times faster.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams & { rate: number; }

Since: 1.0.0

---

isPlaying(...)

isPlaying(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<{ isPlaying: boolean; }>

Wether or not the audio source is currently playing.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Returns: Promise<{ isPlaying: boolean; }>

Since: 1.0.0

---

destroy(...)

destroy(params: AudioPlayerDefaultParams) => Promise<void>

Destroy all resources for the audio source. The audio source with useForNotification = true must be destroyed last.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Since: 1.0.0

---

onAppGainsFocus(...)

onAppGainsFocus(params: AudioPlayerListenerParams, callback: () => void) => Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Register a callback for when the app comes to the foreground.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerListenerParams
callback	() => void

Returns: Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

onAppLosesFocus(...)

onAppLosesFocus(params: AudioPlayerListenerParams, callback: () => void) => Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Registers a callback from when the app goes to the background.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerListenerParams
callback	() => void

Returns: Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

onAudioReady(...)

onAudioReady(params: AudioPlayerListenerParams, callback: () => void) => Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Registers a callback for when the audio source is ready to be played.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerListenerParams
callback	() => void

Returns: Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

onAudioEnd(...)

onAudioEnd(params: AudioPlayerListenerParams, callback: () => void) => Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Registers a callback for when the audio source has ended (reached the end of the audio).

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerListenerParams
callback	() => void

Returns: Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

onPlaybackStatusChange(...)

onPlaybackStatusChange(params: AudioPlayerListenerParams, callback: (result: { status: 'playing' | 'paused' | 'stopped'; }) => void) => Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Registers a callback for when state of playback for the audio source has changed by external controls. This should be used to update your UI when the notification/external controls are used to control the playback.

On Android, this also gets fired when your app changes the state (e.g. by calling play, pause or stop) due to a limitation of not knowing where the state change came from, either the app or the MediaSession (external controls).

It may be fixed in the future for Android if a solution is found so don't rely on it when your app itself changes the state.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerListenerParams
callback	(result: { status: 'playing' | 'paused' | 'stopped'; }) => void

Returns: Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Since: 1.0.0

---

onMetadataUpdate(...)

onMetadataUpdate(params: AudioPlayerListenerParams, callback: (result: AudioPlayerMetadataUpdateListenerEvent) => void) => Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Registers a callback for when metadata updates from a URL.

It will return all data from the URL response, not just the required data. So you could have the metadata endpoint return other data that you may need.

Param	Type
params	AudioPlayerListenerParams
callback	(result: AudioPlayerMetadataUpdateListenerEvent) => void

Returns: Promise<AudioPlayerListenerResult>

Since: 2.2.0

---

Interfaces

AudioPlayerPrepareParams

Prop	Type	Description	Default	Since
audioSource	string	A URI for the audio file to play		1.0.0
albumTitle	string	The album title/name of the audio file to be used on the notification		2.1.0
artistName	string	The artist name of the audio file to be used on the notification		2.1.0
friendlyTitle	string	The title/name of the audio file to be used on the notification		1.0.0
useForNotification	boolean	Whether to use this audio file for the notification. This is considered the primary audio to play. It must be created first and you may only have one at a time.	false	1.0.0
artworkSource	string	A URI for the album art image to display on the Android/iOS notification. Can also be an in-app source. Pulls from android/app/src/assets/public and ios/App/App/public. If using Vite, you would put the image in your public folder and the build process will copy to dist which in turn will be copied to the Android/iOS assets by Capacitor. A PNG is the best option with square dimensions. 1200 x 1200px is a good option.		1.0.0
isBackgroundMusic	boolean	Is this audio for background music/audio. Should not be true when useForNotification = true.	false	1.0.0
loop	boolean	Whether or not to loop other audio like background music while the primary audio (useForNotification = true) is playing.	false	1.0.0
showSeekBackward	boolean	Whether or not to show the seek backward button on the OS's notification. Only has affect when useForNotification = true.	true	1.2.0
showSeekForward	boolean	Whether or not to show the seek forward button on the OS's notification. Only has affect when useForNotification = true.	true	1.2.0
metadataUpdateUrl	string	The URL to fetch metadata updates at the specified interval. Typically used for a radio stream. See the section on Metadata Updates for more info. Only has affect when useForNotification = true.		2.2.0
metadataUpdateInterval	number	The interval to fetch metadata updates in seconds.	15	2.2.0

AudioPlayerDefaultParams

Prop	Type	Description	Since
audioId	string	Any string to differentiate different audio files.	1.0.0

AudioPlayerListenerResult

Prop	Type
callbackId	string

AudioPlayerListenerParams

Prop	Type	Description	Since
audioId	string	The audioId set when create was called.	1.0.0

AudioPlayerMetadataUpdateListenerEvent

Prop	Type	Description	Since
album_title	string	The album title	2.2.0
artist_name	string	The artist name	2.2.0
song_title	string	The song title	2.2.0
artwork_source	string	A URI for the album art image to display on the Android/iOS notification.	2.2.0