Enable Background Audio (Android)

If you have a media application that plays video podcasts, enabling Background Audio allows your viewers to play the podcast audio while they are no longer actively using your app or have locked their device.

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Lifecycle

The following diagram illustrates a lifecycle for Background Audio.

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1. From the Activity, get a reference to the JWPlayer.
2. From the Activity, instantiate MediaServiceController.
3. Once playback begins, call the bindService() on the MediaServiceController to show the Media notification.
4. From the Activity's onDestroy(), call unbindService() on the MediaServiceController to teardown the Service and Notification. It is important to call unbindService() to prevent any memory leaks.

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Implementation

1. In the AndroidManifest.xml, add the MediaService.

   AndroidManifest.xml

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <manifest
       ...>
       <application
           ...>
           
           ...
           <service
         android:name="com.jwplayer.pub.api.background.MediaService"
               android:exported="false">
               <intent-filter>
                   <action android:name="android.intent.action.MEDIA_BUTTON" />
               </intent-filter>
           </service>
           ...
           
       </application>
   </manifest>
   

2. Use MediaServiceController.Builder() to create an instance of MediaServiceController. Provide the method the Activity and the JWPlayer that the service should control.

   The MediaServiceController class offers a convenient API to bind and unbind the MediaService as well as to update the ServiceMediaApi with a new player.

   MediaServiceController

   mMediaServiceController = new MediaServiceController.Builder(mActivity,mJWPlayer).build();
   

3. Call bindService() to show the Media notification or unbindService() to teardown the Service and Notification.

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Customization

By using the MediaServiceController.Builder(), you can specify your own implementations of ServiceMediaApi or NotificationHelper to provide the type of functionality you want for your media application. Each class is explained below.