iphone: playing audio playlist in the background? - iphone

I'm trying to play sequence of audio files in the background using AVAudioPlayer. When the app is not in the background it plays well, but when the app goes to the background it won't play the second song.
Here is my code:
-(void)playAudio:(NSString *)path{
NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:path];
NSError *error;
AVAudioPlayer *ap = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:url error:&error];
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:nil];
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive: YES error: nil];
ap.delegate = self;
mainController.audioPlayer = ap;
[ap release];
if (mainController.audioPlayer == nil)
NSLog([error description]);
else{
UIBackgroundTaskIdentifier newTaskId = UIBackgroundTaskInvalid;
[mainController.audioPlayer prepareToPlay];
if([mainController.audioPlayer play]){
newTaskId = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] beginBackgroundTaskWithExpirationHandler:NULL];
}
if (newTaskId != UIBackgroundTaskInvalid && bgTaskId != UIBackgroundTaskInvalid)
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] endBackgroundTask: bgTaskId];
bgTaskId = newTaskId;
}
}
- (void)audioPlayerDidFinishPlaying:(AVAudioPlayer *)player successfully:(BOOL)flag{
NSLog(#"finished now next...");
[self playAudio:[self getNextAudio]];
}
I debugged the app and it seems that when it's about to play the second song [mainController.audioPlayer play] returns NO, which means it can't play.
So what do you think?
UPDATE
After some testing it seems that it does continue to play properly only if the device locks, but if the user presses the home button and the app goes to the background the problem still remains

THE SOLUTION
Just add [[UIApplication sharedApplication] beginReceivingRemoteControlEvents]; and some other tweaks. It's all here
https://devforums.apple.com/message/264397

Related

AVAudioPlayer behaviour handling issue

I have been trying to learn AVAudioPlayer and it's behaviour.
So to start with I had written
AVAudioPlayer *player = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:soundFileURL error:nil];
player.numberOfLoops = -1;
[player play];
It did worked well as long as application did not enter background. So I searched again and found that I need to add entry in plist and also have written following code
NSError *activationError = nil;
if([[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:&activationError] == NO)
NSLog(#"*** %# ***", activationError);
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive: YES error: nil];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] beginReceivingRemoteControlEvents];
Now my sample application plays sound in background as well. Then I encountered another problem. If I put sleep before all this processing, take my application in background during the sleep and start playing music from some other app, in this case my application is not able to play sound. It is probably because it does not get the audio session which some other music application has taken.
Questions
1. I understand that there is a way to detect if any other sound is playing, but I could not find how do I stop it. There are methods for stopping standard app sound like iPod, but is there any generic method to stop the sound from any other application.
2. [player play]; gives NO as result which is failure. How do I find what failure has caused. I have implemented audioPlayerDecodeErrorDidOccur:error: method, but it is never called.
Please share your knowledge on this. I have already gone through most of the stack overflow questions regarding the same, but did not find anything useful to this particular problem.
-(void)loadPlayer
{
NSURL *audioFileLocationURL = [NSURL URLWithString:[[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:#"01-YedhiYedhi[www.AtoZmp3.in]" withExtension:#"mp3"]];
NSError *error;
audioPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:audioFileLocationURL error:&error];
[audioPlayer setNumberOfLoops:-1];
if (error)
{
NSLog(#"%#", [error localizedDescription]);
[[self volumeControl] setEnabled:NO];
[[self playPauseButton] setEnabled:NO];
[[self alertLabel] setText:#"Unable to load file"];
[[self alertLabel] setHidden:NO];
}
else
{
[[self alertLabel] setText:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"%# has loaded", str]];
[[self alertLabel] setHidden:NO];
//Make sure the system follows our playback status
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:nil];
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive: YES error: nil];
//Load the audio into memory
[audioPlayer prepareToPlay];
}
}
if (!self.audioPlayer.playing) {
[self playAudio];
} else if (self.audioPlayer.playing) {
[self pauseAudio];
}
}
- (void)playAudio {
[audioPlayer play];
}

Iphone application with audio player

I have added music files in application's document folder and I am playing that music from AVAudioPlayer. How can I get Its title , album name and artist name.
I used MPmediaPlayer to access ipod library . but now I want to make my custom player. Is there any need to use mpmediaplayer in this type of app.I already get the albumtitle and artwork image of ipod songs
I am trying to get it like
NSError *activationError = nil;
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive: YES error: &activationError];
// Instantiates the AVAudioPlayer object, initializing it with the sound AVAudioPlayer *newPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL: soundFileURL error: nil]; self.appSoundPlayer
= newPlayer;
musicPlayer = [MPMusicPlayerController applicationMusicPlayer];
MPMediaItem *item = musicPlayer.nowPlayingItem ;
nowPlayingLabel.text = [item valueForProperty:MPMediaItemPropertyTitle];
NSLog(#"title %#",[item valueForProperty:MPMediaItemPropertyTitle]); [newPlayer release]; // "Preparing to play" attaches to the audio hardware and ensures that playback // starts quickly when the user taps Play [appSoundPlayer prepareToPlay]; [appSoundPlayer setVolume: 1.0]; [appSoundPlayer setDelegate: self];
[appSoundPlayer currentTime];
title is returning (null)
Please help..

can I stop the play back using my app

I am using AudioPlayer to stop all playbacks , as code is given
NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#/audiofile.mp3", [[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath]]];
NSError *error;
audioPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:url error:&error];
audioPlayer.numberOfLoops = -1;
if (audioPlayer == nil)
NSLog([error description]);
else
[audioPlayer play];
But i can stop all play back using this but can not again play stopped play backs.How can I do this please help
You can easily play pause stop your AVAudioPlayer with these three methods:
- (void)pause
- (void)stop
- (BOOL)play //Returns YES on success, or NO on error.
If you pause, you can then play to resume from where you paused.
Hope this helps, i really don't see where your problem is!
in the code you gave, you are not pausing, you are just playing it with numberOfLoops negative.
You should have a method to start your music like this:
NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#/audiofile.mp3", [[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath]]];
NSError *error;
audioPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:url error:&error];
audioPlayer.numberOfLoops = 0;//play once
if (audioPlayer == nil)
NSLog([error description]);
else
[audioPlayer prepareToPlay];
[audioPlayer play];
And another for pausing:
[audioPlayer pause];
And another for resuming:
[audioPlayer play];
To toggle iPod music when the app starts and exits override these two methods:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
MPMusicPlayerController *musicPlayer;
MPMusicPlaybackState playbackState = [musicPlayer playbackState];
if (playbackState == MPMusicPlaybackStatePlaying) { //simple verification
[musicPlayer pause];
}
}
- (void)applicationWillResignActive:(UIApplication *)application
if (playbackState == MPMusicPlaybackStateStopped || playbackState == MPMusicPlaybackStatePaused) {//simple verification
[musicPlayer play];
}
}
Hope it finally suits your needs!

AVAudioRecorder won't record IF movie was previously recorded & played

My iPhone app uses "AVAudioRecorder" to make voice recordings. It also uses "UIImagePickerController" to record movies and "MPMoviePlayerController" to play movies.
Everything works fine until I do all three things in a row:
Record a movie using UIImagePickerController
Play back the recorded movie using MPMoviePlayerController
Try to make a voice recording using AVAudioRecorder
When I call AVAudioRecorder's "record" method in step 3, it returns NO indicating failure, but giving no hints as to why (come on Apple!) AVAudioRecorder's audioRecorderEncodeErrorDidOccur delegate method is never called and I receive no other errors when setting up the recorder.
My first guess was that the movie recording/playing was modifying the shared instance of "AVAudioSession" in such a way that it prevented the audio recorder from working. However, I'm manually setting AVAudioSession's category property to "AVAudioSessionCategoryRecord" and I make the audio session active before trying to record.
Here's my method for creating the recorder:
- (void)createAudioRecorder
{
NSError *error = nil;
AVAudioSession *audioSession = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
[audioSession setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryRecord error:&error];
if (error)
...
[audioSession setActive:YES error:&error];
if (error)
...
NSMutableDictionary *settings = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
// General Audio Format Settings
[settings setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt:kAudioFormatMPEG4AAC] forKey:AVFormatIDKey];
[settings setValue:[NSNumber numberWithFloat:44100.0] forKey:AVSampleRateKey];
[settings setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt:1] forKey:AVNumberOfChannelsKey];
// Encoder Settings
[settings setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt:AVAudioQualityMin] forKey:AVEncoderAudioQualityKey];
[settings setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt:96] forKey:AVEncoderBitRateKey];
[settings setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt:16] forKey:AVEncoderBitDepthHintKey];
// Write the audio to a temporary file
NSURL *tempURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[NSTemporaryDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"Recording.m4a"]];
audioRecorder = [[AVAudioRecorder alloc] initWithURL:tempURL settings:settings error:&error];
if (error)
...
audioRecorder.delegate = self;
if ([audioRecorder prepareToRecord] == NO)
NSLog(#"Recorder fails to prepare!");
[settings release];
}
And here's my method to start recording:
- (void)startRecording
{
if (!audioRecorder)
[self createAudioRecorder];
NSError *error = nil;
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive:YES error:&error];
if (error)
...
BOOL recording = [audioRecorder record];
if (!recording)
NSLog(#"Recording won't start!");
}
Has anyone run into this problem before?
I was having the same issue. Before I fixed the issue, my recording/playback code was like this:
Start Recording Function
- (BOOL) startRecording {
#try {
NSDictionary *recordSetting = [[NSDictionary alloc] initWithObjectsAndKeys:
[NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatAppleLossless], AVFormatIDKey, [NSNumber numberWithFloat: 44100.0], AVSampleRateKey, [NSNumber numberWithInt: 1], AVNumberOfChannelsKey, [NSNumber numberWithInt: AVAudioQualityMax], AVEncoderAudioQualityKey, nil];
NSString *documentsPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) lastObject];
NSString *soundFilePath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"recording.caf"];
if(audioRecorder != nil) {
[audioRecorder stop];
[audioRecorder release];
audioRecorder = nil;
}
NSError *err = nil;
audioRecorder = [[AVAudioRecorder alloc] initWithURL:soundFileURL settings:recordSetting error:&err];
[soundFileURL release];
[recordSetting release];
if(!audioRecorder || err){
NSLog(#"recorder initWithURL: %# %d %#", [err domain], [err code], [[err userInfo] description]);
return NO;
}
[audioRecorder peakPowerForChannel:8];
[audioRecorder updateMeters];
audioRecorder.meteringEnabled = YES;
[audioRecorder record];
}
#catch (NSException * e) {
return NO;
}
recording = YES;
return YES;
}
Stop Recording Function
- (BOOL) stopRecording {
#try {
[audioRecorder stop];
[audioRecorder release];
audioRecorder = nil;
recording = NO;
}
#catch (NSException * e) {
return NO;
}
return YES;
}
Start Playing Function
- (BOOL) startPlaying {
#try {
NSString *documentsPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) lastObject];
NSString *soundFilePath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"recording.caf"]; NSURL * soundFileURL = [[NSURL alloc] initFileURLWithPath: soundFilePath];
NSError *err = nil;
if (audioPlayer) {
[audioPlayer release];
audioPlayer = nil;
}
audioPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:soundFileURL error: &err];
[soundFileURL release];
if (!audioPlayer || err) {
NSLog(#"recorder: %# %d %#", [err domain], [err code], [[err userInfo] description]);
return NO;
}
[audioPlayer prepareToPlay];
[audioPlayer setDelegate: self];
[audioPlayer play];
playing = YES;
}
#catch (NSException * e) {
return NO;
}
return YES;
}
Stop Playing Function
- (BOOL) stopPlaying {
#try {
[audioPlayer stop];
[audioPlayer release];
audioPlayer = nil;
playing = NO;
}
#catch (NSException * e) {
return NO;
}
return YES;
}
I fixed the recording issue after playing a captured video, the code is as follows:
- (BOOL) startRecording {
#try {
AVAudioSession *session = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
[session setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryRecord error:nil];
// rest of the recording code is the same .
}
- (BOOL) stopRecording {
#try {
AVAudioSession *session = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
[session setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:nil];
// rest of the code is the same
}
- (BOOL) startPlaying {
#try {
AVAudioSession *session = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
[session setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:nil];
// rest of the code is the same.
}
- (BOOL) stopPlaying {
// There is no change in this function
}
Had the same problem. My Solution was to STOP the movie before starting the recording session. My code was similar to rmomin's code.
I've been having the same problem. I use AVPlayer to play compositions (previous recordings I've used AVAudioRecord for). However, I found that once I've used AVPlayer I could no longer use AVAudioRecorder. After some searching, I discovered that so long as AVPlayer is instantiated in memory and has been played at least once (which is usually what you do immediately after instantiating it) AVAudioRecorder will not record. However, once AVPlayer is dealloc'd, AVAudioRecorder is then free to record again. It appears that AVPlayer holds on to some kind of connection that AVAudioRecorder needs, and it's greedy...it won't let it go until you pry it from it's cold dead hands.
This is the solution I've found. Some people claim that instantiating AVPlayer takes too much time to keep breaking down and setting back up. However, this is not true. Instantiating AVPlayer is actually quite trivial. So also is instantiating AVPlayerItem. What isn't trivial is loading up AVAsset (or any of it's subclasses). You really only want to do that once. They key is to use this sequence:
Load up AVAsset (for example, if you're loading from a file, use AVURLAsset directly or add it to a AVMutableComposition and use that) and keep a reference to it. Don't let it go until you're done with it. Loading it is what takes all the time.
Once you're ready to play: instantiate AVPlayerItem with your asset, then AVPlayer with the AVPlayerItem and play it. Don't keep a reference to AVPlayerItem, AVPlayer will keep a reference to it and you can't reuse it with another player anyway.
Once it's done playing, immediately destroy AVPlayer...release it, set its var to nil, whatever you need to do. **
Now you can record. AVPlayer doesn't exist, so AVAudioRecorder is free to do its thing.
When you're ready to play again, re-instantiate AVPlayerItem with the asset you've already loaded & AVPlayer. Again, this is trivial. The asset has already been loaded so there shouldn't be a delay.
** Note that destroying AVPlayer may take more than just releasing it and setting its var to nil. Most likely, you've also added a periodic time observer to keep track of the play progress. When you do this, you receive back an opaque object you're supposed to hold on to. If you don't remove this item from the player AND release it/set it to nil, AVPlayer will not dealloc. It appears that Apple creates an intentional retain cycle you must break manually. So before you destroy AVPlayer you need to (example):
[_player removeTimeObserver:_playerObserver];
[_playerObserver release]; //Only if you're not using ARC
_playerObserver = nil;
As a side note, you may also have set up NSNotifications (I use one to determine when the player has completed playing)...don't forget to remove those as well.
I had the same problem in Monotouch and adjusted rmomins answer for Monotouch.
changed
avrecorder.Record();
to
NSError error;
var avsession = AVAudioSession.SharedInstance();
avsession.SetCategory(AVAudioSession.CategoryRecord,out error);
avrecorder.Record();
Works like a charm.
I had the same problem to record and play. To fix the problem I recall AVAudioSession in the "record" and "play" function.
This can may be help to person who has this problem on the device and not on the simulator!
I got the same problem. Finally I found out that ARC has released my recorder. So, you must declare the recorder in your .h file, i.e. AVAudioRecord *recorder;. Put other things to .m will work as normal.

AVAudioPlayer works once

Trying to create a playlist of music files that are NOT part of the user's iphone library so I'm using AVAudioPlayer and creating the playlist functionality myself. It works on the first pass (meaning the first song is played). When the first song finishes and it goes to play the 2nd AVAudioPlayer crashes in prepareToPlay.
- (void) create {
Song *song;
NSArray *parts;
NSString *path;
NSString *name;
NSError *err;
if (currentIndex > [queue count])
currentIndex = 0;
if (currentIndex < 0)
currentIndex = ([queue count] - 1);
song = (Song *) [queue objectAtIndex:currentIndex];
name = song.fileName;
parts = [name componentsSeparatedByString:#"."];
path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:[parts objectAtIndex:0] ofType:[parts objectAtIndex:1]];
NSURL *url = [[NSURL alloc] initFileURLWithPath:path];
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setDelegate: self];
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory: AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error: &err];
[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive: YES error: &err];
appPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL: url error: &err];
[url release];
[parts release];
[appPlayer prepareToPlay];
[appPlayer setVolume: 1.0];
[appPlayer setDelegate: self];
}
- (void) audioPlayerDidFinishPlaying:(AVAudioPlayer *)player successfully:(BOOL) flag {
[appPlayer stop];
[appPlayer release];
appPlayer = nil;
[self next];
}
The call to [self next] just increases currentIndex and calls create again.
The only other thing (I know, the infamous "only other thing" statement) is that this is all going on inside a Singleton. There's lots of things that could cause the music to start and stop playing, change the queue, etc so I thought it would be best to wrap it all up in one spot.
Any thoughts?
I was able to track this down myself. I re-wrote the whole section to have multiple AVAudioPlayer objects but still had issues. Turns out the [parts release] line was the issue, it was causing an over-release situation in the autorelease routine.
One of the reason of having exception in prepareToPlay method is enabled "All Exceptions" breakpoint. Go to Breakpoint Navigator and disable it.