MediaManager - Cross platform media plugin for Xamarin and Windows

Designed to be simple and easy to use
Native playback of media files from remote http(s), embedded and local sources
Native media notifications and remote controls
Queue and playback management by default
Playback status (Playing, Buffering, Loading, Paused, Progress)
Events for media handling to hook into

Status:

Platform Support

Platform	Supported	Version	Player
.Net Standard	Yes	2.0+	MediaManager
Xamarin.Forms	Yes	3.2+	MediaManager
Xamarin.Android	Yes	API 16+	ExoPlayer
Xamarin.iOS	Yes	iOS 10+	AVPlayer
Xamarin.Mac	Yes	3.0+	AVPlayer
Xamarin.tvOS	Yes	10.0+	AVPlayer
Tizen	Yes	4.0+	MediaPlayer
Windows 10 UWP	Yes	10+	MediaPlayer
Windows WPF	Yes	4.7.1+	MediaPlayer

Installation

Add the NuGet package to all the projects you want to use it in.

In Visual Studio - Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Manage Packages for Solution
Select the Browse tab, search for MediaManager
Select Plugin.MediaManager
Install into each project within your solution

More information on the Xamarin Blog

Usage

Call MediaManager.Current from any .Net library or Xamarin project to gain access to APIs.

IMPORTANT: Initialize plugin

Make sure to call Init() in all the native platforms on startup of your app.

CrossMediaManager.Current.Init();

Optionally provide the Activity on Android. This will also be used to bind the Android Service and will be used as Intent to launch from a notification.

public class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity
{
	protected override void OnCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
	{
		base.OnCreate(savedInstanceState);
		SetContentView(Resource.Layout.main_activity);

		CrossMediaManager.Current.Init(this);
	}
}

Play a single media item

//Audio
await CrossMediaManager.Current.Play("https://ia800806.us.archive.org/15/items/Mp3Playlist_555/AaronNeville-CrazyLove.mp3");
//Video
await CrossMediaManager.Current.Play("http://clips.vorwaerts-gmbh.de/big_buck_bunny.mp4");

Play multiple media items

public IList<string> Mp3UrlList => new[]{
	"https://ia800806.us.archive.org/15/items/Mp3Playlist_555/AaronNeville-CrazyLove.mp3",
	"https://ia800605.us.archive.org/32/items/Mp3Playlist_555/CelineDion-IfICould.mp3",
	"https://ia800605.us.archive.org/32/items/Mp3Playlist_555/Daughtry-Homeacoustic.mp3",
	"https://storage.googleapis.com/uamp/The_Kyoto_Connection_-_Wake_Up/01_-_Intro_-_The_Way_Of_Waking_Up_feat_Alan_Watts.mp3",
	"https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/02d84890-e58d-43eb-ab4c-26bcc8524289/d9b38b7f-5ede-4ca7-a5d6-a18d5605aba1.mp3"
	};

await CrossMediaManager.Current.Play(Mp3UrlList);

Other play possibilities

Task Play(IMediaItem mediaItem);
Task<IMediaItem> Play(string uri);
Task Play(IEnumerable<IMediaItem> items);
Task<IEnumerable<IMediaItem>> Play(IEnumerable<string> items);
Task<IMediaItem> Play(FileInfo file);
Task<IEnumerable<IMediaItem>> Play(DirectoryInfo directoryInfo);

Control the player

await CrossMediaManager.Current.Play();
await CrossMediaManager.Current.Pause();
await CrossMediaManager.Current.PlayPause();
await CrossMediaManager.Current.Stop();

await CrossMediaManager.Current.StepForward();
await CrossMediaManager.Current.StepBackward();

await CrossMediaManager.Current.SeekToStart();
await CrossMediaManager.Current.SeekTo(TimeSpan position);

Control the Queue

await CrossMediaManager.Current.PlayPrevious();
await CrossMediaManager.Current.PlayNext();
await CrossMediaManager.Current.PlayPreviousOrSeekToStart();
await CrossMediaManager.Current.PlayQueueItem(IMediaItem mediaItem);

void ToggleRepeat();
void ToggleShuffle();

Retrieve and set information

Dictionary<string, string> RequestHeaders { get; set; }
TimeSpan StepSize { get; set; }
MediaPlayerState State { get; }
TimeSpan Position { get; }
TimeSpan Duration { get; }
TimeSpan Buffered { get; }
float Speed { get; set; }
RepeatMode RepeatMode { get; set; }
ShuffleMode ShuffleMode { get; set; }
bool IsPlaying();
bool IsBuffering();

Hook into events

event StateChangedEventHandler StateChanged;
event BufferedChangedEventHandler BufferedChanged;
event PositionChangedEventHandler PositionChanged;
event MediaItemFinishedEventHandler MediaItemFinished;
event MediaItemChangedEventHandler MediaItemChanged;
event MediaItemFailedEventHandler MediaItemFailed;

Retrieve metadata for media

Depending on the platform and the media item metadata will be extracted from ID3 data in the file.

CrossMediaManager.Current.MediaQueue.Current.Title;
CrossMediaManager.Current.MediaQueue.Current.AlbumArt;
CrossMediaManager.Current.MediaQueue.Current.*

Since the metadata might not be available immediately you can subscribe for updates like this:

var mediaItem = await CrossMediaManager.Current.Play("https://ia800806.us.archive.org/15/items/Mp3Playlist_555/AaronNeville-CrazyLove.mp3");
mediaItem.MetadataUpdated += (sender, args) => {
	var title = args.MediaItem.Title;
};

Alternatively you could also use the PropertyChanged event to see updates to the metadata.

Add Video Player to the UI

The video view will automatically be attached to the player. If you have multiple video views and you want to hook it up yourself do:

CrossMediaManager.Current.MediaPlayer.AutoAttachVideoView = false;

After that you can manually add the video view like this:

For android we need a VideoView in the axml layout.

<mediamanager.platforms.android.video.VideoView
	android:id="@+id/your_videoview"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="300dp" />

Then find the view in code:

playerView = view.FindViewById<VideoView>(Resource.Id.your_videoview);

For iOS, MacOS or tvOS we need to add a VideoView either in code, or in a Xib or Storyboard.

var playerView = new VideoView();
View.AddSubview(playerView);

Then for all platforms we have to add the player view to the MediaPlayer

CrossMediaManager.Current.MediaPlayer.VideoView = playerView;

Play a non standard format like HLS, Dash or SS

MediaManager will try to make a guess which media type or format is used. Sometimes this will not be picked up or be wrong, but you can enforce it by setting it yourself like this:

var item = await CrossMediaManager.Current.MediaExtractor.CreateMediaItem("https://devstreaming-cdn.apple.com/videos/streaming/examples/bipbop_16x9/bipbop_16x9_variant.m3u8");
item.MediaType = MediaType.Hls;

await CrossMediaManager.Current.Play(item);

By enforcing it there is still no guarantee that the native system actually is able to play the item.

Platform specific features

Feature	Android	iOS, Mac, tvOS	UWP	Tizen	WPF
Audio	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Video	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Queue	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Notifications	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Volume	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Media Extraction	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
HLS	✓	✓
DASH	✓
SmoothStreaming	✓
ChromeCast	✓
Airplay		✓
Xamarin.Forms	✓	✓	✓		✓

You can also directly access the native platform implementation if you need it!

//Android
CrossMediaManager.Android.*
//iOS, MacOS or tvOS
CrossMediaManager.Apple.*
//UWP
CrossMediaManager.Windows.*
//Tizen
CrossMediaManager.Tizen.*
//WPF
CrossMediaManager.Wpf.*

Xamarin.Forms

Adding a VideoView to a Page in Forms is easy as this:

<mm:VideoView VerticalOptions="FillAndExpand" Source="http://clips.vorwaerts-gmbh.de/big_buck_bunny.mp4" />

Your Xamarin.Forms page could look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ContentPage
    xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
    xmlns:mm="clr-namespace:MediaManager.Forms;assembly=MediaManager.Forms"
    x:Class="YourClassName" >
    <ContentPage.Content>
        <StackLayout>
            <mm:VideoView VerticalOptions="FillAndExpand" Source="http://clips.vorwaerts-gmbh.de/big_buck_bunny.mp4" ShowControls="False" />
        </StackLayout>
    </ContentPage.Content>
</ContentPage>

You can even use the normal Play(object) method and not set source. When you navigate to the view that contains the VideoView, the player will automatically attach to the view.

If you want a Page that contains a player you can open the VideoPage.

Navigation.PushAsync(new MediaManager.Forms.VideoPage());

Reactive extensions

Add the Reactive NuGet package to all the projects you want to use it in.

Usage:

CrossMediaManager.Current.Reactive().*

IMPORTANT

Android:

This library will automatically request the following permissions: AccessWifiState, AccessNetworkState, Internet, ForegroundService and WakeLock. You do not need to add them to your AndroidManifest.
Your app must target Android SDK v28 or higher
This library uses ExoPlayer for video playback. This requires that you enable the following
Dex tool to D8 <AndroidDexTool>d8</AndroidDexTool>
R8 Linker <AndroidLinkTool>r8</AndroidLinkTool>
Aapt2 build tools: <AndroidUseAapt2>true</AndroidUseAapt2>

iOS:

In order for the audio to contiunue to play in the background you have to add the 'Audio, Airplay and Picture in Picture Background mode' and 'Background fetch' to your Info.plist

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

If you are playing audio from a http resource you have to take care of ATS. Optionally you can disable this for playing media. Add the following to your info.plist:

<key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key>
<dict>
	<key>NSAllowsArbitraryLoadsInMedia</key>
	<true/>
</dict>

If you want to disable more you could add: NSAllowsLocalNetworking or even NSAllowsArbitraryLoads to disable all checks.

If you want to display a artwork/cover that is embedded into an MP3 file, make sure that you use ID3 v2.3 (not v2.4).

UWP:

In the Package.appxmanifest under capabilities you need to select: "Background Media Playback", "Internet"
Optionally add "Music Library" and "Videos Library" as well if you use that

Tizen:

You must request http://tizen.org/privilege/internet, http://tizen.org/privilege/mediastorage, and http://tizen.org/privilege/externalstorage privileges

Building the source code

On Windows you need Visual Studio 2019 with the latest Xamarin, .NET Core and UWP installed.
On Visual Studio for Mac 2019 multi-target is not supported. Therefor you need to compile from command line on a Mac. Simple go to the folder where the source code is and run: msbuild MediaManager.sln /t:rebuild to make a release build run: msbuild MediaManager.sln /t:rebuild /p:Configuration=Release. To restore your nuget packages run: msbuild MediaManager.sln /t:restore.

zjmsky/XamarinMediaManager