playing background audio on iphone

Question

How can I play a background audio while my application is running?

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you are using your app also for recording - then don't forget to change setCategory to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord. In other case you won't be able to record

[[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory: AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord error:&setCategoryErr];

Answer 2

Okay. This is a solution for background sound on iOS4 & iOS5 (definitely works up to iOS 5.0.1), and I have tested it only with AVPlayer. It should probably work for MPMusicPlayerController too.

Required frameworks:

• AVFoundation.framework
• AudioToolbox.framework

In your Info.plist, for the key UIBackgroundModes, add audio.

In MyAppDelegate.h:

• reference <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h> & <AudioToolbox/AudioToolbox.h>

• implement the protocol AVAudioSessionDelegate:

  @interface MyAppDelegate : NSObject <UIApplicationDelegate, AVAudioSessionDelegate>
  

• define a method ensureAudio:

  // Ensures the audio routes are setup correctly
  - (BOOL) ensureAudio;
  

In MyAppDelegate.m:

• implement the ensureAudio method:

  - (BOOL) ensureAudio
  {
      // Registers this class as the delegate of the audio session (to get background sound)
      [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setDelegate: self];  
  
      // Set category
      NSError *categoryError = nil;
      if (![[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback error:&categoryError]) {
          NSLog(@"Audio session category could not be set"); 
          return NO;
      }
  
      // Activate session
      NSError *activationError = nil;
      if (![[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive: YES error: &activationError]) {
          NSLog(@"Audio session could not be activated");
          return NO;
      }
  
      // Allow the audio to mix with other apps (necessary for background sound)
      UInt32 doChangeDefaultRoute = 1;
      AudioSessionSetProperty(kAudioSessionProperty_OverrideCategoryMixWithOthers, sizeof(doChangeDefaultRoute), &doChangeDefaultRoute);
  
      return YES;
  }
  

• in the application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: method, before you assign the root view controller, run [self ensureAudio]:

  - (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
  {
      // Configure audio session
      [self ensureAudio];
  
      // Add the navigation controller's view to the window and display.
      self.window.rootViewController = self.navigationController;
      [self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
  
      return YES;
  }
  

• implement the AVAudioSessionDelegate methods like this:

  #pragma mark - AVAudioSessionDelegate
  
  - (void) beginInterruption
  {
  
  }
  
  - (void) endInterruption
  {
      // Sometimes the audio session will be reset/stopped by an interruption
      [self ensureAudio];
  }
  
  - (void) inputIsAvailableChanged:(BOOL)isInputAvailable
  {
  
  }
  

• ensure that your app continues to run in the background. You can use the ol' [[UIApplication sharedApplication] beginBackgroundTaskWithExpirationHandler] if you want, but I think there are better ways.

• play the actual audio (note I'm using ARC, that's why there are no release calls):

  NSURL * file = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:@"beep" withExtension:@"aif"];    
  AVURLAsset * asset = [[AVURLAsset alloc] initWithURL:file options:nil];
  AVPlayerItem * item = [[AVPlayerItem alloc] initWithAsset:asset];
  __block AVPlayer * player = [[AVPlayer alloc]initWithPlayerItem:item];
  __block id finishObserver = [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserverForName:AVPlayerItemDidPlayToEndTimeNotification 
                                                                        object:player.currentItem 
                                                                         queue:[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] 
                                                                    usingBlock:^(NSNotification *note) {
      [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:finishObserver];
  
      // Reference the 'player' variable so ARC doesn't release it until it's
      // finished playing.
      player = nil;
  }];
  
  // Trigger asynchronous load
  [asset loadValuesAsynchronouslyForKeys:[NSArray arrayWithObject:@"tracks"] completionHandler:^{
      // Start playing the beep (watch out - we're not on the main thread here)!
      [player play];
   }];
  

• And it shooooooooooooould work!