Web/API/MediaSession

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The MediaSession interface of the Media Session API allows a web page to provide custom behaviors for standard media playback interactions, and to report metadata that can be sent by the user agent to the device or operating system for presentation in standardized user interface elements.

For example, a smartphone might have a standard panel in its lock screen that provides controls for media playback and information display. A browser on the device can use MediaSession to make browser playback controllable from that standard/global user interface.

Properties

metadata: Returns an instance of MediaMetadata, which contains rich media metadata for display in a platform UI.
playbackState: Indicates whether the current media session is playing. Valid values are none, paused, or playing.

Methods

setActionHandler(): Sets an action handler for a media session action, such as play or pause.
setPositionState(): Sets the current playback position and speed of the media currently being presented.

Examples

The following example creates a new media session and assigns action handlers to it:

if ('mediaSession' in navigator) {
  navigator.mediaSession.metadata = new MediaMetadata({
    title: 'Unforgettable',
    artist: 'Nat King Cole',
    album: 'The Ultimate Collection (Remastered)',
    artwork: [
      { src: 'https://dummyimage.com/96x96',   sizes: '96x96',   type: 'image/png' },
      { src: 'https://dummyimage.com/128x128', sizes: '128x128', type: 'image/png' },
      { src: 'https://dummyimage.com/192x192', sizes: '192x192', type: 'image/png' },
      { src: 'https://dummyimage.com/256x256', sizes: '256x256', type: 'image/png' },
      { src: 'https://dummyimage.com/384x384', sizes: '384x384', type: 'image/png' },
      { src: 'https://dummyimage.com/512x512', sizes: '512x512', type: 'image/png' },
    ]
  });

  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('play', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('pause', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('stop', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('seekbackward', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('seekforward', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('seekto', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('previoustrack', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('nexttrack', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
  navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler('skipad', function() { /* Code excerpted. */ });
}

The following example sets up two functions for playing and pausing, then uses them as callbacks with the relevant action handlers.

const actionHandlers = [
  // play
  [
    'play',
    async function() {
      // play our audio
      await audioEl.play();
      // set playback state
      navigator.mediaSession.playbackState = "playing";
      // update our status element
      updateStatus(allMeta[index], 'Action: play  |  Track is playing...')
    }
  ],
  [
    'pause',
    () => {
      // pause out audio
      audioEl.pause();
      // set playback state
      navigator.mediaSession.playbackState = "paused";
      // update our status element
      updateStatus(allMeta[index], 'Action: pause  |  Track has been paused...');
    }
  ],
]

for (const [action, handler] of actionHandlers) {
  try {
    navigator.mediaSession.setActionHandler(action, handler);
  } catch (error) {
    console.log(`The media session action "${action}" is not supported yet.`);
  }
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Media Session StandardThe definition of 'MediaSession' in that specification.	Draft	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`MediaSession` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 73	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox Full support 71 Disabled' Full support 71 Disabled' Disabled' From version 71: this feature is behind the `dom.media.mediasession.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android Full support 57	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
`metadata` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 73	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox Full support 71 Disabled' Full support 71 Disabled' Disabled' From version 71: this feature is behind the `dom.media.mediasession.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android Full support 57	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
`playbackState` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 73	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox Full support 76 Disabled' Full support 76 Disabled' Disabled' From version 76: this feature is behind the `dom.media.mediasession.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android Full support 57	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
`setActionHandler()` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 73	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox Full support 71 Disabled' Full support 71 Disabled' Disabled' From version 71: this feature is behind the `dom.media.mediasession.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android Full support 57	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
`setPositionState()` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 73	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox Full support 76 Disabled' Full support 76 Disabled' Disabled' From version 76: this feature is behind the `dom.media.mediasession.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android Full support 57	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.': Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
User must explicitly enable this feature.': User must explicitly enable this feature.

MediaSession by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.