Web/API/Media Streams API

The Media Capture and Streams API, often called the Media Streams API or simply MediaStream API, is an API related to WebRTC which provides support for streaming audio and video data. It provides the interfaces and methods for working with the streams and their constituent tracks, the constraints associated with data formats, the success and error callbacks when using the data asynchronously, and the events that are fired during the process.

Concepts and usage

The API is based on the manipulation of a MediaStream object representing a flux of audio- or video-related data. See an example in Get the video.

A MediaStream consists of zero or more MediaStreamTrack objects, representing various audio or video tracks. Each MediaStreamTrack may have one or more channels. The channel represents the smallest unit of a media stream, such as an audio signal associated with a given speaker, like left or right in a stereo audio track.

MediaStream objects have a single input and a single output. A MediaStream object generated by getUserMedia() is called local, and has as its source input one of the user's cameras or microphones. A non-local MediaStream may be representing to a media element, like <video> or <audio>, a stream originating over the network, and obtained via the WebRTC RTCPeerConnection API, or a stream created using the Web Audio API MediaStreamAudioSourceNode.

The output of the MediaStream object is linked to a consumer. It can be a media elements, like <audio> or <video>, the WebRTC RTCPeerConnection API or a Web Audio API MediaStreamAudioSourceNode.

Interfaces

In these reference articles, you'll find the fundamental information you'll need to know about each of the interfaces that make up the Media Capture and Streams API.

• BlobEvent
• CanvasCaptureMediaStreamTrack
• InputDeviceInfo
• MediaDeviceKind
• MediaDeviceInfo
• MediaDevices
• MediaStream
• MediaStreamConstraints
• MediaStreamEvent
• MediaStreamTrack
• MediaStreamTrackEvent
• MediaTrackCapabilities
• MediaTrackConstraints
• MediaTrackSettings
• MediaTrackSupportedConstraints
• NavigatorUserMedia
• NavigatorUserMediaError
• OverconstrainedError
• URL

Early versions of the Media Capture and Streams API specification included separate AudioStreamTrack and VideoStreamTrack interfaces—each based upon MediaStreamTrack—which represented streams of those types. These no longer exist, and you should update any existing code to instead use MediaStreamTrack directly.

Events

• addtrack
• ended
• muted
• overconstrained
• removetrack
• started
• unmuted

Guides and tutorials

The articles below provide additional guidance and how-to information that will help you learn to use the API, and how to perform specific tasks that you may wish to handle.

Capabilities, constraints, and settings

The twin concepts of constraints and capabilities let the browser and Web site or app exchange information about what constrainable properties the browser's implementation supports and what values it supports for each one. This article discusses capabilities and constraints, as well as media settings, and includes an example we call the Constraint Exerciser.

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
MediaStream	Chrome Full support 55 Full support 55 Full support 21 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 15	IE No support No	Opera Full support 42 Full support 42 Full support 15 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit	Safari Full support 11	WebView Android Full support 55 Full support 55 Full support ≤37 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit	Chrome Android Full support 55 Full support 55 Full support 25 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit	Firefox Android Full support 15	Opera Android Full support 42 Full support 42 Full support 14 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit	Safari iOS Full support 11	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0 Full support 6.0 Full support 1.5 Prefixed' Prefixed' Implemented with the vendor prefix: webkit
MediaStream() constructor	Chrome Full support 21	Edge Full support ≤18	Firefox Full support 44	IE No support No	Opera Full support 42	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 25	Firefox Android Full support 42	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0
active	Chrome Full support 45	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 52	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 45	Chrome Android Full support 45	Firefox Android Full support 52	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
active event	Chrome Full support 45	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera ?	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 45	Chrome Android Full support 45	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
addTrack	Chrome Full support 26	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 44	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 26	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5
addtrack event	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 50	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 50	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
clone	Chrome Full support 45	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 48	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 45	Chrome Android Full support 45	Firefox Android Full support 48	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
ended Deprecated'	Chrome No support ? — 54 Notes' No support ? — 54 Notes' Notes' Deprecated in Chrome 52.	Edge ?	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support ? — 39	Safari ?	WebView Android No support ? — 54 Notes' No support ? — 54 Notes' Notes' Deprecated in Chrome 52.	Chrome Android No support ? — 54 Notes' No support ? — 54 Notes' Notes' Deprecated in Chrome 52.	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support ? — 41	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android No support ? — 6.0 Notes' No support ? — 6.0 Notes' Notes' Deprecated in Samsung Internet 6.0.
getAudioTracks	Chrome Full support 26	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 22 Notes' Full support 22 Notes' Notes' Prior to Firefox 64, this method returned an array of AudioStreamTrack objects. However, MediaStreamTrack has now subsumed that interface's functionality.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 26	Firefox Android Full support 22 Notes' Full support 22 Notes' Notes' Prior to Firefox 64, this method returned an array of AudioStreamTrack objects. However, MediaStreamTrack has now subsumed that interface's functionality.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5
getTrackById	Chrome Full support 26	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 49	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 26	Firefox Android Full support 49	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5
getTracks Experimental'	Chrome Full support 45	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 45	Chrome Android Full support 45	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
getVideoTracks Experimental'	Chrome Full support 26	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 22 Notes' Full support 22 Notes' Notes' Prior to Firefox 64, this method returned an array of VideoStreamTrack objects. However, MediaStreamTrack has now subsumed that interface's functionality.	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 26	Firefox Android Full support 22 Notes' Full support 22 Notes' Notes' Prior to Firefox 64, this method returned an array of VideoStreamTrack objects. However, MediaStreamTrack has now subsumed that interface's functionality.	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5
id	Chrome No support ? — 54	Edge No support 12 — 79	Firefox Full support 41	IE No support No	Opera No support ? — 39	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android No support ? — 54	Chrome Android No support ? — 54	Firefox Android Full support 41	Opera Android No support ? — 41	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android No support ? — 6.0
inactive event	Chrome Full support 45	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera ?	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 45	Chrome Android Full support 45	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
label Deprecated'	Chrome No support ? — 54 Notes' No support ? — 54 Notes' Notes' Deprecated in Chrome 45.	Edge ?	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari ?	WebView Android No support ? — 54 Notes' No support ? — 54 Notes' Notes' Deprecated in Chrome 45.	Chrome Android No support ? — 54 Notes' No support ? — 54 Notes' Notes' Deprecated in Chrome 45.	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android No support ? — 6.0 Notes' No support ? — 6.0 Notes' Notes' Deprecated in Samsung Internet 5.0.
onactive	Chrome Full support 45	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera ?	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 45	Chrome Android Full support 45	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
onaddtrack	Chrome Full support 26	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 50	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 26	Firefox Android Full support 50	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5
oninactive	Chrome Full support 45	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera ?	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 45	Chrome Android Full support 45	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0
onremovetrack	Chrome Full support 26	Edge Full support 12	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 26	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5
removeTrack	Chrome Full support 26	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 26	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.5
removetrack event	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
stop Deprecated'	Chrome No support ? — 47	Edge No support 13 — 79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari ?	WebView Android No support ? — 47	Chrome Android No support ? — 47	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android No support ? — 5.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

No support  

No support

Compatibility unknown  

Compatibility unknown

Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.'

Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.

Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.'

Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.

See implementation notes.'

See implementation notes.

Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.'

Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.

See also

• WebRTC - the introductory page to the API
• mediaDevices.getUserMedia()
• Taking still photos with WebRTC: a demonstration and tutorial about using getUserMedia().

Media Capture and Streams API (Media Stream) by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.