Set lock screen background in Android (like Spotify do)

Question

I know that this topic has been already discussed here, here and here, and the answer seems to be that it is not possible.

But I recently installed Spotify in my Ne

Answer 1

Edit: The solution below only works for applications that have registered itself as a media controller, so apps that don't play audio can't/shouldn't use this mechanism to change the lockscreen wallpaper.

---

It can be done using RemoteControlClient, part of Android since ICS. If you want a working example, download VLC for Android and check out org.videolan.vlc.AudioService:

This part of the code is to intercept media controls.

/**
 * Set up the remote control and tell the system we want to be the default receiver for the MEDIA buttons
 * @see http://android-developers.blogspot.fr/2010/06/allowing-applications-to-play-nicer.html
 */
@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)
public void setUpRemoteControlClient() {
    Context context = VLCApplication.getAppContext();
    AudioManager audioManager = (AudioManager)context.getSystemService(AUDIO_SERVICE);

    if(Util.isICSOrLater()) {
        audioManager.registerMediaButtonEventReceiver(mRemoteControlClientReceiverComponent);

        if (mRemoteControlClient == null) {
            Intent mediaButtonIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_BUTTON);
            mediaButtonIntent.setComponent(mRemoteControlClientReceiverComponent);
            PendingIntent mediaPendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(context, 0, mediaButtonIntent, 0);

            // create and register the remote control client
            mRemoteControlClient = new RemoteControlClient(mediaPendingIntent);
            audioManager.registerRemoteControlClient(mRemoteControlClient);
        }

        mRemoteControlClient.setTransportControlFlags(
                RemoteControlClient.FLAG_KEY_MEDIA_PLAY |
                RemoteControlClient.FLAG_KEY_MEDIA_PAUSE |
                RemoteControlClient.FLAG_KEY_MEDIA_PREVIOUS |
                RemoteControlClient.FLAG_KEY_MEDIA_NEXT |
                RemoteControlClient.FLAG_KEY_MEDIA_STOP);
    } else if (Util.isFroyoOrLater()) {
        audioManager.registerMediaButtonEventReceiver(mRemoteControlClientReceiverComponent);
    }
}

This part is to update artwork, among other info:

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)
private void updateRemoteControlClientMetadata() {
    if(!Util.isICSOrLater()) // NOP check
        return;

    if (mRemoteControlClient != null) {
        MetadataEditor editor = mRemoteControlClient.editMetadata(true);
        editor.putString(MediaMetadataRetriever.METADATA_KEY_ALBUM, getCurrentMedia().getAlbum());
        editor.putString(MediaMetadataRetriever.METADATA_KEY_ARTIST, getCurrentMedia().getArtist());
        editor.putString(MediaMetadataRetriever.METADATA_KEY_GENRE, getCurrentMedia().getGenre());
        editor.putString(MediaMetadataRetriever.METADATA_KEY_TITLE, getCurrentMedia().getTitle());
        editor.putLong(MediaMetadataRetriever.METADATA_KEY_DURATION, getCurrentMedia().getLength());
        editor.putBitmap(MetadataEditor.BITMAP_KEY_ARTWORK, getCover());
        editor.apply();
    }
}

Answer 2

For me, the most instructive example was Random Music Player, mentioned in documentation about Android 4.0 APIs:

"For a sample implementation, see the Random Music Player, which provides compatibility logic such that it enables the remote control client on Android 4.0 devices while continuing to support devices back to Android 2.1."

In addition, I converted text to bitmap to have text as album art.

Answer 3

I know this is late but perfect answer is still required. So to set lock screen background in Android (like Spotify do) we have to perform following steps.

1. set media session active mSession.setActive(true). if session is not active so it is not gona show.

2. set playback state

playBackStateBuilder = new PlaybackStateCompat.Builder()
            .setActions(PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_PLAY | PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_SKIP_TO_NEXT
                    | PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_PAUSE | PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_SKIP_TO_PREVIOUS
                    | PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_STOP | PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_PLAY_PAUSE);`

`mSession.setPlaybackState(playBackStateBuilder.setState(PlaybakStateCompate.STATE_PLAYING, 0, 0).build());

Note: lock screen image is showed when first playback state is set to playing then it can be switch to other states

3. set meta data

mSession.setMetadata(new MediaMetadataCompat.Builder()
                .putString(MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_TITLE, title)
                .putString(MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_ARTIST, artist)
                .putBitmap(MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_ALBUM_ART, bitmap)
                .build());

here KEY_ALBUM_ART is required because this is the image which is shown on lock screen.

By setting above three things it had showed on my galaxy device but not on pixels devices so for that follow last point.

4. show notification with media style

NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(mContext, CHANNEL_ID);
    builder.setStyle(
            new androidx.media.app.NotificationCompat.MediaStyle()
    );
    
    mNotificationManager = (NotificationManager) mContext.getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
    mNotificationManager.notify(121, builder.build());

Answer 4

So here is the new "official docs"

At the bottom it describes the lock screen details

https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/media-apps/working-with-a-media-session.html#maintain-state

As an alternative, once I understood all the terms and jargon, this tutorial helped me outline the general structure for the MediaSessionCompat services.

https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/background-audio-in-android-with-mediasessioncompat--cms-27030

Finally, there is an API for lock screen wallpaper in Nougat and greater. Why this is not support lib is beyond me at this time.

Answer 5

Well, after trying some ways, I have a simple code here; Try using this method;

private void updateMetaData() {
    mediaSession =new MediaSessionCompat(context,"BXPlayer");

    Bitmap cover = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(context.getResources(),
            R.drawable.cover2); 

   mediaSession.setMetadata(new MediaMetadataCompat.Builder()
            .putBitmap(MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_ALBUM_ART, cover)
            .putString(MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_ARTIST, mSelectedSong.getArtist())
            .putString(MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_ALBUM, mSelectedSong.getAlbum())
            .putString(MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_TITLE, mSelectedSong.getTitle())
            .build());
}

then in your notification you need to set style to android.support.v4.media.app.NotificationCompat.MediaStyle() and set the media session token to use the current metadata. Check this snippet below;

builder.setStyle(new android.support.v4.media.app.NotificationCompat.MediaStyle()
            .setShowActionsInCompactView(0, 1, 2)
    .setMediaSession(mediaSession.getSessionToken()));
    return builder.build();

To work, you must include implementation "com.android.support:support-v4:$latest_version" in your app build.gradle And boom! you are good to go.

Answer 6

as explained here the key is to to pass a MediaMetadata object to your MediaSession. If these terms seems alien to you it's best to start the linked tutorial from the top.

I found the .putBitmap(MediaMetadata.METADATA_KEY_ART, bitmap) line to be the one that is taken to load the image to the lockscreen background. But be sure to populate .putBitmap(MediaMetadata.METADATA_KEY_ALBUM_ART, bitmap)as well.