How to properly release Android MediaPlayer

Question

I'm trying to add a button to my android app where it plays an MP3 when the button is tapped. I've gotten it working, but without a way to release the mediaPlayer object - therefore it keeps playing even after I leave the activity. If I initialize the MediaPlayer object outside of my react() method(what gets called when the button is pressed) it causes the app to force close when the activity is opened. But if I initialize the MediaPlayer within the react() method I then can't use mplayer.release in the onQuit() method. What am I not seeing here?

    public void react(View view) {
    MediaPlayer mediaPlayer = MediaPlayer.create(ToBeOrNot.this, R.raw.achord);
    mediaPlayer.start();
}
protected void onStop(){
    mediaPlayer.release();
    mediaPlayer = null;
}

Doesn't work for obvious reasons and

MediaPlayer mediaPlayer = MediaPlayer.create(ToBeOrNot.this, R.raw.achord);
public void react(View view) {
            mediaPlayer.start(); 
}
protected void onStop(){
    mediaPlayer.release();
    mediaPlayer = null;
}

Causes it to force close.

Update: Here is the whole java class.

public class ToBeOrNot extends Activity {

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_to_be_or_not);

        }
MediaPlayer mediaPlayer;

public void react(View view) {
        mediaPlayer = MediaPlayer.create(ToBeOrNot.this, R.raw.achord);
        mediaPlayer.start(); 
}
protected void onStop(){
    mediaPlayer.release();
    mediaPlayer = null;
}
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
    //getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_to_be_or_not, menu);
    // Locate MenuItem with ShareActionProvider
   return true;
}

}

I think what it does is relatively self explanatory. When called, it shows some text plus a button that when tapped starts a recording playing. When someone hits the back button, it should go back to the previous activity and stop the recording. Thanks for helping me!

If your other question was answered and you want to ask a new one, you should open a new question, not simply edit this one. — Geobits, Feb 23 '13 at 23:01
Alright, I will, just didn't want to make too many questions. — dhsmith, Feb 23 '13 at 23:06
Here's the new question. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15046888/android-mediaplayer-causing-force-close-onquit If you feel like answering that would be great, thank you. Or someone else might, or I might come up with the answer myself. — dhsmith, Feb 23 '13 at 23:21

score 27 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 23 '13 at 22:00

27

You can't initialize the mediaplayer object outside of all methods. If you do, it tries to use a context which hasn't been created yet. You need to declare it as a class variable(outside the method), and initialize it inside:

MediaPlayer mediaPlayer;

public void react(View view) {
    mediaPlayer = MediaPlayer.create(ToBeOrNot.this, R.raw.achord);
    mediaPlayer.start(); 
}

protected void onStop(){
    mediaPlayer.release();
    mediaPlayer = null;
}

In addition, I'd recommend reading up on variable scope in Java.

answered Feb 23 '13 at 22:00

Geobits

22,218
6
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103

Ah, thanks so much! That was a really dumb mistake. I realized that scope was what I was having trouble with, but my brain wasn't working and I couldn't think of how to fix it. – dhsmith Feb 23 '13 at 22:03
So I copied your example and now it runs fine but when I push the back button after pushing the button that starts the sound, the app force closes. Any thoughts? – dhsmith Feb 23 '13 at 22:28
There are a lot of potential problems with it. I'd suggest making another question, explaining what you're doing in all the lifecycle methods(create, resume, pause, stop, etc). Also, explain what exactly you *want* it to do. – Geobits Feb 23 '13 at 22:33
1

Check if mediaPlayer is null before releasing: if (mediaPlayer != null) mediaPlayer.release(); – Pablo Alfonso Apr 06 '20 at 21:38

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 19 '20 at 16:37

3

According to Google docs, you can implement a listener in MediaPlayer like the below example.

You can Release and Reset automatically when it's complete.

MediaPlayer mp = MediaPlayer.create(context, R.raw.sound_one);
mp.setOnCompletionListener(new OnCompletionListener() {
    @Override
    public void onCompletion(MediaPlayer mp) {
        mp.reset();
        mp.release();
        mp=null;
    }
});
mp.start();

answered Oct 19 '20 at 16:37

Arpit Patel

7,212
5
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67

Good answer, but it is not necessary to call `mp.reset()`. – Corbie Sep 17 '21 at 09:45

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 25 '17 at 11:48

This Worked for me well.

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    MediaPlayer mediaPlayer;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        mediaPlayer = MediaPlayer.create(this, R.raw.beep_warning);

        final CheckBox checkBox = (CheckBox) findViewById(R.id.checkBox);
        checkBox.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                if (checkBox.isChecked()) {
                    mediaPlayer.start();
                    mediaPlayer.setLooping(true);
                }
                else{
                    mediaPlayer.pause();
                }
                }


        });

    }
    @Override
    protected void onStop() {
        super.onStop();
        mediaPlayer.release();
    }

Check if mediaPlayer is null before releasing: if (mediaPlayer != null) mediaPlayer.release(); — Pablo Alfonso, Apr 06 '20 at 21:38

How to properly release Android MediaPlayer

3 Answers3

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