@beatsphere/expo-music-detector

Expo native module that detects currently playing music on Android. Uses MediaSession and NotificationListenerService to detect tracks from 10+ music apps in real-time. Battle-tested in BeatSphere.

Supported Apps

App	Package Name
Spotify	com.spotify.music
YouTube	com.google.android.youtube
YouTube Music	com.google.android.apps.youtube.music
Apple Music	com.apple.android.music
SoundCloud	com.soundcloud.android
Last.fm	fm.last.android
Amazon Music	com.amazon.mp3
Pandora	com.pandora.android
Tidal	com.aspiro.tidal
Deezer	deezer.android.app

Any other app using Android's MediaSession API will be detected as unknown provider.

Install

npm install @beatsphere/expo-music-detector

Add the plugin to your app.config.js:

export default {
  plugins: [
    '@beatsphere/expo-music-detector',
  ],
};

Run prebuild:

npx expo prebuild --clean

Quick Start

import {
  isSupported,
  isNotificationAccessGranted,
  openNotificationSettings,
  getCurrentTrack,
  addTrackChangedListener,
} from '@beatsphere/expo-music-detector';

// Check platform support (Android only)
if (!isSupported) {
  console.log('Music detection is only supported on Android');
}

// Check and request permission
const hasAccess = isNotificationAccessGranted();
if (!hasAccess) {
  // Opens system settings — user must manually enable
  openNotificationSettings();
}

// Get current track
const track = getCurrentTrack();
if (track) {
  console.log(`${track.title} by ${track.artist} (${track.provider})`);
}

// Listen for track changes
const subscription = addTrackChangedListener((event) => {
  if (event.track) {
    console.log(`Now playing: ${event.track.title} by ${event.track.artist}`);
    console.log(`Provider: ${event.track.provider}`);
    console.log(`Playing: ${event.track.isPlaying}`);
  } else {
    console.log('Playback stopped');
  }
});

// Clean up
subscription.remove();

How It Works

On Android, the module uses two detection mechanisms:

1. MediaSessionManager (primary) — Listens for active media sessions and registers callbacks for metadata and playback state changes. This provides the most reliable detection.

2. NotificationListenerService (fallback) — Parses music notifications for apps that don't use MediaSession properly. Extracts title, artist, and album from notification extras.

The module requires Notification Listener Access, which the user must grant manually in system settings. This is an Android system-level permission that cannot be requested via a dialog.

API Reference

Function	Description
isSupported	boolean — Whether the current platform supports music detection (Android only)
isNotificationAccessGranted()	Check if notification listener permission is granted
openNotificationSettings()	Open system settings for notification access
startMonitoring()	Start monitoring (service starts automatically with permission)
stopMonitoring()	Stop monitoring
getCurrentTrack()	Get the currently playing track, or null
addTrackChangedListener(cb)	Subscribe to track changes. Returns { remove() }

Track Type

interface Track {
  title: string;
  artist: string;
  album?: string;
  albumArt?: string;
  provider: MusicProvider;
  isPlaying: boolean;
}

type MusicProvider =
  | 'spotify'
  | 'youtube'
  | 'apple_music'
  | 'soundcloud'
  | 'lastfm'
  | 'amazon_music'
  | 'pandora'
  | 'tidal'
  | 'deezer'
  | 'unknown';

Platform Notes

Android

• API 21+ (Lollipop) required
• Uses MediaSessionManager for reliable detection on API 22+
• Falls back to notification parsing on older versions
• Requires BIND_NOTIFICATION_LISTENER_SERVICE permission
• The NotificationListenerService runs as long as the user grants access
• Automatically detects track changes across all supported music apps

iOS

• Music detection is not supported on iOS
• All functions return safe defaults (null, false, no-ops)
• The iOS module stub is included so your app builds cross-platform without conditional imports

License

MIT