Display media artwork

Artwork for media items must be passed as a local URI using either ContentResolver.SCHEME_CONTENT or ContentResolver.SCHEME_ANDROID_RESOURCE. This local URI must resolve to either a bitmap or a vector drawable.

• For MediaDescriptionCompat objects representing items in the content hierarchy, pass the URI through setIconUri.

• For MediaMetadataCompat objects representing the playing item, use any of these keys to pass the URI through putString:

  • MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_DISPLAY_ICON_URI
  • MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_ART_URI
  • MediaMetadataCompat.METADATA_KEY_ALBUM_ART_URI

Provide artwork from your app's resources

To provide drawables from your app's resources, pass a URI in the following format:

android.resource://PACKAGE_NAME/RESOURCE_TYPE/RESOURCE_NAME

// Example URI - note that there is no file extension at the end of the URI
android.resource://com.example.app/drawable/example_drawable

This snippet demonstrates how to create a URI of this format from a resource ID:

val resources = context.resources
val resourceId: Int = R.drawable.example_drawable

Uri.Builder()
    .scheme(ContentResolver.SCHEME_ANDROID_RESOURCE)
    .authority(resources.getResourcePackageName(resourceId))
    .appendPath(resources.getResourceTypeName(resourceId))
    .appendPath(resources.getResourceEntryName(resourceId))
    .build()

Provide artwork using a content provider

These steps describe how to download art from a web URI and expose it through a local URI using a content provider. For a complete example, see the implementation of openFile and the surrounding methods in the Universal Android Music Player sample app.

1. Build a content:// URI corresponding to the web URI. The media browser service and media session pass this content URI to Android Auto and AAOS.

   Kotlin

   fun Uri.asAlbumArtContentURI(): Uri {
         return Uri.Builder()
           .scheme(ContentResolver.SCHEME_CONTENT)
           .authority(CONTENT_PROVIDER_AUTHORITY)
           .appendPath(this.getPath()) // Make sure you trust the URI
           .build()
     }
   

   Java

   public static Uri asAlbumArtContentURI(Uri webUri) {
         return new Uri.Builder()
           .scheme(ContentResolver.SCHEME_CONTENT)
           .authority(CONTENT_PROVIDER_AUTHORITY)
           .appendPath(webUri.getPath()) // Make sure you trust the URI!
           .build();
    }
   

2. In your implementation of ContentProvider.openFile, check if a file exists for the corresponding URI. If not, download and cache the image file. This code snippet uses Glide.

   Kotlin

   override fun openFile(uri: Uri, mode: String): ParcelFileDescriptor? {
         val context = this.context ?: return null
         val file = File(context.cacheDir, uri.path)
         if (!file.exists()) {
           val remoteUri = Uri.Builder()
               .scheme("https")
               .authority("my-image-site")
               .appendPath(uri.path)
               .build()
           val cacheFile = Glide.with(context)
               .asFile()
               .load(remoteUri)
               .submit()
               .get(DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
   
           cacheFile.renameTo(file)
            file = cacheFile
         }
         return ParcelFileDescriptor.open(file, ParcelFileDescriptor.MODE_READ_ONLY)
    }
   

   Java

   @Nullable
     @Override
     public ParcelFileDescriptor openFile(@NonNull Uri uri, @NonNull String mode)
           throws FileNotFoundException {
         Context context = this.getContext();
         File file = new File(context.getCacheDir(), uri.getPath());
         if (!file.exists()) {
           Uri remoteUri = new Uri.Builder()
               .scheme("https")
               .authority("my-image-site")
               .appendPath(uri.getPath())
               .build();
           File cacheFile = Glide.with(context)
               .asFile()
               .load(remoteUri)
               .submit()
               .get(DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
   
           cacheFile.renameTo(file);
           file = cacheFile;
         }
         return ParcelFileDescriptor.open(file, ParcelFileDescriptor.MODE_READ_ONLY);
     }