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.

  Warning: Don't provide artwork using setIconBitmap. While this method is supported on Android Auto, it isn't supported on Android Automotive OS (AAOS). Additionally, including many bitmaps in a result can cause you to exceed the 1MB binder size limit, causing your app to be unresponsive.

• 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);
     }
   

Note: The content URI should be quickly constructed and sent to Android Auto and AAOS, as demonstrated in the previous example. This is true even when the file isn't downloaded. Android Auto and AAOS show a loading UI for the images when waiting for the content provider to respond. Consider optimizing your app to quickly fetch images and to minimize the time needed to load the UI. Consider preloading and caching images.