Shiny.Music

A .NET library for accessing the device music library on Android and iOS. Provides a unified API for:

• Requesting permissions to access music
• Querying metadata about music on the device
• Filtering tracks by genre, year, decade, and search text
• Browsing genres, years, and decades with track counts
• Browsing playlists and their tracks
• Playing music files from the device library
• Controlling playback volume
• Streaming Apple Music subscription tracks via MPMusicPlayerController (iOS)
• Fetching lyrics (plain text and synced LRC format)
• Retrieving album artwork
• Copying music files (where permitted)
• Checking for active streaming subscriptions

Installation

Add a project reference to Shiny.Music from your .NET MAUI or platform-specific app.

Quick Start

// Register in MauiProgram.cs
builder.Services.AddShinyMusic();

// Use via dependency injection
public class MyPage
{
    readonly IMediaLibrary _library;
    readonly IMusicPlayer _player;
    readonly ILyricsProvider _lyrics;

    public MyPage(IMediaLibrary library, IMusicPlayer player, ILyricsProvider lyrics)
    {
        _library = library;
        _player = player;
        _lyrics = lyrics;
    }

    async Task Example()
    {
        // 1. Request permission
        var status = await _library.RequestPermissionAsync();
        if (status != PermissionStatus.Granted) return;

        // 2. Get all tracks
        var tracks = await _library.GetAllTracksAsync();

        // 3. Play a track
        await _player.PlayAsync(tracks[0]);

        // 4. Control volume
        _player.Volume = 0.75f;

        // 5. Get album artwork
        var artPath = await _library.GetAlbumArtPathAsync(tracks[0].Id);

        // 6. Fetch lyrics
        var lyrics = await _lyrics.GetLyricsAsync(tracks[0]);

        // 7. Browse genres with counts
        var genres = await _library.GetGenresAsync();

        // 8. Browse decades with counts
        var decades = await _library.GetDecadesAsync();

        // 9. Filter: Rock tracks from the 1990s
        var filtered = await _library.GetTracksAsync(new MusicFilter
        {
            Genre = "Rock",
            Decade = 1990
        });

        // 10. Cross-query: genres within the 2000s
        var genresIn2000s = await _library.GetGenresAsync(new MusicFilter { Decade = 2000 });

        // 11. Browse playlists
        var playlists = await _library.GetPlaylistsAsync();

        // 12. Get tracks in a playlist
        var playlistTracks = await _library.GetPlaylistTracksAsync(playlists[0].Id);

        // 13. Copy a track
        var dest = Path.Combine(FileSystem.AppDataDirectory, "copy.m4a");
        var success = await _library.CopyTrackAsync(tracks[0], dest);
    }
}

Platform Configuration

Android

Required Permissions

Add these to your AndroidManifest.xml:

<!-- Android 13+ (API 33+) -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_MEDIA_AUDIO" />

<!-- Android 12 and below (API < 33) -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"
                 android:maxSdkVersion="32" />

Notes

• Minimum API Level: 24 (Android 7.0)
• Target API 33+: Uses READ_MEDIA_AUDIO granular media permission
• Target API < 33: Falls back to READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
• The library requests runtime permissions via the MAUI Permissions API
• Music is queried through MediaStore.Audio.Media; playlists through MediaStore.Audio.Playlists
• Playback uses Android.Media.MediaPlayer with content URIs
• HasStreamingSubscriptionAsync() always returns false
• Copy: Reads from the ContentResolver input stream. Works for all locally stored music files.

---

iOS

Required Info.plist Entry

<key>NSAppleMusicUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs access to your music library to browse and play your music.</string>

This is mandatory. Your app will crash on launch if you attempt to access the music library without this key.

Notes

• Minimum iOS Version: 15.0
• Permission is requested via MPMediaLibrary.RequestAuthorization
• Music metadata is queried using MPMediaQuery from the MediaPlayer framework; playlists via MPMediaQuery.PlaylistsQuery
• Local playback uses AVAudioPlayer from AVFoundation with the item's AssetURL
• Streaming playback uses MPMusicPlayerController.SystemMusicPlayer for Apple Music subscription tracks with a StoreId
• HasStreamingSubscriptionAsync() checks SKCloudServiceController for the MusicCatalogPlayback capability
• Copy Limitations:
  • Locally synced / purchased (non-DRM) tracks can be exported via AVAssetExportSession
  • Apple Music subscription (DRM-protected) tracks cannot be copied. The AssetURL is empty for these items, and iOS does not provide filesystem access to DRM content.
  • The CopyTrackAsync method returns false for tracks that cannot be exported.
  • Exported format is Apple M4A (.m4a)

Entitlements

No special entitlements are required beyond the Info.plist usage description. The MediaPlayer and AVFoundation frameworks are standard iOS frameworks.

---

API Reference

IMediaLibrary

Method	Description
RequestPermissionAsync()	Prompts the user for music library access
CheckPermissionAsync()	Checks current permission status without prompting
GetAllTracksAsync()	Returns all music tracks on the device
SearchTracksAsync(query)	Searches tracks by title, artist, or album
GetTracksAsync(filter)	Returns tracks matching a MusicFilter (genre, year, decade, search -- combined with AND logic)
GetGenresAsync(filter?)	Returns distinct genres with track counts; optionally filtered by year/decade/search
GetYearsAsync(filter?)	Returns distinct release years with track counts; optionally filtered by genre/decade/search
GetDecadesAsync(filter?)	Returns distinct decades with track counts; optionally filtered by genre/year/search
GetPlaylistsAsync()	Returns all playlists with song counts, sorted alphabetically
GetPlaylistTracksAsync(playlistId)	Returns all tracks in the specified playlist, in playlist order
GetAlbumArtPathAsync(trackId)	Returns a file path to album artwork for the track, or null
CopyTrackAsync(track, destPath)	Copies a track to the specified path; returns false if not possible
HasStreamingSubscriptionAsync()	Checks for an active streaming subscription (iOS: Apple Music; Android: always false)

IMusicPlayer

Member	Description
PlayAsync(track)	Loads and plays the specified track
Pause()	Pauses current playback
Resume()	Resumes after pausing
Stop()	Stops playback and releases the track
Seek(position)	Seeks to a position in the track
State	Current PlaybackState (Stopped/Playing/Paused)
CurrentTrack	The currently loaded MusicMetadata
Position / Duration	Current position and total duration
Volume	Playback volume from 0.0 to 1.0 (default 1.0)
StateChanged	Event fired when playback state changes
PlaybackCompleted	Event fired when a track finishes

ILyricsProvider

Method	Description
GetLyricsAsync(track)	Returns lyrics for the track, or null if unavailable

LyricsResult

Property	Type	Description
PlainLyrics	string?	Plain text (unsynchronized) lyrics
SyncedLyrics	string?	Synchronized lyrics in LRC format with timestamps

MusicFilter

All properties are optional and combined with AND logic. Pass to GetTracksAsync, GetGenresAsync, GetYearsAsync, or GetDecadesAsync.

Property	Type	Description
Genre	string?	Filter by genre name (case-insensitive)
Year	int?	Filter by exact release year (takes precedence over Decade)
Decade	int?	Filter by decade start year (e.g., 1990 for the 1990s)
SearchQuery	string?	Text search across title, artist, and album

MusicMetadata

Property	Type	Description
Id	string	Platform-specific unique identifier
Title	string?	Track title
Artist	string?	Artist name
Album	string?	Album name
Genre	string?	Genre (may be null)
Duration	TimeSpan	Track duration
AlbumArtUri	string?	Album art URI (Android only; null on iOS)
IsExplicit	bool?	Explicit content flag (iOS only; null on Android)
ContentUri	string	URI used for playback and file operations
StoreId	string?	Apple Music catalog ID for streaming (iOS only)
Year	int?	Release year

PlaylistInfo

Property	Type	Description
Id	string	Platform-specific unique identifier for the playlist
Name	string	The display name of the playlist
SongCount	int	The number of tracks in the playlist

GroupedCount<T>

Property	Type	Description
Value	T	The grouped value (string for genres, int for years/decades)
Count	int	Number of tracks in this group

Sample App

The sample/MusicSample project is a .NET MAUI app that demonstrates all library features including browsing, filtering, playback with volume control, album art display, and lyrics with synced highlighting.

Running the Sample

# Android
dotnet build sample/MusicSample -f net10.0-android -t:Run

# iOS (requires Mac with Xcode)
dotnet build sample/MusicSample -f net10.0-ios -t:Run

Note: Music library access requires a physical device. Simulators/emulators typically have no music content.

License

MIT