software-mansion-labs/audio

Audio

Software Mansion's production audio patterns for React Native using react-native-audio-api.

Load at most one reference file per question. For API signatures and config options, webfetch the documentation pages linked in each reference file.

Critical Rules

• Single AudioContext: Create one AudioContext instance per app. Multiple instances lead to conflicting states (one running, another suspended). Encapsulate it in a singleton class.
• Single AudioRecorder: Create one AudioRecorder instance and reuse it. Switching between recorder instances has noticeable impact on performance, memory, and battery.
• Suspend when idle: A running AudioContext plays silence even with no source nodes connected, draining battery. On iOS, it also prevents the lock screen from showing a paused state. Use suspend() when audio is temporarily not needed, close() when done permanently.
• AudioBufferSourceNode is single-use: An AudioBufferSourceNode can be started only once. To replay the same sound, create a new node. Nodes are inexpensive to create; reuse the AudioBuffer.
• Use AudioParam scheduling for smooth changes: Direct, immediate changes to gain, frequency, or other params cause audible clicks. Use linearRampToValueAtTime, exponentialRampToValueAtTime, or setTargetAtTime for smooth transitions.
• Mutate typed arrays in place for visualizations: When passing audio data to Reanimated shared values, use .modify() to mutate the existing Float32Array rather than allocating a new one each frame. Allocating at 60fps+ causes GC jank.

References

| File | When to read | |------|-------------| | audio.md | Decision tree for choosing an audio approach; AudioContext lifecycle and singleton pattern; audio graph concepts; decoding audio data; AudioBuffer state management | | playback.md | Playing audio with AudioBufferSourceNode, OscillatorNode, StreamerNode, AudioBufferQueueSourceNode; looping and scheduling; AudioParam scheduling methods; playback rate and pitch; noise generation | | recording.md | Recording audio with AudioRecorder; three recording modes (file, data callback, graph processing); file output configuration and formats; permissions; background recording setup | | effects-and-analysis.md | Audio effects chain (GainNode, BiquadFilterNode, DelayNode, ConvolverNode, StereoPannerNode, WaveShaperNode); ADSR envelopes; AnalyserNode for time-domain and frequency-domain data; audio visualization patterns | | worklets.md | Audio worklets with WorkletNode, WorkletSourceNode, WorkletProcessingNode; UIRuntime vs AudioRuntime; performance budgets and latency constraints; custom synthesis and real-time processing | | system-and-notifications.md | AudioManager for session configuration and system events; PlaybackNotificationManager and RecordingNotificationManager for media controls; permissions; interruption handling; testing with mocks |