App crashes when microphone is in use by a third party application

[JadMokdad]

Version

Tell us which versions you are using ( you can see the versions in your package.json ):

react-native-audio : "^4.1.3"
react-native : "0.55.4"
react : "16.4.1"
using react-native-sound ? Yes (however not relevant for this issue)

Expected behaviour :

What were you trying to do and what did you expect to happen ?
`
Recording audio on Android when resources are locked (i.e.: during WhatsApp/Skype call) requires INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL permission which is supposedly a system permission. Expected to throw an exception to be handled by user.

Actual behaviour

What happened when your issue occurred ? The more details you provide here the better the odds are that someone will help you resolve your issue
Host app throws an unhandled exception at runtime and crashes.

Steps to reproduce

Please provide us with some code that we can run to reproduce your error.

• import audio library

import {AudioRecorder, AudioUtils} from 'react-native-audio';

• prepare audio recording

prepareRecordingPath(audioPath) {
    AudioRecorder.prepareRecordingAtPath(audioPath, {
    SampleRate: 22050,
    Channels: 1,
    AudioQuality: "Low",
    AudioEncoding: "aac",
    AudioEncodingBitRate: 32000
  });
}

• record audio

try {
  const filePath = await AudioRecorder.startRecording();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}

• Run the code above during a WhatsApp/Skype call (or any third party using the microphone).

Link to a git repo that reproduces bug

react-native-audio example
You may reproduce following the steps above on the library's example

If you put a GitHub repo that reproduces your issue then you significantly increase your chances of getting help !

[emargollo]

Hi,

I'm currently trying to run the recorder while also using the microphone with react-native-webrtc, and came across the same error you reported.

I've implemented the fix so to stop the app from crashing, but I don't understand how I should use the INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL permission to allow what I'm trying to do.

Would you give me some insight on what I need to do?

[JadMokdad]

Hello,

It's been a while I did my research on this, but here's what I recall: this permission is that it is a root level permission (i.e.: you'll need a root android user to request this type of permissions). For instance, requesting this permission for a non-root user throws an exception. Fix #262 covers catching any exception thrown when requesting microphone access on android and resolving with an error message instead of crashing.

If however you're targeting mobile devices with root user privileges, you could of course add to this catching the specific exception type thrown when INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL permission is not found, try to acquire it (which would also throw an exception if the user doesn't have the required privileges), and in case granted, request microphone access again.

Hope my answer helps!

[aravi365]

Hello,

It's been a while I did my research on this, but here's what I recall: this permission is that it is a root level permission (i.e.: you'll need a root android user to request this type of permissions). For instance, requesting this permission for a non-root user throws an exception. Fix #262 covers catching any exception thrown when requesting microphone access on android and resolving with an error message instead of crashing.

If however you're targeting mobile devices with root user privileges, you could of course add to this catching the specific exception type thrown when INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL permission is not found, try to acquire it (which would also throw an exception if the user doesn't have the required privileges), and in case granted, request microphone access again.

Hope my answer helps!

Can you please guide me to handle this situation in the rightway?

[fredericodib]

Hello @emargollo I am trying two to user react-native-audio in parallel with react-native-webrtc.

Did you found a solution??