| name | media |
| description | Comprehensive media patterns: video playback, audio/music players, HLS streaming, remote images, AVAudioSession, memory management. Use when implementing any media-related features. |
| tags | avplayer, avkit, video, audio, music, streaming, hls, asyncimage, kingfisher, media |
Media
Networking Clarification
Media playback URLs are permitted. The forbidden-patterns networking ban targets REST API clients (URLSession data tasks, custom HTTP clients), not media playback. The following are allowed:
AVPlayer with remote URLs (MP4, HLS .m3u8 streams)AsyncImage loading remote image URLsKFImage (Kingfisher) loading and caching remote imagesURLSession.shared.download(from:) only for downloading media files to local storage
Do not use URLSession for REST API calls, JSON fetching, or custom networking — that ban still applies.
Decision Tree
Pick the right pattern based on what you're building:
| Building | Reference | Key API |
|---|
| Video player | video-playback | VideoPlayer, AVPlayer |
| HLS/live streaming | video-playback | AVPlayer + .m3u8 URL |
| Video feed (TikTok-style) | video-playback + media-memory-management | FeedPlayerCoordinator |
| Music/audio player | audio-playback + audio-session | AVAudioPlayer (local) or AVPlayer (streaming) |
| Podcast player | audio-playback + audio-session | AVPlayer + Now Playing + Remote Commands |
| Background audio | audio-session | .playback category + UIBackgroundModes |
| Image gallery/feed | remote-images | KFImage (Kingfisher) |
| Simple remote image | remote-images | AsyncImage |
| Sound effects | audio-playback | AVAudioPlayer with .ambient category |
| Sample content | sample-media-urls | Public URLs, local audio generation |
Platform Capabilities
| Feature | iOS | macOS | tvOS | watchOS | visionOS |
|---|
| Video playback | VideoPlayer | AVPlayerView (NSViewRepresentable) | VideoPlayer | No | VideoPlayer |
| Audio playback | AVAudioPlayer / AVPlayer | AVAudioPlayer / AVPlayer | AVAudioPlayer / AVPlayer | WKAudioFilePlayer | AVAudioPlayer / AVPlayer |
| AVAudioSession | Yes | No (not needed) | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Background audio | Yes (UIBackgroundModes) | N/A | No | Limited | Yes |
| Now Playing info | Yes | Yes | Limited | No | Yes |
| Remote commands | Yes | Yes | Limited | No | Yes |
| AsyncImage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kingfisher | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Recommended Packages
All already in the curated package registry — no new dependencies to add:
- Kingfisher — remote image loading with disk/memory caching, prefetch, placeholder, fade. Use for image feeds and galleries (20+ images).
- DSWaveformImage — audio waveform visualization. Use for voice memo or audio editing UIs.
- AudioKit — advanced audio synthesis and processing. Only use when the user specifically needs audio effects, synthesis, or real-time audio processing.
Required Info.plist Keys
For background audio playback, add to the target's info section in project.yml:
UIBackgroundModes: ["audio"]
No other Info.plist keys are needed for basic media playback.
Cross-References
- PhotosPicker — see the
camera skill (not duplicated here)
- Camera access — see the
camera skill
- MapKit / CoreLocation — see the
maps skill (not duplicated here)
- Image containment / clip patterns — see the
swiftui skill
- Haptic feedback on media controls — see the
haptics skill
References
This skill includes the following reference documents (auto-loaded):
- video-playback — VideoPlayer, HLS streaming, custom controls, feed-style video, looping
- audio-playback — AVAudioPlayer (local), AVPlayer (streaming), Now Playing, remote commands, playlists
- audio-session — AVAudioSession categories, interruption handling, route changes, background audio
- remote-images — AsyncImage vs Kingfisher decision, image grids, feeds, prefetch, cache config
- sample-media-urls — Public video/HLS/image URLs and local audio generation with
say
- media-memory-management — Player lifecycle, observer cleanup, KVO, feed coordinator, debug checklist
