Media for Windows Phone

[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

You can incorporate audio and video in various ways into your Windows Phone apps.

This topic contains the following sections.

• Consuming media in a Windows Phone app
• Integrating with the Music + Videos Hub
• Capturing input from the microphone
• Connecting to FM radio
• Building a DRM-enabled Application
• Related Topics

Consuming media in a Windows Phone app

You can use the following features to consume media in a Windows Phone application:

• Use the MediaPlayerLauncher class for Windows Phone to embed audio or video using the device media player. As a best practice, use the MediaPlayerLauncher class with XNA applications.

• Use the MediaElement class to embed audio or video using a more customizable interface. For an example of how to use this API in your application, see How to play or stream a video file for Windows Phone 8. As a best practice, use the MediaElement API with Windows Phone apps.

• Use the MediaStreamSource class for adaptive streaming solutions.

• Use Microsoft.Phone.BackgroundAudio to create a media application that will continue playing audio when another application is in the foreground. For more information, see How to play background audio for Windows Phone 8.

• Add sound effects using XNA Game Studio in apps that target Windows Phone OS 7.1. For an example of how to add a sound effect, see Making Sounds with XNA Game Studio.

Windows Phone supports a wide range of audio, video, and image codecs. For a full list, including maximum capabilities for each codec, see Supported media codecs for Windows Phone 8.

Integrating with the Music + Videos Hub

Windows Phone apps can integrate closely with the Music + Videos Hub. When you implement this integration, your app name is displayed in the Music + Videos Hub. Additionally, you can choose to display a history of what has been played in your application, including the most recent item that was played. For more information, see How to integrate with the Music and Videos Hub for Windows Phone 8.

You can also use several Launcher APIs to access Store. For more information, see Launchers for Windows Phone 8.

Capturing input from the microphone

Use the Microphone class from the XNA Framework to get audio input from the Windows Phone microphone.

Connecting to FM radio

You can access FM radio stations in apps that target Windows Phone OS 7.1. For more information, see How to set up and tune the FM radio for Windows Phone 8.

Building a DRM-enabled Application

Windows Phone supports PlayReady Digital Rights Management (DRM). For more information, see Digital Rights Management (DRM) for Windows Phone 8.

See Also

Other Resources

Supported media codecs for Windows Phone 8