Reset, reuse or remove a MediaPlayer instance

You can reset, reuse, or release a MediaPlayer instance that you no longer need.

When you reset a MediaPlayer instance, it is returned to its uninitialized IDLE state as defined in MediaPlayerState.

This operation is useful in the following cases:

  • You want to reuse a MediaPlayer instance but need to load a new MediaResource (video content) and replace the previous instance.

    Resetting allows you to reuse the MediaPlayer instance without the overhead of releasing resources, recreating the MediaPlayer, and reallocating resources.

  • When the MediaPlayer is in an ERROR state and needs to be cleared.

    IMPORTANT

    This is the only way to recover from the ERROR state.

  1. Call reset to return the MediaPlayer instance to its uninitialized state:

    void reset() throws IllegalStateException;

  2. Use MediaPlayer.replaceCurrentResource to load another MediaResource.

    TIP

    To clear an error, load the same MediaResource.

  3. When you receive the STATUS_CHANGED event callback with PREPARED status, start the playback.

Release a MediaPlayer instance and resources

You should release a MediaPlayer instance and resources when you no longer need the MediaResource.

When you release a MediaPlayer object, the underlying hardware resources that are associated with this MediaPlayer object are deallocated.

Here are some reasons to release a MediaPlayer:

  • Holding unnecessary resources can affect performance.
  • Leaving an unnecessary MediaPlayer object can lead to continuous battery consumption for mobile devices.
  • If multiple instances of the same video-codec are not supported on a device, playback failure might occur for other applications.

  1. Release the MediaPlayer.

    void release() throws IllegalStateException;

After the MediaPlayer instance is released, you can no longer use it. If any method of the MediaPlayer interface is called after it is released, an IllegalStateException is thrown.

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