Bug 237878 – AudioContext is suspended on iOS when page is backgrounded

• Component: Media
• Status: RESOLVED FIXED

[youenn fablet]

Following on https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=231105 which was MacOS specific, we have the same AudioContext issues:
- If page is backgrounded, AudioContext will be stopped even though AudioContext is not used directly for playing audio
- AudioContext might be resumed by web page in case it can autoplay (for instance if page is continuing to capture audio, which allows to continue playing audio).

[youenn fablet]

Created attachment 454699 [details]
WIP

[youenn fablet]

Created attachment 454812 [details]
Patch

[EWS]

Committed r291390 (248520@main): <https://commits.webkit.org/248520@main>

All reviewed patches have been landed. Closing bug and clearing flags on attachment 454812 [details].

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/90415179>

[youenn fablet]

As spotted by Cameron, media/auto-play-web-audio-in-about-blank-iframe.html is failing  on bots after this change.

[youenn fablet]

(In reply to youenn fablet from comment #5)
> As spotted by Cameron, media/auto-play-web-audio-in-about-blank-iframe.html
> is failing  on bots after this change.

Hypothesis: background state is kept from a past test and never reset to false across tests.

[Matthew Windwer]

Thanks for fixing this. What iOS release can we expect this fix?

[Jeremy Thoms]

> Thanks for fixing this. What iOS release can we expect this fix?

I'd also like to know the targeted iOS release. It's become a critical issue for us.

[Adrien iWebDJ]

Oh no not again... almost same problem was introduce iOS 13 (webaudio stops when app is in background), it took one year to fix back then... https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/121822

Please, this is CRITICAL, how can we develop a real music app with WVWebView if the audio stops in background? ... The problem doesn't happen on iOS Safari.

I am questioning the QA team who validated this release because the problem is so obvious.

[Adrien iWebDJ]

Same bug in iOS13 > https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203293, fixed in iOS14 and introduced again in iOS15... please this is a big issue...

[Adrien iWebDJ]

@youenn fablet, Is this critical bug fix will be shipped on iOS16 only? if so it won't be accessible for all iPhones prior to iPhone 8, which is a big problem for wide adopted apps. Could you please release the fix in iOS15? iOS14 is not affected by this bug. Thanks!!

[youenn fablet]

(In reply to Adrien iWebDJ from comment #11)
> @youenn fablet, Is this critical bug fix will be shipped on iOS16 only? if
> so it won't be accessible for all iPhones prior to iPhone 8, which is a big
> problem for wide adopted apps. Could you please release the fix in iOS15?
> iOS14 is not affected by this bug. Thanks!!

This particular fix should be in the iOS 16 beta 1.

[Adrien iWebDJ]

@youenn fablet thank you for the reply and the fix!! but tell me if I am wrong, will this mean that the iPhones 6s/7/SE1 and many iPads will never be able to play background webaudio? (= making it unusable) 

If so, this would be a big problem because it has never happened to have a "hole" in the support of webaudio... :/

[Ian Lovejoy]

Just another upvote: it would really really be great if this fix could be merged into a 15.x release! Thanks for your consideration.

[Adrien iWebDJ]

@youenn fablet, I just installed iOS 16 Beta 1 as you adviced, the fix is not there, WebAudio keeps stopping if app go to background... :'(

Also I have issue with WebAudio with bluetooth, it is completely buggy. I don't know if you were aware of it...

(I am french too :)

[Adrien iWebDJ]

 ps : test it by yourself if you need : https://apps.apple.com/us/app/youdj-mix-music-now/id1459666155 
(desktop version is a popular DJ app : https://you.dj)

[Adrien iWebDJ]

Just to let you know, the fix is still not included in iOS 16.1 beta :'(

The bug is still present in iOS 16.1 release.  Tested on an iPhone 11 Pro demo playing various games on https://nj-casino.goldennuggetcasino.com/

[Adrien iWebDJ]

The bug is 18 months old and it is still present in iOS 16.3, discouraging...

Also iOS 16.3 introduced a new bug! Now the silent switch is also muting WebAudio... 

The WKWebView behavior should match native apps for audio, otherwise it is useless and confusing.

I have open a new bug thread, these issues are too blocking : https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=237878

[Adrien iWebDJ]

Sorry the new bug thread is : https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=251532