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Android Media Controls

Android BETA

The Android app can show your Home Assistant media_player entities as native media controls in the notification shade — the same interface used by apps like Spotify or YouTube Music. This lets you control playback (play, pause, skip track, seek) directly from the notification shade without opening the app.

Supported actions​

The media control supports the following actions, depending on what the media_player entity supports:

  • Play/pause — start or pause playback
  • Next/previous track — skip to the next or previous track
  • Seek — scrub to a specific position in the current track
  • Progress bar — shows playback progress, even for entities that don't support seeking
  • Album art — displays the current media's artwork

Setup​

  1. In the Home Assistant app, go to Settings > Companion App > Media controls.
  2. If you have multiple servers, select a server.
  3. Select a media_player entity from the list.
  4. Tap Save.
  5. Start playing media on the selected entity. A media control will appear in the notification shade.

Removing the media control​

To remove the media control, go to Settings > Companion App > Media controls and tap Clear. This stops the background service and removes the notification.

Notes and limitations​

  • Only one media_player entity can be configured at a time.
  • The media control appears in the notification shade only when the entity has an active playback state (playing, paused, or buffering).
  • After a device reboot, the media control restarts when the app is next opened.
  • This feature is available on both full and minimal app flavors.
  • Media session notifications do not require notification permissions on Android 13 and later.