feat(chat): rework playback of voice messages and audio files by minichhenoch-sir · Pull Request #6840 · nextcloud/talk-android

minichhenoch-sir · 2026-10-09T09:48:06Z

Problem:
It was not possible to keep listening to audio in the background, and the playback speed of voice messages could not be changed.

What changes:

Previously, every audio file was first downloaded completely and then played. Now it is streamed, so it starts playing while it is still loading, and you can keep working and writing in other apps and chats in the background.
A player bar was added. Tapping it opens the full player with the playlist and the settings. Shuffle and repeat are only available for audio files, not for voice messages.
Voice messages show a real waveform and are played one after another. The playback speed can be changed as well.

Tested:
Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro – Android 16
M301 MP3 Player – Android 9

Issues: #6093, #6408

AI:
Code and tests were created with Claude Code (Claude Opus 5.5).
I tested it myself on Nextcloud Hub 26 Spring (35.0.1). I defined the behavior of the points above and tested it on several devices.

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⛑️ Tests (unit and/or integration) are included or not needed
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🔙 Backport requests are created or not needed: /backport to stable-xx.x
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The content of this PR was partly or fully generated using AI
Claude Opus 5.5

coderabbitai · 2026-10-09T09:58:45Z

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📝 Walkthrough

The change adds shared Media3 playback for voice messages and audio files. It adds audio keys, queues, cached WebDAV data sources, metadata storage, waveform extraction, playback preferences, and service controls. Chat and conversation-list screens now expose player controls and message navigation. Message-level playback fields, the previous playback manager integrations, and the background voice-message card are removed.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Merge Risk: 🔵 Low · up to facd9

Account removal may leave audio metadata behind if the app stops during cleanup, and a quick track change may play the previous selection. These bounded issues should be addressed or explicitly accepted before merging.

Pre-merge checks: 4 · 1

Failed checks: 1 warning

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage		Docstring coverage is 18.33% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 251 functions across 45 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

Passed checks: 4 passed

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: reworking playback for voice messages and audio files.
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Linked Issues check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 2117395 and 595960c.

📒 Files selected for processing (5)

app/src/main/java/com/nextcloud/talk/chat/ChatActivity.kt
app/src/main/java/com/nextcloud/talk/chat/ui/model/ChatMessageUi.kt
app/src/main/java/com/nextcloud/talk/chat/viewmodels/ChatViewModel.kt
app/src/main/java/com/nextcloud/talk/conversationlist/ConversationsListActivity.kt
app/src/main/java/com/nextcloud/talk/ui/chat/ChatView.kt

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app/src/main/java/com/nextcloud/talk/chat/viewmodels/ChatViewModel.kt

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mahibi · 2026-10-15T15:30:53Z

Thank you @minichhenoch-sir , this looks pretty solid 👍
I only fixed the comment with passing the userId.
Other than that i tested and it works really good.
Claude only found minor points that dont have to be handled in this PR.

I wonder if we really want to have a shuffle feature. I dont see a usecase for a chat app that audiofiles are shuffled?

@rapterjet2004 Can you also have a look? Esp as you did a lot of things regarding voice messages

@minichhenoch-sir could you please let us know if it's okay that we take over e.g. for rebasing (and maybe fixing) or if you would like to do this?

minichhenoch-sir · 2026-10-15T20:57:07Z

Thank you for testing and for the fix!

Yes, you are welcome to take over the PR, for rebasing and any fixes.

About shuffle: it is meant for people who are looking for an alternative to Telegram, where you can listen to music shared in chats.

minichhenoch-sir · 2026-10-15T20:58:24Z

@rapterjet2004 Thanks for the review! Since you are welcome to take over, it would be great if you could include the change for account removal.

mahibi · 2026-10-16T06:43:57Z

@rapterjet2004 Thanks for the review! Since you are welcome to take over, it would be great if you could include the change for account removal.

Could you do this @rapterjet2004 ?
Could you also test that switching account works correct (forgot to test this)? In my opinion an audio should keep playing when switching accounts but clicking on it should switch back to the account and message.

mahibi · 2026-10-19T13:42:09Z

@rapterjet2004 will take over.
We will try to get this in quite soon

Audio messages were downloaded completely before playback, their state was mirrored into the chat messages and reset by list updates, taps on another message were ignored while one was playing, the speed button had no effect, and playback ignored audio focus and unplugged headphones. VoiceMessageMediaService now streams audio messages through the app's HTTP client into a size-limited disk cache and is the single source of truth for chat audio. It handles audio focus, becoming noisy, wake locks and retries after network errors, and exposes playback to the notification, the lock screen and headsets. Voice messages continue with the newer voice messages; audio files are played among the audio files of the conversation and can be shuffled and repeated. The service only accepts media items from Talk itself, and account credentials are only sent to the WebDAV files of that account. The chat and the conversation list observe the playback through ChatAudioPlayer, a MediaController that is connected while the screen is started. Tapping another message switches playback, seeking happens once a drag ends, and a player bar shows what is playing, also for another conversation. Tapping the bar opens a full player with seeking, previous and next, speed, shuffle, repeat and the list of queued items, scrolled to the current one. Speeds are kept per account and separately for voice messages and audio files, and are shared between screens. Opening the playing message, from the notification, the player bar or another chat, switches to its account and opens the thread it was played in. ChatAudioStore keeps durations, waveforms and the position of long recordings. Waveforms are computed from the cached file once the player has loaded it, so the file is not downloaded twice. Playback starts from the persisted position once the metadata is loaded. When an account is removed, by the user or by a remote wipe, playback of its audio is stopped and unloaded, and its metadata is deleted from memory and from the metadata cache. Assisted-by: Claude Code:claude-opus-5-5 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Co-authored-by: Marcel Hibbe <dev@mhibbe.de> Co-authored-by: rapterjet2004 <juliuslinus1@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Henoch Minich <301610408+minichhenoch-sir@users.noreply.github.com> Signed-off-by: Marcel Hibbe <dev@mhibbe.de> Signed-off-by: rapterjet2004 <juliuslinus1@gmail.com>

minichhenoch-sir marked this pull request as ready for review October 9, 2026 09:50

minichhenoch-sir force-pushed the claude/admiring-hamilton-h19ffy branch from 2117395 to 595960c Compare October 9, 2026 10:02

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minichhenoch-sir force-pushed the claude/admiring-hamilton-h19ffy branch from 595960c to a49f1f9 Compare October 9, 2026 21:23

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This was referenced Oct 18, 2026

fix(chat): pause the music of another app while a voice or video message plays #6931

Open

fix(chat): let the voice message notification go right after a pause #6932

Open

mahibi mentioned this pull request Oct 19, 2026

Question: why does a tap on another voice message do nothing while one is playing? #6904

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mahibi assigned rapterjet2004 Oct 19, 2026

rapterjet2004 self-requested a review October 19, 2026 18:59

rapterjet2004 approved these changes Oct 19, 2026

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rapterjet2004 force-pushed the claude/admiring-hamilton-h19ffy branch from facd907 to 76f1d47 Compare October 20, 2026 19:15

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feat(chat): rework playback of voice messages and audio files - #6840

feat(chat): rework playback of voice messages and audio files#6840
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minichhenoch-sir commented Oct 9, 2026

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