MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter will not update or retrieve information
- by Jayson Lane
I'm working to update the MPNowPlayingInfoCenter and having a bit of trouble. I've tried quite a bit to the point where I'm at a loss. The following is my code:
self.audioPlayer.allowsAirPlay = NO;
Class playingInfoCenter = NSClassFromString(@"MPNowPlayingInfoCenter");
if (playingInfoCenter) {
NSMutableDictionary *songInfo = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
MPMediaItemArtwork *albumArt = [[MPMediaItemArtwork alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"series_placeholder"]];
[songInfo setObject:thePodcast.title forKey:MPMediaItemPropertyTitle];
[songInfo setObject:thePodcast.author forKey:MPMediaItemPropertyArtist];
[songInfo setObject:@"NCC" forKey:MPMediaItemPropertyAlbumTitle];
[songInfo setObject:albumArt forKey:MPMediaItemPropertyArtwork];
[[MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter] setNowPlayingInfo:songInfo];
}
This isn't working, I've also tried:
[[MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter] setNowPlayingInfo:nil];
In an attempt to get it to remove the existing information from the iPod app (or whatever may have info there). In addition, just to see if I could find out the problem, I've tried retrieving the current information on app launch:
NSDictionary *info = [[MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter] nowPlayingInfo];
NSString *title = [info valueForKey:MPMediaItemPropertyTitle];
NSString *author = [info valueForKey:MPMediaItemPropertyArtist];
NSLog(@"Currently playing: %@ // %@", title, author);
and I get Currently playing: (null) // (null)
I've researched this quite a bit and the following articles explain it pretty thoroughly, however, I am still unable to get this working properly. Am I missing something? Would there be anything interfering with this? Is this a service something my app needs to register to access (didn't see this in any docs)?
Apple's Docs
Change lock screen background audio controls
Now playing info ignored
UPDATE: I've created a tutorial outlining how I was able to get this functioning properly: http://jaysonlane.net/tech-blog/2012/04/lock-screen-now-playing-with-mpnowplayinginfocenter/
