Media Plugin for Xamarin and Windows

Simple cross platform plugin to take photos and video or pick them from a gallery from shared code.

Ported from Xamarin.Mobile to a cross platform API.

Setup

• Available on NuGet: http://www.nuget.org/packages/Xam.Plugin.Media
• Install into your PCL project and Client projects.

Build Status:

• 
• CI NuGet Feed: https://ci.appveyor.com/nuget/mediaplugin

Platform Support

Platform	Supported	Version
Xamarin.iOS	Yes	iOS 7+
Xamarin.iOS Unified	Yes	iOS 7+
Xamarin.Android	Yes	API 14+
Windows Phone Silverlight	Yes	8.0+
Windows Phone RT	Yes	8.1+
Windows Store RT	Yes	8.1+
Windows 10 UWP	Yes	10+
Xamarin.Mac	No

API Usage

Call CrossMedia.Current from any project or PCL to gain access to APIs.

Before taking photos or videos you should check to see if a camera exists and if photos and videos are supported on the device. There are five properties that you can check:

/// <summary>
/// Initialize all camera components, must be called before checking properties below
/// </summary>
/// <returns>If success</returns>
Task<bool> Initialize();

/// <summary>
/// Gets if a camera is available on the device
/// </summary>
bool IsCameraAvailable { get; }

/// <summary>
/// Gets if ability to take photos supported on the device
/// </summary>
bool IsTakePhotoSupported { get; }

/// <summary>
/// Gets if the ability to pick photo is supported on the device
/// </summary>
bool IsPickPhotoSupported { get; }

/// <summary>
/// Gets if ability to take video is supported on the device
/// </summary>
bool IsTakeVideoSupported { get; }

/// <summary>
/// Gets if the ability to pick a video is supported on the device
/// </summary>
bool IsPickVideoSupported { get; }

Photos

/// <summary>
/// Picks a photo from the default gallery
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Media file or null if canceled</returns>
Task<MediaFile> PickPhotoAsync();

/// <summary>
/// Take a photo async with specified options
/// </summary>
/// <param name="options">Camera Media Options</param>
/// <returns>Media file of photo or null if canceled</returns>
Task<MediaFile> TakePhotoAsync(StoreCameraMediaOptions options);

Videos

/// <summary>
/// Picks a video from the default gallery
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Media file of video or null if canceled</returns>
Task<MediaFile> PickVideoAsync();

/// <summary>
/// Take a video with specified options
/// </summary>
/// <param name="options">Video Media Options</param>
/// <returns>Media file of new video or null if canceled</returns>
Task<MediaFile> TakeVideoAsync(StoreVideoOptions options);

Usage

Via a Xamarin.Forms project with a Button and Image to take a photo:

takePhoto.Clicked += async (sender, args) =>
{
    await CrossMedia.Current.Initialize();
    
    if (!CrossMedia.Current.IsCameraAvailable || !CrossMedia.Current.IsTakePhotoSupported)
    {
        DisplayAlert("No Camera", ":( No camera available.", "OK");
        return;
    }

    var file = await CrossMedia.Current.TakePhotoAsync(new Plugin.Media.Abstractions.StoreCameraMediaOptions
    {
        Directory = "Sample",
        Name = "test.jpg"
    });

    if (file == null)
        return;

    await DisplayAlert("File Location", file.Path, "OK");

    image.Source = ImageSource.FromStream(() =>
    {
        var stream = file.GetStream();
        file.Dispose();
        return stream;
    }); 
};

Compressing Photos (In Beta)

When calling TakePhotoAsync or PickPhotoAsync you can specify multiple options. First is PhotoSize which sill shrink the photo down to 75%, 50%, or 25% it's original size. Additionally, it is recommended to set the CompressionQuality, which is a value from 0 the most compressed all the way to 100, which is no compression. A good setting from testing is around 92.

Saving Photo/Video to Camera Roll/Gallery (In Beta for picking)

You can now save a photo or video to the camera roll/gallery. When creating the StoreCameraMediaOptions or StoreVideoMediaOptions simply set SaveToAlbum to true. When your user takes a photo it will still store temporary data, but also if needed make a copy to the public gallery (based on platform). In the MediaFile you will now see a AlbumPath that you can query as well.

Android: When you set SaveToAlbum this will make it so your photos are public in the Pictures/YourDirectory or Movies/YourDirectory. This is the only way Android can detect the photos.

IMPORTANT

Android: The WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE & CAMERA permissions are required, but the library will automatically add this for you. Additionally, if your users are running Marshmallow the Plugin will automatically prompt them for runtime permissions.

By adding these permissions Google Play will automatically filter out devices without specific hardward. You can get around this by adding the following to your AssemblyInfo.cs file in your Android project:

[assembly: UsesFeature("android.hardware.camera", Required = false)]
[assembly: UsesFeature("android.hardware.camera.autofocus", Required = false)]

iOS

Your app is required to have keys for NSCameraUsageDescription and NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription in order to access the device's camera and photo library. The string that you provide for each of these keys will be displayed to the user when they are prompted to provide permission to access these device features.

Windows Phone 8/8.1 Silverlight:

You must set the IC_CAP_ISV_CAMERA permission.

WP 8/8.1 Silverlight only supports photo, not video.

Windows Phone 8.1 RT:

Set Webcam permission.

In your App.xaml.cs you MUST place the following code inside of the OnLaunched method:

protected override void OnActivated(IActivatedEventArgs args)
{

    Plugin.Media.MediaImplementation.OnFilesPicked(args);

    base.OnActivated(args);
}

Windows Store:

Set Webcam permission.

Thanks!

Windows Phone 8.1 RT Photo Capture

This feature was made possible by Daniel Meixner and his great open source project: https://diycameracaptureui.codeplex.com/

Made possible under Ms-PL license: https://diycameracaptureui.codeplex.com/license

License

This is a derivative to Xamarin.Mobile's Media with a cross platform API and other enhancements. // // Copyright 2011-2013, Xamarin Inc. // // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); // you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. // You may obtain a copy of the License at // // http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 // // Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software // distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, // WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and // limitations under the License. //