🐛 Android: Sound does not play in RELEASE build (works in DEBUG)

[iqraKhaliq]

Before submitting a new issue

• I tested using the latest version of the library, as the bug might be already fixed.
• I tested using a supported version of react native.
• I checked for possible duplicate issues, with possible answers.

Bug summary

When using react-native-nitro-sound, sound playback works perfectly in debug builds but fails silently in release builds on Android.

• No JavaScript error is thrown
• No native crash occurs
• The sound simply does not play
  The same code and same sound file work in debug

react-native-nitro-modules: 0.31.10
react-native-nitro-sound: 0.2.10
react-native: 0.80.2

Library version

0.2.10

Project type

React Native (bare workflow)

React Native version

0.80.2

Expo SDK version (if applicable)

No response

Environment info

System:
  OS: macOS 15.7.3
  CPU: (12) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz
  Memory: 37.96 MB / 16.00 GB
  Shell:
    version: "5.9"
    path: /bin/zsh
Binaries:
  Node:
    version: 22.9.0
    path: /Users/macbookpro/.nvm/versions/node/v22.9.0/bin/node
  Yarn:
    version: 3.6.4
    path: /Users/macbookpro/.nvm/versions/node/v22.9.0/bin/yarn
  npm:
    version: 10.8.3
    path: /Users/macbookpro/.nvm/versions/node/v22.9.0/bin/npm
  Watchman:
    version: 2025.06.30.00
    path: /usr/local/bin/watchman
Managers:
  CocoaPods:
    version: 1.15.2
    path: /Users/macbookpro/.rbenv/shims/pod
SDKs:
  iOS SDK:
    Platforms:
      - DriverKit 25.2
      - iOS 26.2
      - macOS 26.2
      - tvOS 26.2
      - visionOS 26.2
      - watchOS 26.2
  Android SDK:
    API Levels:
      - "29"
      - "31"
      - "33"
      - "34"
      - "35"
      - "36"
    Build Tools:
      - 29.0.2
      - 30.0.2
      - 30.0.3
      - 33.0.0
      - 33.0.1
      - 34.0.0
      - 35.0.0
      - 36.0.0
      - 36.1.0
    System Images:
      - android-35 | Google Play Intel x86_64 Atom
    Android NDK: Not Found
IDEs:
  Android Studio: 2024.1 AI-241.18034.62.2412.12266719
  Xcode:
    version: 26.2/17C52
    path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
  Java:
    version: 21.0.8
    path: /usr/local/opt/openjdk@21/bin/javac
  Ruby:
    version: 3.2.2
    path: /Users/macbookpro/.rbenv/shims/ruby
npmPackages:
  "@react-native-community/cli":
    installed: 19.1.1
    wanted: 19.1.1
  react:
    installed: 19.1.0
    wanted: 19.1.0
  react-native:
    installed: 0.80.2
    wanted: 0.80.2
  react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
  "*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
  hermesEnabled: true
  newArchEnabled: true
iOS:
  hermesEnabled: true
  newArchEnabled: true

Steps to reproduce

1. Add an audio file
2. Trigger sound playback → ✅ sound plays
3. Install the release APK on a physical device
4. Trigger sound playback → ❌ no sound plays

Reproducible example repository

N/A

[NikhilMasurkar]

same issue

[iqraKhaliq]

Resolved the inconsistent file URL issue between Android debug and release builds by implementing a patch to properly handle files from the Android raw folder.

react-native-nitro-sound+0.2.10.patch

[brianlenz]

This issue also happens with recording sound (works in debug build, not in release build). Rolling back to 0.2.8 fixes the issue, so there must be something between that version and 0.2.10 that started causing stability issues. The nitrogen changes (#735) in v0.2.9 seem suspicious.

@hyochan, thoughts?

[syedfaheem27]

@iqraKhaliq
What does this patch file do?
Can you tell me the changes that u made before generating a patch?

[syedfaheem27]

@brianlenz
I was using version 0.2.12 and then downgraded to 0.2.8 as you said but even that did not help.

[iqraKhaliq]

@syedfaheem27
I used a workaround to handle sound playback on Android release builds. Specifically, when Image.resolveAssetSource returns a malformed or unusable path (which can happen in release mode), I added a condition to detect such cases and fallback to using raw resource files from the res/raw directory.

In this approach, I mapped ringtone keys to corresponding raw resource file names and constructed an android.resource:// URI dynamically. This allows the native MediaPlayer to load and play the sound directly from bundled resources.

Additionally, since react-native-nitro-sound does not fully support android.resource:// URIs out of the box, I applied a patch to ensure compatibility and enable proper playback using this URI format.

const resolvedAsset = Image.resolveAssetSource(soundPath);
const resolvedUri = resolvedAsset?.uri ?? '';

const isAndroid = Platform.OS === 'android';

const isMalformedAndroidAsset =
  isAndroid &&
  resolvedUri &&
  !/^(http|file|content)/.test(resolvedUri) &&
  resolvedUri.includes('_');

const ringtoneToResourceName: Record<string, string> = {
  default: 'appdefault',
};

const getAndroidResourceUri = (ringtoneKey: string) => {
  const resourceName =
    ringtoneToResourceName[ringtoneKey] ??
    ringtoneToResourceName.default;

  return `android.resource://your_package_name/raw/${resourceName}`;
};

if (isMalformedAndroidAsset) {
  const ringtoneKey = alarmSettings.ringtone ?? 'default';
  uri = getAndroidResourceUri(ringtoneKey);
`}

[AnasAzamMaher]

Hi @iqraKhaliq ,

I am facing the exact same issue with react-native-nitro-sound where everything works perfectly in Debug mode, but fails silently or crashes with a java.io.IOException: Prepare failed.: status=0x1 error in the Android Release build.

I saw your workaround where you mentioned mapping the paths to the res/raw directory and creating an android.resource:// URI dynamically. I tried implementing the exact same JavaScript logic in my service file, but the MediaPlayer inside Nitro Sound is still throwing the status=0x1 error in release mode.

Here are my release logs for reference:

I ReactNativeJS: 'resolvedUri', 'src_assets_bgaudios_ambient_focus'
I ReactNativeJS: 'isMalformedAndroidAsset', true
I ReactNativeJS: '[FocusAudioService] Intercepted Release Path -> Using Resource URI:', 'android.resource://com.niches.focus.app/raw/ambient_focus'
E ReactNativeJS: '********[FocusAudioService] Play error:', [Error: java.io.IOException: Prepare failed.: status=0x1
at android.media.MediaPlayer._prepare(Native Method)
at com.margelo.nitro.sound.HybridSound$startPlayer$1.invokeSuspend(Sound.kt:440)

Could you please help to resolve that issue.

[iqraKhaliq]

@AnasAzamMaher Could you please first verify whether the audio file itself is playing correctly on the device? If the audio plays as expected, we can revisit the implementation and investigate the issue further.

If the problem still persists after confirming the audio file is valid, please share a minimal demo project that reproduces the issue. I can help you debug it and identify the root cause more effectively.