MediaPlayer Streaming Hanging App and Crashing on Slow Connections - android-studio

Question

I'm building a radio streaming app. Everything works great when I have a good internet connection, even when multitasking. The problem is without or with a poor internet connection.
The moment you tap the play button the app freezes and only resumes when the audio stream starts. With slow connections this can take a few seconds, hanging the app. Without Internet, the app eventually crashes after a while.
public class SoundService extends Service {
MediaPlayer mp;
#Override
public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
return null;
}
public void onCreate() {
mp = new MediaPlayer();
try {
mp.setDataSource("stream_url");
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
Log.v(TAG, "Error 1");
onDestroy();
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
Log.v(TAG, "Error 2");
onDestroy();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
Log.v(TAG, "Error 3");
onDestroy();
}
try {
mp.prepare();
mp.start();
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
Log.v(TAG, "Error 4");
onDestroy();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
Log.v(TAG, "Error 5");
onDestroy();
}
}
public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
mp.start();
return Service.START_NOT_STICKY;
}
public void onDestroy() {
mp.stop();
mp.release();
stopSelf();
super.onDestroy();
}
}
This is how I start the stream (play button):
startService(new Intent(MainActivity.this, SoundService.class));
Without connection the app eventually gets the error number 5, but this occurs only when crashes, so it's too late do stop the player. Before that I don't get any "catch".
As a temporary workaround, I'm checking for internet connection before starting the stream. This way I can prevent the crash, but I still have a problem with the app hanging on slow connections.
Any ideas? Thanks!

Answer 1

use this code which might help you
mediaPlayer.prepareAsync();
mediaPlayer.setOnPreparedListener(new MediaPlayer.OnPreparedListener() {
#Override
public void onPrepared(MediaPlayer mp) {
mediaPlayer.start();
}
});