Xamarin.Essentials: Media Picker
The MediaPicker class lets a user pick or take a photo or video on the device.
Get started
To start using this API, read the getting started guide for Xamarin.Essentials to ensure the library is properly installed and set up in your projects.
To access the MediaPicker functionality the following platform specific setup is required.
The following permissions are required and must be configured in the Android project. This can be added in the following ways:
Open the AssemblyInfo.cs file under the Properties folder and add:
// Needed for Picking photo/video
[assembly: UsesPermission(Android.Manifest.Permission.ReadExternalStorage)]
// Needed for Taking photo/video
[assembly: UsesPermission(Android.Manifest.Permission.WriteExternalStorage)]
[assembly: UsesPermission(Android.Manifest.Permission.Camera)]
// Add these properties if you would like to filter out devices that do not have cameras, or set to false to make them optional
[assembly: UsesFeature("android.hardware.camera", Required = true)]
[assembly: UsesFeature("android.hardware.camera.autofocus", Required = true)]
OR Update Android Manifest:
Open the AndroidManifest.xml file under the Properties folder and add the following inside of the manifest node.
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
Or right click on the Android project and open the project's properties. Under Android Manifest find the Required permissions: area and check these permissions. This will automatically update the AndroidManifest.xml file.
If your project's Target Android version is set to Android 11 (R API 30) you must update your Android Manifest with queries that are used with the new package visibility requirements.
Open the AndroidManifest.xml file under the Properties folder and add the following inside of the manifest node:
<queries>
<intent>
<action android:name="android.media.action.IMAGE_CAPTURE" />
</intent>
</queries>
Using Media Picker
The MediaPicker class has the following methods that all return a FileResult that can be used to get the files location or read it as a Stream.
PickPhotoAsync: Opens the media browser to select a photo.CapturePhotoAsync: Opens the camera to take a photo.PickVideoAsync: Opens the media browser to select a video.CaptureVideoAsync: Opens the camera to take a video.
Each method optionally takes in a MediaPickerOptions parameter that allows the Title to be set on some operating systems that is displayed to the users.
Tip
All methods must be called on the UI thread because permission checks and requests are automatically handled by Xamarin.Essentials.
General Usage
async Task TakePhotoAsync()
{
try
{
var photo = await MediaPicker.CapturePhotoAsync();
await LoadPhotoAsync(photo);
Console.WriteLine($"CapturePhotoAsync COMPLETED: {PhotoPath}");
}
catch (FeatureNotSupportedException fnsEx)
{
// Feature is not supported on the device
}
catch (PermissionException pEx)
{
// Permissions not granted
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine($"CapturePhotoAsync THREW: {ex.Message}");
}
}
async Task LoadPhotoAsync(FileResult photo)
{
// canceled
if (photo == null)
{
PhotoPath = null;
return;
}
// save the file into local storage
var newFile = Path.Combine(FileSystem.CacheDirectory, photo.FileName);
using (var stream = await photo.OpenReadAsync())
using (var newStream = File.OpenWrite(newFile))
await stream.CopyToAsync(newStream);
PhotoPath = newFile;
}
Tip
The FullPath property does not always return the physical path to the file. To get the file, use the OpenReadAsync method.