This document defines a set of JavaScript APIs that let a Web application manage how audio is rendered on the user audio output devices.
The WebRTC and Device and Sensors Working Group intend to publish this specification as a Candidate Recommendation soon. Consequently, this is a Request for wide review of this document.
This proposal allows JavaScript to direct the audio output of a media element to authorized devices other than the system or user agent default. This can be helpful in a variety of real-time communication scenarios as well as general media applications. For example, an application can use this API to programmatically direct output to a device such as a Bluetooth headset or speakerphone.
HTMLMediaElement ExtensionsThis section specifies additions to the
HTMLMediaElement [[!HTML5]] when the Audio Output Devices API is
supported.
partial interface HTMLMediaElement {
readonly attribute DOMString sinkId;
Promise<void> setSinkId (DOMString sinkId);
};
sinkId of type DOMString, readonlydeviceId attribute of one of the
MediaDeviceInfo values returned from
. MediaDevices.enumerateDevices()
[[!GETUSERMEDIA]]. The value of this attribute is equal to the
argument passed to the last successful execution of setSinkId(), or the
empty string if setSinkId() has never
been called.
setSinkId| Parameter | Type | Nullable | Optional | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sinkId | DOMString |
✘ | ✘ | The ID corresponding to the audio output device. The empty string represents the user agent default. |
Promise<void>
When this method is invoked, the user agent must run the following steps:
If sinkId is equal to the media element's
sinkId attribute,
return a promise resolved with undefined.
Let promise be a new promise.
Run the following substeps in parallel:
If sinkId does not match any audio output device
identified by the result that would be provided by
enumerateDevices(), reject promise with
a new
DOMException whose name is
NotFoundError and abort these substeps.
If the application is not authorized to play audio through the
device identified by sinkId, reject promise
with a new
DOMException whose name is
SecurityError and abort these substeps.
Switch the underlying output device for the media element to the
device identified by sinkId.
If this substep is successful and the media
element's
paused attribute is false, audio will stop playing
out of the device represented by the element's sinkId attribute and will start
playing out of the device identified by sinkId
If the preceding substep failed, reject promise with
a new
DOMException whose name is AbortError
and abort these substeps.
Update the internal state of the media element so that the value
of its sinkId
attribute corresponds to sinkId.
Resolve promise.
Return promise.
New audio devices may become available to the user agent, or an
audio device (identified by a media element's sinkId attribute) that had
previously become unavailable may become available
again, for example, if it is unplugged and later plugged back in.
In this scenario, the user agent must run the following steps:
Let sinkId be the identifier for the newly available device.
For each media element whose sinkId attribute is equal to
sinkId:
The following paragraph is non-normative.
If the application wishes to react to the device
change, the application can listen to the
devicechange event and query
enumerateDevices() for the list of updated
devices.
This document extends the Web platform with the ability to direct audio output to non-default devices, when authorization is given. Authorization is necessary because playing audio out of a non-default device may be unexpected behavior to the user, and may cause a nuisance. For example, suppose a user is in a library or other quiet public place where she is using a laptop with system audio directed to a USB headset. Her expectation is that the laptop’s audio is private and she will not disturb others. If any Web application can direct audio output through arbitrary output devices, a mischievous website may play loud audio out of the laptop’s external speakers without the user’s consent.
To prevent these kinds of nuisance scenarios, the user agent must acquire the user’s consent to access non-default audio output devices. This would prevent the library example outlined earlier, because the application would not be authorized to play out audio from the system speakers.
The default audio output device is always authorized.
The user agent may explicitly obtain user consent to play audio out of non-default output devices; the details of this process are left to the implementation. For example, one approach could be to add an explicit user prompt of the form "example.com wants to access all your sound output devices".
However, implementations MUST support implicit consent via the
getUserMedia() permission prompt; when an audio input
device is authorized and opened via
getUserMedia(), this also authorizes access to any associated
audio output devices (i.e., those with the same
groupId). This conveniently handles the common case of wanting
to route both input and output audio through a headset or speakerphone
device.
This specification defines conformance criteria that apply to a single product: the user agent that implements the interfaces that it contains.
Conformance requirements phrased as algorithms or specific steps may be implemented in any manner, so long as the end result is equivalent. (In particular, the algorithms defined in this specification are intended to be easy to follow, and not intended to be performant.)
Implementations that use ECMAScript to implement the APIs defined in this specification must implement them in a manner consistent with the ECMAScript Bindings defined in the Web IDL specification [[!WEBIDL]], as this specification uses that specification and terminology.
The following people have contributed directly to the development of this specification: Harald Alvestrand, Rick Byers, Dominique Hazael-Massieux (via the HTML5Apps project), Philip Jägenstedt, Victoria Kirst, Shijun Sun, Martin Thomson, Chris Wilson.