How to Play Audio in Flutter: A Complete Guide for Beginners (2026)

Playing audio is a very common requirement in mobile apps today. Whether you are building a music player, podcast app, meditation app, language learning app, or just want to play notification sounds, Flutter provides powerful and flexible ways to handle audio.

In this Flutter audio tutorial, you will learn:

• How to play local and network audio files

• Play, pause, stop, loop, and control volume

• Handle audio lifecycle and background playback

• Common errors and best practices

This guide is written for beginners as well as intermediate Flutter developers.

Why Audio Playback in Flutter Is Important

Audio enhances user engagement. Apps like Blinkit, Spotify, Audible, Duolingo, and YouTube rely heavily on audio for better user experience. Flutter makes cross‑platform audio playback easy using well‑maintained packages.

Step 1: Add audioplayers Dependency

dependencies:
audioplayers: ^6.5.1

flutter pub get

import 'package:audioplayers/audioplayers.dart';

final AudioPlayer audioPlayer = AudioPlayer();

Play Audio from Network URL

await audioPlayer.play(
UrlSource('https://example.com/audio.mp3'),
);

Play Local Audio from Assets

assets/audio/sample.mp3

flutter:
assets:
- assets/audio/sample.mp3

Play asset audio

await audioPlayer.play(
AssetSource('audio/sample.mp3'),
);

Play, Pause, Stop Audio

await audioPlayer.pause(); // Pause
await audioPlayer.resume(); // Resume
await audioPlayer.stop(); // Stop

Loop Audio

await audioPlayer.setReleaseMode(ReleaseMode.loop);

Common use cases:

• Meditation apps

• Background music

Control Volume

await audioPlayer.setVolume(0.5); // 0.0 to 1.0

Listen to Audio State Changes

audioPlayer.onPlayerStateChanged.listen((state) {
print('Player State: $state');
});

Dispose Audio Player (Very Important)

Always release resources to avoid memory leaks:

@override
void dispose() {
audioPlayer.dispose();
super.dispose();
}

Complete Flutter Audio Player Example

class AudioExample extends StatefulWidget {
@override
_AudioExampleState createState() => _AudioExampleState();
}


class _AudioExampleState extends State {
final AudioPlayer player = AudioPlayer();


@override
void dispose() {
player.dispose();
super.dispose();
}


@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Flutter Audio Player')),
body: Center(
child: Column(
mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
children: [
ElevatedButton(
onPressed: () async {
await player.play(
AssetSource('audio/sample.mp3'),
);
},
child: Text('Play'),
),
ElevatedButton(
onPressed: () => player.pause(),
child: Text('Pause'),
),
ElevatedButton(
onPressed: () => player.stop(),
child: Text('Stop'),
),
],
),
),
);
}
}

Common Errors & Fixes

❌ Audio not playing

✔ Check internet permission (Android) ✔ Verify asset path ✔ Run flutter clean

Conclusion

Playing audio in Flutter is easy and powerful with the right package. For most apps, audioplayers is the best choice. If you need advanced features like playlists or streaming, consider just_audio.

This guide gives you everything you need to play audio in Flutter professionally.

🚀 Happy Flutter Coding!