Build a music or podcast player app (no code)

A music player is a surprisingly good first app: the audio APIs do the heavy lifting, and the value is in the experience — a clean library, playlists that work, a player that keeps playing when the screen locks. Independent artists, radio stations, teachers and podcasters build their own on App Builder Agent to distribute their own audio without a platform in between.

This guide covers three shapes — offline player, podcast app, live radio — and the details (background playback, notifications, sleep timer) users expect.

What a player must do

Audio apps are judged by whether they simply keep playing. Start with these:

• A library — Songs or episodes with title, artist/show, artwork, duration; sorting and search.
• A real player — Play/pause, seek, next/previous, shuffle, repeat, and a mini player at the bottom.
• Background playback and lock-screen controls — The app must keep playing with the screen off, with media notification controls.
• Playlists and favourites — Create, reorder, add from anywhere.
• Sleep timer and speed — Sleep timer for the night; 1.25×/1.5× for podcasts.
• Downloads — For podcasts and radio-station apps: download episodes for offline listening.
• Your audio source — Files on the device, your own hosted MP3 links, a podcast RSS feed, or a stream URL.

Build it with App Builder Agent, step by step

Say where the audio comes from. That single detail decides most of the app.

1. Create a mobile app project. Background audio and media notifications need a native app.
2. Describe the player and the source. Local files, an RSS feed, or stream URLs — name it.
   Build a music player app called Tempo that plays audio files on the device. Library by songs, artists, albums with artwork; search. Full player screen with seek, shuffle, repeat, a mini player at the bottom. Playlists and favourites. Background playback with lock-screen controls. Sleep timer. Equaliser presets (bass boost, vocal, flat). Dark theme, teal accent.
3. Test playback in the simulator and on a phone. Background audio must be tested on a real device; export an APK early.
4. Add podcast or radio features if relevant. An RSS feed, downloads, episode progress; or a stream URL with now-playing info.
   Add a Podcasts tab: subscribe by RSS URL, list episodes with descriptions, download for offline, remember playback position, 1.25× and 1.5× speed.
5. Ship. Export the APK. If you distribute your own audio, publish a website version too so people can listen in a browser.

Prompts that work well

Three very different audio apps from the same builder:

Make it feel finished

• Test on a real phone early — background audio behaves differently from the simulator.
• Persist the queue and position so a restart resumes where the listener stopped.
• Keep artwork small; a library of 2,000 songs should scroll smoothly.
• Ask for a media notification explicitly; it is what users mean by “keeps playing”.

Distributing your own audio

Files on the device need no hosting. Your own MP3s or a podcast feed can live on any hosting you already have; the app just plays URLs. If you want a catalogue you edit from your phone, ask for a hosted backend — the platform provisions it with the project.

Export the APK for listeners and publish the website version so a link works everywhere.

Frequently asked