Get list of all music files on Android device

To get list of all music files in Sketchware android project, follow the steps below.

1. In main.xml add a ListView listview1.

2. Add a Custom View list_item.xml. In this add an ImageView imageview1, and five TextViews textview_title, textview_artist, textview_album, textview_duration, and textview_path. Select list_item as Custom View of listview1.

3. Switch on AppCompat and Design.

4. In Image Manager, add an image ic_music_note.

5. In Permission Manager, add following permissions:

  • android.permission.INTERNET
  • android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
  • android.permission.READ_MEDIA_AUDIO

6. Add a String variable art, a Map variable map, and a ListMap musicListMap.

7. Add following imports:


import android.provider.MediaStore;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.content.ContentResolver;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.Manifest;

8. Create a more block readAllMusicFiles and put codes given below. After codes, use block to display musicListMap in listview1.


Uri uri = MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;

String[] projection = {
        MediaStore.Audio.Media._ID,
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.TITLE,
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.ARTIST,
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.ALBUM,
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.DURATION,
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.DATA,
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.ALBUM_ID
};


Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(
        uri,
        projection,
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.IS_MUSIC + "!= 0",
        null,
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.TITLE + " ASC"
);

if (cursor != null) {
    while (cursor.moveToNext()) {
        String title = cursor.getString(1);
        String artist = cursor.getString(2);
        String album = cursor.getString(3);
        long duration = cursor.getLong(4);
        String path = cursor.getString(5);
        long albumId = cursor.getLong(6);
        Uri albumArtUri = Uri.parse("content://media/external/audio/albumart/" + albumId);
        
        int totalSeconds = (int) (duration / 1000);
        int minutes = totalSeconds / 60;
        int seconds = totalSeconds % 60;
        String formatted_duration = String.format(Locale.getDefault(), "%02d:%02d", minutes, seconds);

        map = new HashMap<>();
        map.put("title", title);
        map.put("artist", artist);
        map.put("album", album);
        map.put("duration", formatted_duration);
        map.put("path", path);
        
        boolean hasAlbumArt = false;
        try (InputStream is =
         getContentResolver().openInputStream(albumArtUri)) {
             if (is != null) {
                 hasAlbumArt = true;
             }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            hasAlbumArt = false;
        }
        
        if (hasAlbumArt){
            map.put("albumArt", albumArtUri.toString());
        } else {
            map.put("albumArt", "");
        }

        musicListMap.add(map);
    }
    cursor.close();
}

9. Create another more block request_permissions and put following codes in it.


if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.TIRAMISU) {
    if (checkSelfPermission(Manifest.permission.READ_MEDIA_AUDIO)
            != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {

        requestPermissions(
                new String[]{Manifest.permission.READ_MEDIA_AUDIO},
                1001
        );
    }
} else {
    if (checkSelfPermission(Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE)
            != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {

        requestPermissions(
                new String[]{Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE},
                1001
        );
    }
}

}

@Override
public void onRequestPermissionsResult(int _requestCode, String[] permissions, int[] grantResults) {
    super.onRequestPermissionsResult(_requestCode, permissions, grantResults);
    if (_requestCode == 1001) {
        _readAllMusicFiles();
    }

10. In onCreate, use blocks request_permissions and readAllMusicFiles.

11. In onBindCustomView, use blocks as shown below.


12. Save and run the project.

Comments

  1. Hannah WaltersJune 3, 2026 at 1:10 AM

    To get a list of all music files on an Android device, you typically use the MediaStore API, which provides structured access to media stored on the device. By querying MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, you can retrieve audio files and filter them by type, such as MP3, WAV, or other supported formats, using a ContentResolver query. The results return details like file name, path, artist, album, and duration, which you can store or display in your app’s UI. This approach is preferred because it avoids manually scanning storage and ensures compatibility with Android’s security rules for scoped storage. Developers often combine this with runtime permissions like READ_MEDIA_AUDIO (or older READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) to access files properly. If you are struggling with implementing this or writing it into an academic report, you might even look for thesis help to better understand how Android media frameworks work in practice.

    ReplyDelete

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