iOS Displaying song meta data in multitasking bar and Now Playing lock screen

Question

Is there a way to display song title on the multitasking bar, and multimedia section of the lock screen in a background audio app, like the iPod/Music/Video apps? So far my app works in background, responds to media playback controls (on the multitasking bar, lock screen, headphones, external accessory, etc.) and handles interruptions, but this is the one thing missing.

Or is this not possible with the current API? (which of so far I have not been able to find any information).

One thing I wanted to check was if Pandora did this, but as I cannot use the app from Australia, I can't verify this. - I seem to recall seeing in a keynote demo that it did, but I could be wrong.

Answer 1

As of iOS 5.0, this is now possible with the MPNowPlayingInfoCenter class.

All you need to know is in the official MPNowPlayingInfoCenter class reference.

It is basically a dictionary you populate with the necessary metadata to describe the currently playing media.

Answer 2

It is not possible to display information outside of your app about which song is playing while using the backgrounding audio API. The only action possible is to pause and play your audio. That is all that Pandora is able to do also.