Vega Media Controls Overview

Open Beta Documentation Amazon offers this technical documentation as part of a pre-release, open beta. The features described might change as Amazon receives feedback and iterates on the features. For the most current feature information, see the Release Notes.

Vega Media Controls provides functionality that allows media app developers on Vega to stream line the integration of various input modalities for media control. While media apps typically feature in-app user interface controls, such as play, pause, and stop, customers often want additional interaction methods such as remote control or voice commands through services such as Alexa. Vega Media Controls functionality handles the integration of these diverse input methods, allowing developers to focus on the core business logic of smooth media playback. The service also provides client methods that allow an app to send commands such as play and pause to specific media apps or the one currently in focus. Additionally, Vega Media Controls provides methods for discovering available apps, referred to as endpoints. This functionality enables developers to target commands to specific apps or the one with active focus, providing flexibility in control implementation. By leveraging these methods, developers can create more robust and user-friendly media apps while simplifying their development process and enhancing the overall user experience.

Vega Media Controls offers a comprehensive suite of methods that supports to two main categories of developers:

Those creating media apps
Those developing media hub apps

The majority of developers fall into the first category, utilizing the media app provider methods. These developers implement the IMediaControlHandlerAsync interface, which includes methods such as handlePlay, handlePause, handleStop and many others to manage multimedia playback logic. This interface supports multiple sessions, enabling features such as multiple videos or picture-in-picture.

Media provider apps maintain a MediaSession object with metadata about the playing media, including its capabilities, supported controls, and current state. Importantly, Vega Media Controls automatically routes commands from various input sources to the appropriate handler method, simplifying integration.

The client methods are designed for developers who are creating centralized media control apps or hubs. These methods are available to any developer seeking to retrieve information about currently playing media or control playback across multiple apps. This flexibility is particularly valuable for comprehensive media management solutions. Additionally, these client methods play a crucial role in development processes, facilitating automated testing of provider apps within CI/CD pipelines.

A key feature of Vega Media Controls is its discovery method, which allows you to identify and list apps integrated with Vega and installed on the device. This feature enables targeted control of specific apps. The methods returns a ranked list of apps, with the currently focused one at the top, based on Vega Media Controls sophisticated focus detection algorithm. This comprehensive approach makes sure that you can create robust, user-friendly media apps or control hubs while streamlining their development process and enhancing overall user experience.

Get started with Vega Media Controls

Last updated: Sep 30, 2025

Vega Media Controls Overview

Related topics