Media Capture and Streams API (Media Stream)

The Media Capture and Streams API, often called the Media Streams API or MediaStream API, is an API related to WebRTC which provides support for streaming audio and video data.

It provides the interfaces and methods for working with the streams and their constituent tracks, the constraints associated with data formats, the success and error callbacks when using the data asynchronously, and the events that are fired during the process.

Concepts and usage

The API is based on the manipulation of a MediaStream object representing a flux of audio- or video-related data. See an example in Get the media stream.

A MediaStream consists of zero or more MediaStreamTrack objects, representing various audio or video tracks. Each MediaStreamTrack may have one or more channels. The channel represents the smallest unit of a media stream, such as an audio signal associated with a given speaker, like left or right in a stereo audio track.

MediaStream objects have a single input and a single output. A MediaStream object generated by getUserMedia() is called local, and has as its source input one of the user's cameras or microphones. A non-local MediaStream may be representing a media element, like <video> or <audio>, a stream originating over the network, and obtained via the WebRTC RTCPeerConnection API, or a stream created using the Web Audio API MediaStreamAudioDestinationNode.

The output of the MediaStream object is linked to a consumer. It can be a media element, like <audio> or <video>, the WebRTC RTCPeerConnection API or a Web Audio API MediaStreamAudioSourceNode.

Interfaces

In these reference articles, you'll find the fundamental information you'll need to know about each of the interfaces that make up the Media Capture and Streams API.

Events

Guides and tutorials

The Capabilities, constraints, and settings article discusses the concepts of constraints and capabilities, as well as media settings, and includes a Constraint Exerciser that lets you experiment with the results of different constraint sets being applied to the audio and video tracks coming from the computer's A/V input devices (such as its webcam and microphone).

The Taking still photos with getUserMedia() article shows how to use getUserMedia() to access the camera on a computer or mobile phone with getUserMedia() support and take a photo with it.

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`Media_Capture_and_Streams_API`	51	79	No	38	11	51	No	41	11	5.0	51
`canvas`	51	79	No	38	11	51	No	41	11	5.0	51
`requestFrame`	51	79	No	38	11	51	No	41	11	5.0	51

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`Media_Capture_and_Streams_API`	47	79	39	34	11	47	39	34	11	5.0	47
`getCapabilities`	67	79	No	54	17	67	No	48	17	9.0	67

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`Media_Capture_and_Streams_API`	47	12	39	34	11	47	39	34	11	5.0	47
`deviceId`	47	12	39	34	11	47	39	34	11	5.0	47
`groupId`	47	12	39 Before Firefox 67, related devices are not actually grouped together by `groupId`.	34	11	47	39 Before Firefox 67, related devices are not actually grouped together by `groupId`.	34	11	5.0	47
`kind`	47	12	39	34	11	47	39	34	11	5.0	47
`label`	47	12	39	34	11	47	39	34	11	5.0	47
`toJSON`	47	18	42	34	11	47	42	34	11	5.0	47

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`Media_Capture_and_Streams_API`	47	12	33	30	11	47	36	30	11	5.0	47
`devicechange_event`	57	12	52	34	11	No	52	No	11	No	No
`enumerateDevices`	47	12	116 `enumerateDevices()` enumerates both input and output devices. Previously only input devices were returned. 39 `enumerateDevices()` only returns input devices.	34	11	47	116 `enumerateDevices()` enumerates both input and output devices. Previously only input devices were returned. 39 `enumerateDevices()` only returns input devices.	34	11	5.0	47
`getDisplayMedia`	72	79 17–79 Available as a member of `Navigator` instead of `MediaDevices`.	66 33–66 Since Firefox 33 you can capture screen data using `getUserMedia()`, with a `video` constraint called `mediaSource`. Before 52 it relied on a client-configurable list of allowed sites.	60	13	No From Chrome Android 72 to 88, this method was exposed, but always failed with `NotAllowedError`. See bug 487935.	No From Firefox Android 66 to 79, this method was exposed, but always failed with `NotAllowedError`.	No From Opera Android 72 to 88, this method was exposed, but always failed with `NotAllowedError`. See bug 487935.	No	No From Samsung Internet Android 72 to 88, this method was exposed, but always failed with `NotAllowedError`. See bug 487935.	No From Chrome Android 72 to 88, this method was exposed, but always failed with `NotAllowedError`. See bug 487935.
`getSupportedConstraints`	53	12	44	40	11	52	50	41	11	6.0	53
`getUserMedia`	53 If you need this capability before version 53, refer to `navigator.webkitGetUserMedia`, a prefixed form of the deprecated `navigator.getUserMedia` API.	12	36 ["If you need this capability before version 36, refer to `navigator.mozGetUserMedia`, a prefixed form of the deprecated `navigator.getUserMedia` API.", "Before Firefox 55, `getUserMedia()` incorrectly returns `NotSupportedError` when the list of constraints specified is empty, or has all constraints set to `false`. Starting in Firefox 55, this situation now correctly calls the failure handler with a `TypeError`.", "When using the Firefox-specific `video` constraint called `mediaSource` to request display capture, Firefox 66 and later consider values of `screen` and `window` to both cause a list of screens and windows to be shown.", "Starting in Firefox 66, `getUserMedia()` can no longer be used in sandboxed `<iframe>`s or `data` URLs entered in the address bar by the user."]	40 If you need this capability before version 40, refer to `navigator.webkitGetUserMedia`, a prefixed form of the deprecated `navigator.getUserMedia` API.	11	53 If you need this capability before version 53, refer to `navigator.webkitGetUserMedia`, a prefixed form of the deprecated `navigator.getUserMedia` API.	36 ["If you need this capability before version 36, refer to `navigator.mozGetUserMedia`, a prefixed form of the deprecated `navigator.getUserMedia` API.", "Before Firefox 55, `getUserMedia()` incorrectly returns `NotSupportedError` when the list of constraints specified is empty, or has all constraints set to `false`. Starting in Firefox 55, this situation now correctly calls the failure handler with a `TypeError`.", "When using the Firefox-specific `video` constraint called `mediaSource` to request display capture, Firefox 66 and later consider values of `screen` and `window` to both cause a list of screens and windows to be shown.", "Starting in Firefox 66, `getUserMedia()` can no longer be used in sandboxed `<iframe>`s or `data` URLs entered in the address bar by the user."]	41 If you need this capability before version 41, refer to `navigator.webkitGetUserMedia`, a prefixed form of the deprecated `navigator.getUserMedia` API.	11	6.0	53
`selectAudioOutput`	No	No	116	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
`setCaptureHandleConfig`	102	102	No	88	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`Media_Capture_and_Streams_API`	26	12	22	15	11	26	22	14	11	1.5	4.4
`applyConstraints`	59	12	43	46	11	59	43	43	11	7.0	59
`capturehandlechange_event`	102	102	No	88	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
`clone`	35	12	48	22	11	35	48	22	11	3.0	37
`contentHint`	70	79	No	57	12.1	70	No	49	12.2	10.0	70
`enabled`	26	12	24	15	11	26	24	14	11	1.5	4.4
`ended_event`	26	12	50	15	11	26	50	14	11	1.5	4.4
`getCapabilities`	59	12	No	46	11	59	No	43	11	7.0	59
`getCaptureHandle`	102	102	No	88	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
`getConstraints`	53	12	50	40	11	52	50	41	11	6.0	53
`getSettings`	59	12	50	46	11	59	50	43	11	7.0	59
`id`	26	12	22	15	11	26	22	14	11	1.5	4.4
`kind`	26	12	22	15	11	26	22	14	11	1.5	4.4
`label`	26	12	22	15	11	26	22	14	11	1.5	4.4
`mute_event`	26	12	59	15	11	26	59	14	11	1.5	4.4
`muted`	38	12	59 Does not currently track the microphone's muted state from the operating system, see bug 1739163.	25	11	38	59 Does not currently track the microphone's muted state from the operating system, see bug 1739163.	25	11	3.0	38
`readyState`	26	12	50	15	11	26	50	14	11	1.5	4.4
`stop`	32	12	34	19	11	32	34	19	11	2.0	4.4.3
`unmute_event`	26	12	59	15	11	26	59	14	11	1.5	4.4

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Opera	Safari	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet	WebView Android
`MediaStream`	5521	1279	44	4215	11	5525	42	4214	11	6.01.5	554.4
`Media_Capture_and_Streams_API`	5521	1279	15	4215	11	5525	15	4214	11	6.01.5	554.4
`active`	42	12	52	29	11	42	52	29	11	4.0	42
`active_event`	42	12	No	29	No	42	No	29	No	4.0	42
`addTrack`	26	12	44	15	11	26	44	14	11	1.5	37
`addtrack_event`	26	12	50	15	11	26	50	14	11	1.5	4.4
`clone`	35	12	48	22	11	35	48	22	11	3.0	37
`getAudioTracks`	26	12	22 Before Firefox 64, this method returned an array of `AudioStreamTrack` objects. However, `MediaStreamTrack` has now subsumed that interface's functionality.	15	11	26	22 Before Firefox 64, this method returned an array of `AudioStreamTrack` objects. However, `MediaStreamTrack` has now subsumed that interface's functionality.	14	11	1.5	37
`getTrackById`	26	12	49	15	11	26	49	14	11	1.5	37
`getTracks`	38	12	34	25	11	38	34	25	11	3.0	38
`getVideoTracks`	26	12	22 Before Firefox 64, this method returned an array of `VideoStreamTrack` objects. However, `MediaStreamTrack` has now subsumed that interface's functionality.	15	11	26	22 Before Firefox 64, this method returned an array of `VideoStreamTrack` objects. However, `MediaStreamTrack` has now subsumed that interface's functionality.	14	11	1.5	37
`id`	26	12	41	15	11	26	41	14	11	1.5	4.4
`inactive_event`	42	12	No	29	No	42	No	29	No	4.0	42
`removeTrack`	26	12	44	15	11	26	44	14	11	1.5	37
`removetrack_event`	26	12	72 59–72 Before Firefox 72, the event handler was exposed but had no effect.	15	11	26	79 59–79 Before Firefox 72, the event handler was exposed but had no effect.	14	11	1.5	4.4