Feature Request: Seek Support for StreamerNode (Remote Audio Streaming)

[prashant-yi]

Feature Description

I would like to request seeking support for the StreamerNode when playing remote audio sources. Currently, StreamerNode allows streaming audio from a URL, but it appears to lack the capability to seek to a specific position or start playback from an offset.

Context & Problem

I am migrating my application's audio playback from expo-audio to react-native-audio-api.
While react-native-audio-api provides powerful graph-based audio processing, I hit a blocker with remote audio files (e.g., standard MP3/WAV hosted on S3/R2).

• Current Implementation: I use StreamerNode to play remote URLs.
• The Limitation: The StreamerNode API (await node.start()) does not accept a time or offset parameter, nor does it expose a seekTo(seconds) method.
• Result: Users cannot scrub through a podcast or voice note; they are forced to listen from the beginning every time.

Proposed Solution

Enhance StreamerNode to support seeking. This could be implemented in one of two ways:

1. seekTo Method:

   const streamer = await context.createStreamerNode();
   streamer.setSource("https://example.com/audio.mp3");
   await streamer.start();
   
   // Later...
   await streamer.seekTo(30); // Seek to 30 seconds

2. Offset in start:

   // Start playing from the 30-second mark
   await streamer.start({ offset: 30 });

Use Case

• Long-form Content: Podcasts, lectures, or long voice notes where listeners frequently skip sections or resume playback.
• Streaming Efficiency: Users shouldn't need to download the entire file (using AudioPlayerNode with a local file) just to seek. Streaming is preferred for startup performance.

Current Workaround

My current workaround is to revert to expo-audio or react-native-track-player for the specific use case of remote streaming media, while using react-native-audio-api for complex recording graphs. This creates a fragmented codebase. Having seeking support in StreamerNode would allow me to unify my audio stack.