This is documentation for the next SDK version. For up-to-date documentation, see the latest version (SDK 54).
A library that provides access to the device's media library.
expo-media-library
provides access to the user's media library, allowing apps to read existing images and videos, as well as save new ones.
On Android, full access to the media library (the main purpose of this package) is allowed only for apps that require broad access to photos. See details on Google Play's Photo and Video Permissions policy.
Installation
-
npx expo install expo-media-library
If you are installing this in an existing React Native app, make sure to install expo
in your project.
Usage
Add a new asset from the web
import { View, Text } from 'react-native'; import { Image } from 'expo-image'; import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'; import { File, Paths } from 'expo-file-system'; import { Asset, requestPermissionsAsync } from 'expo-media-library/next'; export default function SaveToMediaLibraryExample() { const [asset, setAsset] = useState<Asset | null>(null); const downloadFile = async () => { const url = 'https://picsum.photos/200/300'; const destinationFile = new File(Paths.cache, 'test_image.jpg'); if (destinationFile.exists) { return destinationFile; } else { return File.downloadFileAsync(url, destinationFile); } }; useEffect(() => { const downloadAndSaveAsset = async () => { const file = await downloadFile(); const { status } = await requestPermissionsAsync(); if (status !== 'granted') { return; } const asset = await Asset.create(file.uri); setAsset(asset); }; downloadAndSaveAsset(); }, []); return ( <View> {asset ? ( <> <Text>{asset.id}</Text> <Image source={{ uri: asset.id }} style={{ width: 200, height: 300 }} /> </> ) : ( <Text>Downloading and creating asset...</Text> )} </View> ); }
Retrieve asset properties
import { View, Text } from 'react-native'; import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'; import { AssetField, MediaType, Query, requestPermissionsAsync } from 'expo-media-library/next'; export default function RetrievingAssetPropertiesExample() { const [assetInfo, setAssetInfo] = useState<{ id: string; filename: string; mediaType: string; width: number; height: number; creationTime: number | null; modificationTime: number | null; } | null>(null); useEffect(() => { const querySomeAsset = async () => { const { status } = await requestPermissionsAsync(); if (status !== 'granted') { return; } const [asset] = await new Query().limit(1).eq(AssetField.MEDIA_TYPE, MediaType.IMAGE).exe(); if (asset) { const filename = await asset.getFilename(); const mediaType = (await asset.getMediaType()).toString(); const width = await asset.getWidth(); const height = await asset.getHeight(); const creationTime = await asset.getCreationTime(); const modificationTime = await asset.getModificationTime(); setAssetInfo({ id: asset.id, filename, mediaType, width, height, creationTime, modificationTime, }); } else { console.log('No assets found in the media library.'); } }; querySomeAsset(); }, []); return ( <View> {assetInfo ? ( <View> <Text>Asset ID: {assetInfo.id}</Text> <Text>Filename: {assetInfo.filename}</Text> <Text>Media Type: {assetInfo.mediaType}</Text> <Text> Dimensions: {assetInfo.width} x {assetInfo.height} </Text> <Text> Creation Time:{' '} {assetInfo.creationTime ? new Date(assetInfo.creationTime).toLocaleString() : 'Unavailable'} </Text> <Text> Modification Time:{' '} {assetInfo.modificationTime ? new Date(assetInfo.modificationTime).toLocaleString() : 'Unavailable'} </Text> </View> ) : ( <Text>Fetching asset ...</Text> )} </View> ); }
Create a new album
import { View, Text, FlatList, Image, Button } from 'react-native'; import { useState } from 'react'; import { Asset, AssetField, MediaType, Query, requestPermissionsAsync, Album, } from 'expo-media-library/next'; export default function CreateAlbumExample() { const [assets, setAssets] = useState<Asset[]>([]); const [album, setAlbum] = useState<Album | null>(null); const [albumTitle, setAlbumTitle] = useState<string>(''); const createAlbumWithAsset = async () => { await requestPermissionsAsync(); const [asset] = await new Query().limit(1).eq(AssetField.MEDIA_TYPE, MediaType.IMAGE).exe(); if (!asset) { console.log('No assets found in the media library.'); return; } const newAlbum = await Album.create('MyNewAlbum', [asset]); setAlbum(newAlbum); setAlbumTitle(await newAlbum.getTitle()); const albumAssets = await newAlbum.getAssets(); setAssets(albumAssets); }; return ( <View style={{ flex: 1, padding: 20 }}> <Button title="Create Album and Add Asset" onPress={createAlbumWithAsset} /> {assets.length > 0 ? ( <> <Text style={{ marginTop: 20, fontSize: 18, fontWeight: 'bold' }}> Assets in {albumTitle}: </Text> <FlatList data={assets} keyExtractor={item => item.id} renderItem={({ item }) => ( <View style={{ marginVertical: 10 }}> <Image source={{ uri: item.id }} style={{ width: 100, height: 100, borderRadius: 8 }} /> </View> )} /> </> ) : ( <Text style={{ marginTop: 20 }}>{album ? 'Album is empty.' : 'No album created yet.'}</Text> )} </View> ); }
API
Classes
Type: Class extends Album
Album Properties
string
Unique identifier of the album. Can be used to re-instantiate an Album later.
Album Methods
Adds an asset to the album.
Promise<void>
A promise that resolves once the asset has been added.
Example
const asset = await Asset.create("file:///path/to/photo.png"); await album.add(asset);
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
name | string | Name of the new album. |
assetsRefs | string[] | Asset[] | List of Asset objects or file paths (file:///...) to include. |
moveAssets(optional) | boolean | On Android, whether to move assets into the album. Default: true |
A static function. Creates a new album with a given name and assets.
On Android, if assets are provided and moveAssets
is true, the assets will be moved into the new album. If false or not supported, the assets will be copied.
A promise resolving to the created Album.
Example
const album = await Album.create("My Album", [asset]); console.log(await album.getTitle()); // "My Album"
Permanently deletes the album from the device. On Android, it deletes the album and all its assets. On iOS, it deletes the album but keeps the assets in the main library.
Promise<void>
A promise that resolves once the deletion has completed.
Example
await album.delete();
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
albums | Album[] | An array of Album instances to delete. |
deleteAssets(optional) | boolean | Whether to delete the assets in the albums as well. Default: false |
A static function. Deletes multiple albums at once.
Promise<void>
A promise that resolves once the albums have been deleted.
Example
const album = await Album.create("My Album", [asset]); await Album.delete([album]);
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
title | string | The title of the album to retrieve. |
Gets the display title (name) of the album. Note that album titles are not guaranteed to be unique.
Promise<string>
A promise resolving to the album’s title string.
Example
const title = await album.getTitle(); console.log(title); // "Camera"
Type: Class extends Asset
Asset Properties
string
ID of the asset. Can be used to re-instantiate an Asset later. For android it is a contentUri and PHAsset localIdentifier for iOS.
Asset Methods
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
filePath | string | Local filesystem path (for example, |
album(optional) | Album | Optional Album instance to place the asset in. |
A static function. Creates a new asset from a given file path. Optionally associates the asset with an album. On Android, if not specified, the asset will be placed in the default "Pictures" directory.
A promise resolving to the created Asset.
Example
const asset = await Asset.create("file:///storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20230915_123456.jpg"); console.log(await asset.getFilename()); // "IMG_20230915_123456.jpg"
Deletes the asset from the device’s media store.
Promise<void>
A promise that resolves once the deletion has completed.
Example
await asset.delete();
Gets the creation time of the asset.
Promise<null | number>
A promise resolving to the UNIX timestamp in milliseconds, or null
if unavailable.
Gets the duration of the asset. Applies only to media types like video or audio.
Promise<null | number>
A promise resolving to the duration in milliseconds, or null
if not applicable.
Gets the filename of the asset, including its extension.
Promise<string>
A promise resolving to the filename string.
Gets the height of the asset in pixels. Only applicable for image and video assets.
Promise<number>
A promise resolving to the height in pixels.
Gets the last modification time of the asset.
Promise<null | number>
A promise resolving to the UNIX timestamp in milliseconds, or null
if unavailable.
Gets the URI pointing to the asset’s location in the system.
Example, for Android: file:///storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/IMG_20230915_123456.jpg
.
Promise<string>
A promise resolving to the string URI.
Gets the width of the asset in pixels. Only applicable for image and video assets.
Promise<number>
A promise resolving to the width in pixels.
Type: Class extends Query
Query Methods
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
album | Album | The album to filter assets by. |
Filters assets to only those contained in the specified album.
Query
The updated query object for chaining.
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
field | T | an AssetField to filter by. |
value | AssetFieldValueMap[T] | The value that the field should equal. Each field has a specific unique type. |
Filters assets where the specified field is equal to the given value.
Query
The updated query object for chaining.
Executes the query and retrieves the matching assets.
A promise that resolves to an array of Asset objects that match the query criteria.
Example
const assets = await new Query() .eq(AssetField.MEDIA_TYPE, MediaType.IMAGE) .lte(AssetField.HEIGHT, 1080) .orderBy(AssetField.CREATION_TIME) .limit(20) .exe();
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
field | AssetField | an AssetField to filter by. |
value | number | The value that the field should be greater than. |
Filters assets where the specified field is greater than the given value.
Query
The updated query object for chaining.
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
field | AssetField | an AssetField to filter by. |
value | number | The value that the field should be greater than or equal to. |
Filters assets where the specified field is greater than or equal to the given value.
Query
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
limit | number | The maximum number of results to return. |
Limits the number of results returned by the query.
Query
The updated query object for chaining.
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
field | AssetField | an AssetField to filter by. |
value | number | The value that the field should be less than. |
Filters assets where the specified field is less than the given value.
Query
The updated query object for chaining.
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
field | AssetField | an AssetField to filter by. |
value | number | The value that the field should be less than or equal to. |
Filters assets where the specified field is less than or equal to the given value.
Query
The updated query object for chaining.
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
offset | number | The number of results to skip. |
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
sortDescriptors | AssetField | SortDescriptor | An instance of SortDescriptor or an AssetField. If an AssetField is provided, the sorting will be done in ascending order by default. |
Orders the results by the specified sort descriptor or asset field.
Query
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
field | T | an AssetField to filter by. |
value | undefined | An array of values that the field should match. Each field has a specific unique type. |
Filters assets where the specified field's value is in the given array of values.
Query
The updated query object for chaining.
Methods
Parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
writeOnly(optional) | boolean | Default: false |
granularPermissions(optional) | GranularPermission[] | A list of
|
Asks the user to grant permissions for accessing media in user's media library.
Promise<PermissionResponse>
A promise that fulfils with PermissionResponse
object.
Types
Property | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
creationTime | number | - |
duration | number | - |
height | number | - |
mediaType | MediaType | - |
modificationTime | number | - |
width | number | - |
Literal Type: string
Acceptable values are: 'audio'
| 'photo'
| 'video'
Property | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
ascending(optional) | boolean | - |
key | AssetField | - |