Audio playback pauses when starting/stopping screen capture on Android

[marcynumix]

Description:
While testing on Meta Quest, I noticed that the app’s environmental audio stops whenever starting or stopping a stream while a VR application is running.

This issue does not occur when triggering the stream from the lobby — only when the app is already active.

More specifically:

• Ambient/environmental sounds from the app are cut off
• But subsequent sounds continue to play normally

At first, I suspected a bug in LiveKit. However, this appears to be expected Android behavior:

• When starting a screen capture, Android reroutes audio to a different audio bus for privacy reasons
• This process interrupts currently playing audio streams

Problem:
Android seems to pause or stop looping audio sources when this happens, which breaks continuous ambient sound playback in the app.

Expected behavior:
Ideally, audio loops should either:

• Resume automatically after the capture starts/stops, or
• Not be interrupted if possible

Questions / Discussion points:

• Is there a recommended way in the LiveKit Android SDK to handle audio focus changes during screen capture?
• Are there best practices to keep or restore looping audio after this interruption?
• Should the SDK expose hooks/events to better manage this scenario?

Environment:

• Device: Meta Quest (Android-based)
• Context: In-app streaming (screen capture)
• SDK: LiveKit Android Client SDK (2.23.5)

Additional notes:
This seems tied to Android’s privacy protections around screen/audio capture, but it has a noticeable UX impact on immersive applications relying on continuous ambient audio.