AudioContextLatencyCategory

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The AudioContextLatencyCategory type is an enumerated set of strings which are used to select one of a number of default values for acceptable maximum latency of an audio context. By using these strings rather than a numeric value when specifying a latency to a AudioContext, you can allow the user agent to select an appropriate latency for your use case that makes sense on the device on which your content is being used.

AudioContextLatencyCategory can be used when constructing a new AudioContext by passing one of these values as the latencyHint option in the AudioContext() constructor's options dictionary.

Values

Value Description
"balanced" The user agent should balance audio output latency and power consumption when selecting a latency value.
"interactive" The audio is involved in interactive elements, such as responding to user actions or needing to coincide with visual cues such as a video or game action. The user agent should select the lowest possible latency that doesn't cause glitches in the audio. This is likely to require increased power consumption. This is the default value.
"playback" The user agent should select a latency that will maximize playback time by minimizing power consumption at the expense of latency. Useful for non-interactive playback, such as playing music.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Web Audio API
The definition of 'AudioContextLatencyCategory' in that specification.
Working Draft Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

Showing compatibility for latencyHint.

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
latencyHintChrome Full support 60Edge Full support ≤79Firefox Full support 61IE No support NoOpera ? Safari ? WebView Android Full support 60Chrome Android Full support 60Firefox Android Full support 61Opera Android ? Safari iOS ? Samsung Internet Android Full support 8.0

Legend

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