I know you can store images as blob data and then have that blob data put within an image tag, which will display as it would with a regular image file. Is this possible with audio as well? I want to do this because I want it so that the audio is recorded, saved as blob data, and then sent to a server where then other users can access that blob data and replay the audio simply from that blob data.
1 Answer
Yes, it is also possible with Audio - in browsers that implement Blob URLs, anyway.
The browser simply (and universally) knows how to 'read' blob URLs, as it does any valid URL. Only, instead of making a request it accesses the local blob cache.
Data URLs work in the same manner and are probably easier to use when 'transferring data from the server' - as their name implies they contain all the data embedded within the URL. For downloading previously shared content, consider keeping the Audio stream a separate resource and using normal URLs / resources.
Anyway, for the details like how to actually capture the data, see Capturing Audio & Video in HTML5.
2 Comments
user3864563
The problem I had was when given the url, it seemed only to be a temporary thing when I left my browser tab that had the audio. Once it exited, the audio no longer exists. If I were to transfer the url to the server and someone else viewed the url, would they still hear the audio?
user2864740
@user3864563 Well, that is a Blob URL.. it is a local non-persisted resource (basically a tag for a local cache entry). You must send the actual data back to the web-server and then send the actual data to other clients (who create their own local Blob URLs for the underlying data). This is why a Data URL is likely easier to deal with then doing this additional processing. Blob URLs can be converted to Data URLs and Data URLs contain all data.
data:url for every element.