version: "1.0.1" name: aosp-native-services-and-media description: | AOSP Part IV — Native Services & Media. Use when reasoning about surfaceflinger, audioserver, mediaserver, cameraserver, the graphics pipeline (BufferQueue, GraphicBuffer, OpenGL ES / Vulkan / Skia / HWUI, RenderThread, layer composition), the animation system (Choreographer, ValueAnimator, RenderNode animations, dynamic spring/fling), the audio stack (AudioFlinger, AudioPolicyManager, AAudio, OpenSL ES, Spatializer), the media pipeline (MediaCodec, MediaExtractor, NuPlayer, codec2 HAL), or the sensor stack (SensorService, sensor HAL, batching, wake-up sensors). Chapters 12–17. metadata: author: 'utzcoz' version: '2026.06.24' last-updated: '2026-06-24'

AOSP Part IV — Native Services & Media

The native daemons that run continuously and own audio, video, sensors, and the graphics composition pipeline.

Chapters in this Part

• 12-native-services.md — surfaceflinger, audioserver, mediaserver, cameraserver process layout, init triggers, AIDL boundaries, HAL clients
• 13-graphics-render-pipeline.md — SurfaceFlinger, BufferQueue, GraphicBuffer, OpenGL ES / Vulkan / Skia / HWUI, RenderThread, layer composition
• 14-animation-system.md — Choreographer, ValueAnimator/ObjectAnimator, RenderNode animations, dynamic animation, shared-element transitions
• 15-audio-system.md — AudioFlinger, AudioPolicyManager, audio HAL, AAudio/OpenSL ES, spatial audio (Spatializer), routing rules
• 16-media-and-camera.md — MediaCodec, MediaExtractor, NuPlayer, codec2 HAL, camera service, image/video pipeline overview
• 17-sensors.md — SensorService, sensor HAL, batching, wake-up sensors, FIFO and event delivery, sensor fusion

When to load which chapter

• Question is about which native daemons exist or how they boot → 12-native-services.md
• Question mentions SurfaceFlinger, BufferQueue, GraphicBuffer, OpenGL/Vulkan/Skia/HWUI, RenderThread, composition → 13-graphics-render-pipeline.md
• Question mentions Choreographer, animator classes, RenderNode animations, springs/flings → 14-animation-system.md
• Question mentions AudioFlinger, AudioPolicyManager, AAudio, OpenSL ES, Spatializer → 15-audio-system.md
• Question mentions MediaCodec, MediaExtractor, NuPlayer, codec2, camera service → 16-media-and-camera.md
• Question mentions sensors, SensorService, wake-up sensors, batching → 17-sensors.md