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I'm using LiveKit Flutter SDK to implement screen sharing in my Flutter app. On Android 14 (SDK 34 and above), the app crashes every time I try to enable screen sharing with:

await room!.localParticipant?.setScreenShareEnabled(true);

The crash log shows:

SecurityException: Starting FGS with type mediaProjection requires android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION
at android.app.ContextImpl.startForegroundServiceCommon
at android.app.ContextImpl.startForegroundService
...

This happens every time I try to start screen sharing. It looks like the app (or flutter_background service) tries to start a Foreground Service with MediaProjection before user consent is granted.

I temporarily avoided the crash by wrapping startForeground() in a try/catch inside IsolateHolderService.kt, but that only hides the issue — it doesn’t fix it.

What I tried

  • Updated both livekit_client and flutter_background to their latest versions.

  • Added the required permission: android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION.

  • Added foregroundServiceType="mediaProjection" to services.

  • Verified flutter_background is initialized after user consent.

  • Tried delaying screen share start — still crashed every time.

Question

How do I properly request MediaProjection permission before enabling screen share in Flutter using LiveKit, so it works correctly on Android 14+ without crashing?

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Root Cause

On Android 14+, starting a Foreground Service with mediaProjection type requires:

  1. The android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION permission, and

  2. The MediaProjection consent from the user before starting the service.

If your app (or the plugin) starts the service before the user grants permission, Android throws a SecurityException.

The flutter_webrtc package (used internally by LiveKit) now exposes a helper that properly requests the screen capture permission before screen sharing starts.

You just need to call this before enabling screen share:

import 'package:flutter_webrtc/flutter_webrtc.dart';

bool hasCapturePermission = await Helper.requestCapturePermission();
if (!hasCapturePermission) {
  // User denied or system error — don't proceed
  return;
}

// Now it’s safe to enable screen sharing
await room!.localParticipant?.setScreenShareEnabled(true);

Required AndroidManifest.xml

Make sure you have the following entries:

(Only keep the service types that apply to your app — mediaProjection is required for screen capture.)

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION" />

<service
    android:name=".IsolateHolderService"
    android:foregroundServiceType="mediaProjection|dataSync|location" />

Why This Works

Android 14+ enforces strict order:

  1. Request MediaProjection consent first (Helper.requestCapturePermission()).

  2. Then start the foreground service (done internally by LiveKit or flutter_background).

  3. The OS now allows MediaProjection-type FGS without throwing SecurityException.

References

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