Handling Start Positions for MediaItems in Playlists (Android Auto & Resuming Playback)

In Media3, we can start playback of a MediaItem at a specific position like this:

player.setMediaItems(listOf(mediaItem), /* startIndex= */ 0, /* startPositionMs= */ 30_000L)

However, in some cases—such as:

• Starting playback from Android Auto with a predefined position (currently not possible),
• Resuming playback of a specific item in a playlist from its last known position,

We currently observe the playing MediaItem and call seekTo() if progress exists.

Is there a built-in way to handle this more cleanly, without manually observing and seeking? Or is this the correct approach? Especially in Android Auto, the seek action is a bit noticeable, which makes me wonder if there’s a smoother way to handle this.

Would appreciate any guidance on best practices!