Social and messaging apps have revolutionized how we connect, communicate, and
share information, offering spaces for public conversations, private messaging,
media creation, photo and video sharing, and even live broadcasts. If your app
does any of this, you'll find resources in this developer center to help you
create, extend, level up, and optimize these types of experiences.

This developer center covers three areas of social features:

- [Messaging and communication](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides#messaging-and-communication)
- [Media display and playback](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides#media-display)
- [Media capture, creation, editing, and sharing](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides#media-creation)

## Messaging and communication

Communication is a core function of social apps, and Android has created bespoke
APIs that [integrate your app's messaging features](https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/notifications/conversations), providing more surfaces
for users to interact with. Learn how to [send and receive messages
reliably](https://firebase.google.com/docs/cloud-messaging), as well as how to [level your app up](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/communication/basic-better-best) with [rich
emoji support](https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/text-and-emoji/emoji-picker), stickers and images from [Android's image keyboard and other
rich text sources](https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/receive-rich-content), and
support for [sharing text and media](https://developer.android.com/training/sharing/send) directly to other apps.

[Learn More](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/communication) [Level Up](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/communication/basic-better-best)

## Media display and playback

Whether your app integrates images and videos or delivers immersive audio
experiences, media enriches user interactions and elevates app engagement.
Android continues to evolve APIs that minimize the complexity of integrating
images and media while making the user experience more integrated and
consistent. Learn how to [load large bitmaps efficiently](https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/graphics/load-bitmap), support
[live-streaming](https://developer.android.com/media/media3/exoplayer/live-streaming), and handle [playback controls and player UI](https://developer.android.com/media/media3/ui/overview).
[Level up your app](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/media-playback/basic-better-best) to support [UltraHDR](https://developer.android.com/media/grow/ultra-hdr-display) images and [HDR](https://developer.android.com/media/grow/hdr-playback) video,
enable [picture-in-picture](https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/picture-in-picture), implement [Cast Connect](https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/android_tv_receiver),
and more.

[Learn More](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/media-playback) [Level Up](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/media-playback/basic-better-best)

## Media capture, creation, editing, and sharing

It's increasingly common for social and communication apps to support capturing
videos, editing photos, and processing media content, and Android has created
libraries that simplify integration into your app while helping you support the
latest device and platform features.

Learn how to [capture photos and videos](https://developer.android.com/media/camera/camerax), [edit videos](https://developer.android.com/media/media3/transformer), [access user
media libraries](https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/shared/photopicker), and [share to other apps and services](https://developer.android.com/training/sharing/send#using-android-system-sharesheet). [Level up your
app](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/media-creation/basic-better-best) with support for [UltraHDR image capture](https://github.com/android/platform-samples/blob/main/samples/camera/camera2/src/main/java/com/example/platform/camera/imagecapture/Camera2UltraHDRCapture.kt), [HDR
video](https://developer.android.com/media/camera/camera2/hdr-video-capture), [zero shutter lag](https://developer.android.com/media/camera/camerax/take-photo#zero-shutter-lag), and more.

[Learn More](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/media-creation) [Level Up](https://developer.android.com/social-and-messaging/guides/media-creation/basic-better-best)