fix: Improve iOS PiP and background playback support

- Add AVAudioSession activation for background playback
- Fix PiP AVPlayerLayer reference issue for texture-based players
- Add application lifecycle handling for media controls
- Implement cleanupRemoteCommandCenter for proper cleanup
- Add playerLayerForPiP method for subclass customization

This fixes:
- Background audio playback continuation
- Media controls disappearing after app backgrounding
- PiP not working with texture-based video players

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: decisivearmor

packages/video_player/video_player_avfoundation/darwin/video_player_avfoundation/Sources/video_player_avfoundation/FVPTextureBasedVideoPlayer.m

@@ -252,4 +252,9 @@ - (void)onTextureUnregistered:(NSObject<FlutterTexture> *)texture {
   });
 }
 
+- (nullable AVPlayerLayer *)playerLayerForPiP {
+  // Return the player layer created in initWithURL
+  return self.playerLayer;
+}
+
 @end

packages/video_player/video_player_avfoundation/darwin/video_player_avfoundation/Sources/video_player_avfoundation/FVPVideoPlayer.m

@@ -97,6 +97,18 @@ - (instancetype)initWithPlayerItem:(AVPlayerItem *)item
 
   // Setup Remote Command Center
   [self setupRemoteCommandCenter];
+  
+#if TARGET_OS_IOS
+  // Register for app lifecycle notifications
+  [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
+                                          selector:@selector(applicationWillResignActive:)
+                                              name:UIApplicationWillResignActiveNotification
+                                            object:nil];
+  [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
+                                          selector:@selector(applicationDidBecomeActive:)
+                                              name:UIApplicationDidBecomeActiveNotification
+                                            object:nil];
+#endif
 
   [asset loadValuesAsynchronouslyForKeys:@[ @"tracks" ] completionHandler:assetCompletionHandler];
 
@@ -532,21 +544,23 @@ - (void)setPictureInPictureEnabled:(BOOL)enabled {
 #if TARGET_OS_IOS
   if (@available(iOS 9.0, *)) {
     NSLog(@"setPictureInPictureEnabled called with enabled: %@", enabled ? @"YES" : @"NO");
-    NSLog(@"Current playerLayer: %@", _playerLayer);
-    NSLog(@"Current pipController: %@", _pipController);
-    NSLog(@"isPictureInPictureSupported: %@", [AVPictureInPictureController isPictureInPictureSupported] ? @"YES" : @"NO");
 
     if (enabled && !_pipController) {
-      // Create AVPlayerLayer if not exists
-      if (!_playerLayer) {
-        NSLog(@"Creating new AVPlayerLayer");
-        _playerLayer = [AVPlayerLayer playerLayerWithPlayer:_player];
+      // Get player layer from subclass or create new one
+      AVPlayerLayer *layerForPiP = [self playerLayerForPiP];
+      if (!layerForPiP) {
+        NSLog(@"Creating new AVPlayerLayer for PiP");
+        layerForPiP = [AVPlayerLayer playerLayerWithPlayer:_player];
+        _playerLayer = layerForPiP;
       }
 
+      NSLog(@"Using playerLayer for PiP: %@", layerForPiP);
+      NSLog(@"isPictureInPictureSupported: %@", [AVPictureInPictureController isPictureInPictureSupported] ? @"YES" : @"NO");
+      
       // Create PiP controller
       if ([AVPictureInPictureController isPictureInPictureSupported]) {
-        NSLog(@"Creating AVPictureInPictureController with playerLayer: %@", _playerLayer);
-        _pipController = [[AVPictureInPictureController alloc] initWithPlayerLayer:_playerLayer];
+        NSLog(@"Creating AVPictureInPictureController with playerLayer: %@", layerForPiP);
+        _pipController = [[AVPictureInPictureController alloc] initWithPlayerLayer:layerForPiP];
         _pipController.delegate = self;
         NSLog(@"PiP controller created: %@", _pipController);
       } else {
@@ -643,6 +657,37 @@ - (void)pictureInPictureController:(AVPictureInPictureController *)pictureInPict
   NSLog(@"Error userInfo: %@", error.userInfo);
 }
 
+- (nullable AVPlayerLayer *)playerLayerForPiP {
+  // Default implementation returns the instance variable
+  // Subclasses should override this to provide their own layer
+  return _playerLayer;
+}
+
+#pragma mark - Application Lifecycle
+
+#if TARGET_OS_IOS
+- (void)applicationWillResignActive:(NSNotification *)notification {
+  NSLog(@"Application will resign active");
+  // Ensure audio session remains active for background playback
+  [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive:YES error:nil];
+  
+  // Update Now Playing info to ensure it's current
+  [self updateNowPlayingInfo];
+}
+
+- (void)applicationDidBecomeActive:(NSNotification *)notification {
+  NSLog(@"Application did become active");
+  // Re-setup remote command center to ensure it's properly registered
+  [self setupRemoteCommandCenter];
+  
+  // Update Now Playing info
+  [self updateNowPlayingInfo];
+  
+  // Re-activate audio session
+  [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive:YES error:nil];
+}
+#endif
+
 #pragma mark - Remote Command Center
 
 - (void)setupRemoteCommandCenter {
@@ -684,6 +729,24 @@ - (void)setupRemoteCommandCenter {
 #endif
 }
 
+- (void)cleanupRemoteCommandCenter {
+#if TARGET_OS_IOS
+  MPRemoteCommandCenter *commandCenter = [MPRemoteCommandCenter sharedCommandCenter];
+  
+  // Remove all command targets
+  [commandCenter.playCommand removeTarget:self];
+  [commandCenter.pauseCommand removeTarget:self];
+  [commandCenter.togglePlayPauseCommand removeTarget:self];
+  [commandCenter.changePlaybackPositionCommand removeTarget:self];
+  
+  // Disable commands
+  commandCenter.playCommand.enabled = NO;
+  commandCenter.pauseCommand.enabled = NO;
+  commandCenter.togglePlayPauseCommand.enabled = NO;
+  commandCenter.changePlaybackPositionCommand.enabled = NO;
+#endif
+}
+
 - (void)updateNowPlayingInfo {
 #if TARGET_OS_IOS
   NSMutableDictionary *nowPlayingInfo = [NSMutableDictionary dictionary];

packages/video_player/video_player_avfoundation/darwin/video_player_avfoundation/Sources/video_player_avfoundation/FVPVideoPlayerPlugin.m

@@ -170,6 +170,13 @@ - (void)initialize:(FlutterError *__autoreleasing *)error {
 #if TARGET_OS_IOS
   // Allow audio playback when the Ring/Silent switch is set to silent
   upgradeAudioSessionCategory(AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback, 0, 0);
+  
+  // Activate audio session for background playback
+  NSError *activationError = nil;
+  [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive:YES error:&activationError];
+  if (activationError) {
+    NSLog(@"Failed to activate audio session: %@", activationError);
+  }
 #endif
 
   [self.playersByIdentifier.allValues makeObjectsPerformSelector:@selector(dispose)];

packages/video_player/video_player_avfoundation/darwin/video_player_avfoundation/Sources/video_player_avfoundation/include/video_player_avfoundation/FVPVideoPlayer.h

@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_BEGIN
                                  artist:(nullable NSString *)artist
                                   album:(nullable NSString *)album
                              artworkUrl:(nullable NSString *)artworkUrl;
+
+/// Returns the AVPlayerLayer for PiP support. Subclasses should override if they manage their own layer.
+- (nullable AVPlayerLayer *)playerLayerForPiP;
 @end
 
 NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_END