Problem

I am using react-native-audio-recorder-player for microphone open/close handling inside a React Native voice SDK.

On Android 16, the first microphone session works correctly, but if I rapidly start/stop the recorder multiple times, the microphone session eventually stops initializing after 2–3 cycles.

Example:

await audioRecorderPlayer.startRecorder()
await audioRecorderPlayer.stopRecorder()

await audioRecorderPlayer.startRecorder()
await audioRecorderPlayer.stopRecorder()

await audioRecorderPlayer.startRecorder() // eventually fails

Important detail

This is NOT a permission issue.

• RECORD_AUDIO permission is already granted

• First initialization always succeeds

• Failure only happens after rapid repeated open/close cycles

Observed behavior

• Reproducible on only Android 16

• Waiting a few seconds before reopening usually fixes it

• Looks like native audio resources are not fully released before the next initialization

• Sometimes startRecorder() hangs or does not properly initialize after repeated cycles

Questions

1. Has Android 16 changed AudioRecord teardown/reinitialization timing?

2. Is react-native-audio-recorder-player known to have issues with rapid recorder restarts?

3. Is there a recommended delay/debounce between stopRecorder() and startRecorder()?

4. Should recorder start/stop calls be serialized to avoid native race conditions?

Current flow

const start = async () => {
  await audioRecorderPlayer.startRecorder()
}

const stop = async () => {
  await audioRecorderPlayer.stopRecorder()
}

Rapidly calling startRecorder() and stopRecorder() eventually causes microphone initialization failures on Android 16.

Has anyone faced similar issues with react-native-audio-recorder-player or AudioRecord on newer Android versions?

const stop = async () => {
  await audioRecorderPlayer.stopRecorder();
  await new Promise(res => setTimeout(res, 300));
};