fix(ios): notification controls (#4838)

* fix: update observer thread

* fix(ios): fix showNotificationControls not working when set during initialization

* fix(ios): set custom metadata on AVPlayerItem for now playing info

* refactor: warn when wront artwork url

* docs: update file header

* chore: warn when failed to load artwork image

packages/react-native-video/ios/core/Extensions/AVMetadataItem+make.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+//
+//  AVMetadataItem+make.swift
+//  ReactNativeVideo
+//
+//  Created by Kamil Moskała on 06/02/2026.
+//
+
+import AVFoundation
+
+extension AVMetadataItem {
+  static func make(identifier: AVMetadataIdentifier, value: NSObjectProtocol & NSCopying) -> AVMutableMetadataItem {
+    let item = AVMutableMetadataItem()
+    item.identifier = identifier
+    item.value = value
+    item.extendedLanguageTag = "und"
+    return item
+  }
+}

packages/react-native-video/ios/core/NowPlayingInfoCenterManager.swift

@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ class NowPlayingInfoCenterManager {
     updateNowPlayingInfo()
     playbackObserver = player.addPeriodicTimeObserver(
       forInterval: CMTime(value: 1, timescale: 4),
-      queue: .global(),
+      queue: .main,
       using: { [weak self] _ in
         self?.updateNowPlayingInfo()
       }
@@ -218,13 +218,16 @@ class NowPlayingInfoCenterManager {
   }
 
   public func updateNowPlayingInfo() {
-    guard let player = currentPlayer, let currentItem = player.currentItem
-    else {
+    guard let player = currentPlayer else {
       invalidateCommandTargets()
       MPNowPlayingInfoCenter.default().nowPlayingInfo = [:]
       return
     }
 
+    guard let currentItem = player.currentItem else {
+      return
+    }
+
     // commonMetadata is metadata from asset, externalMetadata is custom metadata set by user
     // externalMetadata should override commonMetadata to allow override metadata from source
     // When the metadata has the tag "iTunSMPB" or "iTunNORM" then the metadata is not converted correctly and comes [nil, nil, ...]

packages/react-native-video/ios/hybrids/VideoPlayer/HybridVideoPlayer.swift

@@ -391,6 +391,44 @@ class HybridVideoPlayer: HybridVideoPlayerSpec, NativeVideoPlayerSpec {
       playerItem = AVPlayerItem(asset: asset)
     }
 
+    if let metadata = source.config.metadata {
+      let title = metadata.title
+      let artist = metadata.artist
+      let imageUri = metadata.imageUri
+
+      DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak playerItem] in
+        guard let playerItem else { return }
+        var items: [AVMetadataItem] = []
+
+        if let title {
+          items.append(.make(identifier: .commonIdentifierTitle, value: title as NSString))
+        }
+        if let artist {
+          items.append(.make(identifier: .commonIdentifierArtist, value: artist as NSString))
+        }
+        if !items.isEmpty {
+          playerItem.externalMetadata = items
+        }
+      }
+
+      // Load artwork in background to not block player initialization
+      if let imageUri, let imageUrl = URL(string: imageUri) {
+        Task { [weak playerItem] in
+          guard let (data, _) = try? await URLSession.shared.data(from: imageUrl) else {
+            print("[RNV] Failed to load artwork from: \(imageUrl)")
+            return
+          }
+          DispatchQueue.main.async {
+            guard let playerItem else { return }
+            playerItem.externalMetadata = playerItem.externalMetadata + [.make(identifier: .commonIdentifierArtwork, value: data as NSData)]
+            NowPlayingInfoCenterManager.shared.updateNowPlayingInfo()
+          }
+        }
+      } else if let imageUri {
+        print("[RNV] Invalid imageUri for artwork: \(imageUri)")
+      }
+    }
+
     return playerItem
   }