Tying the Effects Chain to the Playback Source of Truth

Several state inconsistencies were identified: the lock screen display lagging behind actual playback, and audio resuming in reels after being stopped from the mini player. These discrepancies do not surface in feature checklists but directly degrade the reliability of the playback experience. The objective was to ensure a consistent playback state regardless of which surface the user interacts with.

Now Playing, lock screen remote control, the mini player, and reels were aligned to reference a single playback state. Track loading and audio session acquisition were synchronized with UI updates to eliminate timing gaps. The splash and onboarding flows were also refined to provide a continuous experience on first launch.

The effects chain — spatial processing, reverb, and related processors — was more tightly integrated into the active playback path, ensuring effects are processed as part of the audio signal rather than as independent post-processing steps.