Stopping an SKAction - ios

Question

I have a sprite kit game with different scenes: the main menu ("MainMenuScene") and the game scene ("MyScene"). While the user is playing the game, I have an endless playing background music. But when the player wants to stop the game and return to main menu, the background music keeps playing. What should I do to make it stop? I have tried [self removeAllActions] but it didn't work.
MyScene:
#implementation MyScene
{
SKAction *_backgroundMusic;
}
-(id)initWithSize:(CGSize)size {
if (self = [super initWithSize:size]) {
self.backgroundColor = [SKColor colorWithRed:0.15 green:0.5 blue:0.3 alpha:1.0];
}
//Here I make the endless background music
_backgroundMusic = [SKAction playSoundFileNamed:#"Background 2.m4a" waitForCompletion:YES];
SKAction * backgroundMusicRepeat = [SKAction repeatActionForever:_backgroundMusic];
[self runAction:backgroundMusicRepeat];
return self;
}
- (void)selectNodeForTouch:(CGPoint)touchLocation
{
SKSpriteNode *touchedNode = (SKSpriteNode *)[self nodeAtPoint:touchLocation];
if ([_MainMenuButton isEqual:touchedNode]) {
SKScene *mainMenuScene = [[MainMenuScene alloc]initWithSize:self.size];
[self.view presentScene:mainMenuScene];
//Here is where the music should stop, when the player presses the 'return to main menu' button
}
}

Answer 1

I would not recommend using SKAction to play background music. Instead use AVAudioPlayer.
To use the AVAudioPlayer:
Add the AVFoundation to your project.
#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h> into your .m file.
Add AVAudioPlayer *_backgroundMusicPlayer; in #implementation
Use this code snippet to run your audio:
- (void)playBackgroundMusic:(NSString *)filename
{
NSError *error;
NSURL *backgroundMusicURL = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:filename withExtension:nil];
_backgroundMusicPlayer = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:backgroundMusicURL error:&error];
_backgroundMusicPlayer.numberOfLoops = -1;
_backgroundMusicPlayer.volume = 0.8;
_backgroundMusicPlayer.delegate = self;
[_backgroundMusicPlayer prepareToPlay];
[_backgroundMusicPlayer play];
}
Also read up on the AVAudioPlayer Class Reference so you know what all the properties do such as setting volume, number of loops, etc...

Answer 2

try this to play the music:
[self runAction:backgroundMusicRepeat withKey:#"bgmusic"];
and this to stop:
[self removeActionForKey:#"bgmusic"];
update
SKAction * backgroundMusicRepeat = [SKAction playSoundFileNamed:#"Background 2.m4a" waitForCompletion:YES];
backgroundMusicRepeat = [SKAction repeatActionForever:backgroundMusicRepeat];
[self runAction:backgroundMusicRepeat];
I have run those code in my own project and seems work.
but not your way, it only stop when I quit the view, I don't even need removeActionForKey . [self removeActionForKey:#"bgmusic"]; won't work in the scene.
So if you want stop sound while switch between diferent scenes of same view, I suggest you using AVAudioPlayer.
I also found some other questions in stackoverflow has the same problem as you, like this:
how to pause the sound when use SpriteKit
and this:
Spritekit stopping sound
they both go for the AVAudioPlayer.
as one of the comment in those links said: you should use the playSoundFileNamed method for playing sound effects... something short 1 or 2 seconds, like explosion sound --don't use it for background sound.