diff --git a/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/AppBuilderExtensions.shared.cs b/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/AppBuilderExtensions.shared.cs
index 6d1cd023ac..5eacded955 100644
--- a/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/AppBuilderExtensions.shared.cs
+++ b/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/AppBuilderExtensions.shared.cs
@@ -12,13 +12,33 @@ public static class AppBuilderExtensions
 	/// Initializes the .NET MAUI Community Toolkit MediaElement Library
 	/// </summary>
 	/// <param name="builder"><see cref="MauiAppBuilder"/> generated by <see cref="MauiApp"/>.</param>
+	/// <param name="configureMediaOptions">
+	/// The mechanism to define the shared options for use with the <see cref="MediaManager"/> implementations. Note this is optional.
+	/// An example of configuring the media options for iOS and macOS, is as follows:
+	/// <code>
+	/// builder
+	///     .AddAudio(
+	///			configureMediaOptions: mediaOptions =>
+	///			{
+	///#if IOS || MACCATALYST
+	///				mediaOptions.Category = AVFoundation.AVAudioSessionCategory.Playback;
+	///				mediaOptions.Mode = AVFoundation.AVAudioSessionMode.Default;
+	///				mediaOptions.CategoryOptions = AVFoundation.AVAudioSessionCategoryOptions.DefaultToSpeaker;
+	///#endif
+	///			});
+	/// </code>
+	/// </param>
 	/// <returns><see cref="MauiAppBuilder"/> initialized for <see cref="MediaElement"/>.</returns>
-	public static MauiAppBuilder UseMauiCommunityToolkitMediaElement(this MauiAppBuilder builder)
+	public static MauiAppBuilder UseMauiCommunityToolkitMediaElement(this MauiAppBuilder builder, Action<MediaOptions>? configureMediaOptions = null)
 	{
 		builder.ConfigureMauiHandlers(h =>
 		{
 			h.AddHandler<MediaElement, MediaElementHandler>();
 		});
+		
+		var mediaOptions = new MediaOptions();
+		configureMediaOptions?.Invoke(mediaOptions);
+		MediaManager.DefaultMediaOptions = mediaOptions;
 
 #if ANDROID
 		builder.Services.AddSingleton<Media.Services.MediaControlsService>();
diff --git a/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Options/MediaOptions.macios.cs b/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Options/MediaOptions.macios.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5bdc9e8a72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Options/MediaOptions.macios.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+using AVFoundation;
+
+namespace CommunityToolkit.Maui;
+
+partial class MediaOptions
+{
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Gets or sets the category for the audio session.
+	/// </summary>
+	public AVAudioSessionCategory Category { get; set; } = AVAudioSessionCategory.Record;
+    
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Gets or sets the mode for the audio session.
+	/// </summary>
+	public AVAudioSessionMode Mode { get; set; } = default;
+    
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Gets or sets the options for the audio session category.
+	/// </summary>
+	public AVAudioSessionCategoryOptions CategoryOptions { get; set; } = default;
+
+	// /// <summary>
+	// /// Gets or sets the lifetime of the underlying audio session - basically whether the AVAudioSession will stay active or be deactivated.
+	// /// </summary>
+	// public SessionLifetime SessionLifetime { get; set; } = default;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Options/MediaOptions.shared.cs b/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Options/MediaOptions.shared.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9a9e24f3e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Options/MediaOptions.shared.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+namespace CommunityToolkit.Maui;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Options that can be configured for media playback sessions.
+/// </summary>
+public partial class MediaOptions
+{
+	
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Views/MediaManager.shared.cs b/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Views/MediaManager.shared.cs
index 7aac7b2138..229f84f439 100644
--- a/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Views/MediaManager.shared.cs
+++ b/src/CommunityToolkit.Maui.MediaElement/Views/MediaManager.shared.cs
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ namespace CommunityToolkit.Maui.Core.Views;
 /// </summary>
 public partial class MediaManager
 {
+	internal static MediaOptions DefaultMediaOptions { get; set; } = new();
+	
 	/// <summary>
 	/// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="MediaManager"/> class.
 	/// </summary>