How to properly release Android MediaPlayer

This Worked for me well.

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    MediaPlayer mediaPlayer;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        mediaPlayer = MediaPlayer.create(this, R.raw.beep_warning);

        final CheckBox checkBox = (CheckBox) findViewById(R.id.checkBox);
        checkBox.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                if (checkBox.isChecked()) {
                    mediaPlayer.start();
                    mediaPlayer.setLooping(true);
                }
                else{
                    mediaPlayer.pause();
                }
                }


        });

    }
    @Override
    protected void onStop() {
        super.onStop();
        mediaPlayer.release();
    }

According to Google docs, you can implement a listener in MediaPlayer like the below example.

You can Release and Reset automatically when it's complete.

MediaPlayer mp = MediaPlayer.create(context, R.raw.sound_one);
mp.setOnCompletionListener(new OnCompletionListener() {
    @Override
    public void onCompletion(MediaPlayer mp) {
        mp.reset();
        mp.release();
        mp=null;
    }
});
mp.start();

You can't initialize the mediaplayer object outside of all methods. If you do, it tries to use a context which hasn't been created yet. You need to declare it as a class variable(outside the method), and initialize it inside:

MediaPlayer mediaPlayer;

public void react(View view) {
    mediaPlayer = MediaPlayer.create(ToBeOrNot.this, R.raw.achord);
    mediaPlayer.start(); 
}

protected void onStop(){
    mediaPlayer.release();
    mediaPlayer = null;
}

In addition, I'd recommend reading up on variable scope in Java.