diff --git a/modules/juce_audio_devices/native/juce_android_OpenSL.cpp b/modules/juce_audio_devices/native/juce_android_OpenSL.cpp
index dcb0553948..82736fe1e5 100644
--- a/modules/juce_audio_devices/native/juce_android_OpenSL.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_audio_devices/native/juce_android_OpenSL.cpp
@@ -261,6 +261,8 @@ struct BufferHelpers<float>
     }
 };
 
+class SLRealtimeThread;
+
 //==============================================================================
 class OpenSLAudioIODevice  : public AudioIODevice
 {
@@ -951,6 +953,9 @@ public:
     static const char* const openSLTypeName;
 
 private:
+    //==============================================================================
+    friend class SLRealtimeThread;
+
     //==============================================================================
     DynamicLibrary slLibrary;
     int actualBufferSize, sampleRate;
@@ -1087,3 +1092,182 @@ AudioIODeviceType* AudioIODeviceType::createAudioIODeviceType_OpenSLES()
 {
     return isOpenSLAvailable() ? new OpenSLAudioDeviceType() : nullptr;
 }
+
+//==============================================================================
+class SLRealtimeThread
+{
+public:
+    static constexpr int numBuffers = 4;
+
+    SLRealtimeThread()
+    {
+        if (auto createEngine = (OpenSLAudioIODevice::OpenSLSession::CreateEngineFunc) slLibrary.getFunction ("slCreateEngine"))
+        {
+            SLObjectItf obj = nullptr;
+            auto err = createEngine (&obj, 0, nullptr, 0, nullptr, nullptr);
+
+            if (err != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS || obj == nullptr)
+                return;
+
+            if ((*obj)->Realize (obj, 0) != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS)
+            {
+                (*obj)->Destroy (obj);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            engine = SlRef<SLEngineItf_>::cast (SlObjectRef (obj));
+
+            if (engine == nullptr)
+            {
+                (*obj)->Destroy (obj);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            obj = nullptr;
+            err = (*engine)->CreateOutputMix (engine, &obj, 0, nullptr, nullptr);
+
+            if (err != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS || obj == nullptr || (*obj)->Realize (obj, 0) != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS)
+            {
+                (*obj)->Destroy (obj);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            outputMix = SlRef<SLOutputMixItf_>::cast (SlObjectRef (obj));
+
+            if (outputMix == nullptr)
+            {
+                (*obj)->Destroy (obj);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            SLDataLocator_AndroidSimpleBufferQueue queueLocator = {SL_DATALOCATOR_ANDROIDSIMPLEBUFFERQUEUE, static_cast<SLuint32> (numBuffers)};
+            SLDataLocator_OutputMix outputMixLocator = {SL_DATALOCATOR_OUTPUTMIX, outputMix};
+
+            PCMDataFormatEx dataFormat;
+            BufferHelpers<int16>::initPCMDataFormat (dataFormat, 1, OpenSLAudioIODevice::getNativeSampleRate());
+
+            SLDataSource source = { &queueLocator, &dataFormat };
+            SLDataSink   sink   = { &outputMixLocator, nullptr };
+
+            SLInterfaceID queueInterfaces[] = { &IntfIID<SLAndroidSimpleBufferQueueItf_>::iid };
+            SLboolean trueFlag = SL_BOOLEAN_TRUE;
+
+            obj = nullptr;
+            err = (*engine)->CreateAudioPlayer (engine, &obj, &source, &sink, 1, queueInterfaces, &trueFlag);
+
+            if (err != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS || obj == nullptr)
+                return;
+
+            if ((*obj)->Realize (obj, 0) != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS)
+            {
+                (*obj)->Destroy (obj);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            player = SlRef<SLPlayItf_>::cast (SlObjectRef (obj));
+
+            if (player == nullptr)
+            {
+                (*obj)->Destroy (obj);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            queue = SlRef<SLAndroidSimpleBufferQueueItf_>::cast (player);
+            if (queue == nullptr)
+                return;
+
+            if ((*queue)->RegisterCallback (queue, staticFinished, this) != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS)
+            {
+                queue = nullptr;
+                return;
+            }
+
+            pthread_cond_init (&threadReady, nullptr);
+            pthread_mutex_init (&threadReadyMutex, nullptr);
+        }
+    }
+
+    bool isOK() const      { return queue != nullptr; }
+
+    pthread_t startThread (void* (*entry) (void*), void* userPtr)
+    {
+        memset (buffer.getData(), 0, static_cast<size_t> (sizeof (int16) * static_cast<size_t> (bufferSize * numBuffers)));
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < numBuffers; ++i)
+        {
+            int16* dst = buffer.getData() + (bufferSize * i);
+            (*queue)->Enqueue (queue, dst, static_cast<SLuint32> (static_cast<size_t> (bufferSize) * sizeof (int16)));
+        }
+
+        pthread_mutex_lock (&threadReadyMutex);
+
+        threadEntryProc = entry;
+        threadUserPtr  = userPtr;
+
+        (*player)->SetPlayState (player, SL_PLAYSTATE_PLAYING);
+
+        pthread_cond_wait (&threadReady, &threadReadyMutex);
+        pthread_mutex_unlock (&threadReadyMutex);
+
+        return threadID;
+    }
+
+    void finished()
+    {
+        if (threadEntryProc != nullptr)
+        {
+            pthread_mutex_lock (&threadReadyMutex);
+
+            threadID = pthread_self();
+
+            pthread_cond_signal (&threadReady);
+            pthread_mutex_unlock (&threadReadyMutex);
+
+            threadEntryProc (threadUserPtr);
+            threadEntryProc = nullptr;
+
+            (*player)->SetPlayState (player, SL_PLAYSTATE_STOPPED);
+            MessageManager::callAsync ([this] () { delete this; });
+        }
+    }
+
+private:
+    //=============================================================================
+    static void staticFinished (SLAndroidSimpleBufferQueueItf, void* context)
+    {
+        static_cast<SLRealtimeThread*> (context)->finished();
+    }
+
+    //=============================================================================
+    DynamicLibrary slLibrary { "libOpenSLES.so" };
+
+    SlRef<SLEngineItf_>    engine;
+    SlRef<SLOutputMixItf_> outputMix;
+    SlRef<SLPlayItf_>      player;
+    SlRef<SLAndroidSimpleBufferQueueItf_> queue;
+
+    int bufferSize = OpenSLAudioIODevice::getNativeBufferSize();
+    HeapBlock<int16> buffer { HeapBlock<int16> (static_cast<size_t> (1 * bufferSize * numBuffers)) };
+
+    void* (*threadEntryProc) (void*) = nullptr;
+    void* threadUserPtr              = nullptr;
+
+    pthread_cond_t  threadReady;
+    pthread_mutex_t threadReadyMutex;
+    pthread_t       threadID;
+};
+
+pthread_t juce_createRealtimeAudioThread (void* (*entry) (void*), void* userPtr)
+{
+    ScopedPointer<SLRealtimeThread> thread (new SLRealtimeThread);
+
+    if (! thread->isOK())
+        return 0;
+
+    pthread_t threadID = thread->startThread (entry, userPtr);
+
+    // the thread will de-allocate itself
+    thread.release();
+
+    return threadID;
+}
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/native/juce_posix_SharedCode.h b/modules/juce_core/native/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
index 6183f86bdd..ea007b1f06 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/native/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
+++ b/modules/juce_core/native/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
@@ -925,8 +925,30 @@ extern "C" void* threadEntryProc (void* userData)
     return nullptr;
 }
 
+#if JUCE_ANDROID && JUCE_MODULE_AVAILABLE_juce_audio_devices && (JUCE_USE_ANDROID_OPENSLES || (! defined(JUCE_USE_ANDROID_OPENSLES) && JUCE_ANDROID_API_VERSION > 8))
+#define JUCE_ANDROID_REALTIME_THREAD_AVAILABLE 1
+#endif
+
+#if JUCE_ANDROID_REALTIME_THREAD_AVAILABLE
+extern pthread_t juce_createRealtimeAudioThread (void* (*entry) (void*), void* userPtr);
+#endif
+
 void Thread::launchThread()
 {
+   #if JUCE_ANDROID
+    if (isAndroidRealtimeThread)
+    {
+       #if JUCE_ANDROID_REALTIME_THREAD_AVAILABLE
+        threadHandle = (void*) juce_createRealtimeAudioThread (threadEntryProc, this);
+        threadId = (ThreadID) threadHandle;
+
+        return;
+       #else
+        jassertfalse;
+       #endif
+    }
+   #endif
+
     threadHandle = 0;
     pthread_t handle = 0;
     pthread_attr_t attr;
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/threads/juce_Thread.cpp b/modules/juce_core/threads/juce_Thread.cpp
index 243033e9e1..7e0a94ac21 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/threads/juce_Thread.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_core/threads/juce_Thread.cpp
@@ -20,14 +20,8 @@
   ==============================================================================
 */
 
-Thread::Thread (const String& threadName_, const size_t stackSize)
-    : threadName (threadName_),
-      threadHandle (nullptr),
-      threadId (0),
-      threadPriority (5),
-      threadStackSize (stackSize),
-      affinityMask (0),
-      shouldExit (false)
+Thread::Thread (const String& name, const size_t stackSize)
+   : threadName (name), threadStackSize (stackSize)
 {
 }
 
@@ -126,12 +120,21 @@ void Thread::startThread()
     }
 }
 
-void Thread::startThread (const int priority)
+void Thread::startThread (int priority)
 {
     const ScopedLock sl (startStopLock);
 
     if (threadHandle == nullptr)
     {
+        auto isRealtime = (priority == realtimeAudioPriority);
+
+       #if JUCE_ANDROID
+        isAndroidRealtimeThread = isRealtime;
+       #endif
+
+        if (isRealtime)
+            priority = 9;
+
         threadPriority = priority;
         startThread();
     }
@@ -218,8 +221,13 @@ bool Thread::stopThread (const int timeOutMilliseconds)
 }
 
 //==============================================================================
-bool Thread::setPriority (const int newPriority)
+bool Thread::setPriority (int newPriority)
 {
+    bool isRealtime = (newPriority == realtimeAudioPriority);
+
+    if (isRealtime)
+        newPriority = 9;
+
     // NB: deadlock possible if you try to set the thread prio from the thread itself,
     // so using setCurrentThreadPriority instead in that case.
     if (getCurrentThreadId() == getThreadId())
@@ -227,6 +235,14 @@ bool Thread::setPriority (const int newPriority)
 
     const ScopedLock sl (startStopLock);
 
+   #if JUCE_ANDROID
+    // you cannot switch from or to an Android realtime thread once the
+    // thread is already running!
+    jassert (isThreadRunning() && (isRealtime == isAndroidRealtimeThread));
+
+    isAndroidRealtimeThread = isRealtime;
+   #endif
+
     if ((! isThreadRunning()) || setThreadPriority (threadHandle, newPriority))
     {
         threadPriority = newPriority;
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/threads/juce_Thread.h b/modules/juce_core/threads/juce_Thread.h
index fc84bce9d7..e3f177c588 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/threads/juce_Thread.h
+++ b/modules/juce_core/threads/juce_Thread.h
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public:
         Launches the thread with a given priority, where 0 = lowest, 10 = highest.
         If the thread is already running, its priority will be changed.
 
-        @see startThread, setPriority
+        @see startThread, setPriority, realtimeAudioPriority
     */
     void startThread (int priority);
 
@@ -164,11 +164,38 @@ public:
     bool waitForThreadToExit (int timeOutMilliseconds) const;
 
     //==============================================================================
+    /** Special realtime audio thread priority
+
+        This priority will create a high-priority thread which is best suited
+        for realtime audio processing.
+
+        Currently, this priority is identical to priority 9, except when building
+        for Android with OpenSL support.
+
+        In this case, JUCE will ask OpenSL to consturct a super high priority thread
+        specifically for realtime audio processing.
+
+        Note that this priority can only be set **before** the thread has
+        started. Switching to this priority, or from this priority to a different
+        priority, is not supported under Android and will assert.
+
+        For best performance this thread should yield at regular intervals
+        and not call any blocking APIS.
+
+        @see startThread, setPriority, sleep, WaitableEvent
+     */
+    enum
+    {
+        realtimeAudioPriority = -1
+    };
+
     /** Changes the thread's priority.
         May return false if for some reason the priority can't be changed.
 
         @param priority     the new priority, in the range 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). A priority
                             of 5 is normal.
+
+        @see realtimeAudioPriority
     */
     bool setPriority (int priority);
 
@@ -272,14 +299,18 @@ public:
 private:
     //==============================================================================
     const String threadName;
-    void* volatile threadHandle;
-    ThreadID threadId;
+    void* volatile threadHandle = nullptr;
+    ThreadID threadId = {};
     CriticalSection startStopLock;
     WaitableEvent startSuspensionEvent, defaultEvent;
-    int threadPriority;
+    int threadPriority = 5;
     size_t threadStackSize;
-    uint32 affinityMask;
-    bool volatile shouldExit;
+    uint32 affinityMask = 0;
+    bool volatile shouldExit = false;
+
+   #if JUCE_ANDROID
+    bool isAndroidRealtimeThread = false;
+   #endif
 
    #ifndef DOXYGEN
     friend void JUCE_API juce_threadEntryPoint (void*);