I am creating an application that will have multiple images on the screen, these images will be buttons and when tapped will play a short sound. I researched this and could
You can use SoundPool
. It fits what you want to do perfectly.
You'll just need a way to store the sound effect IDs corresponding to each image (or button).
Perhaps extend Button to store associated sound effect ID. And use a common SoundPool to play the sound effect associated to the id when the button is touched.
You can read more about SoundPool here.