I'm sharing a recovery workaround for recurring Sidecar “The device timed out” failures. I have verified that this procedure restored connectivity on three separate occurrences: October 5, 6, and 12, 2026, using the same Mac and iPad. Environment and symptoms MacBook Air (M4), macOS 26.6.2. iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPadOS 26.6.2. Sidecar used as an extended display over USB. During the failures, the iPad was unlocked and paired/trusted, and the USB network interface remained active and reachable. New Sidecar connection attempts timed out after approximately 10 seconds with SidecarErrorDomain (-201). Recovery procedure Prerequisites: Xcode installed and selected for command-line tools, and an unlocked iPad connected to the Mac via USB. The iPad must trust the Mac and have Developer Mode enabled for this devicectl workflow. Run these commands in Terminal on the Mac: List devices and identify the affected iPad: xcrun devicectl list devices List processes on that iPad: xcrun devicectl device info processes --device "<DEVICE_ID>" Find the entry whose executable path is exactly /usr/libexec/SidecarRelay, and note its current PID. Force-terminate that process on the iPad: xcrun devicectl device process terminate \ --device "<DEVICE_ID>" \ --pid <PID> \ --kill Replace the placeholders with your iPad's identifier and the PID just obtained. Target the iPad-side relay, and obtain a fresh PID whenever the issue recurs. Reconnect the iPad from macOS System Settings → Displays → Add Display, or Control Center → Screen Mirroring. Verified result and limitations On all three occasions, terminating only the iPad's old SidecarRelay and reconnecting restored USB extended-display operation. Neither device needed a reboot, and no account sign-out or settings reset was required. A new iPad SidecarRelay process appeared on reconnection; the Mac-side relay remained running. On the first occurrence, an ordinary termination attempt without --kill left the same iPad process alive; the force-termination step was necessary in that test. This is a recovery workaround, not a confirmed permanent fix. The initiating trigger and internal failure mechanism remain unknown. Controlled tests of normal disconnection, short sleep with the cable connected, and disconnect → unplug → sleep → wake → reconnect did not reliably reproduce the persistent timeout. These results do not prove a deadlock or establish unplugging/sleep as the cause. If you are investigating the underlying trigger, capture diagnostics while the failure is present, before terminating the relay. A similar recovery approach is documented in Lontronix's “Kick SidecarRelay” gist.

AirPlay fails when Mac is connected to iPhone Personal Hotspot I’m using AVRoutePickerView to route audio from an iPhone app to a Mac with AirPlay Receiver enabled. What works When the iPhone and Mac are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, AirPlay routing works normally. Routing audio back to the iPhone speaker or to connected AirPods over Bluetooth also works correctly. What fails When the iPhone provides a Personal Hotspot and the Mac connects to that iPhone’s hotspot, the Mac still appears as an available destination in AVRoutePickerView. However, selecting the Mac fails with: Unable to connect to “[Mac Name]” Questions Is AirPlay routing from an iPhone hosting a Personal Hotspot to a Mac connected to that hotspot a supported network topology? If it is supported, are there any additional AVAudioSession, networking, entitlement, or AirPlay configuration requirements for this scenario? The fact that the Mac is successfully discovered and displayed by AVRoutePickerView, but the connection itself fails, is the part I’m particularly trying to understand. Thank you for any guidance on the expected behavior here.

I will turn on my Apple TV 4K, select my profile, and then I will receive an error for AirPlay that says unable to connect. I am not trying to utilize AirPlay at this time. Sometimes, when I select "OK," it goes away and stays away. However, sometimes I will select "OK" and it will pop up again immediately. When I unplug it and plug it back in it works. It is on the latest Developer Beta. Is anyone else experiencing this bug? I have reported it via the Feedback app.

Hello Apple team, This issue is reproducible with AirPlay mirroring from an iPhone. When a video is played full screen in the Photos app and the user then switches to another app or enters the multitasking flow, the mirrored video output freezes completely on the receiving device. The AirPlay session appears to remain connected, but the receiver keeps displaying the last video frame and the mirrored stream does not recover automatically. Stopping and restarting AirPlay mirroring is required to recover. Environment: Sender: iPhone, iOS [26.5] Receiver: AirPlay receiver device/app The same behavior can also be reproduced when mirroring from iPhone to a Mac Source app: Photos Content: local video played in full screen Steps to reproduce: Start AirPlay mirroring from an iPhone to an AirPlay receiver. Open the Photos app on the iPhone. Play a local video in full screen. While the video is playing, switch to another app or enter the multitasking flow. Observe the mirrored output on the receiver side. Video Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X9Mj9EB4IYZXjDdCaqrXfgg1PpbhZoUN/view?usp=sharing Expected behavior: AirPlay mirroring should continue smoothly after the app switch, or recover automatically when the source video/app state changes. Actual behavior: The mirrored video freezes completely. The AirPlay connection remains active, but no new video frames are rendered on the receiver side. The stream does not recover until AirPlay mirroring is stopped and restarted. Could Apple confirm whether this is a known AirPlay mirroring issue? Is there any recommended workaround, receiver-side handling, or additional diagnostic information that should be collected for this case?

Hello Apple Developer Support, I am reaching out for technical guidance regarding screen capture protection behavior on macOS. We are building a desktop application using Flutter running on macOS, and we have implemented native Swift code inside the macOS Runner in order to protect sensitive content from screen recording and screen sharing. Our current implementation relies on native window-level protection and display state handling from Swift, while the main UI remains rendered by Flutter. The main challenge we are facing is the following: we need to keep a strong native anti-recording protection on macOS the application is heavily used with AirPlay and screen mirroring currently, AirPlay / mirroring is often interpreted by the system similarly to screen capture or screen recording this causes our protected content to be replaced by a gray or blank area even during legitimate AirPlay usage In practice, we would like to allow: AirPlay legitimate external display / mirroring usage while still preventing: screen recording screen sharing unauthorized screen capture We would like to know whether Apple recommends an official supported approach for this use case, preferably using public APIs. More specifically: Is there an officially supported way on macOS to distinguish AirPlay mirroring from screen recording / screen sharing? Is "NSWindow.sharingType" the recommended public API for this scenario? Is there a recommended approach when the UI surface is rendered through Flutter / Metal? Are there any best practices with ScreenCaptureKit for protecting content without affecting AirPlay? We understand that some lower-level APIs may not be officially supported, so we would greatly appreciate guidance toward a public and future-proof implementation path. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards, Tony

Hey! We discovered an unexpected side-effect of enabling enforceRoutes in our iOS VPN application - video airplay from iOS to tvOS stopped working (Unable to Connect popup appears instead). Our flags combination is: includeAllNetworks = false enforceRoutes = true excludeLocalNetworks = true Interestingly, music content can be AirPlayed with the same conditions. Also, video AirPlay from iOS device to the macOS works flawlessly. Do you know if this is a known issue? Do you have any advice if we can fix this problem on our side, while keeping enforcRoutes flag enabled?

Hello Apple team and developer community, I am preparing a visionOS app for a fair environment, where we want to automatically stream the current experience to a nearby monitor via AirPlay, without requiring guests or staff to manually interact with the Control Center or AirPlay pickers all the time. The goal is to provide a smooth, frictionless setup so attendees can focus on the demo, not the configuration. Feature Request: A supported API or method to programmatically start/stop AirPlay video streaming (mirroring or external playback) from within a visionOS app, allowing the current experience to be instantly displayed on an external monitor or Apple TV for the audience. Context & Rationale: In a trade fair or exhibition setting, rapid guest turnaround and minimal staff intervention are crucial. Having to manually guide each visitor through AirPlay setup is impractical. As I understood, AVRoutePickerView can be used for this on iOS/macOS, but this is not available in visionOS. Enabling similar automated streaming on visionOS would make the device far more suitable for live demos and public showcases. Questions: Are there any supported workarounds or best practices for enabling automated screen streaming or AirPlay initiation on visionOS in public demo environments that I missed? Is Apple considering adding programmatic AirPlay control or accessibility features to support such use cases in future visionOS releases? Thank you for considering this request! If there are recommended patterns, entitlements, or accessibility solutions we could explore for trade fair scenarios, your guidance would be greatly appreciated. Best regards, Julian Zürn - IPI, HS Kempten

Hello there, I'm trying to implement feature which uses AirPlay with Apple TV. I want to disconnect from the device programmatically when something happens. Under something I mean a situation when a user wants to stop broadcasting (for example close the PiP window on his phone). I use this snippet: try audioSession.setCategory(.playAndRecord, options: .defaultToSpeaker) try audioSession.setActive(true, options: .notifyOthersOnDeactivation) It works fine sometimes but not always (it works on iOS 18 but it doesn't on iOS 17 or ). So I thought it's a bug and create a ticker to feedback assistant (FB21220013). The support told me write a post on the forum.

Does anyone know if we will be able to airplay content from another Apple device, say an iPad or iPhone to the Vision Pro?

I created a desktop app for Mac using Xojo. The app has a controller in the main window and displays advertisements and notices on a connected external display. I'm currently connecting my iMac24 to a REGZA-55M550M via AirPlay, and displaying video from the iMac to the REGZA, but the connection occasionally drops out. Yesterday, the connection dropped about 3.5 hours after connecting. Of course, I have other apps running on the iMac, but I'm not using any operations that would put a strain on the network or memory. Does AirPlay connection to non-Apple products become unstable over long periods of time?

Hi, I've wrapped AVRoutePickerView in SwiftUI using pretty much the code given here, with a few changes: func makeUIView(context: Context) -> UIView { let routePickerView = AVRoutePickerView() // Configure the button's color. //routePickerView.delegate = context.coordinator //routePickerView.backgroundColor = .secondarySystemBackground routePickerView.tintColor = .accent routePickerView.activeTintColor = .accent // Indicate whether your app prefers video content. routePickerView.prioritizesVideoDevices = false return routePickerView } I commented out routePickerView.delegate = context.coordinator because it doesn't compile; context.coordinator is of type Void and I'm not sure how to fix that. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the issue. Anyway, this works fine without VoiceOver; if I tap the button, I get the AirPlay popover. But in VoiceOver, if I select the button and double-tap, nothing happens… it just reads the button's accessibilityLabel again. How can I get the AirPlay popover to show in VoiceOver?

I'm trying to implement airplay into my app. I can successfully playback sound and trigger the airplay selector sheet. If the target device is a Bluetooth only device I can connect with no problem and stream the audio to the Bluetooth device, but if the audio device is a airplay specific device like a HomePod or an Apple TV when I select it, I get a spinning icon, indicating that it is trying to connect, and eventually it times out and stops without connecting. I don't believe it is an AirPlay audio issue because if I go to a different app, for example a podcast app and select my HomePods for output, and then switch back to my app. My audio will correctly stream to the HomePod. Not only that, I have it so that my icon will change color to indicate that it is connected via airplay and it is correctly indicating that it is connected via AirPlay. But I cannot then disconnect it using the Airplay selector. The issue appears to be in the AirPlay selection side, which I have spent several days attempting to troubleshoot mostly using ChatGPT to suggest code different than what I have to maybe work around the issue. Mostly it is focused on the audio player section, but it doesn't seem like that is really the route that is the problem.

After upgrading to iOS 18.4, I'm no longer able to establish an AirPlay v1 connection to an audio system. The symptom is that the AirPlay route picker just spins when trying to connect to an audio system. It eventually gives up. I tested this on an iPhone 14, connecting to a HomePod, AirPort express, AppleTV and a Wiim Pro. If I try connecting with AirPlay v2, ex: using Apple Music, the connection succeeds and audio can be played. I'm the developer of an app that plays audio over AirPlay while also recording. My app has to use AirPlay v1 because AvAudioSession doesn't allow the policy .longFormAudio when the category is .playAndRecord. This issue is a real pain as it means my app is suddenly broken for many thousands of users. Is anyone else seeing this issue? Any suggestions for a workaround?

Hi! About a month ago (somewhere around the release of iOS 18.4.1 and MacOS 15.4.1) I started having issues with the iPhone Mirroring app, saying that it's unable to connect to iPhone, although it worked seamlessly before. In error console log I see this chain of events: error 19:00:51.054054+0200 iPhone Mirroring unable to get entitlements for client task. Error: nil error 19:00:51.054074+0200 iPhone Mirroring AppleEvent sender is not entitled error 19:00:51.098453+0200 iPhone Mirroring Tearing down the session due to: noCompatiblePhone error 19:00:51.139329+0200 iPhone Mirroring CAML error:727: No such class `LKEventHandler' error 19:00:51.139342+0200 iPhone Mirroring CAML error:727: Unknown value element `LKEventHandler' error 19:00:51.139349+0200 iPhone Mirroring CAML error:727: `o' element must have `type' attribute I tried literally every solution I could find, including deleting all possible preferences, but to no avail. It also might be worth mentioning that since these issues started, I can't AirPlay from my iPhone to my Mac unless I switch the "Allow Airplay for" option to either "Anyone on the same network" or "Everyone". Can anyone tell me if this may be something connected to those latest updates, or is there anything else I can try on my end? Thanks in advance!

Our streaming app uses FairPlay-protected video streams, which previously worked fine when using AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate to provide CKCs. Recently, we migrated to AVContentKeySession, and while everything works as expected during regular playback, we encountered an issue with AirPlay. Our CKC has a 120-second expiry, so we renew it by calling renewExpiringResponseData.. This trigger the didProvideRenewingContentKeyRequest delegate and we respond with updated CKC. However, when streaming via AirPlay, both video and audio freeze exactly after 120 seconds. To validate the issue, I tested with AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate and found that I can reproduce the same freeze if I do not renew the key. This suggests that AirPlay is not accepting the renewed CKC when using AVContentKeySession. Additional Details: This issue occurs across different iOS versions and various AirPlay devices. The same content plays without issues when played directly on the device. The renewal process is successful, and segments continue to load, but playback remains frozen. Tried renewing the CKC bit early (100s). I also tried setting player.usesExternalPlaybackWhileExternalScreenIsActive = true, but the issue persists. We don't use persistentKey. Is there anything else that needs to be considered for proper key renewal when AirPlaying? Any help on how to fix this or confirmation if this is a known issue would be greatly appreciated.

Hello Apple Developers, I am experiencing an issue where USB audio input (e.g., external USB microphone) is blocked when using AirPlay screen mirroring from my iPhone to a Mac or Apple TV. However, the built-in microphone continues to work without any problem. Issue Details: I am using an iPhone 15 (or latest device) running iOS [your iOS version]. I connect a USB audio interface/microphone via a USB-C adapter or Lightning adapter. The USB microphone works perfectly for audio input before starting AirPlay. The moment I enable AirPlay screen mirroring, the USB microphone stops working, and it disappears from available audio input sources. The built-in microphone continues to function, but I cannot use the USB microphone while mirroring. When I stop screen mirroring, the USB microphone immediately becomes available again. Expected Behavior: I would expect iOS to allow me to continue using an external USB microphone while mirroring my screen, just like it allows the built-in microphone to work. Questions: Is this an intentional restriction in iOS? Is there any workaround to enable USB audio input while using AirPlay screen mirroring? Is there a way to request a feature or configuration option to allow external USB microphones during AirPlay? I appreciate any insights or guidance from the Apple team or fellow developers. Thanks in advance! Best regards,

Hi. I am working on an audio app for iOS. I have implemented UI and handling which allows the user to change playback rate of audio. When the user selects a different rate, I update the rate property on my AVQueuePlayer. This is working well on device. When I use Airplay, it works for some devices and not for others. Some devices won't change playback rate and will always play at 1x speed. Is this possibly a limitation of those 3rd-party devices? Or is there something I'm missing/should check? Would love to get playback rate changes working across all Airplay devices with our app. Kind regards.

I have an audio app that can play audio on an AirPlay device. On non-Apple TV devices, the AirPlay app (on Roku, Samsung, etc.) shows the now playing metadata: title, artist, and album art. However, on tvOS 18.1, no metadata is shown. The Apple TV device plays the audio, but there is no now playing information shown, nor any other indicators. Other media apps show the "Now Playing" controls on the upper right of the tvOS home screen. Can someone point me in the direction of how to solve this issue? I think I am missing something somewhere in regards to the tvOS metadata implementation.

We have a universal iOS/tvOS app that also supports iOS App on Mac. In our AVPlayer-based video player we support AirPlay with AVRouteDetector and AVRoutePickerView. We play HLS streams. When we try to AirPlay from an iOS device to an Apple TV or a Mac that has our app installed, it doesn't work. The receiver is marked as active in the route picker UI but the video doesn't show up on the receiver and playback stops. When our app isn't installed on the receiver device, everything works as expected. Has anyone encountered the same issue? Any solutions available for this?

Context: I’m not an app developer, but I’m doing some research in order to gain a high level understanding of an app that I want some developers to build for me. Basically I need a navigation app built (integrated with Google Maps) that works pretty much like Google Maps. This app will connect to and stream live navigation data to a car HUD (heads-up-display) device using WiFi direct (to facilitate high bandwidth streaming). The purpose of the streaming from the mobile app to the HUD is so that the driver can see the live map without having to look at their phone. This leads me to my QUESTION: this functionality (streaming from app to HUD) is similar to what AirPlay does & I’ve read that Apple rejects apps that replicate AirPlay’s screen mirroring function. I’ve also read that in order to work around this, my app should limit the information that is sent to & displayed by the HUD device (basically, shouldn’t mirror the whole screen). So, would Apple still reject my app if it only streamed the live map onto the HUD device & left out all the other information displayed on the app (ETA, turn signals, distances etc.) and thus refraining from streaming the entire screen?