AVFoundation

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Work with audiovisual assets, control device cameras, process audio, and configure system audio interactions using AVFoundation.

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LockedCameraCaptureExtension and Sharing User Preferences
I have the main app that saves preferences to UserDefaults.standard. So I have this one preference that the user is able to toggle - isRawOn UserDefaults.standard.set(self.isRawOn, forKey: "isRawOn") Now, I have LockedCameraCaptureExtension which is required know if that above setting on or off during launch. Also if it's toggled within the extension, the main app should know about it on the next launch. The main app and the extension runs on separate containers and the preferences are not shared due to privacy reasons. Apple mentions of using appContext of CameraCaptureIntent, but not sure how above scenario is possible through that....unless I am missing something. Apple Reference What I have for CameraCaptureIntent: @available(iOS 18, *) struct LaunchMyAppControlIntent: CameraCaptureIntent { typealias AppContext = MyAppContext static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "LaunchMyAppControlIntent" static let description = IntentDescription("Capture photos with MyApp.") @MainActor func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult { .result() } }
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917
Nov ’25
AVSpeechSynthesizer pulls words out of thin air.
Hi, I'm working on a project that uses the AVSpeechSynthesizer and AVSpeechUtterance. I discovered by chance that the AVSpeechSynthesizer automatically completes some words instead of just outputting what it's supposed to. These are abbreviations for days of the week or months, but not all of them. I don't want either of them automatically completed, but only the specified text. The completion transcends languages. I have written a short example program for demonstration purposes. import SwiftUI import AVFoundation import Foundation let synthesizer: AVSpeechSynthesizer = AVSpeechSynthesizer() struct ContentView: View { var body: some View { VStack { Button { utter("mon") } label: { Text("mon") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("tue") } label: { Text("tue") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("thu") } label: { Text("thu") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("feb") } label: { Text("feb") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("feb", lang: "de-DE") } label: { Text("feb DE") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("wed") } label: { Text("wed") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) } .padding() } private func utter(_ text: String, lang: String = "en-US") { let utterance = AVSpeechUtterance(string: text) let voice = AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: lang) utterance.voice = voice synthesizer.speak(utterance) } } #Preview { ContentView() } Thank you Christian
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250
Nov ’25
Control system video effects support for CMIO extension
We're distributing a virtual camera with our app that does not profit in the slightest from automatically applied system video effects both to the video going in (physical camera device) or out (virtual camera device). I'm aware of setting NSCameraReactionEffectGesturesEnabledDefault in Info.plist and determining active video effects via AVCaptureDevice API. Those are obviously crutches, because having to tell users to go look for and click around in menu bar apps is the opposite of a great UX. To make our product's video output more deterministic, I'm looking for a way to tell the CMIO subsystem that our virtual camera does not support any of the system video effects. I'm seeing properties like AVCaptureDevice.Format.isPortraitEffectSupported and AVCaptureDevice.Format.isStudioLightSupported whose documentation refers to the format's ability to support these effects. Since we're setting a CMFormatDescription via CMIOExtensionStreamSource.formats I was hoping to find something in the extensions, but wasn't successful so far. Can this be done?
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483
Nov ’25
Retrieving the DRM expiration time for FairPlay offline assets on iOS
I’m implementing FairPlay offline streaming on iOS and ran into a question about DRM expiration handling. As far as I understand, when issuing a FairPlay offline license, there are typically two time windows: 1. The period during which the user can start offline playback (the longer “rental window”). 2. Once playback starts, the duration allowed to complete playback (the shorter “playback window”). I’d like to display this information (the remaining validity or expiration time) in the app’s UI next to each downloaded asset. My question is: 👉 Is there a way to programmatically check or retrieve the expiration time for a FairPlay offline asset on the client side (via AVFoundation or AVContentKeySession)? Any guidance or best practices for surfacing DRM expiration info in the UI would be greatly appreciated.
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939
Oct ’25
AVAssetExportSession ignores frameDuration 60fps and exports at 30fps, but AVPlayer playback is correct
Hey everyone, I'm stuck on a really frustrating AVFoundation problem. I'm building a video editor that uses a custom AVVideoCompositor to add effects, and I need the final output to be 60 FPS. So basically, I create an AVMutableComposition to sequence my video clips. I create an AVMutableVideoComposition and set the frame rate to 60 FPS: videoComposition.frameDuration = CMTime(value: 1, timescale: 60) I assign my CustomVideoCompositor class to the videoComposition. I create an AVPlayerItem with the composition and video composition. The Problem: Playback Works: When I play the AVPlayerItem in an AVPlayer, it's perfect. It plays at a smooth 60 FPS, and my custom compositor's startRequest method is called 60 times per second. Export Fails: When I try to export the exact same composition and video composition using AVAssetExportSession, the final .mp4 file is always 30 FPS (or 29.97). I've logged inside my custom compositor during the export, and it's definitely being called 30 times per second, so it's generating the 30 frames. It seems like AVAssetExportSession is just dropping every other frame when it encodes the video. My source videos are screen recordings which I recorded using ScreenCaptureKit itself with the minimum frame interval to be 60. Here is my export function. I'm using the AVAssetExportPresetHighestQuality preset :- func exportVideo(to outputURL: URL) async throws { guard let composition = composition, let videoComposition = videoComposition else { throw VideoCompositionError.noValidVideos } try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: outputURL) guard let exportSession = AVAssetExportSession( asset: composition, presetName: AVAssetExportPresetHighestQuality // Is this the problem? ) else { throw VideoCompositionError.trackCreationFailed } exportSession.outputFileType = .mp4 exportSession.videoComposition = videoComposition // This has the 60fps setting try await exportSession.export(to: outputURL, as: .mp4) } I've created a bare bones sample project that shows this exact bug in action. The resulting video is 60fps during playback, but only 30fps during the export. https://github.com/zaidbren/SimpleEditor My Question: Why is AVAssetExportSession ignoring my 60 FPS frameDuration and defaulting to 30 FPS, even though AVPlayer respects it?
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588
Oct ’25
AVFoundation Custom Video Compositor Skipping Frames During AVPlayer Playback Despite 60 FPS Frame Duration
I'm building a Swift video editor with AVFoundation and a custom compositor. Despite setting AVVideoComposition.frameDuration to 60 FPS, I'm seeing significant frame skipping during playback. Console Output Shows Frame Skipping Frame #0 at 0.0 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #2 at 33.333333333333336 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #6 at 100.0 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #10 at 166.66666666666666 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #32 at 533.3333333333334 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #62 at 1033.3333333333335 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #96 at 1600.0 ms (fps: 60.0) Instead of frames every ~16.67ms (60 FPS), I'm getting irregular intervals, sometimes 33ms, 67ms, or hundreds of milliseconds apart. Renderer.swift (Key Parts) @MainActor class Renderer: ObservableObject { @Published var playerItem: AVPlayerItem? private let assetManager: ProjectAssetManager? private let compositorId: String func buildComposition() async { // ... load mouse moves/clicks data ... let composition = AVMutableComposition() let videoTrack = composition.addMutableTrack( withMediaType: .video, preferredTrackID: kCMPersistentTrackID_Invalid ) var currentTime = CMTime.zero var layerInstructions: [AVMutableVideoCompositionLayerInstruction] = [] // Insert video segments for videoURL in videoURLs { let asset = AVAsset(url: videoURL) let tracks = try await asset.loadTracks(withMediaType: .video) let assetVideoTrack = tracks.first let duration = try await asset.load(.duration) try videoTrack.insertTimeRange( CMTimeRange(start: .zero, duration: duration), of: assetVideoTrack, at: currentTime ) let layerInstruction = AVMutableVideoCompositionLayerInstruction(assetTrack: videoTrack) let transform = try await assetVideoTrack.load(.preferredTransform) layerInstruction.setTransform(transform, at: currentTime) layerInstructions.append(layerInstruction) currentTime = CMTimeAdd(currentTime, duration) } let videoComposition = AVMutableVideoComposition() videoComposition.frameDuration = CMTime(value: 1, timescale: 60) // 60 FPS // Set render size from first video if let firstURL = videoURLs.first { let firstAsset = AVAsset(url: firstURL) let firstTrack = try await firstAsset.loadTracks(withMediaType: .video).first let naturalSize = try await firstTrack.load(.naturalSize) let transform = try await firstTrack.load(.preferredTransform) videoComposition.renderSize = CGSize( width: abs(naturalSize.applying(transform).width), height: abs(naturalSize.applying(transform).height) ) } let instruction = CompositorInstruction() instruction.timeRange = CMTimeRange(start: .zero, duration: currentTime) instruction.layerInstructions = layerInstructions instruction.compositorId = compositorId videoComposition.instructions = [instruction] videoComposition.customVideoCompositorClass = CustomVideoCompositor.self let playerItem = AVPlayerItem(asset: composition) playerItem.videoComposition = videoComposition self.playerItem = playerItem } } class CompositorInstruction: NSObject, AVVideoCompositionInstructionProtocol { var timeRange: CMTimeRange = .zero var enablePostProcessing: Bool = false var containsTweening: Bool = false var requiredSourceTrackIDs: [NSValue]? var passthroughTrackID: CMPersistentTrackID = kCMPersistentTrackID_Invalid var layerInstructions: [AVVideoCompositionLayerInstruction] = [] var compositorId: String = "" } class CustomVideoCompositor: NSObject, AVVideoCompositing { var sourcePixelBufferAttributes: [String : Any]? = [ kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey as String: Int(kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA) ] var requiredPixelBufferAttributesForRenderContext: [String : Any] = [ kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey as String: Int(kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA) ] func renderContextChanged(_ newRenderContext: AVVideoCompositionRenderContext) {} func startRequest(_ asyncVideoCompositionRequest: AVAsynchronousVideoCompositionRequest) { guard let sourceTrackID = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.sourceTrackIDs.first?.int32Value, let sourcePixelBuffer = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.sourceFrame(byTrackID: sourceTrackID), let outputBuffer = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.renderContext.newPixelBuffer() else { asyncVideoCompositionRequest.finish(with: NSError(domain: "VideoCompositor", code: -1)) return } let videoComposition = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.renderContext.videoComposition let frameDuration = videoComposition.frameDuration let fps = Double(frameDuration.timescale) / Double(frameDuration.value) let compositionTime = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.compositionTime let seconds = CMTimeGetSeconds(compositionTime) let frameInMilliseconds = seconds * 1000 let frameNumber = Int(round(seconds * fps)) print("Frame #\(frameNumber) at \(frameInMilliseconds) ms (fps: \(fps))") asyncVideoCompositionRequest.finish(withComposedVideoFrame: outputBuffer) } func cancelAllPendingVideoCompositionRequests() {} } VideoPlayerViewModel @MainActor class VideoPlayerViewModel: ObservableObject { let player = AVPlayer() private let renderer: Renderer func loadVideo() async { await renderer.buildComposition() if let playerItem = renderer.playerItem { player.replaceCurrentItem(with: playerItem) } } } What I've Tried Frame skipping is consistent—exact same timestamps on every playback Issue persists even with minimal processing (just passing through buffers) Occurs regardless of compositor complexity Please note that I need every frame at exact millisecond intervals for my application. Frame loss or inconsistent frameInMillisecond values are not acceptable.
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464
Oct ’25
Mute behavior of Volume button on AVPlayerViewController iOS 26
With older iOS versions, when user taps Mute/Volume button on AVPLayerViewController to unmute, the system restores the sound volume of device to the level when user muted before. On iOS 26, when user taps unmute button on screen, the volume starts from 0 (not restore). (but it still restores if user unmutes by pressing physical volume buttons). As I understand, the Volume bar/button on AVPlayerViewController is MPVolumeView, and I can not control it. So this is a feature of the system. But I got complaints that this is a bug. I did not find documents that describe this change of Mute button behavior. I need some bases to explain this situation. Thank you.
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315
Oct ’25
Process to request the restricted entitlement behind “DJ with Apple Music” (tempo control / time-stretch on Apple Music streams)?
Hi, I’m an iOS developer building an app with an use case that needs advanced playback on Apple Music subscription streams, specifically: • Real-time tempo change (BPM) during playback — i.e., time-stretch with key-lock, not just crossfade. • Beat-matched transitions between tracks. From what I can tell, this capability seems to exist only for approved partners and isn’t available through public MusicKit. Question: What’s the official request path to be evaluated for that restricted partner entitlement (application form, questionnaire, NDA, or internal team/BD contact)? If the entitlement identifier is internal, how can I get my account routed to the right Apple Music team? For reference, publicly announced partners include Algoriddim djay, Serato DJ Pro, rekordbox (AlphaTheta), and Engine DJ—all of which appear to implement mixing features that imply advanced playback (tempo/beat-matching) on Apple Music content. I’d prefer not to share product details publicly for the moment and can provide specifics privately if needed. Thanks in advance!
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551
Oct ’25
Why Does AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReasonVideoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps Occur on iPhone?
Hi everyone, We're encountering an unexpected issue with our iPhone-only camera app: 👉 TimeMark - Photo Proof https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timemark-photo-proof/id6446071834 Problem Description: Our app uses a full-screen camera view via AVCaptureSession. In some cases reported by users, the camera fails immediately upon app launch, and we receive this interruption reason: AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReasonVideoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps According to the Apple documentation https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avcapturesession/interruptionreason/videodevicenotavailablewithmultipleforegroundapps?language=objc , this interruption typically occurs when the app is running in a multi-app layout such as Slide Over, Split View, or Picture in Picture — all of which are iPad-only features. However, this issue is being reported on iPhones, and our app does not support iPad at all. Also noted in the documentation: "Given your present AVCaptureSession configuration, the session may only be run if your app occupies the full screen." Additional Context: The issue occurs immediately on app launch, before the user can interact with the camera. We don’t enable multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled. We are 100% sure this is happening on iPhone, not iPad. It’s hard to reproduce; users report it happening sporadically. Locally, we tried playing Picture-in-Picture videos (e.g., Safari/YouTube) before launching our app, but we could not reproduce the issue. Questions: Why is this interruption reason occurring on iPhone, which doesn’t officially support Slide Over or Split View? Could this be caused by some system-level multitasking or resource contention (e.g., Picture in Picture from FaceTime or Safari)? Would enabling multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled help prevent this issue on iPhone, even though it's designed for iPad? Enabling multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled seems to require enabling UIBackgroundModes → voip. Would adding this background mode cause any App Store review risk or rejection if our app doesn't actually use VoIP functionality? Any help, insight, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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1.1k
Oct ’25
Playback Issues for DRM content when sending CMCD
Since iOS and tvOS 18, CMCD can now be automatically sent by AVPlayer (https://developer.apple.com/streaming/Whats-new-HLS.pdf). However, after enabling CMCD, our streams occasionally fail with the following error: CoreMediaErrorDomain Error -17383 This issue appears to affect only DRM-protected (FairPlay) streams so far. We activate CMCD via the resource loader of an AVURLAsset, before assigning the item to an AVPlayer. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a reliable way to reproduce the issue, and we’ve been unable to gather any useful diagnostic information. Has anyone else observed this behavior when enabling CMCD on FairPlay streams?
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844
Oct ’25
How can I locate a UVC camera for PTZ control by AVCaptureDevice.unique_id
I'm writing a program to control a PTZ camera connected via USB. I can get access to target camera's unique_id, and also other infos provided by AVFoundation. But I don't know how to locate my target USB device to send a UVC ControlRequest. There's many Cameras with same VendorID and ProductID connected at a time, so I need a more exact way to find out which device is my target. It looks that the unique_id provided is (locationID<<32|VendorID<<16|ProductID) as hex string, but I'm not sure if I can always assume this behavior won't change. Is there's a document declares how AVFoundation generate the unique_id for USB camera, so I can assume this convert will always work? Or is there's a way to send a PTZ control request to AVCaptureDevice? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40006908/usb-interface-of-an-avcapturedevice I have seen this similar question. But I'm worrying that Exacting LocationID+VendorID+ProductID from unique_id seems like programming to implementation instead of interface. So, if there's any other better way to control my camera? here's my example code for getting unique_id: // // camera_unique_id_test.mm // // 测试代码:使用C++获取当前系统摄像头的AVCaptureDevice unique_id // // 编译命令: // clang++ -framework AVFoundation -framework CoreMedia -framework Foundation // camera_unique_id_test.mm -o camera_unique_id_test // #include <iostream> #include <string> #include <vector> #import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h> #import <Foundation/Foundation.h> struct CameraInfo { std::string uniqueId; }; std::vector<CameraInfo> getAllCameraDevices() { std::vector<CameraInfo> cameras; @autoreleasepool { NSArray<AVCaptureDevice*>* devices = [AVCaptureDevice devicesWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo]; AVCaptureDevice* defaultDevice = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo]; // 遍历所有设备 for (AVCaptureDevice* device in devices) { CameraInfo info; // 获取unique_id info.uniqueId = std::string([device.uniqueID UTF8String]); cameras.push_back(info); } } return cameras; } int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { std::vector<CameraInfo> cameras = getAllCameraDevices(); for (size_t i = 0; i < cameras.size(); i++) { const CameraInfo& camera = cameras[i]; std::cout << " 设备 " << (i + 1) << ":" << std::endl; std::cout << " unique_id: " << camera.uniqueId << std::endl; } return 0; } and here's my code for UVC control: // clang++ -framework Foundation -framework IOKit uvc_test.cpp -o uvc_test #include <iostream> #include <CoreFoundation/CoreFoundation.h> #include <IOKit/IOCFPlugIn.h> #include <IOKit/IOKitLib.h> #include <IOKit/IOMessage.h> #include <IOKit/usb/IOUSBLib.h> #include <IOKit/usb/USB.h> CFStringRef CreateCFStringFromIORegistryKey(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef keyString = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, key, kCFStringEncodingUTF8); if (!keyString) return nullptr; CFStringRef result = static_cast<CFStringRef>( IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(ioService, keyString, kCFAllocatorDefault, kIORegistryIterateRecursively)); CFRelease(keyString); return result; } std::string GetStringFromIORegistry(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef cfString = CreateCFStringFromIORegistryKey(ioService, key); if (!cfString) return ""; char buffer[256]; Boolean success = CFStringGetCString(cfString, buffer, sizeof(buffer), kCFStringEncodingUTF8); CFRelease(cfString); return success ? std::string(buffer) : std::string(""); } uint32_t GetUInt32FromIORegistry(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef keyString = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, key, kCFStringEncodingUTF8); if (!keyString) return 0; CFNumberRef number = static_cast<CFNumberRef>( IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(ioService, keyString, kCFAllocatorDefault, kIORegistryIterateRecursively)); CFRelease(keyString); if (!number) return 0; uint32_t value = 0; CFNumberGetValue(number, kCFNumberSInt32Type, &value); CFRelease(number); return value; } int main() { // Get matching dictionary for USB devices CFMutableDictionaryRef matchingDict = IOServiceMatching(kIOUSBDeviceClassName); // Get iterator for matching services io_iterator_t serviceIterator; IOServiceGetMatchingServices(kIOMasterPortDefault, matchingDict, &serviceIterator); // Iterate through matching devices io_service_t usbService; while ((usbService = IOIteratorNext(serviceIterator))) { uint32_t locationId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "locationID"); uint32_t vendorId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "idVendor"); uint32_t productId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "idProduct"); IOCFPlugInInterface** plugInInterface = nullptr; IOUSBDeviceInterface** deviceInterface = nullptr; SInt32 score; // Get device plugin interface IOCreatePlugInInterfaceForService(usbService, kIOUSBDeviceUserClientTypeID, kIOCFPlugInInterfaceID, &plugInInterface, &score); // Get device interface (*plugInInterface) ->QueryInterface(plugInInterface, CFUUIDGetUUIDBytes(kIOUSBDeviceInterfaceID), (LPVOID*)&deviceInterface); (*plugInInterface)->Release(plugInInterface); // Try to find UVC control interface using CreateInterfaceIterator io_iterator_t interfaceIterator; IOUSBFindInterfaceRequest interfaceRequest; interfaceRequest.bInterfaceClass = kUSBVideoInterfaceClass; // 14 interfaceRequest.bInterfaceSubClass = kUSBVideoControlSubClass; // 1 interfaceRequest.bInterfaceProtocol = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; interfaceRequest.bAlternateSetting = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; (*deviceInterface) ->CreateInterfaceIterator(deviceInterface, &interfaceRequest, &interfaceIterator); (*deviceInterface)->Release(deviceInterface); io_service_t usbInterface = IOIteratorNext(interfaceIterator); IOObjectRelease(interfaceIterator); if (usbInterface) { std::cout << "Get UVC device with:" << std::endl; std::cout << "locationId: " << std::hex << locationId << std::endl; std::cout << "vendorId: " << std::hex << vendorId << std::endl; std::cout << "productId: " << std::hex << productId << std::endl << std::endl; IOObjectRelease(usbInterface); } IOObjectRelease(usbService); } IOObjectRelease(serviceIterator); }
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673
Oct ’25
iOS 26 AVCaptureDevice continuousAutoFocus not working
Device: iPhone 16 Pro Max OS: iOS 26.0.1 AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType: builtInUltraWideCamera avtiveFormat: <AVCaptureDeviceFormat: 0x10ffb9ac0 'vide'/'420v' 1440x1080, { 1- 60 fps}, photo dims:{1440x1080,2016x1512}, fov:101.022, gdc fov:103.625, binned, max zoom:94.50 (upscales @1.40), system zoom range:1.0-3.0, AF System:1, ISO:15.0-3600.0, SS:0.000023-1.000000, system exposure bias range:-2.0-2.0, supports multicam, supports CS RoI, supports Smart Style, supports Smudge Detection> API: device.isFocusModeSupported(.continuousAutoFocus) == true setting: device.focusMode = .continuousAutoFocus setting is ok, but it's not working actually with continuousAutoFocus
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187
Oct ’25
isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method cannot determine whether the camera is available, please provide an available judgment method
Prerequisite: After the MDM APP issues the command, the camera on the phone is no longer visible (unusable). After upgrading to iOS 26.1, the isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method keeps returning true when the camera is unavailable. The isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method on iOS 26.0.1 is normal, returning false when the camera is unavailable and true when it is available. Please fix this method to determine If the isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method cannot determine whether the camera is available, please provide an available judgment method.
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213
Oct ’25
After iOS 18.5, the AVFoundation AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReason.videoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps error has caused a significant increase in camera black screen issues.
Issue: After iOS 18.5 release, our app is experiencing a significant increase in AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReason.videoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps errors. Details: Our camera-related code has not been updated recently.However, we've observed that the error rate has significantly increased starting from May 2025. The error rate has risen from approximately 0.02% (2 in 10,000 users) to 0.1% (1 in 1,000 users). This represents a 5x increase in error occurrence. The frequency has increased noticeably since iOS 18.5 This is affecting our app's camera functionality and user experience Questions: Are there any known changes in iOS 18.5 regarding camera access management? What are the recommended best practices to handle this interruption reason? Are there any API changes we should be aware of? Best, Shay
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618
Oct ’25
LockedCameraCapture Does Not Launch The App from Lock Screen
My implementation of LockedCameraCapture does not launch my app when tapped from locked screen. But when the same widget is in the Control Center, it launches the app successfully. Standard Xcode target template: Lock_Screen_Capture.swift @main struct Lock_Screen_Capture: LockedCameraCaptureExtension { var body: some LockedCameraCaptureExtensionScene { LockedCameraCaptureUIScene { session in Lock_Screen_CaptureViewFinder(session: session) } } } Lock_Screen_CaptureViewFinder.swift: import SwiftUI import UIKit import UniformTypeIdentifiers import LockedCameraCapture struct Lock_Screen_CaptureViewFinder: UIViewControllerRepresentable { let session: LockedCameraCaptureSession var sourceType: UIImagePickerController.SourceType = .camera init(session: LockedCameraCaptureSession) { self.session = session } func makeUIViewController(context: Self.Context) -> UIImagePickerController { let imagePicker = UIImagePickerController() imagePicker.sourceType = sourceType imagePicker.mediaTypes = [UTType.image.identifier, UTType.movie.identifier] imagePicker.cameraDevice = .rear return imagePicker } func updateUIViewController(_ uiViewController: UIImagePickerController, context: Self.Context) { } } Then I have my widget: struct CameraWidgetControl: ControlWidget { var body: some ControlWidgetConfiguration { StaticControlConfiguration( kind: "com.myCompany.myAppName.lock-screen") { ControlWidgetButton(action: MyAppCaptureIntent()) { Label("Capture", systemImage: "camera.shutter.button.fill") } } } } My AppIntent: struct MyAppContext: Codable {} struct MyAppCaptureIntent: CameraCaptureIntent { typealias AppContext = MyAppContext static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "MyAppCaptureIntent" static let description = IntentDescription("Capture photos and videos with MyApp.") @MainActor func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult { .result() } } The Issue LockedCameraCapture Widget does not launch my app when tapped from locked screen. You get the Face ID prompt and takes you to just Home Screen. But when the same widget is in the Control Center, it launches the app successfully. Error Message When tapped on Lock Screen, I get the following error code: LaunchServices: store ‹private > or url ‹private > was nil: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo=&NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. Failed to initialize client context with error Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo=&NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Things I tried Widget image displays correctly App ID and the Provisioning Profile seem to be fine since they work fine when the same code injected in to AVCam sample app and when used the same App ID's. AppIntent file contains the target memberships of the Lock Screen capture and Widget Apple compiles without errors or warnings.
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347
Oct ’25
Torch Freezes Ultra-Wide Camera When Switching Between Wide & Ultra-Wide Lenses (AVFoundation Bug?)
I'm developing an iOS app using AVFoundation for real-time video capture and object detection. While implementing torch functionality with camera switching (between Wide and Ultra-Wide lenses), I encountered a critical issue where the camera freezes when toggling the torch while the Ultra-Wide camera is active. Issue If the torch is ON and I switch from Wide to Ultra-Wide, the camera freezes If the Ultra-Wide camera is active and I try to turn the torch ON, the camera freezes The iPhone Camera app allows using the torch while recording video with the Ultra-Wide lens, so this should be possible via AVFoundation as well. Code snippet DispatchQueue.global(qos: .userInitiated).async { [weak self] in guard let self = self else { return } let isSwitchingToUltraWide = !self.isUsingFisheyeCamera let cameraType: AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? .builtInUltraWideCamera : .builtInWideAngleCamera let cameraName = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? "Ultra Wide" : "Wide" guard let selectedCamera = AVCaptureDevice.default(cameraType, for: .video, position: .back) else { DispatchQueue.main.async { self.showAlert(title: "Camera Error", message: "\(cameraName) camera is not available on this device.") } return } do { let currentInput = self.videoCapture.captureSession.inputs.first as? AVCaptureDeviceInput self.videoCapture.captureSession.beginConfiguration() if isSwitchingToUltraWide &amp;&amp; self.isFlashlightOn { self.forceEnableTorchThroughWide() } if let currentInput = currentInput { self.videoCapture.captureSession.removeInput(currentInput) } let videoInput = try AVCaptureDeviceInput(device: selectedCamera) self.videoCapture.captureSession.addInput(videoInput) self.videoCapture.captureSession.commitConfiguration() self.videoCapture.updateVideoOrientation() DispatchQueue.main.async { if let barButton = sender as? UIBarButtonItem { barButton.title = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? "Wide" : "Ultra Wide" barButton.tintColor = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? UIColor.systemGreen : UIColor.white } print("Switched to \(cameraName) camera.") } self.isUsingFisheyeCamera.toggle() } catch { DispatchQueue.main.async { self.showAlert(title: "Camera Error", message: "Failed to switch to \(cameraName) camera: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } } } Expected Behavior Torch should be able to work when Ultra-Wide is active, just like the iPhone Camera app does. The camera should not freeze when switching between Wide and Ultra-Wide with the torch ON. AVCaptureSession should not crash when toggling the torch while Ultra-Wide is active. Questions &amp; Help Needed Is this a known issue with AVFoundation? How does the iPhone Camera app allow using the torch while recording in Ultra-Wide? What’s the correct way to switch between Wide and Ultra-Wide cameras without freezing when the torch is active? Info Device tested: iPhone 13 Pro / iPhone 15 Pro / Iphone 15 iOS Version: iOS 17.3 / iOS 18.0 Xcode Version: 16.2
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Oct ’25
About Cinematic Video Capture
Hi everyone! I’m trying to implement a cinematic video shooting mode. While following the guide “Capture cinematic video in your app”, I added the following code to obtain metadata information: metadataOutput.metadataObjectTypes = metadataOutput.requiredMetadataObjectTypesForCinematicVideoCapture However, the following error appears in the console: *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: 'When Cinematic Video is enabled, AVCaptureMetadataOutput's metadataObjectTypes must match requiredMetadataObjectTypesForCinematicVideoCapture.' How can I resolve this issue?
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Oct ’25
UVC Capture stops when open Immersive Space
My app is getting video from UVC device, and I wish to display it in an Immersive Space. But when I open Immersive Space, the UVC capture will just stop.AI said it's due to confliction in Camera pipeline. But I don't really understand, I don't need to use any on device camera, why it conflict with my UVC...
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693
Activity
Nov ’25
LockedCameraCaptureExtension and Sharing User Preferences
I have the main app that saves preferences to UserDefaults.standard. So I have this one preference that the user is able to toggle - isRawOn UserDefaults.standard.set(self.isRawOn, forKey: "isRawOn") Now, I have LockedCameraCaptureExtension which is required know if that above setting on or off during launch. Also if it's toggled within the extension, the main app should know about it on the next launch. The main app and the extension runs on separate containers and the preferences are not shared due to privacy reasons. Apple mentions of using appContext of CameraCaptureIntent, but not sure how above scenario is possible through that....unless I am missing something. Apple Reference What I have for CameraCaptureIntent: @available(iOS 18, *) struct LaunchMyAppControlIntent: CameraCaptureIntent { typealias AppContext = MyAppContext static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "LaunchMyAppControlIntent" static let description = IntentDescription("Capture photos with MyApp.") @MainActor func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult { .result() } }
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917
Activity
Nov ’25
AVSpeechSynthesizer pulls words out of thin air.
Hi, I'm working on a project that uses the AVSpeechSynthesizer and AVSpeechUtterance. I discovered by chance that the AVSpeechSynthesizer automatically completes some words instead of just outputting what it's supposed to. These are abbreviations for days of the week or months, but not all of them. I don't want either of them automatically completed, but only the specified text. The completion transcends languages. I have written a short example program for demonstration purposes. import SwiftUI import AVFoundation import Foundation let synthesizer: AVSpeechSynthesizer = AVSpeechSynthesizer() struct ContentView: View { var body: some View { VStack { Button { utter("mon") } label: { Text("mon") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("tue") } label: { Text("tue") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("thu") } label: { Text("thu") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("feb") } label: { Text("feb") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("feb", lang: "de-DE") } label: { Text("feb DE") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) Button { utter("wed") } label: { Text("wed") } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) } .padding() } private func utter(_ text: String, lang: String = "en-US") { let utterance = AVSpeechUtterance(string: text) let voice = AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: lang) utterance.voice = voice synthesizer.speak(utterance) } } #Preview { ContentView() } Thank you Christian
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250
Activity
Nov ’25
Control system video effects support for CMIO extension
We're distributing a virtual camera with our app that does not profit in the slightest from automatically applied system video effects both to the video going in (physical camera device) or out (virtual camera device). I'm aware of setting NSCameraReactionEffectGesturesEnabledDefault in Info.plist and determining active video effects via AVCaptureDevice API. Those are obviously crutches, because having to tell users to go look for and click around in menu bar apps is the opposite of a great UX. To make our product's video output more deterministic, I'm looking for a way to tell the CMIO subsystem that our virtual camera does not support any of the system video effects. I'm seeing properties like AVCaptureDevice.Format.isPortraitEffectSupported and AVCaptureDevice.Format.isStudioLightSupported whose documentation refers to the format's ability to support these effects. Since we're setting a CMFormatDescription via CMIOExtensionStreamSource.formats I was hoping to find something in the extensions, but wasn't successful so far. Can this be done?
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483
Activity
Nov ’25
Retrieving the DRM expiration time for FairPlay offline assets on iOS
I’m implementing FairPlay offline streaming on iOS and ran into a question about DRM expiration handling. As far as I understand, when issuing a FairPlay offline license, there are typically two time windows: 1. The period during which the user can start offline playback (the longer “rental window”). 2. Once playback starts, the duration allowed to complete playback (the shorter “playback window”). I’d like to display this information (the remaining validity or expiration time) in the app’s UI next to each downloaded asset. My question is: 👉 Is there a way to programmatically check or retrieve the expiration time for a FairPlay offline asset on the client side (via AVFoundation or AVContentKeySession)? Any guidance or best practices for surfacing DRM expiration info in the UI would be greatly appreciated.
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939
Activity
Oct ’25
AVAssetExportSession ignores frameDuration 60fps and exports at 30fps, but AVPlayer playback is correct
Hey everyone, I'm stuck on a really frustrating AVFoundation problem. I'm building a video editor that uses a custom AVVideoCompositor to add effects, and I need the final output to be 60 FPS. So basically, I create an AVMutableComposition to sequence my video clips. I create an AVMutableVideoComposition and set the frame rate to 60 FPS: videoComposition.frameDuration = CMTime(value: 1, timescale: 60) I assign my CustomVideoCompositor class to the videoComposition. I create an AVPlayerItem with the composition and video composition. The Problem: Playback Works: When I play the AVPlayerItem in an AVPlayer, it's perfect. It plays at a smooth 60 FPS, and my custom compositor's startRequest method is called 60 times per second. Export Fails: When I try to export the exact same composition and video composition using AVAssetExportSession, the final .mp4 file is always 30 FPS (or 29.97). I've logged inside my custom compositor during the export, and it's definitely being called 30 times per second, so it's generating the 30 frames. It seems like AVAssetExportSession is just dropping every other frame when it encodes the video. My source videos are screen recordings which I recorded using ScreenCaptureKit itself with the minimum frame interval to be 60. Here is my export function. I'm using the AVAssetExportPresetHighestQuality preset :- func exportVideo(to outputURL: URL) async throws { guard let composition = composition, let videoComposition = videoComposition else { throw VideoCompositionError.noValidVideos } try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: outputURL) guard let exportSession = AVAssetExportSession( asset: composition, presetName: AVAssetExportPresetHighestQuality // Is this the problem? ) else { throw VideoCompositionError.trackCreationFailed } exportSession.outputFileType = .mp4 exportSession.videoComposition = videoComposition // This has the 60fps setting try await exportSession.export(to: outputURL, as: .mp4) } I've created a bare bones sample project that shows this exact bug in action. The resulting video is 60fps during playback, but only 30fps during the export. https://github.com/zaidbren/SimpleEditor My Question: Why is AVAssetExportSession ignoring my 60 FPS frameDuration and defaulting to 30 FPS, even though AVPlayer respects it?
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588
Activity
Oct ’25
AVFoundation Custom Video Compositor Skipping Frames During AVPlayer Playback Despite 60 FPS Frame Duration
I'm building a Swift video editor with AVFoundation and a custom compositor. Despite setting AVVideoComposition.frameDuration to 60 FPS, I'm seeing significant frame skipping during playback. Console Output Shows Frame Skipping Frame #0 at 0.0 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #2 at 33.333333333333336 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #6 at 100.0 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #10 at 166.66666666666666 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #32 at 533.3333333333334 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #62 at 1033.3333333333335 ms (fps: 60.0) Frame #96 at 1600.0 ms (fps: 60.0) Instead of frames every ~16.67ms (60 FPS), I'm getting irregular intervals, sometimes 33ms, 67ms, or hundreds of milliseconds apart. Renderer.swift (Key Parts) @MainActor class Renderer: ObservableObject { @Published var playerItem: AVPlayerItem? private let assetManager: ProjectAssetManager? private let compositorId: String func buildComposition() async { // ... load mouse moves/clicks data ... let composition = AVMutableComposition() let videoTrack = composition.addMutableTrack( withMediaType: .video, preferredTrackID: kCMPersistentTrackID_Invalid ) var currentTime = CMTime.zero var layerInstructions: [AVMutableVideoCompositionLayerInstruction] = [] // Insert video segments for videoURL in videoURLs { let asset = AVAsset(url: videoURL) let tracks = try await asset.loadTracks(withMediaType: .video) let assetVideoTrack = tracks.first let duration = try await asset.load(.duration) try videoTrack.insertTimeRange( CMTimeRange(start: .zero, duration: duration), of: assetVideoTrack, at: currentTime ) let layerInstruction = AVMutableVideoCompositionLayerInstruction(assetTrack: videoTrack) let transform = try await assetVideoTrack.load(.preferredTransform) layerInstruction.setTransform(transform, at: currentTime) layerInstructions.append(layerInstruction) currentTime = CMTimeAdd(currentTime, duration) } let videoComposition = AVMutableVideoComposition() videoComposition.frameDuration = CMTime(value: 1, timescale: 60) // 60 FPS // Set render size from first video if let firstURL = videoURLs.first { let firstAsset = AVAsset(url: firstURL) let firstTrack = try await firstAsset.loadTracks(withMediaType: .video).first let naturalSize = try await firstTrack.load(.naturalSize) let transform = try await firstTrack.load(.preferredTransform) videoComposition.renderSize = CGSize( width: abs(naturalSize.applying(transform).width), height: abs(naturalSize.applying(transform).height) ) } let instruction = CompositorInstruction() instruction.timeRange = CMTimeRange(start: .zero, duration: currentTime) instruction.layerInstructions = layerInstructions instruction.compositorId = compositorId videoComposition.instructions = [instruction] videoComposition.customVideoCompositorClass = CustomVideoCompositor.self let playerItem = AVPlayerItem(asset: composition) playerItem.videoComposition = videoComposition self.playerItem = playerItem } } class CompositorInstruction: NSObject, AVVideoCompositionInstructionProtocol { var timeRange: CMTimeRange = .zero var enablePostProcessing: Bool = false var containsTweening: Bool = false var requiredSourceTrackIDs: [NSValue]? var passthroughTrackID: CMPersistentTrackID = kCMPersistentTrackID_Invalid var layerInstructions: [AVVideoCompositionLayerInstruction] = [] var compositorId: String = "" } class CustomVideoCompositor: NSObject, AVVideoCompositing { var sourcePixelBufferAttributes: [String : Any]? = [ kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey as String: Int(kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA) ] var requiredPixelBufferAttributesForRenderContext: [String : Any] = [ kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey as String: Int(kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA) ] func renderContextChanged(_ newRenderContext: AVVideoCompositionRenderContext) {} func startRequest(_ asyncVideoCompositionRequest: AVAsynchronousVideoCompositionRequest) { guard let sourceTrackID = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.sourceTrackIDs.first?.int32Value, let sourcePixelBuffer = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.sourceFrame(byTrackID: sourceTrackID), let outputBuffer = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.renderContext.newPixelBuffer() else { asyncVideoCompositionRequest.finish(with: NSError(domain: "VideoCompositor", code: -1)) return } let videoComposition = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.renderContext.videoComposition let frameDuration = videoComposition.frameDuration let fps = Double(frameDuration.timescale) / Double(frameDuration.value) let compositionTime = asyncVideoCompositionRequest.compositionTime let seconds = CMTimeGetSeconds(compositionTime) let frameInMilliseconds = seconds * 1000 let frameNumber = Int(round(seconds * fps)) print("Frame #\(frameNumber) at \(frameInMilliseconds) ms (fps: \(fps))") asyncVideoCompositionRequest.finish(withComposedVideoFrame: outputBuffer) } func cancelAllPendingVideoCompositionRequests() {} } VideoPlayerViewModel @MainActor class VideoPlayerViewModel: ObservableObject { let player = AVPlayer() private let renderer: Renderer func loadVideo() async { await renderer.buildComposition() if let playerItem = renderer.playerItem { player.replaceCurrentItem(with: playerItem) } } } What I've Tried Frame skipping is consistent—exact same timestamps on every playback Issue persists even with minimal processing (just passing through buffers) Occurs regardless of compositor complexity Please note that I need every frame at exact millisecond intervals for my application. Frame loss or inconsistent frameInMillisecond values are not acceptable.
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464
Activity
Oct ’25
Mute behavior of Volume button on AVPlayerViewController iOS 26
With older iOS versions, when user taps Mute/Volume button on AVPLayerViewController to unmute, the system restores the sound volume of device to the level when user muted before. On iOS 26, when user taps unmute button on screen, the volume starts from 0 (not restore). (but it still restores if user unmutes by pressing physical volume buttons). As I understand, the Volume bar/button on AVPlayerViewController is MPVolumeView, and I can not control it. So this is a feature of the system. But I got complaints that this is a bug. I did not find documents that describe this change of Mute button behavior. I need some bases to explain this situation. Thank you.
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315
Activity
Oct ’25
Is it possible to play Fisheye VR180 video directly?
Hi I know it's possible to play equirectangular VR180 video either SBS or MV-HEVC. And for fisheye video, the only way I know is to convert it into an AIVU for playback. Is there any way to directly play fisheye video using AVPlayer? Thanks a lot!
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667
Activity
Oct ’25
iPhone 17 Pro's Genlock feature
Where can I find the documentation of the Genlock feature of the iPhone 17 Pro? How does it work and how can I use it in my app?
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2.3k
Activity
Oct ’25
Process to request the restricted entitlement behind “DJ with Apple Music” (tempo control / time-stretch on Apple Music streams)?
Hi, I’m an iOS developer building an app with an use case that needs advanced playback on Apple Music subscription streams, specifically: • Real-time tempo change (BPM) during playback — i.e., time-stretch with key-lock, not just crossfade. • Beat-matched transitions between tracks. From what I can tell, this capability seems to exist only for approved partners and isn’t available through public MusicKit. Question: What’s the official request path to be evaluated for that restricted partner entitlement (application form, questionnaire, NDA, or internal team/BD contact)? If the entitlement identifier is internal, how can I get my account routed to the right Apple Music team? For reference, publicly announced partners include Algoriddim djay, Serato DJ Pro, rekordbox (AlphaTheta), and Engine DJ—all of which appear to implement mixing features that imply advanced playback (tempo/beat-matching) on Apple Music content. I’d prefer not to share product details publicly for the moment and can provide specifics privately if needed. Thanks in advance!
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551
Activity
Oct ’25
Why Does AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReasonVideoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps Occur on iPhone?
Hi everyone, We're encountering an unexpected issue with our iPhone-only camera app: 👉 TimeMark - Photo Proof https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timemark-photo-proof/id6446071834 Problem Description: Our app uses a full-screen camera view via AVCaptureSession. In some cases reported by users, the camera fails immediately upon app launch, and we receive this interruption reason: AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReasonVideoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps According to the Apple documentation https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avcapturesession/interruptionreason/videodevicenotavailablewithmultipleforegroundapps?language=objc , this interruption typically occurs when the app is running in a multi-app layout such as Slide Over, Split View, or Picture in Picture — all of which are iPad-only features. However, this issue is being reported on iPhones, and our app does not support iPad at all. Also noted in the documentation: "Given your present AVCaptureSession configuration, the session may only be run if your app occupies the full screen." Additional Context: The issue occurs immediately on app launch, before the user can interact with the camera. We don’t enable multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled. We are 100% sure this is happening on iPhone, not iPad. It’s hard to reproduce; users report it happening sporadically. Locally, we tried playing Picture-in-Picture videos (e.g., Safari/YouTube) before launching our app, but we could not reproduce the issue. Questions: Why is this interruption reason occurring on iPhone, which doesn’t officially support Slide Over or Split View? Could this be caused by some system-level multitasking or resource contention (e.g., Picture in Picture from FaceTime or Safari)? Would enabling multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled help prevent this issue on iPhone, even though it's designed for iPad? Enabling multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled seems to require enabling UIBackgroundModes → voip. Would adding this background mode cause any App Store review risk or rejection if our app doesn't actually use VoIP functionality? Any help, insight, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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Activity
Oct ’25
Playback Issues for DRM content when sending CMCD
Since iOS and tvOS 18, CMCD can now be automatically sent by AVPlayer (https://developer.apple.com/streaming/Whats-new-HLS.pdf). However, after enabling CMCD, our streams occasionally fail with the following error: CoreMediaErrorDomain Error -17383 This issue appears to affect only DRM-protected (FairPlay) streams so far. We activate CMCD via the resource loader of an AVURLAsset, before assigning the item to an AVPlayer. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a reliable way to reproduce the issue, and we’ve been unable to gather any useful diagnostic information. Has anyone else observed this behavior when enabling CMCD on FairPlay streams?
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844
Activity
Oct ’25
How can I locate a UVC camera for PTZ control by AVCaptureDevice.unique_id
I'm writing a program to control a PTZ camera connected via USB. I can get access to target camera's unique_id, and also other infos provided by AVFoundation. But I don't know how to locate my target USB device to send a UVC ControlRequest. There's many Cameras with same VendorID and ProductID connected at a time, so I need a more exact way to find out which device is my target. It looks that the unique_id provided is (locationID<<32|VendorID<<16|ProductID) as hex string, but I'm not sure if I can always assume this behavior won't change. Is there's a document declares how AVFoundation generate the unique_id for USB camera, so I can assume this convert will always work? Or is there's a way to send a PTZ control request to AVCaptureDevice? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40006908/usb-interface-of-an-avcapturedevice I have seen this similar question. But I'm worrying that Exacting LocationID+VendorID+ProductID from unique_id seems like programming to implementation instead of interface. So, if there's any other better way to control my camera? here's my example code for getting unique_id: // // camera_unique_id_test.mm // // 测试代码:使用C++获取当前系统摄像头的AVCaptureDevice unique_id // // 编译命令: // clang++ -framework AVFoundation -framework CoreMedia -framework Foundation // camera_unique_id_test.mm -o camera_unique_id_test // #include <iostream> #include <string> #include <vector> #import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h> #import <Foundation/Foundation.h> struct CameraInfo { std::string uniqueId; }; std::vector<CameraInfo> getAllCameraDevices() { std::vector<CameraInfo> cameras; @autoreleasepool { NSArray<AVCaptureDevice*>* devices = [AVCaptureDevice devicesWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo]; AVCaptureDevice* defaultDevice = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo]; // 遍历所有设备 for (AVCaptureDevice* device in devices) { CameraInfo info; // 获取unique_id info.uniqueId = std::string([device.uniqueID UTF8String]); cameras.push_back(info); } } return cameras; } int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { std::vector<CameraInfo> cameras = getAllCameraDevices(); for (size_t i = 0; i < cameras.size(); i++) { const CameraInfo& camera = cameras[i]; std::cout << " 设备 " << (i + 1) << ":" << std::endl; std::cout << " unique_id: " << camera.uniqueId << std::endl; } return 0; } and here's my code for UVC control: // clang++ -framework Foundation -framework IOKit uvc_test.cpp -o uvc_test #include <iostream> #include <CoreFoundation/CoreFoundation.h> #include <IOKit/IOCFPlugIn.h> #include <IOKit/IOKitLib.h> #include <IOKit/IOMessage.h> #include <IOKit/usb/IOUSBLib.h> #include <IOKit/usb/USB.h> CFStringRef CreateCFStringFromIORegistryKey(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef keyString = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, key, kCFStringEncodingUTF8); if (!keyString) return nullptr; CFStringRef result = static_cast<CFStringRef>( IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(ioService, keyString, kCFAllocatorDefault, kIORegistryIterateRecursively)); CFRelease(keyString); return result; } std::string GetStringFromIORegistry(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef cfString = CreateCFStringFromIORegistryKey(ioService, key); if (!cfString) return ""; char buffer[256]; Boolean success = CFStringGetCString(cfString, buffer, sizeof(buffer), kCFStringEncodingUTF8); CFRelease(cfString); return success ? std::string(buffer) : std::string(""); } uint32_t GetUInt32FromIORegistry(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef keyString = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, key, kCFStringEncodingUTF8); if (!keyString) return 0; CFNumberRef number = static_cast<CFNumberRef>( IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(ioService, keyString, kCFAllocatorDefault, kIORegistryIterateRecursively)); CFRelease(keyString); if (!number) return 0; uint32_t value = 0; CFNumberGetValue(number, kCFNumberSInt32Type, &value); CFRelease(number); return value; } int main() { // Get matching dictionary for USB devices CFMutableDictionaryRef matchingDict = IOServiceMatching(kIOUSBDeviceClassName); // Get iterator for matching services io_iterator_t serviceIterator; IOServiceGetMatchingServices(kIOMasterPortDefault, matchingDict, &serviceIterator); // Iterate through matching devices io_service_t usbService; while ((usbService = IOIteratorNext(serviceIterator))) { uint32_t locationId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "locationID"); uint32_t vendorId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "idVendor"); uint32_t productId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "idProduct"); IOCFPlugInInterface** plugInInterface = nullptr; IOUSBDeviceInterface** deviceInterface = nullptr; SInt32 score; // Get device plugin interface IOCreatePlugInInterfaceForService(usbService, kIOUSBDeviceUserClientTypeID, kIOCFPlugInInterfaceID, &plugInInterface, &score); // Get device interface (*plugInInterface) ->QueryInterface(plugInInterface, CFUUIDGetUUIDBytes(kIOUSBDeviceInterfaceID), (LPVOID*)&deviceInterface); (*plugInInterface)->Release(plugInInterface); // Try to find UVC control interface using CreateInterfaceIterator io_iterator_t interfaceIterator; IOUSBFindInterfaceRequest interfaceRequest; interfaceRequest.bInterfaceClass = kUSBVideoInterfaceClass; // 14 interfaceRequest.bInterfaceSubClass = kUSBVideoControlSubClass; // 1 interfaceRequest.bInterfaceProtocol = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; interfaceRequest.bAlternateSetting = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; (*deviceInterface) ->CreateInterfaceIterator(deviceInterface, &interfaceRequest, &interfaceIterator); (*deviceInterface)->Release(deviceInterface); io_service_t usbInterface = IOIteratorNext(interfaceIterator); IOObjectRelease(interfaceIterator); if (usbInterface) { std::cout << "Get UVC device with:" << std::endl; std::cout << "locationId: " << std::hex << locationId << std::endl; std::cout << "vendorId: " << std::hex << vendorId << std::endl; std::cout << "productId: " << std::hex << productId << std::endl << std::endl; IOObjectRelease(usbInterface); } IOObjectRelease(usbService); } IOObjectRelease(serviceIterator); }
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673
Activity
Oct ’25
iOS 26 AVCaptureDevice continuousAutoFocus not working
Device: iPhone 16 Pro Max OS: iOS 26.0.1 AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType: builtInUltraWideCamera avtiveFormat: <AVCaptureDeviceFormat: 0x10ffb9ac0 'vide'/'420v' 1440x1080, { 1- 60 fps}, photo dims:{1440x1080,2016x1512}, fov:101.022, gdc fov:103.625, binned, max zoom:94.50 (upscales @1.40), system zoom range:1.0-3.0, AF System:1, ISO:15.0-3600.0, SS:0.000023-1.000000, system exposure bias range:-2.0-2.0, supports multicam, supports CS RoI, supports Smart Style, supports Smudge Detection> API: device.isFocusModeSupported(.continuousAutoFocus) == true setting: device.focusMode = .continuousAutoFocus setting is ok, but it's not working actually with continuousAutoFocus
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187
Activity
Oct ’25
isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method cannot determine whether the camera is available, please provide an available judgment method
Prerequisite: After the MDM APP issues the command, the camera on the phone is no longer visible (unusable). After upgrading to iOS 26.1, the isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method keeps returning true when the camera is unavailable. The isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method on iOS 26.0.1 is normal, returning false when the camera is unavailable and true when it is available. Please fix this method to determine If the isSourceTypeAvailable: UIImagePickerControlSourceTypeCamera method cannot determine whether the camera is available, please provide an available judgment method.
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213
Activity
Oct ’25
After iOS 18.5, the AVFoundation AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReason.videoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps error has caused a significant increase in camera black screen issues.
Issue: After iOS 18.5 release, our app is experiencing a significant increase in AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReason.videoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps errors. Details: Our camera-related code has not been updated recently.However, we've observed that the error rate has significantly increased starting from May 2025. The error rate has risen from approximately 0.02% (2 in 10,000 users) to 0.1% (1 in 1,000 users). This represents a 5x increase in error occurrence. The frequency has increased noticeably since iOS 18.5 This is affecting our app's camera functionality and user experience Questions: Are there any known changes in iOS 18.5 regarding camera access management? What are the recommended best practices to handle this interruption reason? Are there any API changes we should be aware of? Best, Shay
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618
Activity
Oct ’25
LockedCameraCapture Does Not Launch The App from Lock Screen
My implementation of LockedCameraCapture does not launch my app when tapped from locked screen. But when the same widget is in the Control Center, it launches the app successfully. Standard Xcode target template: Lock_Screen_Capture.swift @main struct Lock_Screen_Capture: LockedCameraCaptureExtension { var body: some LockedCameraCaptureExtensionScene { LockedCameraCaptureUIScene { session in Lock_Screen_CaptureViewFinder(session: session) } } } Lock_Screen_CaptureViewFinder.swift: import SwiftUI import UIKit import UniformTypeIdentifiers import LockedCameraCapture struct Lock_Screen_CaptureViewFinder: UIViewControllerRepresentable { let session: LockedCameraCaptureSession var sourceType: UIImagePickerController.SourceType = .camera init(session: LockedCameraCaptureSession) { self.session = session } func makeUIViewController(context: Self.Context) -> UIImagePickerController { let imagePicker = UIImagePickerController() imagePicker.sourceType = sourceType imagePicker.mediaTypes = [UTType.image.identifier, UTType.movie.identifier] imagePicker.cameraDevice = .rear return imagePicker } func updateUIViewController(_ uiViewController: UIImagePickerController, context: Self.Context) { } } Then I have my widget: struct CameraWidgetControl: ControlWidget { var body: some ControlWidgetConfiguration { StaticControlConfiguration( kind: "com.myCompany.myAppName.lock-screen") { ControlWidgetButton(action: MyAppCaptureIntent()) { Label("Capture", systemImage: "camera.shutter.button.fill") } } } } My AppIntent: struct MyAppContext: Codable {} struct MyAppCaptureIntent: CameraCaptureIntent { typealias AppContext = MyAppContext static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "MyAppCaptureIntent" static let description = IntentDescription("Capture photos and videos with MyApp.") @MainActor func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult { .result() } } The Issue LockedCameraCapture Widget does not launch my app when tapped from locked screen. You get the Face ID prompt and takes you to just Home Screen. But when the same widget is in the Control Center, it launches the app successfully. Error Message When tapped on Lock Screen, I get the following error code: LaunchServices: store ‹private > or url ‹private > was nil: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo=&NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. Failed to initialize client context with error Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo=&NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Things I tried Widget image displays correctly App ID and the Provisioning Profile seem to be fine since they work fine when the same code injected in to AVCam sample app and when used the same App ID's. AppIntent file contains the target memberships of the Lock Screen capture and Widget Apple compiles without errors or warnings.
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347
Activity
Oct ’25
Torch Freezes Ultra-Wide Camera When Switching Between Wide & Ultra-Wide Lenses (AVFoundation Bug?)
I'm developing an iOS app using AVFoundation for real-time video capture and object detection. While implementing torch functionality with camera switching (between Wide and Ultra-Wide lenses), I encountered a critical issue where the camera freezes when toggling the torch while the Ultra-Wide camera is active. Issue If the torch is ON and I switch from Wide to Ultra-Wide, the camera freezes If the Ultra-Wide camera is active and I try to turn the torch ON, the camera freezes The iPhone Camera app allows using the torch while recording video with the Ultra-Wide lens, so this should be possible via AVFoundation as well. Code snippet DispatchQueue.global(qos: .userInitiated).async { [weak self] in guard let self = self else { return } let isSwitchingToUltraWide = !self.isUsingFisheyeCamera let cameraType: AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? .builtInUltraWideCamera : .builtInWideAngleCamera let cameraName = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? "Ultra Wide" : "Wide" guard let selectedCamera = AVCaptureDevice.default(cameraType, for: .video, position: .back) else { DispatchQueue.main.async { self.showAlert(title: "Camera Error", message: "\(cameraName) camera is not available on this device.") } return } do { let currentInput = self.videoCapture.captureSession.inputs.first as? AVCaptureDeviceInput self.videoCapture.captureSession.beginConfiguration() if isSwitchingToUltraWide &amp;&amp; self.isFlashlightOn { self.forceEnableTorchThroughWide() } if let currentInput = currentInput { self.videoCapture.captureSession.removeInput(currentInput) } let videoInput = try AVCaptureDeviceInput(device: selectedCamera) self.videoCapture.captureSession.addInput(videoInput) self.videoCapture.captureSession.commitConfiguration() self.videoCapture.updateVideoOrientation() DispatchQueue.main.async { if let barButton = sender as? UIBarButtonItem { barButton.title = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? "Wide" : "Ultra Wide" barButton.tintColor = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? UIColor.systemGreen : UIColor.white } print("Switched to \(cameraName) camera.") } self.isUsingFisheyeCamera.toggle() } catch { DispatchQueue.main.async { self.showAlert(title: "Camera Error", message: "Failed to switch to \(cameraName) camera: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } } } Expected Behavior Torch should be able to work when Ultra-Wide is active, just like the iPhone Camera app does. The camera should not freeze when switching between Wide and Ultra-Wide with the torch ON. AVCaptureSession should not crash when toggling the torch while Ultra-Wide is active. Questions &amp; Help Needed Is this a known issue with AVFoundation? How does the iPhone Camera app allow using the torch while recording in Ultra-Wide? What’s the correct way to switch between Wide and Ultra-Wide cameras without freezing when the torch is active? Info Device tested: iPhone 13 Pro / iPhone 15 Pro / Iphone 15 iOS Version: iOS 17.3 / iOS 18.0 Xcode Version: 16.2
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860
Activity
Oct ’25
About Cinematic Video Capture
Hi everyone! I’m trying to implement a cinematic video shooting mode. While following the guide “Capture cinematic video in your app”, I added the following code to obtain metadata information: metadataOutput.metadataObjectTypes = metadataOutput.requiredMetadataObjectTypesForCinematicVideoCapture However, the following error appears in the console: *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: 'When Cinematic Video is enabled, AVCaptureMetadataOutput's metadataObjectTypes must match requiredMetadataObjectTypesForCinematicVideoCapture.' How can I resolve this issue?
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174
Activity
Oct ’25