PhotoKit

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Work with image and video assets managed by the Photos app, including those from iCloud Photos and Live Photos, using PhotoKit.

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PHAsset asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoHDR) always return false
we are working on HDR images and found this problem, asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoHDR) always return false func picker(_ picker: PHPickerViewController, didFinishPicking results: [PHPickerResult]) { guard !results.isEmpty else {return} let fetchResult = PHAsset.fetchAssets(withLocalIdentifiers: results.map({$0.assetIdentifier!}), options: nil) var selectedAssets:[PHAsset] = [] fetchResult.enumerateObjects { asset, _, _ in selectedAssets.append(asset) } for i in selectedAssets.enumerated() { let asset:PHAsset = i.element print("\(i.offset): ") print(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoHDR.rawValue) print(asset.mediaSubtypes) print("photoHDR \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoHDR.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoHDR))") print("photoLive \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoLive.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoLive))") print("photoPanorama \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoPanorama.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoPanorama))") print("photoScreenshot \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoScreenshot.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoScreenshot))") print("videoHighFrameRate \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.videoHighFrameRate.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.videoHighFrameRate))") print("videoScreenRecording \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.videoScreenRecording.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.videoScreenRecording))") } }
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681
Nov ’25
PHPhotoLibrary.performChanges completionHandler not called when deleting assets on iOS 26
In my app, I use api provided in Photos framework to delete specified photo. But after upgrading to iOS 26, the delete function in some iOS device no longer work. The api will never triggers the system confirmation dialog, and the completionHandler is never called. In the iOS Photos app, deletion works correctly on the same assets, but calling the API from my app does not work. Steps to Reproduce Make sure the app has Full Photo Library Access. Execute the following code: PHPhotoLibrary.shared().performChanges({ let assetsToBeDeleted = PHAsset.fetchAssets(withLocalIdentifiers: delUrls, options: nil) PHAssetChangeRequest.deleteAssets(assetsToBeDeleted) }, completionHandler: completionHandler) Expected Behavior The system should present a confirmation dialog asking the user to delete the selected photos. After the user confirms, the deletion should occur, and the completionHandler should be called with success or error. Actual Behavior The system delete confirmation dialog does not appear. The completionHandler is never called. Environment iOS Versions: 26.1 / 26.0.1 It looks like api bug. I want to check Is it a know issue and will be fixed. Thanks
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321
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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624
Nov ’25
iOS 14, App crash when call presentLimitedLibraryPickerFromViewControlle
iPhone7 : iOS 14.0 Beta 5 Xcode-beta Mac OS : 10.15.5 (19F101) crash info : ** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '-[PHPhotoLibrary presentLimitedLibraryPickerFromViewController:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance xxxxxx' terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException my code: (void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated {   [super viewDidAppear:animated];   if (@available(iOS 14, *)) {     [[PHPhotoLibrary sharedPhotoLibrary] presentLimitedLibraryPickerFromViewController:self];   } }
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4.3k
Nov ’25
PHPickerViewController unusable via Mac Catalyst on macOS 26 when interface is "Scaled to Match iPad"
There is a serious usability issue with PHPickerViewController in a UIKit app running on macOS 26 via Mac Catalyst when the Mac Catalyst interface is set to “Scaled to Match iPad”. Mouse click and other pointer interactions do not take place in the correct position. This means you have to click in the wrong position to select a photo and to close the picker. This basically makes it unusable. To demonstrate, use Xcode 26 on macOS 26 to create a new iOS app project based on Swift/Storyboard. Then update ViewController.swift with the following code: import UIKit import PhotosUI class ViewController: UIViewController { override func viewDidLoad() { super.viewDidLoad() var cfg = UIButton.Configuration.plain() cfg.title = "Photo Picker" let button = UIButton(configuration: cfg, primaryAction: UIAction(handler: { _ in self.showPicker() })) button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false view.addSubview(button) NSLayoutConstraint.activate([ button.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.centerXAnchor), button.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.centerYAnchor), ]) } private func showPicker() { var config = PHPickerConfiguration() config.selectionLimit = 10 config.selection = .ordered let vc = PHPickerViewController(configuration: config) vc.delegate = self self.present(vc, animated: true) } } extension ViewController: PHPickerViewControllerDelegate { func picker(_ picker: PHPickerViewController, didFinishPicking results: [PHPickerResult]) { print("Picked \(results.count) photos") dismiss(animated: true) } } Then go to the "Supported Destinations" section of the project target. Add a "Mac (Mac Catalyst)" destination. Then under the "Deployment Information" section, make sure the "Mac Catalyst Interface" setting is "Scaled to Match iPad". Then build and run the app on a Mac (using the Mac Catalyst destination) with macOS 26.0.1. Make sure the Mac has a dozen or so pictures in the Photo Library to fully demonstrate the issue. When the app is run, a simple screen appears with one button in the middle. Click the button to bring up the PHPickerViewController. Now try to interact with the picker interface. Note that all pointer interactions are in the wrong place on the screen. This makes it nearly impossible to choose the correct photos and close the picker. Quit the app. Select the project and go to the General tab. In the "Deployment Info" change the “Mac Catalyst Interface” setting to “Optimize for Mac” and run the app again. Now the photo picker works just fine. If you run the app on a Mac running macOS 15 then the photo picker works just fine with either “Mac Catalyst Interface” setting. The problem only happens under macOS 26.0 (I do not have macOS 26.1 beta to test) when the “Mac Catalyst Interface” setting is set to “Scaled to Match iPad”. This is critical for my app. I cannot use “Optimize for Mac”. There are far too many issues with that setting (I use UIStepper and UIPickerView to start). So it is critical to the usability of my app under macOS 26 that this issue be resolved. It is expected that PHPickerViewController responds correctly to pointer events on macOS 26 when running a Mac Catalyst app set to “Scaled to Match iPad”. A version of this has been filed as FB20503207
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Oct ’25
Add a value to the Photos Caption field
In the iOS Photos app there is a caption field the user can write to. How can you write to this value from Swift when creating a photo? I see apps that do this, but there doesn't seem to be any official way to do this using the Photo library through PHAssetCreationRequest or PHAssetResourceCreationOptions or setting EXIF values, I tried settings a bunch of values there including IPTC values but nothing appears in the caption field in the iOS photos app. There must be some way to do it since I see other apps setting that value somehow after capturing a photo.
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Oct ’25
XCode26 doesnt compile PhotosUI properly
Hi so i have a given project where I am trying to use components within the PhotosUI Framework with Xcode26 and Xcode26.0.1 Just for reference here is an attached screenshot This sample code compiled successfully with xcode16.4 and was in production. There is no change in the pbxproj file , all the build settings have remained the same. Attaching it for reference. project.pbxproj.txt While showing declarations of PHPickerViewControllerDelegate i get two options which is the same as in Xcode16.4 while browsing online found this reddit thread which is very similar https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcode/comments/1nkku20/my_project_wont_compile_after_xcode_26_update_due/ Pls help :)
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434
Oct ’25
iOS26中ALAssetsLibrary 编译报错问题
mac os 系统版本:26.0 (25A354) Xcode版本:Version 26.0 (17A324) 项目编译报错 `SwiftExplicitDependencyCompileModuleFromInterface arm64 /Users/zhz/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/ModuleCache.noindex/AssetsLibrary-HTIJ05N58KN3.swiftmodule /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS26.0.sdk/usr/lib/swift/AssetsLibrary.swiftmodule/arm64e-apple-ios.swiftinterface:10:25: error: 'ALAssetsLibrary' is unavailable in iOS: Use PHPhotoLibrary from the Photos framework instead 8 | public import _StringProcessing 9 | public import _SwiftConcurrencyShims 10 | extension AssetsLibrary.ALAssetsLibrary { | `- error: 'ALAssetsLibrary' is unavailable in iOS: Use PHPhotoLibrary from the Photos framework instead 11 | #if compiler(>=5.3) && $NonescapableTypes 12 | @available(iOS, introduced: 9.0, deprecated: 9.0, obsoleted: 26.0) /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS26.0.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/AssetsLibrary.framework/Headers/ALAssetsLibrary.h:80:12: note: 'ALAssetsLibrary' was obsoleted in iOS 26.0 78 | 79 | OS_EXPORT AL_DEPRECATED(4, "Use PHPhotoLibrary from the Photos framework instead") 80 | @interface ALAssetsLibrary : NSObject { | `- note: 'ALAssetsLibrary' was obsoleted in iOS 26.0 81 | @package 82 | id _internal; /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS26.0.sdk/usr/lib/swift/AssetsLibrary.swiftmodule/arm64e-apple-ios.swiftinterface:1:1: error: failed to build module 'AssetsLibrary'; this SDK is not supported by the compiler (the SDK is built with 'Apple Swift version 6.2 effective-5.10 (swiftlang-6.2.0.17.14 clang-1700.3.17.1)', while this compiler is 'Apple Swift version 6.2 effective-5.10 (swiftlang-6.2.0.19.9 clang-1700.3.19.1)'). Please select a toolchain which matches the SDK.
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2k
Oct ’25
PhotosUI does not build with UIKit and WidgetKit in XCode26
To reproduce this bug create a new Xcode Project for IOS choose UIKit. In the app delegate add the following lines. As you can see in the above image . Line 19 with the initialization of PHPickerViewController has no compilation failure. Now lets add import WidgetKit As soon as widgetKit is imported a compiler error is thrown which is PHPickerViewController is not in scope. This worked with Xcode 16.4 It was possible to have a swift file with both WidgetKit implementations and PhotosUI implementations. This behavior has changed in Xcode 26/26.0.1 . Does anybody know why this happens , could not find any clues within the different versions of documentations. P.S Found a work around which raises further questions Adding import SwiftUI fixes this problem , I am genuinely curious on how this is happening on a compiler level. LINKS To my previously published post :https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/804059
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309
Oct ’25
PHPickerFilter doesn't always apply in Collections tab when using PHPickerViewController
Hi everyone, I’m running into an issue with PHPickerFilter when using PHPickerViewController. When I configure the picker with a .videos and .livePhotos filter, it seems to work correctly in the Photos tab. However, when I switch to the Collections tab, the filter doesn’t always apply — users can still see and select static image assets in certain collections (e.g. from one of the People & Pets sections). Here’s a simplified snippet of my setup: var configuration = PHPickerConfiguration(photoLibrary: .shared()) configuration.selectionLimit = 1 var filters = [PHPickerFilter]() filters.append(.videos) filters.append(.livePhotos) configuration.filter = PHPickerFilter.any(of: filters) configuration.preferredAssetRepresentationMode = .current let picker = PHPickerViewController(configuration: configuration) picker.delegate = self present(picker, animated: true) Expected behavior: The picker should consistently respect the filter across both Photos and Collections tabs, only showing assets that match the filter. Actual behavior: The filter seems to apply correctly in the Photos tab, but in the Collections tab, other asset types are still visible/selectable. Has anyone else encountered this behavior? Is this expected or a known issue, or am I missing something in the configuration? Thanks in advance!
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605
Oct ’25
Clean up render files saved to PHContentEditingOutput.renderedContentURL
I discovered when editing photos with the PhotoKit API, PHContentEditingOutput's renderedContentURL is a file in the app container's tmp directory with a filename that seems to follow the format render.<uuid>.JPG, and that file does not get deleted if the edit does not complete successfully (the user cancels the edit request, an error occurs, the app crashes, etc). I understand the system is supposed to automatically delete tmp files every once in a while, but some users are noticing my app's Documents & Data inflates, so I'm considering deleting these render files each time the app is launched. But I don't want to delete everything in the tmp directory as there could possibly be other data in there. What's the best way to remove those temporary files? Does the filename always start with render. no matter the device language? I thought I'd delete files in NSTemporaryDirectory() with that prefix but then I discovered in Mac Catalyst the location is not the tmp directory directly, they're in tmp/TemporaryItems/<bundleid>. Thanks!
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131
Oct ’25
Only fetch PHAssets from the current user's iCloud Library
I'm working on a photo app and I want to allow the user to display, edit and delete photos. I can fetch all photos using PHAsset.fetchAssets(with: options). This works as intended. However, I can't seem to find a way to prevent the user from seeing photos from a Shared Library. The PHAssetSourceType only contains typeCloudShared to only show items from a specific album; not library. How can I filter by iCloud Shared Library?
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532
Sep ’25
PHFetchOptions.includeHiddenAssets does not correctly return asset by id
When attempting to access a PHAsset that is in the hidden folder of iOS26, the PHFetchResult always returns no items, even when the user has granted full access to photos and even when includeHiddenAssets is true. This is the code suggested by ChatGPT; it always fails: public func fetchAsset(withLocalIdentifier identifier: String) -> PSSPHAssetImplementing? { // First try the direct fetch by identifier (fast path) let directResult = PHAsset.fetchAssets(withLocalIdentifiers: [identifier], options: nil) if let asset = directResult.firstObject { return build(from: asset) } // Fallback: fetch all assets including hidden, then filter manually let options = PHFetchOptions() options.includeHiddenAssets = true let allAssets = PHAsset.fetchAssets(with: options) for index in 0..<allAssets.count { let asset = allAssets.object(at: index) if asset.localIdentifier == identifier { return build(from: asset) } } return nil } Is it no longer possible to retrieve a hidden photo in iOS 26?
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426
Sep ’25
PHPicker fails to load RAW images
We observed that the PHPicker is unable to load RAW images captured on an iPhone in some scenarios. And it is also somehow related to iCloud. Here is the setup: The PHPickerViewController is configured with preferredAssetRepresentationMode = .current to avoid transcoding. The image is loaded from the item provider like this: if itemProvider.hasItemConformingToTypeIdentifier(kUTTypeImage) { itemProvider.loadFileRepresentation(forTypeIdentifier: kUTTypeImage) { url, error in // work } } This usually works, also for RAW images. However, when trying to load a RAW image that has just been captured with the iPhone, the loading fails with the following errors on the console: [claims] 43A5D3B2-84CD-488D-B9E4-19F9ED5F39EB grantAccessClaim reply is an error: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "Couldn’t communicate with a helper application." UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x2804a8e70 {Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "connection from pid 19420 on anonymousListener or serviceListener" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=connection from pid 19420 on anonymousListener or serviceListener}}} Error copying file type public.image. Error: Error Domain=NSItemProviderErrorDomain Code=-1000 "Cannot load representation of type public.image" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Cannot load representation of type public.image, NSUnderlyingError=0x280480540 {Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "Couldn’t communicate with a helper application." UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x2804a8e70 {Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "connection from pid 19420 on anonymousListener or serviceListener" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=connection from pid 19420 on anonymousListener or serviceListener}}}}} We observed that on some devices, loading the image will actually work after a short time (~30 sec), but on others it will always fail. We think it is related to iCloud Photos: On the device that has iCloud Photos sync enabled, the picker is able to load the image right after it was synced to the cloud. On devices that don't sync the image, loading always fails. It seems that the sync process is doing some processing (?) of the image that will later enable the picker to load it successfully, but that's just guessing. Additional observations: This seems to only occur for images that were taken with the stock Camera app. When using Halide to capture RAW (either ProRAW or RAW), the Picker is able to load the image. When trying to load the image as kUTTypeRawImage instead of kUTTypeImage, it also fails. The picker also can't load RAW images that were AirDroped from another device, unless it synced to iCloud first. This is reproducable using the Selecting Photos and Videos in iOS sample code project. We observed this happening in other apps that use the PHPicker, not just ours. Is this a bug, or is there something that we are missing?
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2.9k
Sep ’25
Trouble with contextMenu previewing high resolution images
When using a contextMenu in SwiftUI to show a preview of a PHAsset’s full-size image via PHCachingImageManager.requestImage(), memory usage increases with each image preview interaction. The memory is not released, leading to eventual app crash due to memory exhaustion. The thumbnail loads and behaves as expected, but each call to fetch the full-size image (1000x1000) for the contextMenu preview does not release memory, even after cancelImageRequest() is called and fullSizePreviewImage is set to nil. The issue seems to stem from the contextMenu lifecycle behavior, it triggers .onAppear unexpectedly, and the full-size image is repeatedly fetched without releasing the previously loaded images. The question is, where do I request to the get the full-size image to show it in the context menu preview? STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1/ Create a SwiftUI LazyVGrid displaying many PHAsset thumbnails using PHCachingImageManager. 2/ Add a .contextMenu to each thumbnail button with: .onAppear that triggers requestImage() for a high-resolution preview. .onDisappear that calls cancelImageRequest() and sets the image @State to nil. 3/ Tap on several image previews 4/ Monitor memory usage as it increases and eventually crashes
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155
Sep ’25
Live Photos created with PHLivePhoto API show "Motion not available" when setting as wallpaper
I'm creating Live Photos programmatically in my app using the Photos and AVFoundation frameworks. While the Live Photos work perfectly in the Photos app (long press shows motion), users cannot set them as motion wallpapers. The system shows "Motion not available" message. Here's my approach for creating Live Photos: // 1. Create video with required metadata let writer = try AVAssetWriter(outputURL: videoURL, fileType: .mov) let contentIdentifier = AVMutableMetadataItem() contentIdentifier.identifier = .quickTimeMetadataContentIdentifier contentIdentifier.value = assetIdentifier as NSString writer.metadata = [contentIdentifier] // Video settings: 882x1920, H.264, 30fps, 2 seconds // Added still-image-time metadata at middle frame // 2. Create HEIC image with asset identifier var makerAppleDict: [String: Any] = [:] makerAppleDict["17"] = assetIdentifier // Required key for Live Photo metadata[kCGImagePropertyMakerAppleDictionary as String] = makerAppleDict // 3. Generate Live Photo PHLivePhoto.request( withResourceFileURLs: [photoURL, videoURL], placeholderImage: nil, targetSize: .zero, contentMode: .aspectFit ) { livePhoto, info in // Success - Live Photo created } // 4. Save to Photos library PHAssetCreationRequest.forAsset().addResource(with: .photo, fileURL: photoURL, options: nil) PHAssetCreationRequest.forAsset().addResource(with: .pairedVideo, fileURL: videoURL, options: nil) What I've Tried Matching exact video specifications from Camera app (882x1920, H.264, 30fps) Adding all documented metadata (content identifier, still-image-time) Testing various video durations (1.5s, 2s, 3s) Different image formats (HEIC, JPEG) Comparing with exiftool against working Live Photos Expected Behavior Live Photos created programmatically should be eligible for motion wallpapers, just like those from the Camera app. Actual Behavior System shows "Motion not available" and only allows setting as static wallpaper. Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated. This is affecting our users who want to use their created content as wallpapers. Questions Are there additional undocumented requirements for Live Photos to be wallpaper-eligible? Is this a deliberate restriction for third-party apps, or a bug? Has anyone successfully created Live Photos that work as motion wallpapers? Environment iOS 17.0 - 18.1 Xcode 16.0 Tested on iPhone 16 Pro
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475
Aug ’25
How to reliably detect user-modified photos?
I'm developing a photo backup app. To detect newly added or edited photos since the app launched, I keep a local dictionary in the format [localIdentifier: modification_date]. However, PHAsset.modificationDate is not reliable. It often changes unexpectedly, possibly due to system operations like iCloud metadata updates. Is there a more reliable way to detect whether a photo has been modified by user since the last app launch? I'm thinking about using content hash instead, but I'm not sure how heavy this operation is in terms of performance.
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105
Aug ’25
WWDC25 Camera & Photos group lab summary (Part 3 of 3)
(Note: this is part 3 of a 3 part posting. See Part 1 or Part 2) At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for Camera & Photos. WWDC25 Camera & Photos group lab ran for one hour at 6 PM PST on Tuesday June 10th, 2025 Question 24 What’s the best approach for optimizing barcode scanning using AVFoundation or Vision in low-light or angled scenarios Turn on flash in low-light scenarios Lower framerate to improve exposure and reduce noise Wait until the capture is in focus/notify your user that they need to get closer Question 25 Recent iPhone models introduced macro mode which automatically switch between lenses to take into account of the focal distance difference. Is there official API to implement this, or should I implement them myself using LiDAR values. Using builtInTripleCamera and builtInDualWideCamera will automatically switch to macro when available Question 26 Is there a way to quickly create a thumbnail after the user selects an image with PhotosPicker? File provider API Additional questions from the WWDC25 in-person labs that occurred later in the WWDC week Question 1 When should I build my custom photo picker instead of using the system one? Always start with the system picker -> try embeddable customization APIs -> fallback to custom picker for very special needs Question 2 I'm building a new camera app for pros and I want to give my users the most un-processed image possible, and the most control over the capture as possible. How can I do that with AVCapture? If stills, Brief Bayer RAW capture overview, or Pro RAW if you want Apple's processing and dynamic range If video, talk about prores LOG. Custom exposure settings are available throguh the apis maybe global/local tonemapping discussion?
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Jul ’25
WWDC25 Camera & Photos group lab summary (Part 2 of 3)
(Note: this is part 2 of a 3 part posting. See Part 1 or Part 3) At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for Camera & Photos. WWDC25 Camera & Photos group lab ran for one hour at 6 PM PST on Tuesday June 10th, 2025 Question 10 Can we directly integrate auto-capture triggers (e.g., when image is steady or text is detected) using Vision and AVFoundation? Yes apps can use AVCaptureSession's VDO + AVCapturePhotoOutput, run vision on VDO buffers and capture photo when certain scene or text is detected. Just to be careful to run Vision on VDO buffers async so it doesn't cause frame drops. Question 11 What Camera or Photos framework features support working with images from external media, like connected cameras or SD cards? Any best practices? The ImageCaptureCore framework supports camera devices, memory cards, scanners read and write, where supported check out the docs to see how to browse connected devices, folders, files, etc. Question 12 Hi Brad, to follow up on your SwiftUI cautionary note: using AVCaptureVideoPreview inside a UIViewRepresentable, is okay, right? Thanks all for the great info! Yes, this is totally fine. AppKit or UIKit views inside appropriate SwiftUI representables should be equivalent performance Question 13 What’s the “right” way to transition media in my photos app between HDR modes? When I’m in a one-up view, we use HDR, but in other contexts (like thumbnail) we don’t want HDR. Is there a nice way to tone map? There’s a suite of new System Tone Mapper APIs in this years’ OSes CoreImage ImageKit CoreAnimation, CoreGraphics For example: CoreImage: new CISystemToneMap filter. CoreAnimation: layer.preferredDynamicRange = CADynamicRangeConstrainedHigh Using image views (NSImageView/UIImageView/SwiftUI Image/CALayer) support animations on preferredDynamicRange Can go from high to constrained to standard Tone mapping is provided by the system (CISystemToneMap for controllable example) Question 14 What is your recommendation to preprocess and upscale your depth map in order to render a realistic portrait mode image? One way to do this: the CIEdgePreserveUpsample CIFilter can be use to upsample a lower resolution depth map by using a higher resolution RGB image as a guide. Question 15 For buffering frames for later processing from real-time camera output should we prefer a AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer centered approach or AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate centered approach? When would we use each? AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer and AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate are used hand in hand for custom camera preview. For buffering for later processing, ensure you make copies of VDO buffers to not drop frames from the output Question 16 Hello, my question is on Deferred Photo Processing? Say I have a photo capture app that adds a CIFilter to the capture. How can I take advantage of Deferred Photo Processing? Since I don’t know how to detect when the deferred captured photo is ready CIFilter can be called on the final at that point Photo will have to be re-inserted into the Photo library as adjustment Question 17 Is digital zoom (e.g., 1.5x) before taking a photo the same as cropping the photo afterward? digital zoom upscales the image to output dimensions and cropping will yield a smaller output image while digital zoom will crop, it also upscales Question 18 How do you design camera interfaces that work for both casual users and photography enthusiasts? Progressive disclosure: Put the most common controls up front, and make it easy for pros to drill down. Sensible Defaults: Choose defaults that work well for casual users, but allow those defaults to be modified for photography enthusiasts A good philosophy is: Keep the simple things easy, make the hard things possible Question 19 Recent iPhone models introduced macro mode which automatically switch between lenses to take into account of the focal distance difference. Is there official API to implement this, or should I implement them myself using LiDAR values. Using builtInTripleCamera and builtInDualWideCamera will automatically switch to macro when available Question 20 a couple of years ago at WWDC, the option of replacing a camera with a virtual camera was mentioned. How does one do that - make the “physical” camera effectively disappear, so only the virtual camera is accessible to the user? You can't prevent the built-in camera from being available to the user Question 21 Can developers now integrate custom Core ML models with Vision for on-device photo analysis more seamlessly? Yes they can, use CoreMLRequest , provide their model container Been supported for a while (iOS 18/macOS 15) For more details go to Machine Learning & AI group lab Thursday use smaller images for better performance Question 22 What would you recommend for capture of the new immersive and spatial formats? To capture Spatial Video use AVCaptureMovieFileOutput’s spatialVideoCaptureEnabled property Not all device formats support spatial capture, check AVCaptureDevice.activeFormat.spatialVideoCaptureSupported See WWDC 2024 talk “Build compelling spatial photo and video experiences” for more details Question 23 You mentioned JPEG-XL. What is the current status of support on iOS and macOS for encoding and decoding? For decoding, we support JPEG-XL files in all our OSes, regular SDR files, as well as ISO HDR files. For encoding, we only support JPEG-XL for ProRAW DNG capture in the Camera app or via third-party AVFoundation APIs. If you have any requests for improvement or new features related to JPEG-XL, please file a Feedback request using the Feedback Assistant. (Note: this is part 2 of a 3 part posting. See Part 1 or Part 3)
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429
Jul ’25
PHAsset asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoHDR) always return false
we are working on HDR images and found this problem, asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoHDR) always return false func picker(_ picker: PHPickerViewController, didFinishPicking results: [PHPickerResult]) { guard !results.isEmpty else {return} let fetchResult = PHAsset.fetchAssets(withLocalIdentifiers: results.map({$0.assetIdentifier!}), options: nil) var selectedAssets:[PHAsset] = [] fetchResult.enumerateObjects { asset, _, _ in selectedAssets.append(asset) } for i in selectedAssets.enumerated() { let asset:PHAsset = i.element print("\(i.offset): ") print(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoHDR.rawValue) print(asset.mediaSubtypes) print("photoHDR \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoHDR.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoHDR))") print("photoLive \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoLive.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoLive))") print("photoPanorama \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoPanorama.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoPanorama))") print("photoScreenshot \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.photoScreenshot.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.photoScreenshot))") print("videoHighFrameRate \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.videoHighFrameRate.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.videoHighFrameRate))") print("videoScreenRecording \(PHAssetMediaSubtype.videoScreenRecording.rawValue): \(asset.mediaSubtypes.contains(.videoScreenRecording))") } }
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681
Activity
Nov ’25
PHPhotoLibrary.performChanges completionHandler not called when deleting assets on iOS 26
In my app, I use api provided in Photos framework to delete specified photo. But after upgrading to iOS 26, the delete function in some iOS device no longer work. The api will never triggers the system confirmation dialog, and the completionHandler is never called. In the iOS Photos app, deletion works correctly on the same assets, but calling the API from my app does not work. Steps to Reproduce Make sure the app has Full Photo Library Access. Execute the following code: PHPhotoLibrary.shared().performChanges({ let assetsToBeDeleted = PHAsset.fetchAssets(withLocalIdentifiers: delUrls, options: nil) PHAssetChangeRequest.deleteAssets(assetsToBeDeleted) }, completionHandler: completionHandler) Expected Behavior The system should present a confirmation dialog asking the user to delete the selected photos. After the user confirms, the deletion should occur, and the completionHandler should be called with success or error. Actual Behavior The system delete confirmation dialog does not appear. The completionHandler is never called. Environment iOS Versions: 26.1 / 26.0.1 It looks like api bug. I want to check Is it a know issue and will be fixed. Thanks
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2
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321
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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624
Activity
Nov ’25
iOS 14, App crash when call presentLimitedLibraryPickerFromViewControlle
iPhone7 : iOS 14.0 Beta 5 Xcode-beta Mac OS : 10.15.5 (19F101) crash info : ** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '-[PHPhotoLibrary presentLimitedLibraryPickerFromViewController:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance xxxxxx' terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException my code: (void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated {   [super viewDidAppear:animated];   if (@available(iOS 14, *)) {     [[PHPhotoLibrary sharedPhotoLibrary] presentLimitedLibraryPickerFromViewController:self];   } }
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Activity
Nov ’25
PHPhotosError.Code.limitExceeded use case
In what scenario will an app receive the limitExceeded PHPhotosError code? This case was added in iOS 26.1 and is not currently documented. What PhotoKit APIs can encounter this error and how should it be handled?
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249
Activity
Oct ’25
PHPickerViewController unusable via Mac Catalyst on macOS 26 when interface is "Scaled to Match iPad"
There is a serious usability issue with PHPickerViewController in a UIKit app running on macOS 26 via Mac Catalyst when the Mac Catalyst interface is set to “Scaled to Match iPad”. Mouse click and other pointer interactions do not take place in the correct position. This means you have to click in the wrong position to select a photo and to close the picker. This basically makes it unusable. To demonstrate, use Xcode 26 on macOS 26 to create a new iOS app project based on Swift/Storyboard. Then update ViewController.swift with the following code: import UIKit import PhotosUI class ViewController: UIViewController { override func viewDidLoad() { super.viewDidLoad() var cfg = UIButton.Configuration.plain() cfg.title = "Photo Picker" let button = UIButton(configuration: cfg, primaryAction: UIAction(handler: { _ in self.showPicker() })) button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false view.addSubview(button) NSLayoutConstraint.activate([ button.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.centerXAnchor), button.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.centerYAnchor), ]) } private func showPicker() { var config = PHPickerConfiguration() config.selectionLimit = 10 config.selection = .ordered let vc = PHPickerViewController(configuration: config) vc.delegate = self self.present(vc, animated: true) } } extension ViewController: PHPickerViewControllerDelegate { func picker(_ picker: PHPickerViewController, didFinishPicking results: [PHPickerResult]) { print("Picked \(results.count) photos") dismiss(animated: true) } } Then go to the "Supported Destinations" section of the project target. Add a "Mac (Mac Catalyst)" destination. Then under the "Deployment Information" section, make sure the "Mac Catalyst Interface" setting is "Scaled to Match iPad". Then build and run the app on a Mac (using the Mac Catalyst destination) with macOS 26.0.1. Make sure the Mac has a dozen or so pictures in the Photo Library to fully demonstrate the issue. When the app is run, a simple screen appears with one button in the middle. Click the button to bring up the PHPickerViewController. Now try to interact with the picker interface. Note that all pointer interactions are in the wrong place on the screen. This makes it nearly impossible to choose the correct photos and close the picker. Quit the app. Select the project and go to the General tab. In the "Deployment Info" change the “Mac Catalyst Interface” setting to “Optimize for Mac” and run the app again. Now the photo picker works just fine. If you run the app on a Mac running macOS 15 then the photo picker works just fine with either “Mac Catalyst Interface” setting. The problem only happens under macOS 26.0 (I do not have macOS 26.1 beta to test) when the “Mac Catalyst Interface” setting is set to “Scaled to Match iPad”. This is critical for my app. I cannot use “Optimize for Mac”. There are far too many issues with that setting (I use UIStepper and UIPickerView to start). So it is critical to the usability of my app under macOS 26 that this issue be resolved. It is expected that PHPickerViewController responds correctly to pointer events on macOS 26 when running a Mac Catalyst app set to “Scaled to Match iPad”. A version of this has been filed as FB20503207
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12
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762
Activity
Oct ’25
Add a value to the Photos Caption field
In the iOS Photos app there is a caption field the user can write to. How can you write to this value from Swift when creating a photo? I see apps that do this, but there doesn't seem to be any official way to do this using the Photo library through PHAssetCreationRequest or PHAssetResourceCreationOptions or setting EXIF values, I tried settings a bunch of values there including IPTC values but nothing appears in the caption field in the iOS photos app. There must be some way to do it since I see other apps setting that value somehow after capturing a photo.
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199
Activity
Oct ’25
XCode26 doesnt compile PhotosUI properly
Hi so i have a given project where I am trying to use components within the PhotosUI Framework with Xcode26 and Xcode26.0.1 Just for reference here is an attached screenshot This sample code compiled successfully with xcode16.4 and was in production. There is no change in the pbxproj file , all the build settings have remained the same. Attaching it for reference. project.pbxproj.txt While showing declarations of PHPickerViewControllerDelegate i get two options which is the same as in Xcode16.4 while browsing online found this reddit thread which is very similar https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcode/comments/1nkku20/my_project_wont_compile_after_xcode_26_update_due/ Pls help :)
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434
Activity
Oct ’25
iOS26中ALAssetsLibrary 编译报错问题
mac os 系统版本:26.0 (25A354) Xcode版本:Version 26.0 (17A324) 项目编译报错 `SwiftExplicitDependencyCompileModuleFromInterface arm64 /Users/zhz/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/ModuleCache.noindex/AssetsLibrary-HTIJ05N58KN3.swiftmodule /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS26.0.sdk/usr/lib/swift/AssetsLibrary.swiftmodule/arm64e-apple-ios.swiftinterface:10:25: error: 'ALAssetsLibrary' is unavailable in iOS: Use PHPhotoLibrary from the Photos framework instead 8 | public import _StringProcessing 9 | public import _SwiftConcurrencyShims 10 | extension AssetsLibrary.ALAssetsLibrary { | `- error: 'ALAssetsLibrary' is unavailable in iOS: Use PHPhotoLibrary from the Photos framework instead 11 | #if compiler(>=5.3) && $NonescapableTypes 12 | @available(iOS, introduced: 9.0, deprecated: 9.0, obsoleted: 26.0) /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS26.0.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/AssetsLibrary.framework/Headers/ALAssetsLibrary.h:80:12: note: 'ALAssetsLibrary' was obsoleted in iOS 26.0 78 | 79 | OS_EXPORT AL_DEPRECATED(4, "Use PHPhotoLibrary from the Photos framework instead") 80 | @interface ALAssetsLibrary : NSObject { | `- note: 'ALAssetsLibrary' was obsoleted in iOS 26.0 81 | @package 82 | id _internal; /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS26.0.sdk/usr/lib/swift/AssetsLibrary.swiftmodule/arm64e-apple-ios.swiftinterface:1:1: error: failed to build module 'AssetsLibrary'; this SDK is not supported by the compiler (the SDK is built with 'Apple Swift version 6.2 effective-5.10 (swiftlang-6.2.0.17.14 clang-1700.3.17.1)', while this compiler is 'Apple Swift version 6.2 effective-5.10 (swiftlang-6.2.0.19.9 clang-1700.3.19.1)'). Please select a toolchain which matches the SDK.
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2k
Activity
Oct ’25
PhotosUI does not build with UIKit and WidgetKit in XCode26
To reproduce this bug create a new Xcode Project for IOS choose UIKit. In the app delegate add the following lines. As you can see in the above image . Line 19 with the initialization of PHPickerViewController has no compilation failure. Now lets add import WidgetKit As soon as widgetKit is imported a compiler error is thrown which is PHPickerViewController is not in scope. This worked with Xcode 16.4 It was possible to have a swift file with both WidgetKit implementations and PhotosUI implementations. This behavior has changed in Xcode 26/26.0.1 . Does anybody know why this happens , could not find any clues within the different versions of documentations. P.S Found a work around which raises further questions Adding import SwiftUI fixes this problem , I am genuinely curious on how this is happening on a compiler level. LINKS To my previously published post :https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/804059
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309
Activity
Oct ’25
PHPickerFilter doesn't always apply in Collections tab when using PHPickerViewController
Hi everyone, I’m running into an issue with PHPickerFilter when using PHPickerViewController. When I configure the picker with a .videos and .livePhotos filter, it seems to work correctly in the Photos tab. However, when I switch to the Collections tab, the filter doesn’t always apply — users can still see and select static image assets in certain collections (e.g. from one of the People & Pets sections). Here’s a simplified snippet of my setup: var configuration = PHPickerConfiguration(photoLibrary: .shared()) configuration.selectionLimit = 1 var filters = [PHPickerFilter]() filters.append(.videos) filters.append(.livePhotos) configuration.filter = PHPickerFilter.any(of: filters) configuration.preferredAssetRepresentationMode = .current let picker = PHPickerViewController(configuration: configuration) picker.delegate = self present(picker, animated: true) Expected behavior: The picker should consistently respect the filter across both Photos and Collections tabs, only showing assets that match the filter. Actual behavior: The filter seems to apply correctly in the Photos tab, but in the Collections tab, other asset types are still visible/selectable. Has anyone else encountered this behavior? Is this expected or a known issue, or am I missing something in the configuration? Thanks in advance!
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605
Activity
Oct ’25
Clean up render files saved to PHContentEditingOutput.renderedContentURL
I discovered when editing photos with the PhotoKit API, PHContentEditingOutput's renderedContentURL is a file in the app container's tmp directory with a filename that seems to follow the format render.<uuid>.JPG, and that file does not get deleted if the edit does not complete successfully (the user cancels the edit request, an error occurs, the app crashes, etc). I understand the system is supposed to automatically delete tmp files every once in a while, but some users are noticing my app's Documents & Data inflates, so I'm considering deleting these render files each time the app is launched. But I don't want to delete everything in the tmp directory as there could possibly be other data in there. What's the best way to remove those temporary files? Does the filename always start with render. no matter the device language? I thought I'd delete files in NSTemporaryDirectory() with that prefix but then I discovered in Mac Catalyst the location is not the tmp directory directly, they're in tmp/TemporaryItems/<bundleid>. Thanks!
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131
Activity
Oct ’25
Only fetch PHAssets from the current user's iCloud Library
I'm working on a photo app and I want to allow the user to display, edit and delete photos. I can fetch all photos using PHAsset.fetchAssets(with: options). This works as intended. However, I can't seem to find a way to prevent the user from seeing photos from a Shared Library. The PHAssetSourceType only contains typeCloudShared to only show items from a specific album; not library. How can I filter by iCloud Shared Library?
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532
Activity
Sep ’25
PHFetchOptions.includeHiddenAssets does not correctly return asset by id
When attempting to access a PHAsset that is in the hidden folder of iOS26, the PHFetchResult always returns no items, even when the user has granted full access to photos and even when includeHiddenAssets is true. This is the code suggested by ChatGPT; it always fails: public func fetchAsset(withLocalIdentifier identifier: String) -> PSSPHAssetImplementing? { // First try the direct fetch by identifier (fast path) let directResult = PHAsset.fetchAssets(withLocalIdentifiers: [identifier], options: nil) if let asset = directResult.firstObject { return build(from: asset) } // Fallback: fetch all assets including hidden, then filter manually let options = PHFetchOptions() options.includeHiddenAssets = true let allAssets = PHAsset.fetchAssets(with: options) for index in 0..<allAssets.count { let asset = allAssets.object(at: index) if asset.localIdentifier == identifier { return build(from: asset) } } return nil } Is it no longer possible to retrieve a hidden photo in iOS 26?
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426
Activity
Sep ’25
PHPicker fails to load RAW images
We observed that the PHPicker is unable to load RAW images captured on an iPhone in some scenarios. And it is also somehow related to iCloud. Here is the setup: The PHPickerViewController is configured with preferredAssetRepresentationMode = .current to avoid transcoding. The image is loaded from the item provider like this: if itemProvider.hasItemConformingToTypeIdentifier(kUTTypeImage) { itemProvider.loadFileRepresentation(forTypeIdentifier: kUTTypeImage) { url, error in // work } } This usually works, also for RAW images. However, when trying to load a RAW image that has just been captured with the iPhone, the loading fails with the following errors on the console: [claims] 43A5D3B2-84CD-488D-B9E4-19F9ED5F39EB grantAccessClaim reply is an error: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "Couldn’t communicate with a helper application." UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x2804a8e70 {Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "connection from pid 19420 on anonymousListener or serviceListener" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=connection from pid 19420 on anonymousListener or serviceListener}}} Error copying file type public.image. Error: Error Domain=NSItemProviderErrorDomain Code=-1000 "Cannot load representation of type public.image" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Cannot load representation of type public.image, NSUnderlyingError=0x280480540 {Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "Couldn’t communicate with a helper application." UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x2804a8e70 {Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "connection from pid 19420 on anonymousListener or serviceListener" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=connection from pid 19420 on anonymousListener or serviceListener}}}}} We observed that on some devices, loading the image will actually work after a short time (~30 sec), but on others it will always fail. We think it is related to iCloud Photos: On the device that has iCloud Photos sync enabled, the picker is able to load the image right after it was synced to the cloud. On devices that don't sync the image, loading always fails. It seems that the sync process is doing some processing (?) of the image that will later enable the picker to load it successfully, but that's just guessing. Additional observations: This seems to only occur for images that were taken with the stock Camera app. When using Halide to capture RAW (either ProRAW or RAW), the Picker is able to load the image. When trying to load the image as kUTTypeRawImage instead of kUTTypeImage, it also fails. The picker also can't load RAW images that were AirDroped from another device, unless it synced to iCloud first. This is reproducable using the Selecting Photos and Videos in iOS sample code project. We observed this happening in other apps that use the PHPicker, not just ours. Is this a bug, or is there something that we are missing?
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Activity
Sep ’25
Trouble with contextMenu previewing high resolution images
When using a contextMenu in SwiftUI to show a preview of a PHAsset’s full-size image via PHCachingImageManager.requestImage(), memory usage increases with each image preview interaction. The memory is not released, leading to eventual app crash due to memory exhaustion. The thumbnail loads and behaves as expected, but each call to fetch the full-size image (1000x1000) for the contextMenu preview does not release memory, even after cancelImageRequest() is called and fullSizePreviewImage is set to nil. The issue seems to stem from the contextMenu lifecycle behavior, it triggers .onAppear unexpectedly, and the full-size image is repeatedly fetched without releasing the previously loaded images. The question is, where do I request to the get the full-size image to show it in the context menu preview? STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1/ Create a SwiftUI LazyVGrid displaying many PHAsset thumbnails using PHCachingImageManager. 2/ Add a .contextMenu to each thumbnail button with: .onAppear that triggers requestImage() for a high-resolution preview. .onDisappear that calls cancelImageRequest() and sets the image @State to nil. 3/ Tap on several image previews 4/ Monitor memory usage as it increases and eventually crashes
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Sep ’25
Live Photos created with PHLivePhoto API show "Motion not available" when setting as wallpaper
I'm creating Live Photos programmatically in my app using the Photos and AVFoundation frameworks. While the Live Photos work perfectly in the Photos app (long press shows motion), users cannot set them as motion wallpapers. The system shows "Motion not available" message. Here's my approach for creating Live Photos: // 1. Create video with required metadata let writer = try AVAssetWriter(outputURL: videoURL, fileType: .mov) let contentIdentifier = AVMutableMetadataItem() contentIdentifier.identifier = .quickTimeMetadataContentIdentifier contentIdentifier.value = assetIdentifier as NSString writer.metadata = [contentIdentifier] // Video settings: 882x1920, H.264, 30fps, 2 seconds // Added still-image-time metadata at middle frame // 2. Create HEIC image with asset identifier var makerAppleDict: [String: Any] = [:] makerAppleDict["17"] = assetIdentifier // Required key for Live Photo metadata[kCGImagePropertyMakerAppleDictionary as String] = makerAppleDict // 3. Generate Live Photo PHLivePhoto.request( withResourceFileURLs: [photoURL, videoURL], placeholderImage: nil, targetSize: .zero, contentMode: .aspectFit ) { livePhoto, info in // Success - Live Photo created } // 4. Save to Photos library PHAssetCreationRequest.forAsset().addResource(with: .photo, fileURL: photoURL, options: nil) PHAssetCreationRequest.forAsset().addResource(with: .pairedVideo, fileURL: videoURL, options: nil) What I've Tried Matching exact video specifications from Camera app (882x1920, H.264, 30fps) Adding all documented metadata (content identifier, still-image-time) Testing various video durations (1.5s, 2s, 3s) Different image formats (HEIC, JPEG) Comparing with exiftool against working Live Photos Expected Behavior Live Photos created programmatically should be eligible for motion wallpapers, just like those from the Camera app. Actual Behavior System shows "Motion not available" and only allows setting as static wallpaper. Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated. This is affecting our users who want to use their created content as wallpapers. Questions Are there additional undocumented requirements for Live Photos to be wallpaper-eligible? Is this a deliberate restriction for third-party apps, or a bug? Has anyone successfully created Live Photos that work as motion wallpapers? Environment iOS 17.0 - 18.1 Xcode 16.0 Tested on iPhone 16 Pro
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Activity
Aug ’25
How to reliably detect user-modified photos?
I'm developing a photo backup app. To detect newly added or edited photos since the app launched, I keep a local dictionary in the format [localIdentifier: modification_date]. However, PHAsset.modificationDate is not reliable. It often changes unexpectedly, possibly due to system operations like iCloud metadata updates. Is there a more reliable way to detect whether a photo has been modified by user since the last app launch? I'm thinking about using content hash instead, but I'm not sure how heavy this operation is in terms of performance.
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105
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Aug ’25
WWDC25 Camera & Photos group lab summary (Part 3 of 3)
(Note: this is part 3 of a 3 part posting. See Part 1 or Part 2) At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for Camera & Photos. WWDC25 Camera & Photos group lab ran for one hour at 6 PM PST on Tuesday June 10th, 2025 Question 24 What’s the best approach for optimizing barcode scanning using AVFoundation or Vision in low-light or angled scenarios Turn on flash in low-light scenarios Lower framerate to improve exposure and reduce noise Wait until the capture is in focus/notify your user that they need to get closer Question 25 Recent iPhone models introduced macro mode which automatically switch between lenses to take into account of the focal distance difference. Is there official API to implement this, or should I implement them myself using LiDAR values. Using builtInTripleCamera and builtInDualWideCamera will automatically switch to macro when available Question 26 Is there a way to quickly create a thumbnail after the user selects an image with PhotosPicker? File provider API Additional questions from the WWDC25 in-person labs that occurred later in the WWDC week Question 1 When should I build my custom photo picker instead of using the system one? Always start with the system picker -> try embeddable customization APIs -> fallback to custom picker for very special needs Question 2 I'm building a new camera app for pros and I want to give my users the most un-processed image possible, and the most control over the capture as possible. How can I do that with AVCapture? If stills, Brief Bayer RAW capture overview, or Pro RAW if you want Apple's processing and dynamic range If video, talk about prores LOG. Custom exposure settings are available throguh the apis maybe global/local tonemapping discussion?
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394
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Jul ’25
WWDC25 Camera & Photos group lab summary (Part 2 of 3)
(Note: this is part 2 of a 3 part posting. See Part 1 or Part 3) At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for Camera & Photos. WWDC25 Camera & Photos group lab ran for one hour at 6 PM PST on Tuesday June 10th, 2025 Question 10 Can we directly integrate auto-capture triggers (e.g., when image is steady or text is detected) using Vision and AVFoundation? Yes apps can use AVCaptureSession's VDO + AVCapturePhotoOutput, run vision on VDO buffers and capture photo when certain scene or text is detected. Just to be careful to run Vision on VDO buffers async so it doesn't cause frame drops. Question 11 What Camera or Photos framework features support working with images from external media, like connected cameras or SD cards? Any best practices? The ImageCaptureCore framework supports camera devices, memory cards, scanners read and write, where supported check out the docs to see how to browse connected devices, folders, files, etc. Question 12 Hi Brad, to follow up on your SwiftUI cautionary note: using AVCaptureVideoPreview inside a UIViewRepresentable, is okay, right? Thanks all for the great info! Yes, this is totally fine. AppKit or UIKit views inside appropriate SwiftUI representables should be equivalent performance Question 13 What’s the “right” way to transition media in my photos app between HDR modes? When I’m in a one-up view, we use HDR, but in other contexts (like thumbnail) we don’t want HDR. Is there a nice way to tone map? There’s a suite of new System Tone Mapper APIs in this years’ OSes CoreImage ImageKit CoreAnimation, CoreGraphics For example: CoreImage: new CISystemToneMap filter. CoreAnimation: layer.preferredDynamicRange = CADynamicRangeConstrainedHigh Using image views (NSImageView/UIImageView/SwiftUI Image/CALayer) support animations on preferredDynamicRange Can go from high to constrained to standard Tone mapping is provided by the system (CISystemToneMap for controllable example) Question 14 What is your recommendation to preprocess and upscale your depth map in order to render a realistic portrait mode image? One way to do this: the CIEdgePreserveUpsample CIFilter can be use to upsample a lower resolution depth map by using a higher resolution RGB image as a guide. Question 15 For buffering frames for later processing from real-time camera output should we prefer a AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer centered approach or AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate centered approach? When would we use each? AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer and AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate are used hand in hand for custom camera preview. For buffering for later processing, ensure you make copies of VDO buffers to not drop frames from the output Question 16 Hello, my question is on Deferred Photo Processing? Say I have a photo capture app that adds a CIFilter to the capture. How can I take advantage of Deferred Photo Processing? Since I don’t know how to detect when the deferred captured photo is ready CIFilter can be called on the final at that point Photo will have to be re-inserted into the Photo library as adjustment Question 17 Is digital zoom (e.g., 1.5x) before taking a photo the same as cropping the photo afterward? digital zoom upscales the image to output dimensions and cropping will yield a smaller output image while digital zoom will crop, it also upscales Question 18 How do you design camera interfaces that work for both casual users and photography enthusiasts? Progressive disclosure: Put the most common controls up front, and make it easy for pros to drill down. Sensible Defaults: Choose defaults that work well for casual users, but allow those defaults to be modified for photography enthusiasts A good philosophy is: Keep the simple things easy, make the hard things possible Question 19 Recent iPhone models introduced macro mode which automatically switch between lenses to take into account of the focal distance difference. Is there official API to implement this, or should I implement them myself using LiDAR values. Using builtInTripleCamera and builtInDualWideCamera will automatically switch to macro when available Question 20 a couple of years ago at WWDC, the option of replacing a camera with a virtual camera was mentioned. How does one do that - make the “physical” camera effectively disappear, so only the virtual camera is accessible to the user? You can't prevent the built-in camera from being available to the user Question 21 Can developers now integrate custom Core ML models with Vision for on-device photo analysis more seamlessly? Yes they can, use CoreMLRequest , provide their model container Been supported for a while (iOS 18/macOS 15) For more details go to Machine Learning & AI group lab Thursday use smaller images for better performance Question 22 What would you recommend for capture of the new immersive and spatial formats? To capture Spatial Video use AVCaptureMovieFileOutput’s spatialVideoCaptureEnabled property Not all device formats support spatial capture, check AVCaptureDevice.activeFormat.spatialVideoCaptureSupported See WWDC 2024 talk “Build compelling spatial photo and video experiences” for more details Question 23 You mentioned JPEG-XL. What is the current status of support on iOS and macOS for encoding and decoding? For decoding, we support JPEG-XL files in all our OSes, regular SDR files, as well as ISO HDR files. For encoding, we only support JPEG-XL for ProRAW DNG capture in the Camera app or via third-party AVFoundation APIs. If you have any requests for improvement or new features related to JPEG-XL, please file a Feedback request using the Feedback Assistant. (Note: this is part 2 of a 3 part posting. See Part 1 or Part 3)
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Jul ’25