AUv3 recent "Failed to find component with type..." frequent issues

Question

Created Dec ’24

Replies 4

Boosts 1

Participants 5

I've been generating new Audio Unit Extension apps with Xcode 16 (and newer), and although they generally work initially, it is easy (although I'm not sure how to do it reliably) to cause the app to no longer be able to instantiate the audiounit. Generally the call to AVAudioUnit.findComponent fails and SimplePlayEngine hits the fatalError("Failed to find component with type...")

In the most recent project, merely adding files to the extension (without making any use of them) caused it to go off the rails.

If I "Archive" the app+plugin, there is no audio unit extension in the bundle.

If I switch to the audiounit extension and build it it's fine. If I look at the build folder in Library/Developer/Xcode/project_folder the extension_name.appex is there.

Any ideas? If I can coax an unmodified audio unit extension project to exhibit this behavior I'll attach it here. Right now what I have has code I don't want to share.

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Answer 1

anzbert OP

Dec ’24

i have this behaviour in a completely erratic fashion. Even newly created AU FX plugins get me this error, without me changing anything at all. it used to work, but now it doesnt. clearing caches and build folders doesnt change the error. in general, the compilation experience has been extremely fragile, trying to code an AUv3 plugin. It's not inspiring a lot of confidence in the toolchain...

1

Answer 2

ParanoidAndroid OP

Jan ’25

ditto, you're not alone. AU development has become a nightmare requiring nerves of steel or perhaps just sheer bloody mindedness and determination, I've been doing this for many years and used to love it but recently I find myself wondering if it might be a better option just to ignore Apple as a serious platform for music production altogether now especially with all the latest sandboxing nonsense. ;(

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Answer 3

koyanagi OP

1w

I recently encountered a similar issue, so I wanted to share my experience for reference.

To get straight to the point, the cause turned out to be Xcode 16. When I switched to Xcode 15, the issue resolved.

Details of the Issue

I submitted an app containing an Audio Unit v3 Extension to the App Store. During review, AVAudioUnitComponentManager.shared().components(matching: description) returned nil, meaning the extension could not be found and the app crashed.

What’s strange is that this issue only occurred during the App Store review process. The app worked perfectly in the following scenarios:

Running on the macOS simulator
Installed on a physical device from the local development environment
Installed on a physical device via TestFlight

When I checked the app archive located at ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives for the version submitted to the App Store, I confirmed that the .appex file was included, which suggested that the build itself had completed correctly.

However, on a hunch, I tried archiving and submitting the app using Xcode 15, and that resolved the issue.

In summary, it appears there is some kind of bug in Xcode 16. I hope this information is helpful to others.

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Answer 4

szfpro OP

6d

im currently trying to build even the most basic sample plugin. Xcode forces me to do cross-platofrm audio app. so there is immediately 2 targets. i developed my code, testing in logic, now im ready to deploy and cannot find the component file. i only see appex. so what is logic loading when im testing? please advise.

i did all the info.plist stuff, added audio unit framework, im totally lost. my most exerienced contacts all tell me to go to juce. im not convinced. im at final steps. please advise

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