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 && 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 & 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
Photos & Camera
RSS for tagExplore technical aspects of capturing high-quality photos and videos, including exposure control, focus modes, and RAW capture options.
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I am using AVMulti so the user captures two images how can I access those images if there is only one url that stores the captured images for the lockScreenCapture extension ? Plus how can I detect if the user opened the app from the extension to be able to navigate the user to the right screen ?
In my app SexyPeri (https://apps.apple.com/fr/app/id6738291985), I create an album with some pics
Album is called SexyPeri
Now, I wish to redirect the user from my app SexyPeri DIRECTLY to the album SexyPeri
There is no doc about your scheme photos-navigation, or I didn't see it. Some guys retro-engineered it, but I couldn't make this work. photos-navigation://album?name=SexyPeri doesn't work.
So my question is: how can I redirect to the album directly ?
Dear Apple Developer Forum,
I have a question regarding the AVCaptureDevice on iOS. We're trying to capture photos in the best quality possible along with depth data with the highest accuracy possible. We were delighted when we saw AVCaptureDevice could be initialized with the AVMediaType=.depthData which works as expected (depthData is a part of the AVCapturePhoto). When setting to AVMediaType=.video, we still receive depth data (of same quality according to our own internal tests). That confused us.
Mind you, we set the device format and depth format as well:
private func getDeviceFormat() throws -> AVCaptureDevice.Format {
// Ensures high video format and an appropriate color profile.
let format = camera?.formats.first(where: {
$0.isHighPhotoQualitySupported &&
$0.supportedDepthDataFormats.count > 0 &&
$0.formatDescription.mediaSubType.rawValue == kCVPixelFormatType_420YpCbCr8BiPlanarFullRange
})
// Check and see if it's available.
guard format != nil else {
throw CaptureDeviceError.necessaryFormatNotAvailable
}
return format!
}
private func getDepthDataFormat(for format: AVCaptureDevice.Format) throws -> AVCaptureDevice.Format {
// Access the depth format.
let depthDataFormat = format.supportedDepthDataFormats.first(where: {
$0.formatDescription.mediaSubType.rawValue == kCVPixelFormatType_DepthFloat32
})
// Check if it exists
guard depthDataFormat != nil else {
throw CaptureDeviceError.necessaryFormatNotAvailable
}
// Returns it.
return depthDataFormat!
}
We're wondering, what steps we can take to ensure the best quality photo, along with the most accurate depth data? What properties are the most important, which have an effect, which don't? Are there any ways we can optimize our current configuration? We find it difficult as there's very limited guides and explanations on the media subtypes, for example kCVPixelFormatType_420YpCbCr8BiPlanarFullRange. Is it the best? Is it the best for our use case of high quality photo + most accurate depth data?
Important comment: Our App only runs on iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro on the latest iOS versions.
We hope someone with greater knowledge at Apple can help us and guide us on how we can have the photos of best quality and depth data with most accuracy.
Thank you very much!
Kind regards.
How can I implement the same custom CIFilter as a Lightroom Color Grading tool for shadows, midtones, highlights and global areas?
am new to using Swift for a Mac Application. I am trying to control an external UVC-compliant camera focus and other capabilities. However, I'm having trouble with this and don't know where to start. I have downloaded an application from the App Store and it can control the focus and other capabilities.
I've tried IOKit but this seems to be complicated and this does not return any capabilities or control the camera.
I also tried AVfoundation and was able to open the camera, but using the following code did not work for me. as a device.isFocusPointOfInterestSupported returns false and without checking the app crashes.
@IBAction func focusChanged(_ sender: NSSlider) {
do {
guard let device = videoDevice else { return }
try device.lockForConfiguration()
// Check if focus mode and point of interest are supported
if device.isFocusModeSupported(.locked) {
device.focusMode = .locked
}
if device.isFocusPointOfInterestSupported {
// Map the slider value (0.0 to 1.0) to the focus point's X coordinate
let focusX = CGFloat(sender.doubleValue)
let focusPoint = CGPoint(x: focusX, y: 0.5) // Y coordinate is typically 0.5 (centered vertically)
device.focusPointOfInterest = focusPoint
} else {
print("Focus point of interest is not supported on this device.")
}
device.unlockForConfiguration()
// Log focus settings
print("Focus point: \(device.focusPointOfInterest)")
print("Focus mode: \(device.focusMode.rawValue)")
} catch {
print("Error adjusting focus: \(error)")
}
Any help or advice is much appreciated.
Hello, I'm wondering how to capture 24MP photos.
I'm currently testing on an iPhone 16 Pro Max. By default, the device's activeFormat supports 24MP (photo dimensions: {4032x3024, 5712x4284}). For the photoOutput, I'm setting the maxPhotoDimensions to videoDevice.activeFormat.supportedMaxPhotoDimensions.lastObject, and setting MaxPhotoQualityPrioritization to quality.
When capturing, I'm applying the same maxPhotoDimensions and photoQualityPrioritization settings from the photoOutput directly to the AVCapturePhotoSettings.
What could be the issue?
// Objective-C
// setup
[self.photoOutput setMaxPhotoQualityPrioritization:AVCapturePhotoQualityPrioritizationQuality];
CMVideoDimensions maxPhotoDimensions = [(NSValue *)videoDevice.activeFormat.supportedMaxPhotoDimensions.lastObject CMVideoDimensionsValue];
[self.photoOutput setMaxPhotoDimensions:maxPhotoDimensions];
// capturing
AVCapturePhotoSettings *photoSettings = [AVCapturePhotoSettings photoSettings];
photoSettings.maxPhotoDimensions = self.photoOutput.maxPhotoDimensions;
photoSettings.photoQualityPrioritization = self.photoOutput.maxPhotoQualityPrioritization;
[self.photoOutput capturePhotoWithSettings:photoSettings delegate:photoCaptureDelegate];
...
The documentation for AVCaptureDeviceRotationCoordinator says it is designed to work with any CALayer but it seems like it is designed to work only with AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer. Can someone confirm it is possible to make it work with other layers such as CAMetalLayer or AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer?
I have added this extension to my app and followed the steps of the documentation but it didn't work. when I press the shortcut from the control center it only open the app and when I put it on the lockScreen it doesn't do anything. I don't know what I am missing
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
I wanted to ask if I can use Camera Capture Extension with AVMultiCamPiP, because the LockedCameraCaptureUIScene only return in the closure one session and I can't use the same session for both the front and back at the same time
I have an iPad app that I want to run on Apple Silicon macs.
Everything works fine except for VNDocumentCameraViewController. According to the docs this class is available on:
iOS 13.0+ iPadOS 13.0+ Mac Catalyst 13.1+ visionOS 1.0+
yet when I try using it I get Document camera is not available on my Mac Studio running macOS 15.2
Is this expected behaviour?
Thanks
Hello,
I'm building a camera app around ARKit. I've created a Lockscreen Capture Extension and added a control to initiate my camera app, but when I launch the extension I see just a black screen with no hints at any errors. Also attaching the debugger to the running process shows no logs.
Im wondering: Is LockedCameraCapture supported with ARView and ARSession?
ARKit was featured in a WWDC video with a camera app use-case, also the introduction of captureHighResolutionFrame(completion:) made me pick it up as an interesting camera app backbone - but if lockscreen capture is not possible with it I have to refactor my codebase.
Hi,
I would like to use macro-mode for the custom camera using AVCaptureDevice in my project. This feature might help to automatically adjust and switch between lenses to get a close up clear image. It looks like this feature is not available and there are no open apis to achieve macro mode from Apple. Is there a way to get this functionality in the custom camera without losing the image quality. Please let me know if this is possible.
Thanks you,
Adil Thamarasseri
When trying to edit some Live Photos, calling PHLivePhotoEditingContext.saveLivePhoto results in the following error:
Error Domain=AVFoundationErrorDomain Code=-11800 "The operation could not be completed" UserInfo={NSLocalizedFailureReason=An unknown error occurred (-12815), NSLocalizedDescription=The operation could not be completed, NSUnderlyingError=0x300d05380 {Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-12815 "(null)"}}
I was able to replicate it on my device by taking a new Live Photo. Not sure what's wrong with that one specifically, not all Live Photos replicate the issue.
I've submitted FB15880825 with a sysdiagnose and a Photos Diagnostics as well. Any ideas what's going on here? It's impacting multiple customers. Thanks!
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Tags:
Media
Photos and Imaging
PhotoKit
AVFoundation
I have an app that edits photos in your library. When I call
try CIContext().writeHEIFRepresentation(of: editedImage, to: fileURL, format: .RGBA8, colorSpace: originalImage.colorSpace!)
The following is logged to the console:
writeImageAtIndex:1012: ⭕️ ERROR: 'App' is trying to save an opaque image (5712x4284) with 'AlphaLast'. This would unnecessarily increase the file size and will double (!!!) the required memory when decoding the image --> ignoring alpha.
What does that mean and how can I resolve it?
Xcode Version 16.0 (16A242d)
iOS 18.1 (22B82)
Hello,
I am getting the following error while attempting to run my LockedCameraCapture compatible app on an iOS 15 device:
dyld[434]: Library not loaded: '/System/Library/Frameworks/LockedCameraCapture.framework/LockedCameraCapture'
Referenced from: '/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/.../MyApp.app/MyApp.debug.dylib'
Reason: tried: '/System/Library/Frameworks/LockedCameraCapture.framework/LockedCameraCapture' (no such file)
Of course iOS 15 doesn't have the library for LockedCameraCapture, but I have had no issue including Lock Screen Widgets (which require iOS 16), so I am not sure why the error is popping up.
Thank you!
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
I am working on an iOS application using SwiftUI where I want to convert a JPG and a MOV file to a live photo. I am utilizing the LivePhoto Class from Github for this. The JPG and MOV files are displayed correctly in my WallpaperDetailView, but I am facing issues when trying to download the live photo to the gallery and generate the Live Photo.
Here is the relevant code and the errors I am encountering:
Console prints:
Play button should be visible Image URL fetched and set: Optional("https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/...") Video is ready to play Video downloaded to: file:///var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/.../tmp/CFNetworkDownload_7rW5ny.tmp Failed to generate Live Photo
I have verified that the app has the necessary permissions to access the Photo Library.
The JPEG and MOV files are successfully downloaded and can be displayed in the app.
The issue seems to occur when generating the Live Photo from the downloaded files.
struct WallpaperDetailView: View {
var wallpaper: Wallpaper
@State private var isLoading = false
@State private var isImageSaved = false
@State private var imageURL: URL?
@State private var livePhotoVideoURL: URL?
@State private var player: AVPlayer?
@State private var playerViewController: AVPlayerViewController?
@State private var isVideoReady = false
@State private var showBuffering = false
var body: some View {
ZStack {
if let imageURL = imageURL {
GeometryReader { geometry in
KFImage(imageURL)
.resizable()
...
}
}
if let playerViewController = playerViewController {
VideoPlayerViewController(playerViewController: playerViewController)
.frame(maxWidth: .infinity, maxHeight: .infinity)
.clipped()
.edgesIgnoringSafeArea(.all)
}
}
.onAppear {
PHPhotoLibrary.requestAuthorization { status in
if status == .authorized {
loadImage()
} else {
print("User denied access to photo library")
}
}
}
private func loadImage() {
isLoading = true
if let imageURLString = wallpaper.imageURL, let imageURL = URL(string: imageURLString) {
self.imageURL = imageURL
if imageURL.scheme == "file" {
self.isLoading = false
print("Local image URL set: \(imageURL)")
} else {
fetchDownloadURL(from: imageURLString) { url in
self.imageURL = url
self.isLoading = false
print("Image URL fetched and set: \(String(describing: url))")
}
}
}
if let livePhotoVideoURLString = wallpaper.livePhotoVideoURL, let livePhotoVideoURL = URL(string: livePhotoVideoURLString) {
self.livePhotoVideoURL = livePhotoVideoURL
preloadAndPlayVideo(from: livePhotoVideoURL)
} else {
self.isLoading = false
print("No valid image or video URL")
}
}
private func preloadAndPlayVideo(from url: URL) {
self.player = AVPlayer(url: url)
let playerViewController = AVPlayerViewController()
playerViewController.player = self.player
self.playerViewController = playerViewController
let playerItem = AVPlayerItem(url: url)
playerItem.preferredForwardBufferDuration = 1.0
self.player?.replaceCurrentItem(with: playerItem)
...
print("Live Photo Video URL set: \(url)")
}
private func saveWallpaperToPhotos() {
if let imageURL = imageURL, let livePhotoVideoURL = livePhotoVideoURL {
saveLivePhotoToPhotos(imageURL: imageURL, videoURL: livePhotoVideoURL)
} else if let imageURL = imageURL {
saveImageToPhotos(url: imageURL)
}
}
private func saveImageToPhotos(url: URL) {
...
}
private func saveLivePhotoToPhotos(imageURL: URL, videoURL: URL) {
isLoading = true
downloadVideo(from: videoURL) { localVideoURL in
guard let localVideoURL = localVideoURL else {
print("Failed to download video for Live Photo")
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.isLoading = false
}
return
}
print("Video downloaded to: \(localVideoURL)")
self.generateAndSaveLivePhoto(imageURL: imageURL, videoURL: localVideoURL)
}
}
private func generateAndSaveLivePhoto(imageURL: URL, videoURL: URL) {
LivePhoto.generate(from: imageURL, videoURL: videoURL, progress: { percent in
print("Progress: \(percent)")
}, completion: { livePhoto, resources in
guard let resources = resources else {
print("Failed to generate Live Photo")
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.isLoading = false
}
return
}
print("Live Photo generated with resources: \(resources)")
self.saveLivePhotoToLibrary(resources: resources)
})
}
private func saveLivePhotoToLibrary(resources: LivePhoto.LivePhotoResources) {
LivePhoto.saveToLibrary(resources) { success in
DispatchQueue.main.async {
if success {
self.isImageSaved = true
print("Live Photo saved successfully")
} else {
print("Failed to save Live Photo")
}
self.isLoading = false
}
}
}
private func fetchDownloadURL(from gsURL: String, completion: @escaping (URL?) -> Void) {
let storageRef = Storage.storage().reference(forURL: gsURL)
storageRef.downloadURL { url, error in
if let error = error {
print("Failed to fetch image URL: \(error)")
completion(nil)
} else {
completion(url)
}
}
}
private func downloadVideo(from url: URL, completion: @escaping (URL?) -> Void) {
let task = URLSession.shared.downloadTask(with: url) { localURL, response, error in
guard let localURL = localURL, error == nil else {
print("Failed to download video: \(String(describing: error))")
completion(nil)
return
}
completion(localURL)
}
task.resume()
}
}```
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Tags:
Files and Storage
Swift
SwiftUI
Photos and Imaging
So I've spent the last five years optimizing my video AI system so that it runs with less than 5% CPU while processing a 30fps video feed on a Macbook Pro M2, and everything is great, until Sonoma comes out, and I find myself consuming 40% CPU for the exact same workload.
So I fire up Instruments, and the "heaviest stack trace" (see screenshot) turns out to be Espresso doing some completely unasked-for and absolutely useless processing on my video frames. I turn off Reactions, but nothing helps - the CPU consumptions stays at 40%.
"Reactions" is nothing but a useless toy to please some WWDC keynote fanboys, I don't want it anywhere near my app or my users, and I especially do not want to take the blame for it pissing away the user's CPU cycles and battery.
Now, how do I make it go away, for ever?
Best regards
Jacob
I'm developing iPad app that will be mostly dedicated for certain external camera for visually impaired people.
The linux UVC api (e.g. using guvcview) allows to enable automatic exposure for the camera. IOs api "isExposureModeSupported" unfortunately returns false for any of the exposure modes.
Is it a bug? Or perhaps AVFoundation doesn't support UVC exposure yet?
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?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Tags:
PhotoKit
Photos and Imaging
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