Streaming

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Deep dive into the technical specifications that influence seamless playback for streaming services, including bitrates, codecs, and caching mechanisms.

Streaming Documentation

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Playing FairPlay encrypted content works fine on ios17 but won't play on ios26
For devices that are still on ios17, playing Fairplay encrypted content still works fine. For devices that I've upgraded to ios26 playing the same content in the same app no longer works. I can advance and see the stream frames by tapping +10 scrubbing so I know that the content is being decrypted but tapping the play button of AVPlayer for an AVPlayerItem now does nothing in ios26. Is this a breaking change or is there a stricter requirement that I now have to implement?
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161
Oct ’25
Email "Updates to FairPlay Streaming Server SDK" makes no sense
Hi, While I don't normally use FairPlay, I got this email that is so strangely worded I am wondering if it makes sense to people who do know it or if it has some typo or what. You can only generate certificates for SDK 4, also SDK 4 is no longer supported? (Also "will not expire" is imprecise phrasing, certificates presumably will expire, I think it meant to say are still valid / are not invalidated.)
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335
Oct ’25
MusicKit broken in simulator with current tools? Can't get token.
Just updated my computer, phone, and dev tools to the latest versions of everything. Now when I run my app in a previously-working simulator (iPhone 16 w. iOS 18.5) I get: Failed retrieving MusicKit tokens: fetching the developer token is not supported in the simulator when running on this version of macOS; please upgrade your Mac to macOS Ventura. Also: <ICCloudServiceStatusMonitor: 0x600003320e60>: Invoking 1 completion handler for MusicKit tokens. error=<ICError.DeveloperTokenFetchingFailed (-8200) "Failed to fetch media token from <AMSMediaTokenService: 0x6000029049a0>." { underlyingErrors: [ <AMSErrorDomain.300 "Token request encoding failed The token request encoder finished with an error." { userInfo: { AMSDescription : "Token request encoding failed", AMSFailureReason : "The token request encoder finished with an error." }; underlyingErrors: [ <AMSErrorDomain.5 "Anisette Failed Platform not supported" { userInfo: { AMSDescription : "Anisette Failed", AMSFailureReason : "Platform not supported" }; Anybody know what gives here? The Ventura message is absurd because I'm on Tahoe 26.1. The same code works on a physical phone running iOS 26.
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151
Nov ’25
Broadcast Upload Extension not work in Apple Vision Pro, throw throw "getMXSessionProperty unsupported"
I am working on Screen Record function in Apple Vision Pro, when I use broadcast upload extension, after I click record button, the XCode console show the exception: <<<< FigAudioSession(AV) >>>> audioSessionAVAudioSession_CopyMXSessionProperty signalled err=-19224 (kFigAudioSessionError_UnsupportedOperation) (getMXSessionProperty unsupported) at FigAudioSession_AVAudioSession.m:606 we create and config the project as flow: Create a Apple Vision Project. Create a Broadcast Upload Extension Target. Add App Group for Project Target and Extension Target, both use the same identifier. Add "Main Camera Access", "Passthrough in Screen Capture" Capabilities for all targets. Add "NSScreenCaptureUsageDescription", "NSMicrophoneUsageDescription" in Plist. Add record button in view Run debug in Apple Vision Pro device, after click record button, throw the exception.
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510
2w
AVPlayer: escaped characters displayed wrong from WebVTT subtitles (HLS)
quotes are displayed incorrectly in subtitles of AVPlayerViewController when streaming VOD content using HLS. single quote ' (escaped ') is displayed as apos; double quotes " (escaped ") is displayed as quot; following the vtt specification. The same stream works fine in VLC player, showing quotes correctly in subtitles. subtitle vtt files use Content-Type: text/vtt WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:490014:06:04.000,MPEGTS:158764568760056 example line: 490014:05:46.000 --> 490014:05:50.440 align:start line:83% position:14% and the playlist has: #EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=SUBTITLES,GROUP-ID="subs",LANGUAGE="da",NAME="Dansk",AUTOSELECT=YES,CHARACTERISTICS="public.accessibility.transcribes-spoken-dialog,public.accessibility.describes-music-and-sound",URI="subs/dan_5/playlist.m3u8 #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=780000,CODECS="mp4a.40.5,avc1.42c01e",RESOLUTION=256x144,AUDIO="audio-aac",SUBTITLES="subs" lære dig endnu bedre at kende." adding 'wvtt' to CODECS list in playlist does not make a difference. Is this a known bug? Is there a workaround? I guess the AVResourceLoaderDelegate can be used to intercept and parse the subtitle files, but it seems like quite a hack and not really intended to be used for this.
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144
Dec ’25
HLS CMAF playlist with multiple DRM changes
Hi Is it possible to have a playlist where I have a indication of a stream in clear, but then, someone started a DRM encrypted period and then someone turns it off. Can I just do the following (I've removed the video segments part, I'm just interested in the parts where I want notify the new drm region )? #EXT-X-MAP:URI="video_2_10000000_t17586401730000000_init.mp4" #EXT-X-KEY:METHOD=NONE ... #EXT-X-MAP:URI="video_2_10000000_t17587374640000000_init.mp4" #EXT-X-KEY:METHOD=SAMPLE-AES,URI="skd://5df0b36ac4bb4d0ff954a73b502ac332",KEYFORMAT="com.apple.streamingkeydelivery",KEYFORMATVERSIONS="1" ... #EXT-X-MAP:URI="video_2_10000000_t17587376740000000_init.mp4?" #EXT-X-KEY:METHOD=NONE Should I insert discontinuity tags or something else? Right now what I can observe is that I got some audio drops when I try to do this.
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296
Dec ’25
Are there known cases where DepthData is empty while Face ID is working?
We are experiencing an issue related to DepthData from the TrueDepth camera on a specific device. On December 1, we tested with the complainant’s device iPhone 14 / iOS 26.0.1, and observed that the depth image is received with empty values. However, the same implementation works normally on iPhone 17 Pro Max (iOS 26.1) and iPhone 13 Pro Max (iOS 26.0.1), where depth data is delivered correctly. In the problematic case: TrueDepth camera is active Face ID works normally The app receives a DepthData object, but all values are empty (0), not nil Because the DepthData object is not nil, this makes it difficult to detect the issue through software fallback handling. We developed the feature with reference to the following Apple sample: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AVFoundation/streaming-depth-data-from-the-truedepth-camera We would like to ask: Are there known cases where Face ID functions normally but DepthData from the TrueDepth camera is returned as empty values? If so, is there a recommended approach for identifying or handling this situation? Any guidance from Apple engineers or the community would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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171
Dec ’25
Query regarding migrating from Fairplay Streaming SDK version 4.5.4 to version 26
Our license service is based on version 4.5.4 and we make use of sample .c/.h files for building license service. We are told that version 4.5.4 is going to be deprecated in 2026 and we should migrate to latest SDK version 26. When explored the SDK, we noticed that only python and Swift based SDk is provided. Does Apple also provide C/C++ based SDK as it is going to easier for us to integrate. If yes, please share the SDK package and sample license service solution.
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125
Dec ’25
CoreMediaErrorDomain error -42681
We are trying to port our code to Apple TV on tvosVersion 17.6 while running the sample we are getting error CoreMediaErrorDomain error -42681. We understand that this error occurs when the FairPlay license (CKC) returned by the server contains incompatible or malformed version information that the iOS/tvOS FairPlay CDM cannot parse. Can you please specify tvos 17.6 expect what fairplay version number or what fields are mandartory for fps version metadata ?
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253
3w
Live Streaming issue for the RTSP
We have the application 'ADS Smart', a companion application for our ADS Dashcam. We offer a feature that lets users stream the live footage of the dashcam cameras through the app. Currently, we are experiencing a time delay of 30+ seconds to see the live stream, i.e the first frame of the live footage is taking around 30+ seconds to display in the app. We are using the MobileVLCKit library to stream the videos in the app. The current flow of the code, Flutter triggers the native playback via a method channel The Dart side calls the iOS method channel <identifier_name>/ts_player with method playTSFromURL passing: url(e.g rtsp://.... for live), playerId viewId (stable ID used to host native UI) showControls optional localIp AppDelegate receives the call and prepares networking Entry point: AppDelegate.tsChannel handler for "playTSFromURL" in AppDelegate.swift. It resolves the Wi‑Fi interface and local IP if possible: Sets VLC_SOURCE_ADDRESS to the Wi‑Fi IP (when available) to prefer Wi‑Fi for the stream. Uses NWPathMonitor and direct interface inspection to find the Wi‑Fi interface (e.g., en0) and IP. Kicks off best-effort route priming to the dashcam IP/ports (non-blocking), see establishWiFiRoutePriority. AppDelegate chooses the right player implementation createPlayerForURL(_: ) decides: RTSP(rasp://..) --> use VLCKit-backed player (class TSStreamPlayer -> TSStreamPlayer class provides a VLC-backed video player for iOS, handling playback of Transport Stream(TS) URLs with strict main-thread UI updates, view safety, and stream management, using MobileVLCKit) .ts files --> use VLCKit-based player for playing already recorded videos in the app. If the selected player supports extras (e.g. TSStreamPlayerExtras), it sets LocalIP (if resolved) Wi-fi interface name AppDeletegate creates the native 'platform view' container and overlay platformView(for:parent:showControls:): Creates a container UIView attached to the Flutter root view Adds a dedicated child videoHost[viewId]-the host UIView for rendering video. If showControls == true, adds TSPlayerControlsOverlay over the video and wires overlay callbacks back to the Flutter via controlChannel (/player_controls) If showControls == false, adds a minimal back button and wires it to onGalleryBack. The player starts playback inside the host view Class player.playTSFromURL(urlString, in:host){ success, error in...} on the main thread. For RTSP/TS streams: this is handled by TSStreamPlayer(VLCKit). Success/failure is reported back to Flutter The completion closure invoked in step 5 returns true on first real playback or an error message on failure. The method channel result responds: true --> Flutter knows playback started FlutterError -> Flutter can show an error Stopping and cleanup "stop" on tsChannel stops and disposes the player(s). "removePlatformView" removes the overlay, back button, the host, and the container, and disposes any remaining players. I am attaching the logs of the app while running. The actual issue happening is that when the iOS device is connected to the dashcam's Wi-Fi, for the app's live streaming-related information, the iOS is using Mobile Data even though the wifi is the main communication channel. The iOS device takes approximately 30 seconds to display the first frame of live footage in the app. Despite being connected to the dashcam’s Wi-Fi, the iOS device sets the value of ES (en0) to Wi-Fi after multiple attempts, causing the live footage to appear in the app after this delay. So, how can we set up the configuration to display the live footage from the dashcam cameras within just 2 to 3 seconds in the iOS device? ios.txt
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167
2w
SCK/replayd behaviors and delays
We're troubleshooting SCK issues. They occur with a relatively small amount of sessions, but lack of context and/or ability to advise the customer on how they could make behavior more predictable and reliable is problematic. Generally, there is 2 distinct issues which may or may not have the same root cause: Failure to establish SCK session. Usually manifests within the app as SCShareableContent.getWithCompletionHandler call either never invoking the completion handler, or taking prohibitively long time (we usually give it 3-10 sec before giving up). In the system log it may look like this: (log omitted - suspecting it triggers the content filter) Note the 6 seconds delay to completion of fetchShareableContentWithOption (normally it's a 30-40ms operation). Sometime, we'd see the stream established, but some minutes (or even hours) into the recording we'd stop receiving frames. Both scenarios are likely to occur when the disk space is low, with reliable repro of the problem #2 at below 8gb of free space (in that case, we've seen replayd silently dropping the session, without ever notifying the client ... improving API could go a long way there). However, out of recent occurrences, while most have less than 100GB available, we've seen it on machines with as much as 500GB free. Unfortunately, it's almost never reproducible in dev environment, so we have to rely on diagnostics we're able to collect in the field -- which nothing obvious yet. I'd like to understand the root cause of both scenarios better and/or how what specific frameworks can cause these behaviors.
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434
1w
SCStreamDelegetate stream:didStopWithError receiving null pointer for error
I have an SCStreamDelegate for capturing frames from applications. On recent point releases of macOS Sonoma, I've noticed that the stream is being cancelled with no user action being taken. I started trying to debug it and when my on error method is called, the error parameter being passed is null: func stream(_ stream: SCStream, didStopWithError error: Error) { /*debugger shows this and segfaults if I try to print "\(error)" error (Error) > error = (Builtin.RawPointer) 0x0 */ From what I can tell, error should be a valid NSError so I can check the error code, based on similar code I've seen in, for example OBS (https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/blob/265239d4174f8d291b0de437088c5b78f8e27687/plugins/mac-capture/mac-sck-common.m#L29) Usually when this happens, the menubar icon for screen sharing (where I would click to change sharing window, etc) stays there even after my app has closed an no apps are doing sharing stuff. Has anyone come across this before? Am I misinterpreting what the debugger is saying about the error parameter? I'm running macos 14.7.3, but I just updated from 14.7.2 earlier and had basically the same issue on both macos versions
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558
Mar ’25
Problem with UVC Device Access on visionOS
No external cameras show up in the app on visionOS. We use this sample code as a basis for our tests: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/visionos/displaying-video-from-connected-devices We also received the needed entitlement from Apple, but every camera we tried so far does not show up on visionOS. We tried the following devices and hubs: Insta360 X4 Somikon Endoscope Camera: USB HD Endoscope Camera EMEET Full HD Webcam - C960 BENFEI Video/Audio Capture Card, 4K HDMI auf USB C/A Logitech C920 HD PRO Webcam, Anker PowerConf C200 Insta360 GO 3S Anker 341 USB-C Hub UGREEN Revodok Pro 10Gbps USB-C Hub All Vision Pro devices we tried run with visionOS 2.3. When trying the same code on iPad we can actually use external cameras. Steps to reproduce: Start the app on a Vision Pro device and connect an external camera. The connected camera does not show up in the dropdown. Development environment: Xcode 16.2, macOS 15.3 Run-time configuration: iOS 18.3, visionOS 2.3
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627
Feb ’25
How to receive AVMetricEvent performance data?
I am would like to look at AVMetricEvent data during video playback, so I have added this code to a test video player app: let playerItem: AVPlayerItem = ... let allMetrics = playerItem.allMetrics() Task.init { print("metrics task started") do { for try await metricEvent in allMetrics { print("metric event: \(metricEvent.description)") } } catch { print("unexpected metric iterator error \(error)") } } Running this in Simulator on iPhone 16 Pro (18.0) does not result in any "metric event" diagnostic messages being printed when the video associated with this AVPlayerItem is playing. Only the "metric task started" diagnostic message is seen. What am I doing wrong that prevents metric data being received?
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396
Feb ’25
FairPlay-Protected HLS Files Not Transferred via Quick Start
I have an iOS app that downloads HLS files, which are protected by FairPlay. These files are stored locally, and their locations are managed using Core Data. When playing these tracks, I use AVURLAsset to access the stored file paths. Recently, a client upgraded to a new iPhone and used Quick Start to transfer data from his old device. While all other app data was successfully transferred, including Core Data records and UserDefaults, the actual HLS files were missing. As a result, the app retained metadata about the downloaded content, but the files themselves were gone, causing playback failures. Does Quick Start exclude certain types of locally stored files, especially DRM-protected HLS downloads, or is the issue related to how FairPlay-protected content is handled during the transfer of locally stored files?
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170
Mar ’25
FairPlay-Protected HLS Files Not Transferred via Quick Start
FairPlay-Protected HLS Files Not Transferred via Quick Start I have an iOS app that downloads HLS files, which are protected by FairPlay. These files are stored locally, and their locations are managed using Core Data. When playing these tracks, I use AVURLAsset to access the stored file paths. Recently, a client upgraded to a new iPhone and used Quick Start to transfer data from his old device. While all other app data was successfully transferred, including Core Data records and UserDefaults, the actual HLS files were missing. As a result, the app retained metadata about the downloaded content, but the files themselves were gone, causing playback failures. Does Quick Start exclude certain types of locally stored files, especially DRM-protected HLS downloads, or is the issue related to how FairPlay-protected content is handled during the transfer of locally stored files?
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189
Mar ’25
Playback Issues for DRM content when sending CMCD
Since iOS and tvOS 18, CMCD can now be automatically sent by AVPlayer (https://developer.apple.com/streaming/Whats-new-HLS.pdf). However, after enabling CMCD, our streams occasionally fail with the following error: CoreMediaErrorDomain Error -17383 This issue appears to affect only DRM-protected (FairPlay) streams so far. We activate CMCD via the resource loader of an AVURLAsset, before assigning the item to an AVPlayer. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a reliable way to reproduce the issue, and we’ve been unable to gather any useful diagnostic information. Has anyone else observed this behavior when enabling CMCD on FairPlay streams?
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386
Oct ’25