We've successfully implemented an AVAssetWriter to produce HLS streams (all code is Objective-C++ for interop with existing codebase) but are struggling to extend the operations to use tagged buffers. We're starting to wonder if the tagged buffers required for an MV-HEVC signal are fully supported when producing HLS segments in a live-stream setting. We generate a live stream of data using something like: UTType *t = [UTType typeWithIdentifier:AVFileTypeMPEG4]; m_writter = [[AVAssetWriter alloc] initWithContentType:t]; // - videoHint describes HEVC and width/height // - m_videoConfig includes compression settings and, when using MV-HEVC, // the correct keys are added (i.e. kVTCompressionPropertyKey_MVHEVCVideoLayerIDs) // The app was throwing an exception without these which was // useful to know when we got the configuration right. m_video = [[AVAssetWriterInput alloc] initWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo outputSettings:m_videoConfig sourceFormatHint:videoHint]; For either path we're producing CVPixelBufferRefs that contain the raw pixel information (i.e. 32BGRA) so we use an adapter to make that as simple as possible. If we use a single view and a AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor things work out very well. We produce segments and the delegate is called. However, if we use the AVAssetWriterInputTaggedPixelBufferGroupAdaptor as exampled in the SideBySideToMVHEVC demo project, things go poorly. We create the tagged buffers with something like: CMTagCollectionRef collections[2]; CMTag leftTags[] = { CMTagMakeWithSInt64Value( kCMTagCategory_VideoLayerID, (int64_t)0), CMTagMakeWithSInt64Value( kCMTagCategory_StereoView, kCMStereoView_LeftEye) }; CMTagCollectionCreate( kCFAllocatorDefault, leftTags, 2, &(collections[0]) ); CMTag rightTags[] = { CMTagMakeWithSInt64Value( kCMTagCategory_VideoLayerID, (int64_t)1), CMTagMakeWithSInt64Value( kCMTagCategory_StereoView, kCMStereoView_RightEye) }; CMTagCollectionCreate( kCFAllocatorDefault, rightTags, 2, &(collections[1]) ); CFArrayRef tagCollections = CFArrayCreate( kCFAllocatorDefault, (const void **)collections, 2, &kCFTypeArrayCallBacks ); CVPixelBufferRef buffers[] = {*b, *alt}; CFArrayRef b = CFArrayCreate( kCFAllocatorDefault, (const void **)buffers, 2, &kCFTypeArrayCallBacks ); CMTaggedBufferGroupRef bufferGroup; OSStatus res = CMTaggedBufferGroupCreate( kCFAllocatorDefault, tagCollections, b, &bufferGroup ); Perhaps there's something about this OBJC code that I've buggered up? Hopefully! Anyways, when I submit this tagged bugger group to the adaptor: if (![mvVideoAdapter appendTaggedPixelBufferGroup:bufferGroup withPresentationTime:pts]) { // report error... } Appending does not raise any errors - eventually it just hangs on us and we never return from it... Real Issue: So either: The delegate assigned to the AVAssetWriter doesn't fire its assetWriter callback which should produce the segments The adapter hangs on the appendTaggedPixelBufferGroup before a segment is ready to be completed (but succeeds for a number of buffer groups before this happens). This is the same delegate class that's assigned to the non multi view code path if MV-HEVC is turned off which works perfectly.

i need to make app for iOS to get code for XCode

Hi Team, We are using AVFoundation to read metadata from a stream and have noticed some delay between when the stream provides metadata and when the app receives it. Could someone from the team advise on ways to reduce this? Thanks

Hello, We're seeing an intermittent issue when playing back FairPlay-protected HLS downloads while the device is offline. Assets are downloaded using AVAggregateAssetDownloadTask with FairPlay protection. After download, asset.assetCache.isPlayableOffline == true. On first playback attempt (offline), ~8% of downloads fail. Retrying playback always works. We recreate the asset and player on each attempt. During the playback setup, we try to load variants via: try await asset.load(.variants) This call sometimes fails with: Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1009 “The Internet connection appears to be offline.” UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x105654a00 {Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1009 “The Internet connection appears to be offline.” UserInfo={NSDescription=The Internet connection appears to be offline.}}, NSErrorFailingURLStringKey=file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/2DDF9D7C-9197-46BE-8690-C23EE75C9E90/Library/com.apple.UserManagedAssets.XVvqfh/Baggage_9DD4E2D3F9C0E68F.movpkg/, NSErrorFailingURLKey=file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/2DDF9D7C-9197-46BE-8690-C23EE75C9E90/Library/com.apple.UserManagedAssets.XVvqfh/Baggage_9DD4E2D3F9C0E68F.movpkg/, NSURL=file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/2DDF9D7C-9197-46BE-8690-C23EE75C9E90/Library/com.apple.UserManagedAssets.XVvqfh/Baggage_9DD4E2D3F9C0E68F.movpkg/, AVErrorFailedDependenciesKey=( “assetProperty_HLSAlternates” ), NSLocalizedDescription=The Internet connection appears to be offline.} This variant load is used to determine available audio tracks, check for Dolby support, and apply user language preferences. After this step, the AVPlayerItem also fails via Combine’s publisher for .status. However, retrying the entire process immediately after (same offline conditions, same asset path, new AVURLAsset) results in successful playback. Assets are represented using the following class: public class DownloadedAsset: AVURLAsset { public let id: String public let localFileUrl: URL public let fairplayLicenseUrlString: String? public let drmToken: String? var isProtected: Bool { return fairplayLicenseUrlString != nil } public init(id: String, localFileUrl: URL, fairplayLicenseUrlString: String?, drmToken: String?) { self.id = id self.localFileUrl = localFileUrl self.fairplayLicenseUrlString = fairplayLicenseUrlString self.drmToken = drmToken super.init(url: localFileUrl, options: nil) } } We use user-selected quality levels to control bitrate and multichannel (e.g. Dolby 5.1) downloads: let downloadQuality = UserDefaults.standard.downloadVideoQuality let bitrate: Int let shouldDownloadMultichannelTracks: Bool switch downloadQuality { case .dataSaver: shouldDownloadMultichannelTracks = false bitrate = 596564 case .standard: shouldDownloadMultichannelTracks = false bitrate = 1503844 case .best: shouldDownloadMultichannelTracks = true bitrate = 7038970 } var selections = multichannelIdentifiedMediaSelections if !shouldDownloadMultichannelTracks { selections = selections.filter { !$0.isMultichannel } } let task = session.aggregateAssetDownloadTask( with: asset, mediaSelections: selections.map { $0.mediaSelection }, assetTitle: title, assetArtworkData: nil, options: [AVAssetDownloadTaskMinimumRequiredMediaBitrateKey: bitrate] ) Seen on devices running iOS 16, iOS 17, and iOS 18. What could cause the initial failure of an otherwise valid, offline-ready FairPlay HLS asset? Could .load(.variants) internally trigger a failed network resolution, even when offline? Is there an internal caching or initialization behavior in AVFoundation that might explain why the second attempt works? Any guidance would be appreciated.

Keywords: FairPlay, FPS Certificate, DRM, FairPlay Streaming, license server Hi all, We are currently using FairPlay Streaming in production and already have an FPS certificate in place. However, the passphrase for the existing FPS certificate has unfortunately been lost. We are now considering reissuing a new FPS certificate, and I would like to confirm a few points before proceeding: 1️⃣ If we reissue a new FPS certificate, will the existing certificate be automatically revoked? Or will it remain valid until its original expiration date? 2️⃣ Is it possible to have both the newly issued and the existing certificates valid at the same time? In other words, can we serve DRM licenses using either certificate depending on the packaging or client? 3️⃣ Are there any caveats or best practices we should be aware of when reissuing an FPS certificate? For example, would existing packaged content become unplayable, or would CDN/packaging server configurations need to be updated carefully? Since this affects our production environment, we would like to minimize any service disruption or compatibility issues. Unfortunately, when we contacted Apple support directly, we were advised to post this question here in the Forums for additional guidance. Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance.

I’m building a music app using Apple Music streaming via ApplicationMusicPlayer. My goal is to decrease the volume of the current song during the last 10 seconds, and when the next track begins, restore the volume to its normal level. I know that ApplicationMusicPlayer doesn’t expose a volume API, and I want to avoid triggering the system volume HUD. ✅ Using Apple Music streaming (not local files) ❓ Is it possible to implement per-track fade-out/fade-in logic with ApplicationMusicPlayer? Appreciate any clarification or official guidance!

While validating a Dolby Vision Profile 5 playlist in CMAF format (with segments in MP4), the Media Stream Validator reported the following error in the MUXT-FIX-ISSUES list: However, the playlist correctly specifies Dolby Vision Profile 5 in both the EXT-X-STREAM-INF and EXT-X-I-STREAM-INF tags. Playlist: #EXTM3U #EXT-X-VERSION:8 #EXT-X-INDEPENDENT-SEGMENTS #EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=AUDIO,GROUP-ID="audio-ec3",LANGUAGE="und",NAME="Undetermined",AUTOSELECT=YES,CHANNELS="6",URI="var14711339/aud1257/playlist.m3u8?device_profile=hls&seg_size=6&cmaf=1" #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=14680000,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=14676380,VIDEO-RANGE=PQ,CODECS="ec-3,dvh1.05.06",RESOLUTION=3840x2160,AUDIO="audio-ec3" var14711339/vid/playlist.m3u8?device_profile=hls&seg_size=6&cmaf=1 #EXT-X-I-FRAME-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=1419881,URI="trk14711339/playlist.m3u8?device_profile=hls&cmaf=1",VIDEO-RANGE=PQ,CODECS="dvh1.05.06",RESOLUTION=3840x2160 Could you please review this and clarify: Why is the Media Stream Validator reporting this error, even though the playlist correctly includes Dolby Vision Profile 5 parameters in CMAF format? Why is this error not reported when using a playlist with TS segments instead of CMAF (MP4)?

Hi there, We're working on offline playback of DRM tracks. The persistent keys (also known as track licenses) for offline playback are stored locally on the device and are served from cache when a user initiates playback of a downloaded track. Our persistent keys have a limited validity time and need to be refreshed when they expire. To prevent a situation where a persistent key expires while the user is offline, we've decided to eagerly refresh these keys one week before their expiration date. To make that happen we need to be able to obtain the expiration date of the given track license. We've been attempting to use the makeSecureTokenForExpirationDateOfPersistableContentKey API to facilitate this process. The documentation states that this API returns a secret token representing the persistent key, which we can then exchange with our license server for the expiration date: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avcontentkeysession/makesecuretokenforexpirationdate(ofpersistablecontentkey:completionhandler:)?language=objc However, every time we call makeSecureTokenForExpirationDateOfPersistableContentKey, we receive an error with code -46250. We haven't been able to find any public references or documentation for this specific error code, which is preventing us from troubleshooting the issue. We are conducting our tests on a physical device, as the simulator does not support FairPlay playback. We don't use dual expiry approach. Is our understanding of how to obtain the expiration timestamp correct? Are we using the makeSecureTokenForExpirationDateOfPersistableContentKey API as it was intended? What does the -46250 error code mean, and what steps should we take to fix our FairPlay implementation to make this work? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Hey there, We're seeing a high rate of 403 - Invalid Authentication on this endpoint v1/me/library/artists since a few days. Does anyone have the same issue ?

We have a Low-Latency HLS stream, and on iOS 26, even though the bandwidth is sufficient, it still selects a low-bandwidth resolution (e.g., RESOLUTION=640x360) for playback instead of using a higher-bandwidth resolution (e.g., RESOLUTION=1920x1080) when using AVPlayerViewController with AVPlayer. This works fine on iOS version 18 and previous versions. What could be the solution to this issue?

Hi, I submitted the FairPlay Streaming Credentials Approval request, but it's been 15 days and I haven't received a response yet. Do you happen to know how long they usually take to reply to these requests?

When playing several short HLS clips using AVPlayer connected to a TV using Apple's Lightning-to-HDMI adapter (A1438) we often fail with those unknown errors. CoreMediaErrorDomain -12034 and CoreMediaErrorDomain -12158 Anyone has any clue what the errors mean? Environment: iPhone8 iOS 15.4 Lightning-to-HDMI adapter (A1438)

The same H265 encrypted Fairplay content can be played in all Apple devices except A1625. The clear H265 content is played in A1625. The question is: will this model (A1625) support H265 Fairplay encrypted content? A ticket was created here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255658006?sortBy=best

I use AVPlayer to play HLS video successfully on macOS Sonoma, but I encountered this error on macOS Sequoia. Please help me: Error Domain=AVFoundationErrorDomain Code=-11833 ‘Cannot Decode’ UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x600001e57330 {Error Domain=CoreMediaErrorDomain Code=-12906 ‘(null)’}, NSLocalizedFailureReason=The decoder required for this media cannot be found., AVErrorMediaTypeKey=vide, NSLocalizedDescription=Cannot Decode} Thanks!

In an m3u8 manifest, audio EXT-X-MEDIA tags usually contain CHANNELS tag containing the audio channels count like so: #EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=AUDIO,URI="audio_clear_eng_stereo.m3u8",GROUP-ID="default-audio-group",LANGUAGE="en",NAME="stream_5",AUTOSELECT=YES,CHANNELS="2" Is it possible to get this info from AVPlayer, AVMediaSelectionOption or some related API?

We are having issues with ScreenCaptureKit. Our use case is the following: We have multiple applications that each starts a stream capture, using ScreenCaptureKit. It works fine when just one application is streaming, but when starting multiple streams continuesly, all streams stops or crashes, without ScreenCaptureKit reporting an error back. Restarting replayd for the user will allow us to start streaming again, if the streaming applications are restartet too. We have build a small test program that we have tested on different Macs, running different versions of macOS, with identical results. The test program just calls the 'getShareableContentExcludingDesktopWindows' function multiple times, since this was the simplest way to show the problem. Our test setup is the following: Mac Mini M2 macOS 13.6 MacBook Pro M3 macOS 14.4 MacBook Pro M3 macOS 15.1 Code main.m #import <Foundation/Foundation.h> #import <ScreenCaptureKit/ScreenCaptureKit.h> @interface Runner : NSObject @property(atomic, assign) BOOL keepRunning; @property(atomic, retain) SCShareableContent* availableWindows; -(void) updateAvailableWindows; -(void) notif:(NSNotification*) aNotif; @end int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) { @autoreleasepool { NSRunLoop* loo = [NSRunLoop mainRunLoop]; Runner* r = [[Runner alloc] init]; [r updateAvailableWindows]; while (r.keepRunning) [loo runUntilDate:[NSDate distantFuture]]; NSLog(@"Program exit"); } return 0; } @implementation Runner -(instancetype) init { self = [super init]; if(self){ _keepRunning = YES; [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(notif:) name:@"windowWasNotFound" object:nil]; [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(notif:) name:@"windowWasFound" object:nil]; } return self; } -(void) updateAvailableWindows { @autoreleasepool { NSLog(@"begin"); [SCShareableContent getShareableContentExcludingDesktopWindows:NO onScreenWindowsOnly:YES completionHandler:^(SCShareableContent* content, NSError* error){ NSLog(@"running"); if(!error){ self.availableWindows = content; for (__unused SCWindow* aWin in self.availableWindows.windows) { [NSThread sleepForTimeInterval:0.01]; } [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:@"windowWasFound" object:self.availableWindows]; } else{ [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:@"windowWasNotFound" object:nil]; } }]; } } -(void) notif:(NSNotification*) aNotif { if(aNotif.object) [self performSelectorOnMainThread:@selector(updateAvailableWindows) withObject:nil waitUntilDone:NO]; else{ NSLog(@"Not Found"); self.keepRunning = NO; } } @end How to replicate: Compile and run the program from multiple terminal windows (terminal must be granted screen recording permission) and notice that the output stops, when the replayd stops responding (our assumption). Restarting the application does nothing, before the replayd also is restarted. Running th application in Xcode gives the following error: [ERROR] -[RPDaemonProxy fetchShareableContentWithOption:windowID:currentProcess:withCompletionHandler:]_block_invoke:902 error: 4097 This error is not something we have been able to detect in our applications - and since the only workaround is restarting replayd and the applications, catching the error would help us.

Hello! Just curious if AVAssetWriter append() randomly fails for anyone but me? Seems to happen when live streaming (encoding with VTCompressionSession) and recording (with AVAssetWriter) at the same time.

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

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?

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?