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changePlaybackRateCommand does not work on iOS.
Hi. I work on an audio app for iOS which is successfully using the MPRemoteCommandCenter for commands like next, back, skip forward, skip backward etc. I am trying to implement playback rate controls in my app (so that users can change the playback speed of audio to 0.5x or 2x for example). While the above commands work, the changePlaybackRateCommand does not seem to. I have enabled the command, given it a target/handler and set supported rates. With the other commands, this caused the UI to change on lock screen, in command center etc, by adding the control for the command (a next button for the next command for example). However, it does not seem to do anything for the playback rate command. I can implement my own "rate button" UI and rate change handling, but I'm wondering if this is a known bug within Apple? Looking online, it seems other people face the same issue and haven't been able to get this command to work. Why is this API provided if it doesn't seem to do anything? Is there something I'm missing? Kind regards.
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328
Jan ’25
AVPlayer playing protected HLS, when session expires and open new session created the player is stall for a small time
I am playing the protected HLS streams and the authorization token expires in 3 minutes. I am trying to achieve this with 'AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate'. I can refresh the token and play it, but the problem is in between the session, the player stalls for a small time, LIKE 1 SECOND. Here's my code : class APLCustomAVARLDelegate: NSObject, AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate { static let httpsScheme = "https" static let redirectErrorCode = 302 static let badRequestErrorCode = 400 private var token: String? private var retryDictionary = [String: Int]() private let maxRetries = 3 private func schemeSupported(_ scheme: String) -> Bool { let supported = ishttpSchemeValid(scheme) print("Scheme '\(scheme)' supported: \(supported)") return supported } private func reportError(loadingRequest: AVAssetResourceLoadingRequest, error: Int) { let nsError = NSError(domain: NSURLErrorDomain, code: error, userInfo: nil) print("Reporting error: \(nsError)") loadingRequest.finishLoading(with: nsError) } // Handle token renewal requests to prevent playback stalls func resourceLoader(_ resourceLoader: AVAssetResourceLoader, shouldWaitForRenewalOfRequestedResource renewalRequest: AVAssetResourceRenewalRequest) -> Bool { print("Resource renewal requested for URL: \(renewalRequest.request.url?.absoluteString ?? "unknown URL")") // Handle renewal the same way we handle initial requests guard let scheme = renewalRequest.request.url?.scheme else { print("No scheme found in the renewal URL.") return false } if isHttpsSchemeValid(scheme) { return handleHttpsRequest(renewalRequest) } print("Scheme not supported for renewal.") return false } private func isHttpsSchemeValid(_ scheme: String) -> Bool { let isValid = scheme == APLCustomAVARLDelegate.httpsScheme print("httpsScheme scheme '\(scheme)' valid: \(isValid)") return isValid } private func generateHttpsURL(sourceURL: URL) -> URL? { // If you need to modify the URL, do it here // Currently this just returns the same URL let urlString = sourceURL.absoluteString print("Generated HTTPS URL: \(urlString)") return URL(string: urlString) } private func handleHttpsRequest(_ loadingRequest: AVAssetResourceLoadingRequest) -> Bool { print("Handling HTTPS request.") guard let sourceURL = loadingRequest.request.url, var redirectURL = generateHttpsURL(sourceURL: sourceURL) else { print("Failed to generate HTTPS URL.") reportError(loadingRequest: loadingRequest, error: APLCustomAVARLDelegate.badRequestErrorCode) return true } // Track retry attempts with a dictionary keyed by request URL let urlString = sourceURL.absoluteString let currentRetries = retryDictionary[urlString] ?? 0 if currentRetries < maxRetries { retryDictionary[urlString] = currentRetries + 1 } else { // Too many retries, report a more specific error reportError(loadingRequest: loadingRequest, error: NSURLErrorTimedOut) retryDictionary.removeValue(forKey: urlString) return true } if var urlComponents = URLComponents(url: redirectURL, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false) { var queryItems = urlComponents.queryItems ?? [] // Generate a fresh token each time let freshToken = AESTimeBaseEncription.secureEncryptSecretText() // Check if the token already exists if let existingTokenIndex = queryItems.firstIndex(where: { $0.name == "token" }) { // Update the existing token queryItems[existingTokenIndex].value = freshToken } else { // Add the token if it doesn't exist queryItems.append(URLQueryItem(name: "token", value: freshToken)) } urlComponents.queryItems = queryItems redirectURL = urlComponents.url! } let redirectRequest = URLRequest(url: redirectURL) let response = HTTPURLResponse(url: redirectURL, statusCode: APLCustomAVARLDelegate.redirectErrorCode, httpVersion: nil, headerFields: nil) print("Redirecting HTTPS to URL: \(redirectURL)") loadingRequest.redirect = redirectRequest loadingRequest.response = response loadingRequest.finishLoading() // If successful, reset the retry counter if retryDictionary[urlString] == maxRetries { retryDictionary.removeValue(forKey: urlString) } return true } }
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462
Mar ’25
Has Dext perfectly replaced Kext functionality?
I found some documentation about Kext, but I heard they have now moved to Dext. So I was wondering if Dext could completely imitate the previous Kext. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/kernel/implementing_drivers_system_extensions_and_kexts This page is written like this Important In macOS 11 and later, the kernel doesn’t load a kext if an equivalent DriverKit solution exists. You may continue to use kexts in macOS 10.15 and earlier.
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245
Mar ’25
AVAudioUnitTimePitch: speeding up introduces artifacts
For an upcoming update of one of my apps, I’m facing an issue: The .rate parameter of a AVAudioUnitTimePitch allows me to slow down an audio track without any issues: setting .rate to 0.7 or 0.8 results in an almost perfect playback without changing pitch. However, whenever the .rate parameter is greater than 1 (e.g. 1.1 or 1.15), I’m starting to hear audio artifacts (“flattering”) in the audio output which is not so nice (even at .overlap = 32). Intuitively, I’d’ve thought that speeding up the file should contain less artifacts than slowing it down?? I’ve tried different sample rates (44.1 kHz and 48 kHz), but same result. Grateful for any input on this 🙏
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417
Nov ’24
AVSpeechSynthesizer & Bluetooth Issues
Hello, I have a CarPlay Navigation app and utilize the AVSpeechSynthesizer to speak directions to a user. Everything works great on my CarPlay simulator as well as when plugged into my GMC truck. However, I found out yesterday that one of my users with a Ford truck the audio would cut in an out. After much troubleshooting, I was able to replicate this on my own truck when using Bluetooth to connect to CarPlay. My user was also utilizing Bluetooth. Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a fix to the problem? import SwiftUI import AVFoundation class TextToSpeechService: NSObject, ObservableObject, AVSpeechSynthesizerDelegate { private var speechSynthesizer = AVSpeechSynthesizer() static let shared = TextToSpeechService() override init() { super.init() speechSynthesizer.delegate = self } func configureAudioSession() { speechSynthesizer.delegate = self do { try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setCategory(.playback, mode: .voicePrompt, options: [.mixWithOthers, .allowBluetooth]) } catch { print("Failed to set audio session category: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } func speak(_ text: String) { Task(priority: .high) { let speechUtterance = AVSpeechUtterance(string: text) speechUtterance.voice = AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: AVSpeechSynthesisVoice.currentLanguageCode()) try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setActive(true, options: .notifyOthersOnDeactivation) speechSynthesizer.speak(speechUtterance) } } func speechSynthesizer(_ synthesizer: AVSpeechSynthesizer, didFinish utterance: AVSpeechUtterance) { Task { stopSpeech() try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setActive(false) } } func stopSpeech() { speechSynthesizer.stopSpeaking(at: .immediate) } }
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410
Feb ’25
Custom AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate on iOS 15 fails to load large files
In our app we have implemented a AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate to handle encrypted downloaded files. We have it working on all iOS versions but we are seeing issues on iOS 15 (15.8.3) with large files (> 1 Gb). We have so far seen two cases where either the load method on the AVURLAsset fails early and throws an unknown error code or starts requesting more data than the device has available RAM. The CPU usage is almost always over 100%, even after pausing playback. The memory issue can happen even though the player has successfully started playback. When running this on devices running iOS 16 and above we set the isEntireLengthAvailableOnDemand to true on the AVAssetResourceLoadingContentInformationRequest. This seems to be key to solving the issue those devices that support it. If we set the property to false we see the same memory issue as on iOS 15. So we have a solution for iOS 16 and upwards but are at a loss for how to handle iOS 15. Is there something we have overlooked or is it in fact an issue with that iOS version?
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454
Dec ’24
All boys wanna access Media Library (sung to All Gurls Wanna Have Fun)
Howdy. I'm trying to access media from a users song library and receive: <ICUserIdentityStoreACAccountBackend: 0x148f8af30> Failed to initialize active account, error=Error Domain=ICError Code=-7013 "Client is not entitled to access account store" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=Client is not entitled to access account store} I'm told I need to add a Media Library Access Capability. Nothing like this shows up in Xcode under Signing & Capabilities > +Capabilities. Also I can't find anything like this in my account in dev.apple.com. How do I enable myself and a test user using another iPhone device to access my music and their music respectively? Thanks!
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141
Jun ’25
CGImageDestinationAddImageFromSource causes issues in iOS 18 / macOS 15
There seems to be an issue in iOS 18 / macOS 15 related to image thumbnail generation and/or HEIC. We are transcoding JPEG images to HEIC when they are loaded into our app (HEIC has a much lower memory footprint when loaded by Core Image, for some reason). We use Image I/O for that: guard let source = CGImageSourceCreateWithURL(inputURL, nil), let destination = CGImageDestinationCreateWithURL(outputURL, UTType.heic.identifier as CFString, 1, nil) else { throw <error> } let primaryImageIndex = CGImageSourceGetPrimaryImageIndex(source) CGImageDestinationAddImageFromSource(destination, source, primaryImageIndex, nil) When we use CGImageDestinationAddImageFromSource, we get the following warnings on the console: createImage:1445: *** ERROR: bad image size (0 x 0) rb: 0 CGImageSourceCreateThumbnailAtIndex:5195: *** ERROR: CGImageSourceCreateThumbnailAtIndex[0] - 'HJPG' - failed to create thumbnail [-67] {alw:-1, abs: 1 tra:-1 max:4620} writeImageAtIndex:1025: ⭕️ ERROR: '<app>' is trying to save an opaque image (4620x3466) with 'AlphaPremulLast'. This would unnecessarily increase the file size and will double (!!!) the required memory when decoding the image --> ignoring alpha. It seems that CGImageDestinationAddImageFromSource is trying to extract/create a thumbnail, which fails somehow. I re-wrote the last part like this: guard let primaryImage = CGImageSourceCreateImageAtIndex(source, primaryImageIndex, nil), let properties = CGImageSourceCopyPropertiesAtIndex(source, primaryImageIndex, nil) else { throw <error> } CGImageDestinationAddImage(destination, primaryImage, properties) This doesn't cause any warnings. An issue that might be related has been reported here. I've also heard from others having issues with CGImageSourceCreateThumbnailAtIndex.
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884
Nov ’24
Usage of colorCurves CIFilter
How can I use my RGB Curve points: let redCurve = [CIVector(x: 0, y: 0), CIVector(x: 0.235, y: 0.152), CIVector(x: 0.5, y: 0.5), CIVector(x: 1, y: 1)] let greenCurve = [CIVector(x: 0, y: 0), CIVector(x: 0.247, y: 0.196), CIVector(x: 0.5, y: 0.5), CIVector(x: 1, y: 1)] let blueCurve = [CIVector(x: 0, y: 0), CIVector(x: 0.235, y: 0.184), CIVector(x: 0.466, y: 0.466), CIVector(x: 1, y: 1)] in colorCurvesFilter which I've found in Apple Docs: func colorCurves(inputImage: CIImage) -&gt; CIImage { let colorCurvesEffect = CIFilter.colorCurves() colorCurvesEffect.inputImage = inputImage colorCurvesEffect.curvesDomain = CIVector(x: 0, y: 1) colorCurvesEffect.curvesData = Data( bytes: [Float32]([ 0.0,0.0,0.0, 0.8,0.8,0.8, 1.0,1.0,1.0 ]), count: 36) colorCurvesEffect.colorSpace = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB() return colorCurvesEffect.outputImage! }
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353
Jan ’25
How to Get Device Orientation in Background (PiP) Mode?
My app is a camera app that supports Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode. Normally, when the device rotates, I get the device orientation from iOS and use it to rotate the camera feed so that the preview stays correctly aligned. However, when the app enters PiP mode, it is considered to be in the background, and I can no longer receive orientation updates from the system. As a result, I can’t apply rotation corrections to the camera video in PiP mode. Is there any way to retrieve device orientation while the app is in the background (specifically during PiP mode)? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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49
May ’25
Custom Share Desination stopped working in FCP X 11
We integrate with FCP X using a custom share destination and the Apple Script interface. This has been working fine until the the recent version 11 update of FCP X. With this update we are no longer receiving the open event when the export has completed. We get the apple event to creat the Asset and the file is exported to the location we set in the response. There is just no open event after that. I suspect something is wrong with our scripting support but I have no idea what or how to troubleshoot. This works fine in 10.8.1 and below.
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361
Dec ’24
Apple News Publisher: How To Successfully Apply
Hi there, Can anyone tell me how to possibly get approved as an Apple News Publisher in 2025? We attempted in 2024, but received this message from Apple support: "Thank you for your interest in Apple News. At this time, we're not accepting new applications." When I inquired further, I got this second response: "Apple News is no longer accepting unsolicited applications. To learn more about Apple News requirements, visit the Apple News support page. If you have any feedback, please use this form to send us your comments. Keep in mind that while we read all feedback, we are unable to respond to each submission individually." My questions are: Is this still the case? (Especially when you are a legit local news outlet) Is there a link to apply as a news publisher? I don't seem to have that option at all. Thanks for any feedback.
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57
Apr ’25
Slow performance decoding large images with Core Image.
I'm building a camera app that does some post processing after the photo has been taken. With 12MP the processing is pretty good, but larger images 24MP is very slow. I created a very simple example to demonstrate the issue, which is loading an image and the rendering it to data. let context = CIContext() let imageUrl = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "12mp", withExtension: "jpg")! let data = try! Data(contentsOf: imageUrl) let ciImage = CIImage(data: data)! let start = CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() let data = context.jpegRepresentation(of: ciImage, colorSpace: context.workingColorSpace!) print(data?.count) print("Resize Completed: " + String(CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() - start)) Running this code on an iPhone 16 Pro with different images produces these benchmarks: 12MP => 0.03s 24MP => 1.22s 48MP => 2.98s I understand that processing time will increase with resolution but it doesn't seem linear. I have tried setting different CiContext options such as .useSoftwareRenderer: false but it has made no difference. From profiling the process it looks like the JPEG decoding is the bottle neck. This is for a 48MP Image: Is there any way this can be improved?
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596
Dec ’24
TTS Audio Unit Extension: File Write Access in App Group Container Denied Despite Proper Entitlements
I'm developing a TTS Audio Unit Extension that needs to write trace/log files to a shared App Group container. While the main app can successfully create and write files to the container, the extension gets sandbox denied errors despite having proper App Group entitlements configured. Setup: Main App (Flutter) and TTS Audio Unit Extension share the same App Group App Group is properly configured in developer portal and entitlements Main app successfully creates and uses files in the container Container structure shows existing directories (config/, dictionary/) with populated files Both targets have App Group capability enabled and entitlements set Current behavior: Extension can access/read the App Group container Extension can see existing directories and files All write attempts are blocked with "sandbox deny(1) file-write-create" errors Code example: const char* createSharedGroupPathWithComponent(const char* groupId, const char* component) { NSString* groupIdStr = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:groupId]; NSString* componentStr = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:component]; NSURL* url = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] containerURLForSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier:groupIdStr]; NSURL* fullPath = [url URLByAppendingPathComponent:componentStr]; NSError *error = nil; if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] createDirectoryAtPath:fullPath.path withIntermediateDirectories:YES attributes:nil error:&amp;error]) { NSLog(@"Unable to create directory %@", error.localizedDescription); } return [[fullPath path] UTF8String]; } Error output: Sandbox: simaromur-extension(996) deny(1) file-write-create /private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/36CAFE9C-BD82-43DD-A962-2B4424E60043/trace Key questions: Are there additional entitlements required for TTS Audio Unit Extensions to write to App Group containers? Is this a known limitation of TTS Audio Unit Extensions? What is the recommended way to handle logging/tracing in TTS Audio Unit Extensions? If writing to App Group containers is not supported, what alternatives are available? Current entitlements: &lt;dict&gt; &lt;key&gt;com.apple.security.application-groups&lt;/key&gt; &lt;array&gt; &lt;string&gt;group.com.&lt;company&gt;.&lt;appname&gt;&lt;/string&gt; &lt;/array&gt; &lt;/dict&gt;
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68
Apr ’25
How to disable the built-in speakers and microphone on a Mac
I need to implement a solution through an API or custom driver to completely block out the built-in speakers and microphone of Mac, because I need other apps to use specified external devices as audio input and output. Is there a way to achieve this requirement? What I mean is that even in system preferences, it should not be possible to choose the built-in microphone and speakers; only my external device can be used.
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65
Apr ’25
Notification interruptions
My app Balletrax is a music player for people to use while they teach ballet. Used to be you could silence notifications during use, but now the customer seems to have to know how to use Focus mode, remember to turn it on and off, and have to check the notifications one does and doesn't want to use. Is there no way to silence all notifications when the app is in use?
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48
Apr ’25