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AVPictureInPictureController with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer: Video not scaled in PiP window on macOS
AVPictureInPictureController with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer: Video not scaled in PiP window on macOS Platform: macOS 26.4 (Tahoe) Framework: AVKit / AVFoundation Xcode: 26.4 Summary When using AVPictureInPictureController with ContentSource(sampleBufferDisplayLayer:playbackDelegate:) on macOS, the video content in the PiP window is not scaled to fit — it renders at 1:1 pixel resolution, showing only the bottom-left portion of the video (zoomed/cropped). The same code works correctly on iOS. Setup let displayLayer = AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer() displayLayer.videoGravity = .resizeAspect // Host displayLayer as a sublayer of an NSView, enqueue CMSampleBuffers let source = AVPictureInPictureController.ContentSource( sampleBufferDisplayLayer: displayLayer, playbackDelegate: self ) let pip = AVPictureInPictureController(contentSource: source) pip.delegate = self The source display layer is 1280×720, matching the video stream resolution. PiP starts successfully — isPictureInPicturePossible is true, the PiP button works, and the PIPPanel window appears. However, the video in the PiP window (~480×270) shows only the bottom-left 480×270 pixels of the 1280×720 content, rather than scaling the full frame to fit. Investigation Inspecting the PiP window hierarchy reveals: PIPPanel (480×270) └─ AVPictureInPictureSampleBufferDisplayLayerView └─ AVPictureInPictureSampleBufferDisplayLayerHostView (layer = CALayerHost) └─ AVPictureInPictureCALayerHostView The CALayerHost mirrors the source AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer at 1:1 pixel resolution. Unlike AVPlayerLayer-based PiP (which works correctly on macOS), the sample buffer display layer path does not apply any scaling transform to the mirrored content. On iOS, PiP with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer works correctly because the system reparents the layer into the PiP window, so standard layer scaling applies. On macOS, the system uses CALayerHost mirroring instead, and the scaling step is missing. What I tried (none fix the issue) Setting autoresizingMask on all PiP internal subviews — views resize correctly, but CALayerHost content remains at 1:1 pixel scale Applying CATransform3DMakeScale on the CALayerHost layer — creates a black rectangle artifact; the mirrored content does not transform Setting CALayerHost.bounds to the source layer size — no effect on rendering Reparenting the internal AVPictureInPictureCALayerHostView out of the host view — video disappears entirely Hiding the CALayerHost — PiP window goes white (confirming it is the sole video renderer) Resizing the source AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer to match the PiP window size — partially works (1:1 mirror of a smaller source fits), but causes visible lag during resize, affects the main window's "This video is playing in Picture in Picture" placeholder, and didTransitionToRenderSize stops being called after the initial resize Expected behavior The video content should be scaled to fit the PiP window, respecting the display layer's videoGravity setting (.resizeAspect), consistent with: iOS PiP with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer (works correctly) macOS PiP with AVPlayerLayer (works correctly) Environment macOS 26.4 (Tahoe) Xcode 26.4 Apple Silicon (M-series) Retina display (contentsScale = 2.0) Video: H.264 1280×720, hardware decoded via VTDecompressionSession, enqueued as CMSampleBuffer
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296
Apr ’26
Android MusicKit canSetRadioLikeState and setRadioLikeState
The Android MusicKit documentation documents two functions that are not actually exposed/added to the SDK. https://developer.apple.com/musickit/android/com/apple/android/music/playback/controller/MediaPlayerController.html#canSetRadioLikeState-- https://developer.apple.com/musickit/android/com/apple/android/music/playback/controller/MediaPlayerController.html#setRadioLikeState-int- Is the documentation stale or is the SDK out of date?
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170
Apr ’26
Technical guidance request: native screen capture protection on macOS with Flutter while allowing AirPlay
Hello Apple Developer Support, I am reaching out for technical guidance regarding screen capture protection behavior on macOS. We are building a desktop application using Flutter running on macOS, and we have implemented native Swift code inside the macOS Runner in order to protect sensitive content from screen recording and screen sharing. Our current implementation relies on native window-level protection and display state handling from Swift, while the main UI remains rendered by Flutter. The main challenge we are facing is the following: we need to keep a strong native anti-recording protection on macOS the application is heavily used with AirPlay and screen mirroring currently, AirPlay / mirroring is often interpreted by the system similarly to screen capture or screen recording this causes our protected content to be replaced by a gray or blank area even during legitimate AirPlay usage In practice, we would like to allow: AirPlay legitimate external display / mirroring usage while still preventing: screen recording screen sharing unauthorized screen capture We would like to know whether Apple recommends an official supported approach for this use case, preferably using public APIs. More specifically: Is there an officially supported way on macOS to distinguish AirPlay mirroring from screen recording / screen sharing? Is "NSWindow.sharingType" the recommended public API for this scenario? Is there a recommended approach when the UI surface is rendered through Flutter / Metal? Are there any best practices with ScreenCaptureKit for protecting content without affecting AirPlay? We understand that some lower-level APIs may not be officially supported, so we would greatly appreciate guidance toward a public and future-proof implementation path. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards, Tony
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146
Apr ’26
DJI Osmo Mobile 8 — DockKit motor control APIs not working (setAngularVelocity, setOrientation)
I'm developing an iOS app that uses Apple's DockKit framework to control gimbals. I've tested with the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro and the DJI Osmo Mobile 8. The Flow 2 Pro supports all DockKit motor control APIs — setAngularVelocity, setOrientation, setLimits — which lets my app do manual pan/tilt control via a virtual joystick. The Osmo Mobile 8 (model DS308, firmware 1.0.0) connects fine via DockKit and reports as docked, but every motor control API fails with "The device doesn't support the requested operation": setAngularVelocity — fails setOrientation(relative: true) — fails setLimits — fails The only thing that works is Apple's system tracking (setSystemTrackingEnabled(true)) for automatic face/body following. This means there's no way for third-party apps to do manual gimbal control (pan/tilt via joystick) on the Osmo 8 through DockKit — only automatic tracking works. Questions: Is anyone else seeing the same limitation with the Osmo 8 and DockKit? Has DJI confirmed whether manual motor control via DockKit is intentionally unsupported, or is this a firmware issue that might be addressed in an update? Does the DJI Mimo app use DockKit for its tracking, or does it use a proprietary Bluetooth protocol? Running iOS 26.4 on iPhone 15 Pro. Happy to share more technical details if helpful.
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226
Apr ’26
CarPlay outputs no audio
I have an application that includes custom artwork for the album cover and text details setup with the MPRemoteCommandCenter.shared() reference. I need the user to have a full featured "now playing" display to see all of this. My experience is that cannot find a set of parameters for AVAudioSession.setCategory() that route audio successfully, and display the full featured now playing deck. If I use .playAndRecord, the audio I send out plays out on the radio. But, the now-playing deck is empty and nothing I do with the command center seems to change that. If I instead use .playback, I cannot use .defaultToSpeaker option which is the only way I've found to cause the "now-playing" navigation button to appear so that the full featured deck will display. But, of course setCategory() fails with an error about .defaultToSpeaker only available with .playAndRecord, so some default or intermediate state is entered and I see the full featured deck, but no audio goes out to the radio. What combination is supposed to be used here and is this more likely a problem with thread use (@MainActor) and/or some ordering of operations that I've overlooked?
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220
Apr ’26
Is 18MP Front Camera Capture Available to Third-Party Apps via AVFoundation?
Hi, I'm investigating whether 18MP photo capture from the front camera on iPhone 17 Pro is available to third-party apps using AVFoundation. I first inspected all available AVCaptureDevice formats, but I could not find any format corresponding to ~18MP resolution (e.g., around 4896×3672). for format in device.formats { let desc = format.formatDescription let dims = CMVideoFormatDescriptionGetDimensions(desc) print("Format: (dims.width) x (dims.height)") } All reported formats appear to be limited to resolutions such as 4032×3024 (12MP) or below. Question: Is 18MP front camera capture actually available to third-party apps via AVFoundation on iPhone 17?
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510
Apr ’26
Is iTunesTagging no longer support?
I'm currently trying to develope ipod control function on IVI for vehicle. From previous experience I remember we need to implement iTunetagging, but since I can't find it in Accessory Firmware Specification R46, I'm wondering whether iTunesTagging is no longer support. Thanks in advance for you support!
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103
Apr ’26
AVKit crash when rendering AVPlayerView controls — macOS 26.4 regression
Description Our app, Octory, allows users to create onboarding and communication workflows composed of slides containing various UI components, including embedded video players powered by AVPlayerView. Since macOS 26.4 Beta, the app crashes at launch whenever a workflow contains a video component. Workflows without video components load and render without issue, which points to a regression in AVKit's player control rendering pipeline. As anyone seen similar behaviour when using AVKit or is it something we do not do properly? Expected Behavior The app opens and renders the workflow, including the embedded video component. Actual Behavior The app briefly launches and immediately crashes with SIGABRT on the main thread. Crash Analysis Key takeaways for anyone investigating: Root cause — abort() inside NSImageSymbolConfiguration The crash occurs entirely within Apple frameworks, with no third-party code in the faulting call chain (aside from the app's entry point). The sequence is: AVPlayerItem finishes loading and fires a KVO notification that it is ready to play (_updateCanPlayAndCanStepPropertiesWhenReadyToPlayWithNotificationPayload:) This KVO chain propagates through NSKeyValueDidChange up to AVPlayerView, which calls _updateVideoGravityType AVPlayerControlsViewController responds by calling _updateZoomButtonImage, which asks AVPlayerControlsConfigurator for a configured SF Symbol via +[NSImage(AVAdditions) avkit_imageWithSymbolName:textStyle:scale:accessibilityDescription:] The symbol rendering hits -[NSImageSymbolConfiguration _getEffectivePointSize:glyphWeight:glyphSize:backfilledWithFont:scale:], which calls abort() The entire crash stack is in AppKit (NSImage / NSImageSymbolConfiguration) and AVKit — no application code is involved in the faulting path. The abort() suggests a precondition or assertion failure inside the symbol configuration logic, possibly due to an invalid or nil font/text style being passed during the zoom button image setup. This is triggered automatically the moment an AVPlayerItem becomes ready to play and AVKit attempts to render its transport controls. There is no way for the application to intercept or work around this. Relevant stack frames (Thread 0 — main thread) 3 AppKit -[NSImageSymbolConfiguration _getEffectivePointSize:glyphWeight:glyphSize:backfilledWithFont:scale:] + 440 ← abort() here 4 AppKit -[NSImageSymbolRepProvider _bestRepresentationForImage:hints:] + 404 11 AVKit +[NSImage(AVAdditions) avkit_imageWithSymbolName:textStyle:scale:accessibilityDescription:] + 332 12 AVKit -[AVPlayerControlsConfigurator configuredSymbolForImageName:] + 92 13 AVKit -[AVPlayerControlsViewController _updateZoomButtonImage] + 160 14 AVKit -[AVPlayerControlsViewController setVideoGravityType:] + 52 15 AVKit -[AVPlayerView _updateVideoGravityType] + 1056 28 AVFCore -[AVPlayerItem didChangeValueForKey:] + 56 29 AVFCore -[AVPlayerItem _updateCanPlayAndCanStepPropertiesWhenReadyToPlayWithNotificationPayload:updateStatusToReadyToPlay:] + 660 Additional Notes Removing the video component from the workflow (i.e. not instantiating AVPlayerView) resolves the crash entirely. The crash is 100% reproducible on every launch. This behavior was not present on macOS 26.3 or any prior release. The app was not recompiled — the same binary that works on 26.3 crashes on 26.4 Beta & 26.4. Environment Detail Value OS macOS 26.4 Hardware MacBook Pro M1 (MacBookPro17,1)
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317
Mar ’26
I am sending cdn token and i am gettiing error from apple tv TVOS
The Url that i am using to play content in AVPlayer https://vodc.dp.sooka.my/wmt:eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.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.FSgRrQeFHLhmrBuDFsMKZGFh4eUrCk9PgTxIyFTP8yk/2a2a2d42df9fd90a518309ea15115a76-73a56e66665549280e00-10/2a2a2d42df9fd90a518309ea15115a76-73a56e66665549280e00-10/index.m3u8 I am getting below error : "timestamp":1772385202.085278,"message":"Playback failed. unsupported URL","data":{"message":"unsupported URL","code":-1002,"underlyingError":{"domain":"NSURLErrorDomain","description":"Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1002 \"unsupported URL\" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=unsupported URL, NSUnderlyingError=0x301f08870 {Error Domain=kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork Code=-1002 \"unsupported URL\" Please help me what is the reason of this error
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384
Mar ’26
Does the OS has dedicated volume levels for each AVAudioSessionCategory.
We have an VoiP application, our application can be configured to amplify the PCM samples before feeding it to the Player to achieve volume gain at the receiver. In order to support this, We follow as below. If User has configured this Gain Settings within application, Application applies the amplification for the samples to introduce the gain. Application will also set the AVAudioSessionCategory to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback Provided the User has chosen the output to Speaker. This settings was working for us but we see there is a difference in behaviour w.r.t Volume Level System Settings between OS 26.3.1 and OS 26.4 When user has chosen earpiece as Output, then we will set the AVAudioSessionCategory to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord. User would have set the volume level to minimum. When user will change the output to Speaker, then we will set the AVAudioSessionCategory to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback. The expectation is, the volume level should be of AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback what was set earlier instead we are seeing the volume level stays as minimum which was set to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord Could you please explain about this inconsistency w.r.t Volume level.
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972
Mar ’26
ApplicationMusicPlayer.shared player.play() permission denied in app sandbox (Tauri)
Hi, I'm developing a Tauri V2 app on MacOS, and am wanting to implement playback controls. It seems that Apple locks down playback, requiring a signed application. My app also has capabilities to "get currently playing track", and I confirmed this works; Apple produces a popup triggered by my await MusicAuthorization.request() call. It returns nil, of course, because I can't get anything to play via the ApplicationMusicPlayer; only through the system's Apple Music app. I understand SystemMusicPlayer is not available on MacOS, which is fine. I'm just a little confused as it seems pretty standard to need to test playback controls quickly without having to codesign and do some provisionprofile embedding acrobatics each time Rust re-compiles target/debug. This slows down development a lot. I do have these entries in my Entitlements.plist: <key>com.apple.security.personal-information.media-library</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.music-kit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> <true/> In my tauri.conf.json, I have: "macOS": { "entitlements": "./Entitlements.plist", "signingIdentity": "Apple Development: ()" } My application works like this: I have a temporary button click to fire off a tauriinvoke() command which goes to a #tauri::command, which bridges to Swift code. Again, I validated that my less-permissive "get currently playing track" works; i.e., does not get permission denied. exact error message: [swift] playMedia error: .permissionDenied (^specifically, ".permissionDenied") My code to trigger playback of a specific media item: Task { print("[swift] entered sema Task") let status: MusicAuthorization.Status = await MusicAuthorization.request() print("auth status: \(status)") guard status == .authorized else { sema.signal(); return } print("passed the status guard.") do { var request = MusicCatalogResourceRequest<Song>(matching: \.id, equalTo: MusicItemID(rawValue: songId)) request.limit = 1 let response = try await request.response() guard let song = response.items.first else { sema.signal(); return } let player = ApplicationMusicPlayer.shared player.queue = [song] try await player.play() success = true } catch { print("[swift] playMedia error: \(error)") } sema.signal()
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727
Mar ’26
HLS VOD Download Resume after Wifi/LTE Change
Hello there, Our application has HLS VOD download option. Users can download VOD which has DRM protection and watch content when device is offline. We use aggregateAssetDownloadTask to download HLS VOD. We want to resume download after Wifi/LTE change but it does not resume. Download is starting from beginning. We use some token algorithms to start download. That's why, our playlist url and chunks urls may change. But playlist and chunk urls' content is unique. If user start to download via Wifi and changed to LTE. Download request responds 403 Forbidden because of some token algorithms after some time func urlSession(_ session: URLSession, task: URLSessionTask, didCompleteWithError error: Error?) AVAssetDownloadDelegate function triggered by system. If we resume it does not resume at this point. It is starting from beginning if we start new download process for same content. Is there any way to resume unfinished HLS Download processes? Thanks
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557
Mar ’26
macOS 26.4 regression with Mac Catalyst apps using PhotoKit: Photos do not appear when using limited access - Failed to get sandbox extension for url - Image request failed with error PHPhotosErrorDomain Code 3303
I just submitted FB22318443. In Mac Catalyst apps running on macOS 26.4, if you choose to limit the app's access to specific photos (as opposed to granting full access), the photos do not appear in the app. 💀 This issue does not occur on iPadOS. It is a macOS 26.4 regression. It occurs even with apps built using a previous version of the SDK such as 26.2. A sample of the console logs: [RM]: 4-1-1 failed to decode for asset: 9290CC20-B85D-47B5-BDBE-D330FE61773D, error code: 3303, description: Error Domain=PHPhotosErrorDomain Code=3303 "(null)" Failed to get sandbox extension for url: file:///Users/Jordan/Pictures/Photos%20Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/masters/9/9290CC20-B85D-47B5-BDBE-D330FE61773D_4_5005_c.jpeg, error: Error Domain=com.apple.photos.error Code=44001 "sandbox extension not in the cache after requesting them for path: /Users/Jordan/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/masters/9/9290CC20-B85D-47B5-BDBE-D330FE61773D_4_5005_c.jpeg" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=sandbox extension not in the cache after requesting them for path: /Users/Jordan/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/masters/9/9290CC20-B85D-47B5-BDBE-D330FE61773D_4_5005_c.jpeg} [RM]: 1-1-1 Image request failed with error: Error Domain=PHPhotosErrorDomain Code=3303 "(null)"
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457
Mar ’26
Unable to capture only the cursor in macOS Tahoe
Precondition: In system settings, scale the pointer size up to the max. Our SCScreenshotManager code currently works in macOS 15 and earlier to capture the cursor at it's larger size, but broke in one of the minor releases of macOS Tahoe. The error it produces now is "Failed to start stream due to audio/video capture failure". This only seems to happen with the cursor window, not any others. Another way to get the cursor is with https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nscursor/currentsystem, but that is now deprecated, which makes me think the capture of the cursor is being blocked deliberately. We see this as a critical loss of functionality for our apps, and could use guidance on what to use instead.
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478
Mar ’26
AVAudioFile.read extremely slow after seeking in FLAC and MP3 files
I'm developing an audio player app that uses AVAudio​File to read PCM data from various formats. I'm experiencing severe performance issues when seeking in FLAC, while other compressed formats (M4A/AAC) work correctly. I don't intend to use them in my app, but I also tested mp3 files just by curiosity and they also have this issue. Environment: macOS 26 (Tahoe) Xcode 26.3 Apple Silicon (M1) The issue: After setting AVAudio​File​.frame​Position to a position mid-file, the subsequent call to AVAudio​File​.read(into​:frame​Count:) blocks for an unreasonable amount of time for FLAC and MP3 files. The delay scales linearly with the seek target, seeking near the beginning is fast, seeking toward the end is proportionally slower, which suggests the decoder is decoding linearly from the beginning of the file rather than using any seek index. (My app deals with “images” of Audio CDs ripped as a single long audio file.) The issue is particularly severe when reading files from an SMB network share (server on Ethernet, client on Wi-Fi with the access point ~2 meters away in line of sight). Quick Benchmark results: I tested with the same 75-minute audio content (16-bit/44.1 kHz stereo, 200,502,708 frames) encoded in five formats, seeking to the midpoint. Over SMB (Local Network, Server on Ethernet, Client on WiFi): Format | Seek + Read Time ----------|------------------ WAV | 0.007 s AIFF | 0.009 s Apple | 0.015 s Lossless | MP3 | 9.2 s FLAC | 30.2 s Locally (MacBook Air M1 SSD) : Format | Seek + Read Time ----------|------------------ WAV | 0.0005 s AIFF | 0.0004 s Apple | 0.0011 s Lossless | MP3 | 0.1958 s FLAC | 0.7528 s WAV, AIFF, and M4A all seek virtually instantly (< 15 ms). MP3 and FLAC exhibit linear-time behavior, with FLAC being the worst affected. Note that M4A (AAC) is also a compressed format that requires decoding after seeking, yet it completes in 15 ms. This rules out any inherent limitation of compressed formats, the MP4 container's packet index (stts/stco) is clearly being used for fast random access. Both MP3 (Xing/LAME TOC) and FLAC (SEEKTABLE metadata block) have their own seek mechanisms that should provide similar performance. Minimal CLI tool to reproduce: import Foundation guard CommandLine.arguments.count > 1 else { print("Usage: FLACSpeed <audio-file-path>") exit(1) } let path = CommandLine.arguments[1] let fileURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: path) do { let file = try AVAudioFile(forReading: fileURL) let format = file.processingFormat let buffer = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: format, frameCapacity: 8192)! let totalFrames = file.length let seekTarget = totalFrames / 2 print("File: \(fileURL.lastPathComponent)") print("Format: \(format)") print("Total frames: \(totalFrames)") print("Seeking to frame: \(seekTarget)") file.framePosition = seekTarget let start = CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() try file.read(into: buffer, frameCount: 8192) let elapsed = CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() - start print("Read after seek took \(elapsed) seconds") } catch { print("Error: \(error.localizedDescription)") exit(1) } Expected behavior: AVAudio​File​.read(into​:frame​Count:) after setting frame​Position should use the available seek mechanisms in FLAC and MP3 files for fast random access, as it already does for M4A (AAC). Even accounting for the fact that seek tables provide approximate (not sample-precise) positioning, the "jump to nearest index point + decode forward" approach should complete in milliseconds, not seconds. Workaround: For FLAC, I've worked around this by using libFLAC directly, which provides instant seeking via FLAC__stream​_decoder​_seek​_absolute(). libFLAC Performance: For comparison, libFLAC's FLAC__stream​_decoder​_seek​_absolute() performs the same seek + read on the same FLAC file in around 0.015, using the FLAC seek table to jump to the nearest preceding seek point, then decoding forward a small number of frames to the exact target sample.
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427
Mar ’26
Metadata in Video stripped by Share Sheet / Airdrop
I have an application which records video along with some custom metadata and a chapter track. The resultant video is stored in the Camera Roll. When sharing the video via the Share Sheet or AirDrop, the metadata track is stripped entirely (the chapter markers are preserved) Sharing via AirDrop with the "All Photos Data" option does include the metadata track, as does copying from the device with Image Capture but this is a bad user experience as the user must remember to explicitly select this option, and the filename is lost when sending this way. I have also tried various other approaches (such as encoding my metadata in a subtitle track, which I didn't expect to be stripped as it's an accessibility concern) but it's also removed. Essentially I am looking for a definitive list of things that are not stripped or if there's a way to encode a track in some way to indicate it should be preserved. The metadata is added via AVTimedMetadataGroup containing one AVMutableMetadataItem which has its value as a JSON string. I took a different approach with the Chapter Marker track (mainly because I did it first in a completely different way and didn't rework it when I added the other track). I post-process these after the video is recorded, and add them with addMutableTrack and then addTrackAssociation(to: chapterTrack, type: .chapterList) but I don't think that's the reason the chapter track persists where the custom metadata does not as other tests with video files from other sources containing subtitles etc also had their subtitle data stripped. tl;dr I record videos with metadata that I want to be able to share via Share Sheet and AirDrop, what am I doing wrong?
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442
Mar ’26
WatchOS: Can a background metronome app coexist with both Runna workout and Spotify playback?
I’m building a standalone Apple Watch metronome app for running. My goal is for these 3 apps to work at the same time: Runna owns the workout session Spotify plays music my app plays a metronome click in the background So far this is what I've found: Using HKWorkout​Session in my metronome app works well with Spotify, but conflicts with Runna and other workout apps, so I removed that. Using watchOS background audio with longFormAudio allows my app run in the background, and it can coexist with Runna. However, it seems to conflict with Spotify playback, and one app tends to stop the other. Is there any supported watchOS audio/background configuration that allows all 3 at once? More specifically this is what I need: another app owns HKWorkout​Session Spotify keeps playing my app keeps generating metronome clicks in the background Or is this simply not supported by current watchOS session/background rules? My metronome uses AVAudio​Engine / AVAudio​Player​Node with generated click audio. Thank you!
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800
Mar ’26
AVPictureInPictureController with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer: Video not scaled in PiP window on macOS
AVPictureInPictureController with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer: Video not scaled in PiP window on macOS Platform: macOS 26.4 (Tahoe) Framework: AVKit / AVFoundation Xcode: 26.4 Summary When using AVPictureInPictureController with ContentSource(sampleBufferDisplayLayer:playbackDelegate:) on macOS, the video content in the PiP window is not scaled to fit — it renders at 1:1 pixel resolution, showing only the bottom-left portion of the video (zoomed/cropped). The same code works correctly on iOS. Setup let displayLayer = AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer() displayLayer.videoGravity = .resizeAspect // Host displayLayer as a sublayer of an NSView, enqueue CMSampleBuffers let source = AVPictureInPictureController.ContentSource( sampleBufferDisplayLayer: displayLayer, playbackDelegate: self ) let pip = AVPictureInPictureController(contentSource: source) pip.delegate = self The source display layer is 1280×720, matching the video stream resolution. PiP starts successfully — isPictureInPicturePossible is true, the PiP button works, and the PIPPanel window appears. However, the video in the PiP window (~480×270) shows only the bottom-left 480×270 pixels of the 1280×720 content, rather than scaling the full frame to fit. Investigation Inspecting the PiP window hierarchy reveals: PIPPanel (480×270) └─ AVPictureInPictureSampleBufferDisplayLayerView └─ AVPictureInPictureSampleBufferDisplayLayerHostView (layer = CALayerHost) └─ AVPictureInPictureCALayerHostView The CALayerHost mirrors the source AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer at 1:1 pixel resolution. Unlike AVPlayerLayer-based PiP (which works correctly on macOS), the sample buffer display layer path does not apply any scaling transform to the mirrored content. On iOS, PiP with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer works correctly because the system reparents the layer into the PiP window, so standard layer scaling applies. On macOS, the system uses CALayerHost mirroring instead, and the scaling step is missing. What I tried (none fix the issue) Setting autoresizingMask on all PiP internal subviews — views resize correctly, but CALayerHost content remains at 1:1 pixel scale Applying CATransform3DMakeScale on the CALayerHost layer — creates a black rectangle artifact; the mirrored content does not transform Setting CALayerHost.bounds to the source layer size — no effect on rendering Reparenting the internal AVPictureInPictureCALayerHostView out of the host view — video disappears entirely Hiding the CALayerHost — PiP window goes white (confirming it is the sole video renderer) Resizing the source AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer to match the PiP window size — partially works (1:1 mirror of a smaller source fits), but causes visible lag during resize, affects the main window's "This video is playing in Picture in Picture" placeholder, and didTransitionToRenderSize stops being called after the initial resize Expected behavior The video content should be scaled to fit the PiP window, respecting the display layer's videoGravity setting (.resizeAspect), consistent with: iOS PiP with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer (works correctly) macOS PiP with AVPlayerLayer (works correctly) Environment macOS 26.4 (Tahoe) Xcode 26.4 Apple Silicon (M-series) Retina display (contentsScale = 2.0) Video: H.264 1280×720, hardware decoded via VTDecompressionSession, enqueued as CMSampleBuffer
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296
Activity
Apr ’26
Android MusicKit canSetRadioLikeState and setRadioLikeState
The Android MusicKit documentation documents two functions that are not actually exposed/added to the SDK. https://developer.apple.com/musickit/android/com/apple/android/music/playback/controller/MediaPlayerController.html#canSetRadioLikeState-- https://developer.apple.com/musickit/android/com/apple/android/music/playback/controller/MediaPlayerController.html#setRadioLikeState-int- Is the documentation stale or is the SDK out of date?
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170
Activity
Apr ’26
Technical guidance request: native screen capture protection on macOS with Flutter while allowing AirPlay
Hello Apple Developer Support, I am reaching out for technical guidance regarding screen capture protection behavior on macOS. We are building a desktop application using Flutter running on macOS, and we have implemented native Swift code inside the macOS Runner in order to protect sensitive content from screen recording and screen sharing. Our current implementation relies on native window-level protection and display state handling from Swift, while the main UI remains rendered by Flutter. The main challenge we are facing is the following: we need to keep a strong native anti-recording protection on macOS the application is heavily used with AirPlay and screen mirroring currently, AirPlay / mirroring is often interpreted by the system similarly to screen capture or screen recording this causes our protected content to be replaced by a gray or blank area even during legitimate AirPlay usage In practice, we would like to allow: AirPlay legitimate external display / mirroring usage while still preventing: screen recording screen sharing unauthorized screen capture We would like to know whether Apple recommends an official supported approach for this use case, preferably using public APIs. More specifically: Is there an officially supported way on macOS to distinguish AirPlay mirroring from screen recording / screen sharing? Is "NSWindow.sharingType" the recommended public API for this scenario? Is there a recommended approach when the UI surface is rendered through Flutter / Metal? Are there any best practices with ScreenCaptureKit for protecting content without affecting AirPlay? We understand that some lower-level APIs may not be officially supported, so we would greatly appreciate guidance toward a public and future-proof implementation path. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards, Tony
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146
Activity
Apr ’26
DJI Osmo Mobile 8 — DockKit motor control APIs not working (setAngularVelocity, setOrientation)
I'm developing an iOS app that uses Apple's DockKit framework to control gimbals. I've tested with the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro and the DJI Osmo Mobile 8. The Flow 2 Pro supports all DockKit motor control APIs — setAngularVelocity, setOrientation, setLimits — which lets my app do manual pan/tilt control via a virtual joystick. The Osmo Mobile 8 (model DS308, firmware 1.0.0) connects fine via DockKit and reports as docked, but every motor control API fails with "The device doesn't support the requested operation": setAngularVelocity — fails setOrientation(relative: true) — fails setLimits — fails The only thing that works is Apple's system tracking (setSystemTrackingEnabled(true)) for automatic face/body following. This means there's no way for third-party apps to do manual gimbal control (pan/tilt via joystick) on the Osmo 8 through DockKit — only automatic tracking works. Questions: Is anyone else seeing the same limitation with the Osmo 8 and DockKit? Has DJI confirmed whether manual motor control via DockKit is intentionally unsupported, or is this a firmware issue that might be addressed in an update? Does the DJI Mimo app use DockKit for its tracking, or does it use a proprietary Bluetooth protocol? Running iOS 26.4 on iPhone 15 Pro. Happy to share more technical details if helpful.
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1
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226
Activity
Apr ’26
CarPlay outputs no audio
I have an application that includes custom artwork for the album cover and text details setup with the MPRemoteCommandCenter.shared() reference. I need the user to have a full featured "now playing" display to see all of this. My experience is that cannot find a set of parameters for AVAudioSession.setCategory() that route audio successfully, and display the full featured now playing deck. If I use .playAndRecord, the audio I send out plays out on the radio. But, the now-playing deck is empty and nothing I do with the command center seems to change that. If I instead use .playback, I cannot use .defaultToSpeaker option which is the only way I've found to cause the "now-playing" navigation button to appear so that the full featured deck will display. But, of course setCategory() fails with an error about .defaultToSpeaker only available with .playAndRecord, so some default or intermediate state is entered and I see the full featured deck, but no audio goes out to the radio. What combination is supposed to be used here and is this more likely a problem with thread use (@MainActor) and/or some ordering of operations that I've overlooked?
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3
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220
Activity
Apr ’26
Is 18MP Front Camera Capture Available to Third-Party Apps via AVFoundation?
Hi, I'm investigating whether 18MP photo capture from the front camera on iPhone 17 Pro is available to third-party apps using AVFoundation. I first inspected all available AVCaptureDevice formats, but I could not find any format corresponding to ~18MP resolution (e.g., around 4896×3672). for format in device.formats { let desc = format.formatDescription let dims = CMVideoFormatDescriptionGetDimensions(desc) print("Format: (dims.width) x (dims.height)") } All reported formats appear to be limited to resolutions such as 4032×3024 (12MP) or below. Question: Is 18MP front camera capture actually available to third-party apps via AVFoundation on iPhone 17?
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510
Activity
Apr ’26
Is iTunesTagging no longer support?
I'm currently trying to develope ipod control function on IVI for vehicle. From previous experience I remember we need to implement iTunetagging, but since I can't find it in Accessory Firmware Specification R46, I'm wondering whether iTunesTagging is no longer support. Thanks in advance for you support!
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103
Activity
Apr ’26
AVKit crash when rendering AVPlayerView controls — macOS 26.4 regression
Description Our app, Octory, allows users to create onboarding and communication workflows composed of slides containing various UI components, including embedded video players powered by AVPlayerView. Since macOS 26.4 Beta, the app crashes at launch whenever a workflow contains a video component. Workflows without video components load and render without issue, which points to a regression in AVKit's player control rendering pipeline. As anyone seen similar behaviour when using AVKit or is it something we do not do properly? Expected Behavior The app opens and renders the workflow, including the embedded video component. Actual Behavior The app briefly launches and immediately crashes with SIGABRT on the main thread. Crash Analysis Key takeaways for anyone investigating: Root cause — abort() inside NSImageSymbolConfiguration The crash occurs entirely within Apple frameworks, with no third-party code in the faulting call chain (aside from the app's entry point). The sequence is: AVPlayerItem finishes loading and fires a KVO notification that it is ready to play (_updateCanPlayAndCanStepPropertiesWhenReadyToPlayWithNotificationPayload:) This KVO chain propagates through NSKeyValueDidChange up to AVPlayerView, which calls _updateVideoGravityType AVPlayerControlsViewController responds by calling _updateZoomButtonImage, which asks AVPlayerControlsConfigurator for a configured SF Symbol via +[NSImage(AVAdditions) avkit_imageWithSymbolName:textStyle:scale:accessibilityDescription:] The symbol rendering hits -[NSImageSymbolConfiguration _getEffectivePointSize:glyphWeight:glyphSize:backfilledWithFont:scale:], which calls abort() The entire crash stack is in AppKit (NSImage / NSImageSymbolConfiguration) and AVKit — no application code is involved in the faulting path. The abort() suggests a precondition or assertion failure inside the symbol configuration logic, possibly due to an invalid or nil font/text style being passed during the zoom button image setup. This is triggered automatically the moment an AVPlayerItem becomes ready to play and AVKit attempts to render its transport controls. There is no way for the application to intercept or work around this. Relevant stack frames (Thread 0 — main thread) 3 AppKit -[NSImageSymbolConfiguration _getEffectivePointSize:glyphWeight:glyphSize:backfilledWithFont:scale:] + 440 ← abort() here 4 AppKit -[NSImageSymbolRepProvider _bestRepresentationForImage:hints:] + 404 11 AVKit +[NSImage(AVAdditions) avkit_imageWithSymbolName:textStyle:scale:accessibilityDescription:] + 332 12 AVKit -[AVPlayerControlsConfigurator configuredSymbolForImageName:] + 92 13 AVKit -[AVPlayerControlsViewController _updateZoomButtonImage] + 160 14 AVKit -[AVPlayerControlsViewController setVideoGravityType:] + 52 15 AVKit -[AVPlayerView _updateVideoGravityType] + 1056 28 AVFCore -[AVPlayerItem didChangeValueForKey:] + 56 29 AVFCore -[AVPlayerItem _updateCanPlayAndCanStepPropertiesWhenReadyToPlayWithNotificationPayload:updateStatusToReadyToPlay:] + 660 Additional Notes Removing the video component from the workflow (i.e. not instantiating AVPlayerView) resolves the crash entirely. The crash is 100% reproducible on every launch. This behavior was not present on macOS 26.3 or any prior release. The app was not recompiled — the same binary that works on 26.3 crashes on 26.4 Beta & 26.4. Environment Detail Value OS macOS 26.4 Hardware MacBook Pro M1 (MacBookPro17,1)
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317
Activity
Mar ’26
I am sending cdn token and i am gettiing error from apple tv TVOS
The Url that i am using to play content in AVPlayer https://vodc.dp.sooka.my/wmt:eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.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.FSgRrQeFHLhmrBuDFsMKZGFh4eUrCk9PgTxIyFTP8yk/2a2a2d42df9fd90a518309ea15115a76-73a56e66665549280e00-10/2a2a2d42df9fd90a518309ea15115a76-73a56e66665549280e00-10/index.m3u8 I am getting below error : "timestamp":1772385202.085278,"message":"Playback failed. unsupported URL","data":{"message":"unsupported URL","code":-1002,"underlyingError":{"domain":"NSURLErrorDomain","description":"Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1002 \"unsupported URL\" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=unsupported URL, NSUnderlyingError=0x301f08870 {Error Domain=kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork Code=-1002 \"unsupported URL\" Please help me what is the reason of this error
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384
Activity
Mar ’26
How to hide route button `showsRouteButton = false` in `MPVolumeView` without deprecation warning?
MPVolumeView's showsRouteButton was deprecated (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/mediaplayer/mpvolumeview/showsroutebutton?language=objc). It's not clear how can we now hide this button without deprecation warning. The documentation is lacking. Please advise. Thank you!
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4
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413
Activity
Mar ’26
After upgrade to iOS 26.4, averagePowerLevel and peakHoldLevel are stuck -120
We have an application that capture audio and video. App captures audio PCM on internal or external microphone and displays audio level on the screen. App was working fine for many years but after iOS 26.4 upgrade, averagePowerLevel and peakHoldLevel are stuck to -120 values. Any suggestion?
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7
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5
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1.1k
Activity
Mar ’26
Does the OS has dedicated volume levels for each AVAudioSessionCategory.
We have an VoiP application, our application can be configured to amplify the PCM samples before feeding it to the Player to achieve volume gain at the receiver. In order to support this, We follow as below. If User has configured this Gain Settings within application, Application applies the amplification for the samples to introduce the gain. Application will also set the AVAudioSessionCategory to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback Provided the User has chosen the output to Speaker. This settings was working for us but we see there is a difference in behaviour w.r.t Volume Level System Settings between OS 26.3.1 and OS 26.4 When user has chosen earpiece as Output, then we will set the AVAudioSessionCategory to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord. User would have set the volume level to minimum. When user will change the output to Speaker, then we will set the AVAudioSessionCategory to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback. The expectation is, the volume level should be of AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayback what was set earlier instead we are seeing the volume level stays as minimum which was set to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord Could you please explain about this inconsistency w.r.t Volume level.
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6
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972
Activity
Mar ’26
ApplicationMusicPlayer.shared player.play() permission denied in app sandbox (Tauri)
Hi, I'm developing a Tauri V2 app on MacOS, and am wanting to implement playback controls. It seems that Apple locks down playback, requiring a signed application. My app also has capabilities to "get currently playing track", and I confirmed this works; Apple produces a popup triggered by my await MusicAuthorization.request() call. It returns nil, of course, because I can't get anything to play via the ApplicationMusicPlayer; only through the system's Apple Music app. I understand SystemMusicPlayer is not available on MacOS, which is fine. I'm just a little confused as it seems pretty standard to need to test playback controls quickly without having to codesign and do some provisionprofile embedding acrobatics each time Rust re-compiles target/debug. This slows down development a lot. I do have these entries in my Entitlements.plist: <key>com.apple.security.personal-information.media-library</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.music-kit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> <true/> In my tauri.conf.json, I have: "macOS": { "entitlements": "./Entitlements.plist", "signingIdentity": "Apple Development: ()" } My application works like this: I have a temporary button click to fire off a tauriinvoke() command which goes to a #tauri::command, which bridges to Swift code. Again, I validated that my less-permissive "get currently playing track" works; i.e., does not get permission denied. exact error message: [swift] playMedia error: .permissionDenied (^specifically, ".permissionDenied") My code to trigger playback of a specific media item: Task { print("[swift] entered sema Task") let status: MusicAuthorization.Status = await MusicAuthorization.request() print("auth status: \(status)") guard status == .authorized else { sema.signal(); return } print("passed the status guard.") do { var request = MusicCatalogResourceRequest<Song>(matching: \.id, equalTo: MusicItemID(rawValue: songId)) request.limit = 1 let response = try await request.response() guard let song = response.items.first else { sema.signal(); return } let player = ApplicationMusicPlayer.shared player.queue = [song] try await player.play() success = true } catch { print("[swift] playMedia error: \(error)") } sema.signal()
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3
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727
Activity
Mar ’26
HLS VOD Download Resume after Wifi/LTE Change
Hello there, Our application has HLS VOD download option. Users can download VOD which has DRM protection and watch content when device is offline. We use aggregateAssetDownloadTask to download HLS VOD. We want to resume download after Wifi/LTE change but it does not resume. Download is starting from beginning. We use some token algorithms to start download. That's why, our playlist url and chunks urls may change. But playlist and chunk urls' content is unique. If user start to download via Wifi and changed to LTE. Download request responds 403 Forbidden because of some token algorithms after some time func urlSession(_ session: URLSession, task: URLSessionTask, didCompleteWithError error: Error?) AVAssetDownloadDelegate function triggered by system. If we resume it does not resume at this point. It is starting from beginning if we start new download process for same content. Is there any way to resume unfinished HLS Download processes? Thanks
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2
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557
Activity
Mar ’26
macOS 26.4 regression with Mac Catalyst apps using PhotoKit: Photos do not appear when using limited access - Failed to get sandbox extension for url - Image request failed with error PHPhotosErrorDomain Code 3303
I just submitted FB22318443. In Mac Catalyst apps running on macOS 26.4, if you choose to limit the app's access to specific photos (as opposed to granting full access), the photos do not appear in the app. 💀 This issue does not occur on iPadOS. It is a macOS 26.4 regression. It occurs even with apps built using a previous version of the SDK such as 26.2. A sample of the console logs: [RM]: 4-1-1 failed to decode for asset: 9290CC20-B85D-47B5-BDBE-D330FE61773D, error code: 3303, description: Error Domain=PHPhotosErrorDomain Code=3303 "(null)" Failed to get sandbox extension for url: file:///Users/Jordan/Pictures/Photos%20Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/masters/9/9290CC20-B85D-47B5-BDBE-D330FE61773D_4_5005_c.jpeg, error: Error Domain=com.apple.photos.error Code=44001 "sandbox extension not in the cache after requesting them for path: /Users/Jordan/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/masters/9/9290CC20-B85D-47B5-BDBE-D330FE61773D_4_5005_c.jpeg" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=sandbox extension not in the cache after requesting them for path: /Users/Jordan/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/masters/9/9290CC20-B85D-47B5-BDBE-D330FE61773D_4_5005_c.jpeg} [RM]: 1-1-1 Image request failed with error: Error Domain=PHPhotosErrorDomain Code=3303 "(null)"
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457
Activity
Mar ’26
CoreAudio: Specification of Private Aggregate or Tap
If a Tap or AggregateDevice with the Private property set is created, does it automatically disappear when the process ends? If not, how can I remove the Tap or AggregateDevice before the main process terminates?
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342
Activity
Mar ’26
Unable to capture only the cursor in macOS Tahoe
Precondition: In system settings, scale the pointer size up to the max. Our SCScreenshotManager code currently works in macOS 15 and earlier to capture the cursor at it's larger size, but broke in one of the minor releases of macOS Tahoe. The error it produces now is "Failed to start stream due to audio/video capture failure". This only seems to happen with the cursor window, not any others. Another way to get the cursor is with https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nscursor/currentsystem, but that is now deprecated, which makes me think the capture of the cursor is being blocked deliberately. We see this as a critical loss of functionality for our apps, and could use guidance on what to use instead.
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1
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16
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478
Activity
Mar ’26
AVAudioFile.read extremely slow after seeking in FLAC and MP3 files
I'm developing an audio player app that uses AVAudio​File to read PCM data from various formats. I'm experiencing severe performance issues when seeking in FLAC, while other compressed formats (M4A/AAC) work correctly. I don't intend to use them in my app, but I also tested mp3 files just by curiosity and they also have this issue. Environment: macOS 26 (Tahoe) Xcode 26.3 Apple Silicon (M1) The issue: After setting AVAudio​File​.frame​Position to a position mid-file, the subsequent call to AVAudio​File​.read(into​:frame​Count:) blocks for an unreasonable amount of time for FLAC and MP3 files. The delay scales linearly with the seek target, seeking near the beginning is fast, seeking toward the end is proportionally slower, which suggests the decoder is decoding linearly from the beginning of the file rather than using any seek index. (My app deals with “images” of Audio CDs ripped as a single long audio file.) The issue is particularly severe when reading files from an SMB network share (server on Ethernet, client on Wi-Fi with the access point ~2 meters away in line of sight). Quick Benchmark results: I tested with the same 75-minute audio content (16-bit/44.1 kHz stereo, 200,502,708 frames) encoded in five formats, seeking to the midpoint. Over SMB (Local Network, Server on Ethernet, Client on WiFi): Format | Seek + Read Time ----------|------------------ WAV | 0.007 s AIFF | 0.009 s Apple | 0.015 s Lossless | MP3 | 9.2 s FLAC | 30.2 s Locally (MacBook Air M1 SSD) : Format | Seek + Read Time ----------|------------------ WAV | 0.0005 s AIFF | 0.0004 s Apple | 0.0011 s Lossless | MP3 | 0.1958 s FLAC | 0.7528 s WAV, AIFF, and M4A all seek virtually instantly (< 15 ms). MP3 and FLAC exhibit linear-time behavior, with FLAC being the worst affected. Note that M4A (AAC) is also a compressed format that requires decoding after seeking, yet it completes in 15 ms. This rules out any inherent limitation of compressed formats, the MP4 container's packet index (stts/stco) is clearly being used for fast random access. Both MP3 (Xing/LAME TOC) and FLAC (SEEKTABLE metadata block) have their own seek mechanisms that should provide similar performance. Minimal CLI tool to reproduce: import Foundation guard CommandLine.arguments.count > 1 else { print("Usage: FLACSpeed <audio-file-path>") exit(1) } let path = CommandLine.arguments[1] let fileURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: path) do { let file = try AVAudioFile(forReading: fileURL) let format = file.processingFormat let buffer = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: format, frameCapacity: 8192)! let totalFrames = file.length let seekTarget = totalFrames / 2 print("File: \(fileURL.lastPathComponent)") print("Format: \(format)") print("Total frames: \(totalFrames)") print("Seeking to frame: \(seekTarget)") file.framePosition = seekTarget let start = CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() try file.read(into: buffer, frameCount: 8192) let elapsed = CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() - start print("Read after seek took \(elapsed) seconds") } catch { print("Error: \(error.localizedDescription)") exit(1) } Expected behavior: AVAudio​File​.read(into​:frame​Count:) after setting frame​Position should use the available seek mechanisms in FLAC and MP3 files for fast random access, as it already does for M4A (AAC). Even accounting for the fact that seek tables provide approximate (not sample-precise) positioning, the "jump to nearest index point + decode forward" approach should complete in milliseconds, not seconds. Workaround: For FLAC, I've worked around this by using libFLAC directly, which provides instant seeking via FLAC__stream​_decoder​_seek​_absolute(). libFLAC Performance: For comparison, libFLAC's FLAC__stream​_decoder​_seek​_absolute() performs the same seek + read on the same FLAC file in around 0.015, using the FLAC seek table to jump to the nearest preceding seek point, then decoding forward a small number of frames to the exact target sample.
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427
Activity
Mar ’26
Metadata in Video stripped by Share Sheet / Airdrop
I have an application which records video along with some custom metadata and a chapter track. The resultant video is stored in the Camera Roll. When sharing the video via the Share Sheet or AirDrop, the metadata track is stripped entirely (the chapter markers are preserved) Sharing via AirDrop with the "All Photos Data" option does include the metadata track, as does copying from the device with Image Capture but this is a bad user experience as the user must remember to explicitly select this option, and the filename is lost when sending this way. I have also tried various other approaches (such as encoding my metadata in a subtitle track, which I didn't expect to be stripped as it's an accessibility concern) but it's also removed. Essentially I am looking for a definitive list of things that are not stripped or if there's a way to encode a track in some way to indicate it should be preserved. The metadata is added via AVTimedMetadataGroup containing one AVMutableMetadataItem which has its value as a JSON string. I took a different approach with the Chapter Marker track (mainly because I did it first in a completely different way and didn't rework it when I added the other track). I post-process these after the video is recorded, and add them with addMutableTrack and then addTrackAssociation(to: chapterTrack, type: .chapterList) but I don't think that's the reason the chapter track persists where the custom metadata does not as other tests with video files from other sources containing subtitles etc also had their subtitle data stripped. tl;dr I record videos with metadata that I want to be able to share via Share Sheet and AirDrop, what am I doing wrong?
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442
Activity
Mar ’26
WatchOS: Can a background metronome app coexist with both Runna workout and Spotify playback?
I’m building a standalone Apple Watch metronome app for running. My goal is for these 3 apps to work at the same time: Runna owns the workout session Spotify plays music my app plays a metronome click in the background So far this is what I've found: Using HKWorkout​Session in my metronome app works well with Spotify, but conflicts with Runna and other workout apps, so I removed that. Using watchOS background audio with longFormAudio allows my app run in the background, and it can coexist with Runna. However, it seems to conflict with Spotify playback, and one app tends to stop the other. Is there any supported watchOS audio/background configuration that allows all 3 at once? More specifically this is what I need: another app owns HKWorkout​Session Spotify keeps playing my app keeps generating metronome clicks in the background Or is this simply not supported by current watchOS session/background rules? My metronome uses AVAudio​Engine / AVAudio​Player​Node with generated click audio. Thank you!
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4
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800
Activity
Mar ’26