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Metal useResource vs. MTLFence
Hello, I'm tracking down a bug where useResource doesn't seem to apply proper synchronization when a resource is produced by the render pass then consumed by the compute pass, but when I use MTLFence between the to signal and wait between the render/compute encoders, the artifact goes away. The resource is created with MTLHazardTrackingModeTracked and useResource is called on the compute encoder after the render pass. Metal API Validation doesn't report any warnings/errors. Am I misunderstanding the difference between the two APIs? I dug through the Metal documentation and it looks like useResource should handle synchronization given the resource has MTLHazardTrackingModeTracked but on the other hand, MTLFence should be used to ensure proper synchronization between command encoders. Can someone can clarify the difference between the two APIs and when to use them.
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Jul ’25
How to get accurate Mouse/Trackpad deltas on macOS when using CGWarpMouseCursorPosition?
I am working on a remote control application for macOS where I need to maintain two "virtual" cursors: Remote Cursor: Follows the remote user's movements. Local Cursor: Follows the local user's physical mouse/trackpad movements. To move the system cursor (for the remote side), I use CGWarpMouseCursorPosition as follows: void DualCursorMac::UpdateSystemCursorPosition(int x, int y) { CGPoint point = CGPointMake(static_cast<CGFloat>(x), static_cast<CGFloat>(y)); // Warp the cursor to match remote coordinates CGWarpMouseCursorPosition(point); } Meanwhile, I use a CGEventTap to monitor local physical movements to update my local virtual cursor's UI: CGEventRef Mouse::MouseTapCallback(CGEventTapProxy proxy, CGEventType type, CGEventRef event, void *refcon) { if (remoteControlMode) { // We want to suppress system cursor movement but still read the delta const int deltaX = static_cast<int>(CGEventGetIntegerValueField(event, kCGMouseEventDeltaX)); const int deltaY = static_cast<int>(CGEventGetIntegerValueField(event, kCGMouseEventDeltaY)); NSLog(@"MouseTapCallback: delta:(%d, %d)", deltaX, deltaY); // Update local virtual cursor UI based on deltas... return nullptr; // Consume the event } return event; } The Problem: When CGWarpMouseCursorPosition is called frequently to update the system cursor, it interferes with the kCGMouseEventDeltaX/Y values in the Event Tap. Specifically, if the local user moves the trackpad slowly (expecting deltas of 1 or 2), but a "Warp" occurs simultaneously (e.g., jumping the cursor from (100, 100) to (300, 300)), the deltaX and deltaY in the callback suddenly spike to very large values. It seems the system calculates the delta based on the new warped position rather than the pure physical displacement of the trackpad. This makes the local virtual cursor "jump" erratically and makes it impossible to track smooth local movement during remote control. My Question: Is there a way to get the "raw" or "pure" physical relative movement (delta) from the trackpad/mouse that is independent of the system cursor's absolute position or warping? Are there alternative APIs (perhaps IOKit or different CGEvent fields) that would allow me to get consistent deltas even when the cursor is being warped programmatically?
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Game Center Sandbox: Achievements not unlocking in development build?
Hello Everyone I am new here, I am testing game center integration and using a development build of my IOS game. I have set up a couple of achievements in app store connect, but when I trigger them in the game then they do not unlock or show up. Okay so i am signed into the game center with a sandbox account on a test advice. Is there anything else I need to configure, or do achievements usually only work after the game is released?. I will appreciate any guidance… Thanks in Advance!!!
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May ’25
Terminal Codes
Hello Apple Developers and users I am writing this message reguarding some help on some performance codes/settings I can use for my Macbook since I recently downloaded the MacOs Tahoe 26.2 and its been very glitchy and laggy with gaming and just using my mac normally I have tried using a FPS unlocker and downloading Metal 4 the FPS unlocker hasent worked at all I am still stuck on the normal 60 FPS and need some advice/help. Thank you. Kind regards Zachary
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Unable to select a scene for preview in the SpriteKit actions editor
I am just starting to learn SpriteKit and I'm having trouble selecting a scene to preview an action in the actions editor. I created a new macOS Game project (Language: Swift, Game Technology: SpriteKit). When I open the generated 'Actions.sks' file, I see the message "No Preview Scene Selected" in the editor. I see the 'GameScene.sks' scene listed in the "Select..." control in the lower right, but it is greyed out. I'm not able to figure out how to select a scene to preview the action. I'm running Xcode 26.2 on macOS 15. Thanks very much for the help.
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How do I control a SwiftUI TextField with a game controller?
I've coded a text-adventure game in SwiftUI. (My game has no graphics or sound effects.) My app already supports keyboard navigation; I would like to add support for game controllers on iPhone. I can't figure out how to do it. I especially can't see any way to allow controller users to enter text in a TextField. I've read https://developer.apple.com/documentation/gamecontroller/supporting-game-controllers and it's all about button events. There's no reference to SwiftUI at all in that documentation, or any input-method editing at all. The only mention of "keyboard" is about treating the keyboard itself as if it were a game controller providing button events. How do I implement this?
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Unity iOS Game Name Display Issue
When building a Unity iOS game, the app name displays incorrectly as "BigBall" on the iPhone home screen, despite setting the project name and bundle identifier to "Big Ball" in Unity and Apple Developer account. The correct name, "Big Ball," appears in TestFlight. I tried solutions from ChatGPT and DeepSeek, but none were satisfactory. Please help me.
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Metal recommendedMaxWorkingSetSize vs actual RAM on iPhone (LLM load fails)
Context I’m deploying large language models on iPhone using llama.cpp. A new iPhone Air (12 GB RAM) reports a Metal MTLDevice.recommendedMaxWorkingSetSize of 8,192 MB, and my attempt to load Llama-2-13B Q4_K (~7.32 GB weights) fails during model initialization. Environment Device: iPhone Air (12 GB RAM) iOS: 26 Xcode: 26.0.1 Build: Metal backend enabled llama.cpp App runs on device (not Simulator) What I’m seeing MTLCreateSystemDefaultDevice().recommendedMaxWorkingSetSize == 8192 MiB Loading Llama-2-13B Q4_K (7.32 GB) fails to complete. Logs indicate memory pressure / allocation issues consistent with the 8 GB working-set guidance. Smaller models (e.g., 7B/8B with similar quantization) load and run (8B Q4_K provide around 9 tokens/second decoding speed). Questions Is 8,192 MB an expected recommendedMaxWorkingSetSize on a 12 GB iPhone? What values should I expect on other 2025 devices including iPhone 17 (8 GB RAM) and iPhone 17 Pro (12 GB RAM) Is it strictly enforced by Metal allocations (heaps/buffers), or advisory for best performance/eviction behavior? Can a process practically exceed this for long-lived buffers without immediate Jetsam risk? Any guidance for LLM scenarios near the limit?
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582
Oct ’25
VISION : getting real geometry reflections in reality kit ?
as in the environments we have real tiem reflections of movies on a screen or reflections of the surrounding hood in the background... could i get a metallic surface getting accurate reflections of a box on top ? i don't mean getting a rpobe or hdr cubemap, i mean the same accurate reflections as the water of the mt hood with movie i'm wacthing in other app
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Mar ’25
How to use MTKTextureLoader to load png data
I am trying to load some PNG data with MTKTextureLoader newTextureWithData,but the result shows wrong at the alpha area. Here is the code. I have an image URL, after it downloads successfully, I try to use the data or UIImagePNGRepresentation (image), they all show wrong. UIImage *tempImg = [UIImage imageWithData:data]; CGImageRef cgRef = tempImg.CGImage; MTKTextureLoader *loader = [[MTKTextureLoader alloc] initWithDevice:device]; id<MTLTexture> temp1 = [loader newTextureWithData:data options:@{MTKTextureLoaderOptionSRGB: @(NO), MTKTextureLoaderOptionTextureUsage: @(MTLTextureUsageShaderRead), MTKTextureLoaderOptionTextureCPUCacheMode: @(MTLCPUCacheModeWriteCombined)} error:nil]; NSData *tempData = UIImagePNGRepresentation(tempImg); id<MTLTexture> temp2 = [loader newTextureWithData:tempData options:@{MTKTextureLoaderOptionSRGB: @(NO), MTKTextureLoaderOptionTextureUsage: @(MTLTextureUsageShaderRead), MTKTextureLoaderOptionTextureCPUCacheMode: @(MTLCPUCacheModeWriteCombined)} error:nil]; id<MTLTexture> temp3 = [loader newTextureWithCGImage:cgRef options:@{MTKTextureLoaderOptionSRGB: @(NO), MTKTextureLoaderOptionTextureUsage: @(MTLTextureUsageShaderRead), MTKTextureLoaderOptionTextureCPUCacheMode: @(MTLCPUCacheModeWriteCombined)} error:nil]; }] resume];
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May ’25
Open Shading Language (OSL) in Metal
Hi. I'm a 3D designer, using Blender for most of my work. The most recent Blender conference discussed utilizing the Open Shading Language (OSL) in their latest versions, which allows designers to write custom shaders for their workflows. At the moment, only Nvidia Optix GPU's can utilize this language for rendering (from what I understand), but Blender developers stated they are waiting on other GPU manufacturers to implement this feature as well. I'm not sure if there are any licensing issues here, but would this be something Apple could implement in Metal to make their hardware more attractive to the 3D design community? Any help or knowledge on this topic would be greatly appreciated.
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Feb ’26
GPTK did not build error
Hey there, I tried to install GPTK again, since I had to reinstall the OS for irrelevant reasons. But every time I try to install the tool kit, it gives me theError: apple/apple/game-porting-toolkit 1.1 did not build error. Before that error occired, I had the Openssl error, which I fixed with the rbenv version of openssl. Is there any way to fix this error? Down bellow you'll find the full error message it gave me. The specs for my Mac are (if they are helpful in any way): M1 Pro MBP 14" with 16GB Ram and 512GB SSD. Thanks! ``Error: apple/apple/game-porting-toolkit 1.1 did not build Logs: /Users/myuser/Library/Logs/Homebrew/game-porting-toolkit/00.options.out /Users/myuser/Library/Logs/Homebrew/game-porting-toolkit/01.configure /Users/myuser/Library/Logs/Homebrew/game-porting-toolkit/01.configure.cc /Users/myuser/Library/Logs/Homebrew/game-porting-toolkit/wine64-build If reporting this issue please do so at (not Homebrew/brew or Homebrew/homebrew-core): https://github.com/apple/homebrew-apple/issues```
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Mar ’25
Unable to find intelgpu_kbl_gt2r0 slice or a compatible one in binary archive
Unable to find intelgpu_kbl_gt2r0 slice or a compatible one in binary archive 'file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/IconRendering.framework/Resources/binary.metallib' available slices: applegpu_g13g, applegpu_g13s, applegpu_g13d, applegpu_g14g, applegpu_g14s, applegpu_g14d, applegpu_g15g, applegpu_g15s, applegpu_g15d, applegpu_g16g, applegpu_g16s, applegpu_g17g, applegpu_g15g, applegpu_g15s, applegpu_g15d, applegpu_g16s Is it related to performance of applications in macOS 26.2 on Intel Macs?
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Feb ’26
How to add and remove child entities to a rigged entity in RealityKit?
I am currently using RealityKit (perspective camera) to render a character in my swiftUI app. The character has customization such as clothing items and hair and all objects are properly weighted to the rig. The way the model is setup in Blender is like so: Groups of objects that will be swapped (ex: Shoes -> Shoes objects) and an armature. I then export it to usdc with all objects active. This is the resulting hierarchy: Before exporting for the animation (armature modifier applied), I simply had to store the Model entities and swap them in but now when I export with the Armature Modifier applied, so that animations get exported, the ModelComponent gets flattened to the armature and swapping entities and applying new materials to them is no longer as simple. Here's a demo blend file and usdc export with a setup like mine, having an animated bone to swing a cube and sphere, to be swapped so that only one is visible https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/be2q6qcztc83z7c4gj1w0/AMapxWc_ip2KZ8oTOYDUMv8?rlkey=rcdaggcxq06dyen09mw5mqmem&st=bnc0d7j0&dl=0 This is how I'm loading the entity and removing a part, with the demo files import SwiftUI import RealityKit struct SwapDemoView: View { var body: some View { RealityView { content in let camera = PerspectiveCamera() camera.transform.translation = SIMD3(x: 0, y: 0.1, z: 3) guard let root = try? await Entity(named: "simpleSwapDemo") else { fatalError("simpleSwapDemo.usdc is not present") } print(root) // Get initial hierarchy guard let cube = root.findEntity(named: "Cube") else { fatalError("Entity cube doesn't exist") } cube.removeFromParent() // <-- Cube is still visible after removal print(root) // Get hierarchy to confirm removal of cube let resource = root.availableAnimations[0] root.playAnimation(resource.repeat()) content.add(root) content.add(camera) } .background(.white) } } And this is what the entity hierarchy looks like in RealityKit before cube removal ▿ 'root' : Entity, children: 1 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ AnimationLibraryComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Armature' : ModelEntity, children: 2 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ ModelComponent ⟐ SkeletalPosesComponent ⟐ AnimationLibraryComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Armature' : Entity ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Primitives' : Entity, children: 2 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Sphere' : Entity, children: 1 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Sphere' : Entity ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Cube' : Entity, children: 1 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Cube' : Entity ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform And here's the hierarchy after removal ▿ 'root' : Entity, children: 1 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ AnimationLibraryComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Armature' : ModelEntity, children: 2 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ ModelComponent ⟐ SkeletalPosesComponent ⟐ AnimationLibraryComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Armature' : Entity ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Primitives' : Entity, children: 1 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Sphere' : Entity, children: 1 ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform ▿ 'Sphere' : Entity ⟐ SynchronizationComponent ⟐ Transform And this is the result: What's the best practice here? Should animation be exported separately and then applied to the skeleton? If so, how is that achieved? I'm not really sure how to proceed here.
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May ’25
Many CGECreateKeyboardEvent in quick succession causing function and dictation buttons to be pressed?
Hi! I hope everyone reading is doing well. I am working on developing a reinforcement learning agent that involves sending scan codes to a window, which I've been doing by sending virtual scan codes with CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent per the docs. There is no event source when I send the keyboard events. However, when many keyboard events are happening (with the keys 'q', 'w', 'e', 'r', 'f', 'd', 's', space, arrow keys) in quick succession (<250ms), the enable dictation popup or the function button emojis popup appear for seemingly no reason. I have verified that I am using the correct scan codes for these keypresses, so I am wondering what else could cause this to happen. It is as if I am choosing to press f5 or fn. It does not happen when 'a' is the only button being pressed in quick succession. One thing that I have not been able to easily find is the scan code inputs for dictation nor the function button. do these scan codes overlap somehow? Thank you all for the help! Hunter
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534
Jan ’26
ScreenCaptureKit recording output is corrupted when captureMicrophone is true
Hello everyone, I'm working on a screen recording app using ScreenCaptureKit and I've hit a strange issue. My app records the screen to an .mp4 file, and everything works perfectly until the .captureMicrophone is false In this case, I get a valid, playable .mp4 file. However, as soon as I try to enable the microphone by setting streamConfig.captureMicrophone = true, the recording seems to work, but the final .mp4 file is corrupted and cannot be played by QuickTime or any other player. This happens whether capturesAudio (app audio) is on or off. I've already added the "Privacy - Microphone Usage Description" (NSMicrophoneUsageDescription) to my Info.plist, so I don't think it's a permissions problem. I have my logic split into a ScreenRecorder class that manages state and a CaptureEngine that handles the SCStream. Here is how I'm configuring my SCStream: ScreenRecorder.swift // This is my main SCStreamConfiguration private var streamConfiguration: SCStreamConfiguration { var streamConfig = SCStreamConfiguration() // ... other HDR/preset config ... // These are the problem properties streamConfig.capturesAudio = isAudioCaptureEnabled streamConfig.captureMicrophone = isMicCaptureEnabled // breaks it if true streamConfig.excludesCurrentProcessAudio = false streamConfig.showsCursor = false if let region = selectedRegion, let display = currentDisplay { // My region/frame logic (works fine) let regionWidth = Int(region.frame.width) let regionHeight = Int(region.frame.height) streamConfig.width = regionWidth * scaleFactor streamConfig.height = regionHeight * scaleFactor // ... (sourceRect logic) ... } streamConfig.pixelFormat = kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA streamConfig.colorSpaceName = CGColorSpace.sRGB streamConfig.minimumFrameInterval = CMTime(value: 1, timescale: 60) return streamConfig } And here is how I'm setting up the SCRecordingOutput that writes the file: ScreenRecorder.swift private func initRecordingOutput(for region: ScreenPickerManager.SelectedRegion) throws { let screeRecordingOutputURL = try RecordingWorkspace.createScreenRecordingVideoFile( in: workspaceURL, sessionIndex: sessionIndex ) let recordingConfiguration = SCRecordingOutputConfiguration() recordingConfiguration.outputURL = screeRecordingOutputURL recordingConfiguration.outputFileType = .mp4 recordingConfiguration.videoCodecType = .hevc let recordingOutput = SCRecordingOutput(configuration: recordingConfiguration, delegate: self) self.recordingOutput = recordingOutput } Finally, my CaptureEngine adds these to the SCStream: CaptureEngine.swift class CaptureEngine: NSObject, @unchecked Sendable { private(set) var stream: SCStream? private var streamOutput: CaptureEngineStreamOutput? // ... (dispatch queues) ... func startCapture(configuration: SCStreamConfiguration, filter: SCContentFilter, recordingOutput: SCRecordingOutput) async throws { let streamOutput = CaptureEngineStreamOutput() self.streamOutput = streamOutput do { stream = SCStream(filter: filter, configuration: configuration, delegate: streamOutput) // Add outputs for raw buffers (not used for file recording) try stream?.addStreamOutput(streamOutput, type: .screen, sampleHandlerQueue: videoSampleBufferQueue) try stream?.addStreamOutput(streamOutput, type: .audio, sampleHandlerQueue: audioSampleBufferQueue) try stream?.addStreamOutput(streamOutput, type: .microphone, sampleHandlerQueue: micSampleBufferQueue) // Add the file recording output try stream?.addRecordingOutput(recordingOutput) try await stream?.startCapture() } catch { logger.error("Failed to start capture: \(error.localizedDescription)") throw error } } // ... (stopCapture, etc.) ... } When I had the .captureMicrophone value to be false, I get a perfect .mp4 video playable everywhere, however, when its true, I am getting corrupted video which doesn't play at all :-
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463
Feb ’26