Photos & Camera

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Explore technical aspects of capturing high-quality photos and videos, including exposure control, focus modes, and RAW capture options.

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Is there a resource available that lists all the AVCaptureDevices for each iPhone model?
I want to fully support the new iPhone models in my app, and ideally need to know the available lenses. However, I can't find information about this on the web and they're not reported in the simulators. The closest thing I found was this, but it's very out of date. https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/DeviceInformation/Reference/iOSDeviceCompatibility/Cameras/Cameras.html My only other option is to buy each device, which isn't really feasible, or to log the data from real users via an analytics tool which isn't ideal either. Thanks, Alex
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443
Sep ’25
How can I locate a UVC camera for PTZ control by AVCaptureDevice.unique_id
I'm writing a program to control a PTZ camera connected via USB. I can get access to target camera's unique_id, and also other infos provided by AVFoundation. But I don't know how to locate my target USB device to send a UVC ControlRequest. There's many Cameras with same VendorID and ProductID connected at a time, so I need a more exact way to find out which device is my target. It looks that the unique_id provided is (locationID<<32|VendorID<<16|ProductID) as hex string, but I'm not sure if I can always assume this behavior won't change. Is there's a document declares how AVFoundation generate the unique_id for USB camera, so I can assume this convert will always work? Or is there's a way to send a PTZ control request to AVCaptureDevice? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40006908/usb-interface-of-an-avcapturedevice I have seen this similar question. But I'm worrying that Exacting LocationID+VendorID+ProductID from unique_id seems like programming to implementation instead of interface. So, if there's any other better way to control my camera? here's my example code for getting unique_id: // // camera_unique_id_test.mm // // 测试代码:使用C++获取当前系统摄像头的AVCaptureDevice unique_id // // 编译命令: // clang++ -framework AVFoundation -framework CoreMedia -framework Foundation // camera_unique_id_test.mm -o camera_unique_id_test // #include <iostream> #include <string> #include <vector> #import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h> #import <Foundation/Foundation.h> struct CameraInfo { std::string uniqueId; }; std::vector<CameraInfo> getAllCameraDevices() { std::vector<CameraInfo> cameras; @autoreleasepool { NSArray<AVCaptureDevice*>* devices = [AVCaptureDevice devicesWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo]; AVCaptureDevice* defaultDevice = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo]; // 遍历所有设备 for (AVCaptureDevice* device in devices) { CameraInfo info; // 获取unique_id info.uniqueId = std::string([device.uniqueID UTF8String]); cameras.push_back(info); } } return cameras; } int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { std::vector<CameraInfo> cameras = getAllCameraDevices(); for (size_t i = 0; i < cameras.size(); i++) { const CameraInfo& camera = cameras[i]; std::cout << " 设备 " << (i + 1) << ":" << std::endl; std::cout << " unique_id: " << camera.uniqueId << std::endl; } return 0; } and here's my code for UVC control: // clang++ -framework Foundation -framework IOKit uvc_test.cpp -o uvc_test #include <iostream> #include <CoreFoundation/CoreFoundation.h> #include <IOKit/IOCFPlugIn.h> #include <IOKit/IOKitLib.h> #include <IOKit/IOMessage.h> #include <IOKit/usb/IOUSBLib.h> #include <IOKit/usb/USB.h> CFStringRef CreateCFStringFromIORegistryKey(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef keyString = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, key, kCFStringEncodingUTF8); if (!keyString) return nullptr; CFStringRef result = static_cast<CFStringRef>( IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(ioService, keyString, kCFAllocatorDefault, kIORegistryIterateRecursively)); CFRelease(keyString); return result; } std::string GetStringFromIORegistry(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef cfString = CreateCFStringFromIORegistryKey(ioService, key); if (!cfString) return ""; char buffer[256]; Boolean success = CFStringGetCString(cfString, buffer, sizeof(buffer), kCFStringEncodingUTF8); CFRelease(cfString); return success ? std::string(buffer) : std::string(""); } uint32_t GetUInt32FromIORegistry(io_service_t ioService, const char* key) { CFStringRef keyString = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, key, kCFStringEncodingUTF8); if (!keyString) return 0; CFNumberRef number = static_cast<CFNumberRef>( IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(ioService, keyString, kCFAllocatorDefault, kIORegistryIterateRecursively)); CFRelease(keyString); if (!number) return 0; uint32_t value = 0; CFNumberGetValue(number, kCFNumberSInt32Type, &value); CFRelease(number); return value; } int main() { // Get matching dictionary for USB devices CFMutableDictionaryRef matchingDict = IOServiceMatching(kIOUSBDeviceClassName); // Get iterator for matching services io_iterator_t serviceIterator; IOServiceGetMatchingServices(kIOMasterPortDefault, matchingDict, &serviceIterator); // Iterate through matching devices io_service_t usbService; while ((usbService = IOIteratorNext(serviceIterator))) { uint32_t locationId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "locationID"); uint32_t vendorId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "idVendor"); uint32_t productId = GetUInt32FromIORegistry(usbService, "idProduct"); IOCFPlugInInterface** plugInInterface = nullptr; IOUSBDeviceInterface** deviceInterface = nullptr; SInt32 score; // Get device plugin interface IOCreatePlugInInterfaceForService(usbService, kIOUSBDeviceUserClientTypeID, kIOCFPlugInInterfaceID, &plugInInterface, &score); // Get device interface (*plugInInterface) ->QueryInterface(plugInInterface, CFUUIDGetUUIDBytes(kIOUSBDeviceInterfaceID), (LPVOID*)&deviceInterface); (*plugInInterface)->Release(plugInInterface); // Try to find UVC control interface using CreateInterfaceIterator io_iterator_t interfaceIterator; IOUSBFindInterfaceRequest interfaceRequest; interfaceRequest.bInterfaceClass = kUSBVideoInterfaceClass; // 14 interfaceRequest.bInterfaceSubClass = kUSBVideoControlSubClass; // 1 interfaceRequest.bInterfaceProtocol = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; interfaceRequest.bAlternateSetting = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; (*deviceInterface) ->CreateInterfaceIterator(deviceInterface, &interfaceRequest, &interfaceIterator); (*deviceInterface)->Release(deviceInterface); io_service_t usbInterface = IOIteratorNext(interfaceIterator); IOObjectRelease(interfaceIterator); if (usbInterface) { std::cout << "Get UVC device with:" << std::endl; std::cout << "locationId: " << std::hex << locationId << std::endl; std::cout << "vendorId: " << std::hex << vendorId << std::endl; std::cout << "productId: " << std::hex << productId << std::endl << std::endl; IOObjectRelease(usbInterface); } IOObjectRelease(usbService); } IOObjectRelease(serviceIterator); }
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340
Oct ’25
Background uploading extension's identifier not official yet
Recently Apple gave us the possibility to upload asset resources in the background. We implemented our background upload extension but when our CI tried to upload the app on TestFlight we got an error that the extension point identifier - in our case com.apple.photos.backgound-upload - is not an official one. Any idea when it will become official and we will be able to release a working background uploading?
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210
Nov ’25
Virtual Camera Shows Jittering Frames and Solid Accent Color on macOS
Hello Apple Developer Support, I’m developing a virtual camera using the CMIOExtensionDevice / CMIOExtensionStreamSource APIs on macOS. While the virtual camera appears in system settings and apps like Zoom and Google Meet, the video output exhibits the following issues: Jittering frames: The first frame sometimes appears correctly, but subsequent frames flicker or jitter. Solid color fill: Eventually, the camera feed fills entirely with a solid accent color (e.g., blue), rather than the intended video content. Console logs: Repeated messages appear in Console.app: Invalid display 0x00000000 Setup details: The virtual camera is created using CMIOExtensionDevice and CMIOExtensionStream. Video frames are rendered from NSImage/CGImage using CGContext and copied into CVPixelBuffers. Frame delivery is controlled by a DispatchSourceTimer at 60 FPS. macOS version: 26.2 Xcode version: 26.1 Observations: The Invalid display 0x00000000 logs suggest that CGContext drawing or NSImage operations are failing in headless mode (i.e., there is no real display attached to the virtual camera). Using CIContext with .useSoftwareRenderer = true appears to mitigate some flicker, but not entirely. Questions / Requests: Is it expected that CoreMediaIO virtual cameras cannot reliably render CGImage / NSImage frames offscreen? Are there recommended APIs or approaches to render virtual camera frames fully headless to avoid display-dependent jitter? Is there any documentation or sample code from Apple showing stable video output from a virtual camera extension that does not rely on a physical display? Any guidance or examples would be greatly appreciated. This issue prevents the virtual camera from being used reliably in standard video apps. Thank you, Savvy
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6d
Implementing PHBackgroundResourceUploadExtension
Hi, I am trying to implement a PHBackgroundResourceUploadExtension to upload backup media files to an external cloud service based on these docs: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/PhotoKit/uploading-asset-resources-in-the-background#Acknowledge-completed-jobs Creating jobs and actual uploading is working as expected, but the problem I have is in the acknowledgeCompletedJobs() function. When trying to access a job's resource, the resource is nil and thus has empty assetLocalIdentifier and originalFilename. Did anybody successfully implement this extension or knows, why this would happen? Because the resource of an acknowledgable job is empty, I can not match it back to my processed assets.
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72
17h
Generating Live Photo from JPG and MOV fails
I am working on an iOS application using SwiftUI where I want to convert a JPG and a MOV file to a live photo. I am utilizing the LivePhoto Class from Github for this. The JPG and MOV files are displayed correctly in my WallpaperDetailView, but I am facing issues when trying to download the live photo to the gallery and generate the Live Photo. Here is the relevant code and the errors I am encountering: Console prints: Play button should be visible Image URL fetched and set: Optional("https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/...") Video is ready to play Video downloaded to: file:///var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/.../tmp/CFNetworkDownload_7rW5ny.tmp Failed to generate Live Photo I have verified that the app has the necessary permissions to access the Photo Library. The JPEG and MOV files are successfully downloaded and can be displayed in the app. The issue seems to occur when generating the Live Photo from the downloaded files. struct WallpaperDetailView: View { var wallpaper: Wallpaper @State private var isLoading = false @State private var isImageSaved = false @State private var imageURL: URL? @State private var livePhotoVideoURL: URL? @State private var player: AVPlayer? @State private var playerViewController: AVPlayerViewController? @State private var isVideoReady = false @State private var showBuffering = false var body: some View { ZStack { if let imageURL = imageURL { GeometryReader { geometry in KFImage(imageURL) .resizable() ... } } if let playerViewController = playerViewController { VideoPlayerViewController(playerViewController: playerViewController) .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, maxHeight: .infinity) .clipped() .edgesIgnoringSafeArea(.all) } } .onAppear { PHPhotoLibrary.requestAuthorization { status in if status == .authorized { loadImage() } else { print("User denied access to photo library") } } } private func loadImage() { isLoading = true if let imageURLString = wallpaper.imageURL, let imageURL = URL(string: imageURLString) { self.imageURL = imageURL if imageURL.scheme == "file" { self.isLoading = false print("Local image URL set: \(imageURL)") } else { fetchDownloadURL(from: imageURLString) { url in self.imageURL = url self.isLoading = false print("Image URL fetched and set: \(String(describing: url))") } } } if let livePhotoVideoURLString = wallpaper.livePhotoVideoURL, let livePhotoVideoURL = URL(string: livePhotoVideoURLString) { self.livePhotoVideoURL = livePhotoVideoURL preloadAndPlayVideo(from: livePhotoVideoURL) } else { self.isLoading = false print("No valid image or video URL") } } private func preloadAndPlayVideo(from url: URL) { self.player = AVPlayer(url: url) let playerViewController = AVPlayerViewController() playerViewController.player = self.player self.playerViewController = playerViewController let playerItem = AVPlayerItem(url: url) playerItem.preferredForwardBufferDuration = 1.0 self.player?.replaceCurrentItem(with: playerItem) ... print("Live Photo Video URL set: \(url)") } private func saveWallpaperToPhotos() { if let imageURL = imageURL, let livePhotoVideoURL = livePhotoVideoURL { saveLivePhotoToPhotos(imageURL: imageURL, videoURL: livePhotoVideoURL) } else if let imageURL = imageURL { saveImageToPhotos(url: imageURL) } } private func saveImageToPhotos(url: URL) { ... } private func saveLivePhotoToPhotos(imageURL: URL, videoURL: URL) { isLoading = true downloadVideo(from: videoURL) { localVideoURL in guard let localVideoURL = localVideoURL else { print("Failed to download video for Live Photo") DispatchQueue.main.async { self.isLoading = false } return } print("Video downloaded to: \(localVideoURL)") self.generateAndSaveLivePhoto(imageURL: imageURL, videoURL: localVideoURL) } } private func generateAndSaveLivePhoto(imageURL: URL, videoURL: URL) { LivePhoto.generate(from: imageURL, videoURL: videoURL, progress: { percent in print("Progress: \(percent)") }, completion: { livePhoto, resources in guard let resources = resources else { print("Failed to generate Live Photo") DispatchQueue.main.async { self.isLoading = false } return } print("Live Photo generated with resources: \(resources)") self.saveLivePhotoToLibrary(resources: resources) }) } private func saveLivePhotoToLibrary(resources: LivePhoto.LivePhotoResources) { LivePhoto.saveToLibrary(resources) { success in DispatchQueue.main.async { if success { self.isImageSaved = true print("Live Photo saved successfully") } else { print("Failed to save Live Photo") } self.isLoading = false } } } private func fetchDownloadURL(from gsURL: String, completion: @escaping (URL?) -> Void) { let storageRef = Storage.storage().reference(forURL: gsURL) storageRef.downloadURL { url, error in if let error = error { print("Failed to fetch image URL: \(error)") completion(nil) } else { completion(url) } } } private func downloadVideo(from url: URL, completion: @escaping (URL?) -> Void) { let task = URLSession.shared.downloadTask(with: url) { localURL, response, error in guard let localURL = localURL, error == nil else { print("Failed to download video: \(String(describing: error))") completion(nil) return } completion(localURL) } task.resume() } }```
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929
Mar ’25
Torch Freezes Ultra-Wide Camera When Switching Between Wide & Ultra-Wide Lenses (AVFoundation Bug?)
I'm developing an iOS app using AVFoundation for real-time video capture and object detection. While implementing torch functionality with camera switching (between Wide and Ultra-Wide lenses), I encountered a critical issue where the camera freezes when toggling the torch while the Ultra-Wide camera is active. Issue If the torch is ON and I switch from Wide to Ultra-Wide, the camera freezes If the Ultra-Wide camera is active and I try to turn the torch ON, the camera freezes The iPhone Camera app allows using the torch while recording video with the Ultra-Wide lens, so this should be possible via AVFoundation as well. Code snippet DispatchQueue.global(qos: .userInitiated).async { [weak self] in guard let self = self else { return } let isSwitchingToUltraWide = !self.isUsingFisheyeCamera let cameraType: AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? .builtInUltraWideCamera : .builtInWideAngleCamera let cameraName = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? "Ultra Wide" : "Wide" guard let selectedCamera = AVCaptureDevice.default(cameraType, for: .video, position: .back) else { DispatchQueue.main.async { self.showAlert(title: "Camera Error", message: "\(cameraName) camera is not available on this device.") } return } do { let currentInput = self.videoCapture.captureSession.inputs.first as? AVCaptureDeviceInput self.videoCapture.captureSession.beginConfiguration() if isSwitchingToUltraWide &amp;&amp; self.isFlashlightOn { self.forceEnableTorchThroughWide() } if let currentInput = currentInput { self.videoCapture.captureSession.removeInput(currentInput) } let videoInput = try AVCaptureDeviceInput(device: selectedCamera) self.videoCapture.captureSession.addInput(videoInput) self.videoCapture.captureSession.commitConfiguration() self.videoCapture.updateVideoOrientation() DispatchQueue.main.async { if let barButton = sender as? UIBarButtonItem { barButton.title = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? "Wide" : "Ultra Wide" barButton.tintColor = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? UIColor.systemGreen : UIColor.white } print("Switched to \(cameraName) camera.") } self.isUsingFisheyeCamera.toggle() } catch { DispatchQueue.main.async { self.showAlert(title: "Camera Error", message: "Failed to switch to \(cameraName) camera: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } } } Expected Behavior Torch should be able to work when Ultra-Wide is active, just like the iPhone Camera app does. The camera should not freeze when switching between Wide and Ultra-Wide with the torch ON. AVCaptureSession should not crash when toggling the torch while Ultra-Wide is active. Questions &amp; Help Needed Is this a known issue with AVFoundation? How does the iPhone Camera app allow using the torch while recording in Ultra-Wide? What’s the correct way to switch between Wide and Ultra-Wide cameras without freezing when the torch is active? Info Device tested: iPhone 13 Pro / iPhone 15 Pro / Iphone 15 iOS Version: iOS 17.3 / iOS 18.0 Xcode Version: 16.2
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707
Oct ’25
Capturing & Processing ProRaw 48MP images is slow
Hey, I have a camera app that captures a ProRaw photo and then runs a few Core Image filters before saving it to the device as a HEIC. However I'm finding that capturing at 48MP is rather slow. Testing a minimal pipeline on an iPhone 16 Pro: Shutter press => file received in output: 1.2 ~ 1.6s CIRawFilter created using photo file representation then rendered to context, without any filters: 0.8s ~ 1s Saving to device ~0.15s Is this the expected time for capturing processing? The native camera app seems to save the images within half a second. I'm using QualityPrioritization.balanced and the highest resolution available which is 48MP. Would using the CIRawFilter with the pixelBuffer from the photo output be faster? I tried it but couldn't get it to output an image. Are there any other things I could try to speed this up? Is it possible to capture at 24MP instead? Thanks, Alex
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517
Mar ’25
Create live photo throw Optional(Error Domain=PHPhotosErrorDomain Code=-1 "(null)")
I want to create a Live Photo. The project includes a .jpg image and a .mov video (2 seconds). I am sure they are correct. Two permissions in xcode have been added: Privacy - Photo Library Usage Description Privacy - Photo Library Additions Usage Description Simulate: iphone 16, ios 18.3 The codes in ContentView.swift : private func saveLivePhoto(imageURL: URL, videoURL: URL, completion: @escaping (Bool, Error?) -> Void) { PHPhotoLibrary.shared().performChanges { let creationRequest = PHAssetCreationRequest.forAsset() let options = PHAssetResourceCreationOptions() options.shouldMoveFile = false creationRequest.addResource(with: .photo, fileURL: imageURL, options: options) creationRequest.addResource(with: .pairedVideo, fileURL: videoURL, options: options) } completionHandler: { success, error in DispatchQueue.main.async { print(error) completion(success, error) } } } guard let imageURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "livephoto", withExtension: "jpeg"), let videoURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "livephoto", withExtension: "mov") else { showAlertMessage(title: "error", message: "cant find Live Photo ") return } print("imageURL: \(imageURL)") print("videoURL: \(videoURL)") saveLivePhoto(imageURL: imageURL, videoURL: videoURL) { success, error in if success { xxxxx } else { xxxxx } } Really need help, thanks
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355
Mar ’25
Dockkit custom tracking does not work on iOS18.3
Hi all, I'm using Apple Sample Code below to create application using dockkit. "Controlling a DockKit accessory using your camera app" https://developer.apple.com/documentation/dockkit/controlling-a-dockkit-accessory-using-your-camera-app?changes=_8 I used vision hand recognition and put the observation data to dockAccessory.track, but Belkin or Insta360 devices never move on iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18.3. If I use other functions like face search (system tracking) in the app, those work ok. I used Belkin and Insta360 Flow 2 Pro to reproduce the problem. My friend is also saying that the custom tracking feature was working fine on the OS 18 beta, but on recent iOS 18.3 that feature does not work. If I can get the iOS 18.0 beta then we can test that feature. But I cannot revert my iOS from 18.3 to the iOS 18.0 Beta. Regards, TO
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339
Dec ’25
Why Does AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReasonVideoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps Occur on iPhone?
Hi everyone, We're encountering an unexpected issue with our iPhone-only camera app: 👉 TimeMark - Photo Proof https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timemark-photo-proof/id6446071834 Problem Description: Our app uses a full-screen camera view via AVCaptureSession. In some cases reported by users, the camera fails immediately upon app launch, and we receive this interruption reason: AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReasonVideoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps According to the Apple documentation https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avcapturesession/interruptionreason/videodevicenotavailablewithmultipleforegroundapps?language=objc , this interruption typically occurs when the app is running in a multi-app layout such as Slide Over, Split View, or Picture in Picture — all of which are iPad-only features. However, this issue is being reported on iPhones, and our app does not support iPad at all. Also noted in the documentation: "Given your present AVCaptureSession configuration, the session may only be run if your app occupies the full screen." Additional Context: The issue occurs immediately on app launch, before the user can interact with the camera. We don’t enable multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled. We are 100% sure this is happening on iPhone, not iPad. It’s hard to reproduce; users report it happening sporadically. Locally, we tried playing Picture-in-Picture videos (e.g., Safari/YouTube) before launching our app, but we could not reproduce the issue. Questions: Why is this interruption reason occurring on iPhone, which doesn’t officially support Slide Over or Split View? Could this be caused by some system-level multitasking or resource contention (e.g., Picture in Picture from FaceTime or Safari)? Would enabling multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled help prevent this issue on iPhone, even though it's designed for iPad? Enabling multitaskingCameraAccessEnabled seems to require enabling UIBackgroundModes → voip. Would adding this background mode cause any App Store review risk or rejection if our app doesn't actually use VoIP functionality? Any help, insight, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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866
Oct ’25
Making DataScannerViewController work in the Simulator
Before you post —Camera doesn't work on the Simulator— that's no longer true. I've made a solution that makes the Simulator believe there's an actual hardware device connected, allowing users to stream the macOS camera to the iOS Simulator (see for more info RocketSim's documentation: https://docs.rocketsim.app/features/hzQMSrSga7BGWvxdNVdwYs/simulator-camera-support/58tQ5jvevLNSnyUEA7VgAv) Now, it works for VNDocumentCameraViewController, but when I try opening DataScannerViewController, I directly run into: Failed to start scanning: The operation couldn’t be completed. (VisionKit.DataScannerViewController.ScanningUnavailable error 0.) My question: How does this view controller determine whether scanning is available? Is there a certain capability the available AVCaptureDevice's need to support maybe? Any direction would be helpful for me to make this work for developers, making them build apps faster!
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357
Jul ’25
After iOS 18.5, the AVFoundation AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReason.videoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps error has caused a significant increase in camera black screen issues.
Issue: After iOS 18.5 release, our app is experiencing a significant increase in AVCaptureSessionInterruptionReason.videoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps errors. Details: Our camera-related code has not been updated recently.However, we've observed that the error rate has significantly increased starting from May 2025. The error rate has risen from approximately 0.02% (2 in 10,000 users) to 0.1% (1 in 1,000 users). This represents a 5x increase in error occurrence. The frequency has increased noticeably since iOS 18.5 This is affecting our app's camera functionality and user experience Questions: Are there any known changes in iOS 18.5 regarding camera access management? What are the recommended best practices to handle this interruption reason? Are there any API changes we should be aware of? Best, Shay
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490
Oct ’25
Optimizing UICollectionView Scrolling Performance and High-Quality Image Loading with PHCachingImageManager
Hello, I'm developing an app that displays a photo library using UICollectionView and PHCachingImageManager. I'd like to achieve a user experience similar to the native iOS Photos app, where low-quality images are shown quickly while scrolling, and higher-quality images are loaded for visible cells once scrolling stops. I'm currently using the following approach: While Scrolling: I'm using the UICollectionViewDataSourcePrefetching protocol. In the prefetchItemsAt method, I call startCachingImages with low-quality options to cache images in advance. After Scrolling Stops: In the scrollViewDidEndDecelerating method, I intend to load high-quality images for the currently visible cells. I have a few questions regarding this approach: What is the best practice for managing both low-quality and high-quality images efficiently with PHCachingImageManager? Is it correct to call startCachingImages with fastFormat options and then call it again with highQualityFormat in scrollViewDidEndDecelerating? How can I minimize the delay when a low-quality image is replaced by a high-quality one? Are there any additional strategies to help pre-load high-quality images more effectively?
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267
Aug ’25
AVCaptureMetadataOutput .face detection not working on iOS 26 Beta with high sessionPreset
In iOS 26 (Developer Beta), the AVCaptureMetadataOutputObjectsDelegate no longer receives callbacks when metadataOutput.metadataObjectTypes = [.face] is set. On earlier iOS versions the issue does not occur. Interestingly, face detection works if I set the sessionPreset to .medium, but not with .high — except on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, where it works regardless.
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367
Sep ’25
Live Photos created with PHLivePhoto API show "Motion not available" when setting as wallpaper
I'm creating Live Photos programmatically in my app using the Photos and AVFoundation frameworks. While the Live Photos work perfectly in the Photos app (long press shows motion), users cannot set them as motion wallpapers. The system shows "Motion not available" message. Here's my approach for creating Live Photos: // 1. Create video with required metadata let writer = try AVAssetWriter(outputURL: videoURL, fileType: .mov) let contentIdentifier = AVMutableMetadataItem() contentIdentifier.identifier = .quickTimeMetadataContentIdentifier contentIdentifier.value = assetIdentifier as NSString writer.metadata = [contentIdentifier] // Video settings: 882x1920, H.264, 30fps, 2 seconds // Added still-image-time metadata at middle frame // 2. Create HEIC image with asset identifier var makerAppleDict: [String: Any] = [:] makerAppleDict["17"] = assetIdentifier // Required key for Live Photo metadata[kCGImagePropertyMakerAppleDictionary as String] = makerAppleDict // 3. Generate Live Photo PHLivePhoto.request( withResourceFileURLs: [photoURL, videoURL], placeholderImage: nil, targetSize: .zero, contentMode: .aspectFit ) { livePhoto, info in // Success - Live Photo created } // 4. Save to Photos library PHAssetCreationRequest.forAsset().addResource(with: .photo, fileURL: photoURL, options: nil) PHAssetCreationRequest.forAsset().addResource(with: .pairedVideo, fileURL: videoURL, options: nil) What I've Tried Matching exact video specifications from Camera app (882x1920, H.264, 30fps) Adding all documented metadata (content identifier, still-image-time) Testing various video durations (1.5s, 2s, 3s) Different image formats (HEIC, JPEG) Comparing with exiftool against working Live Photos Expected Behavior Live Photos created programmatically should be eligible for motion wallpapers, just like those from the Camera app. Actual Behavior System shows "Motion not available" and only allows setting as static wallpaper. Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated. This is affecting our users who want to use their created content as wallpapers. Questions Are there additional undocumented requirements for Live Photos to be wallpaper-eligible? Is this a deliberate restriction for third-party apps, or a bug? Has anyone successfully created Live Photos that work as motion wallpapers? Environment iOS 17.0 - 18.1 Xcode 16.0 Tested on iPhone 16 Pro
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413
Aug ’25
Only fetch PHAssets from the current user's iCloud Library
I'm working on a photo app and I want to allow the user to display, edit and delete photos. I can fetch all photos using PHAsset.fetchAssets(with: options). This works as intended. However, I can't seem to find a way to prevent the user from seeing photos from a Shared Library. The PHAssetSourceType only contains typeCloudShared to only show items from a specific album; not library. How can I filter by iCloud Shared Library?
2
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488
Sep ’25
Orientation does not work on iPhone 17 and above.
I'm receiving output from avcapturesession and capturing an image using Vision, but the image is output in landscape orientation instead of portrait. Even when I set the orientation to up in ciimage, cgimage, and uiimage, the image is still output in landscape orientation. On iPhones 16 and below, the image is output in portrait orientation. But on iPhones 17 and above, the image is output in landscape orientation. Please help.
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412
Dec ’25
New API to control front camera orientation like native Camera app on iPhone 17 with iOS 26?
The iPhone 17’s front camera with the new 18MP square sensor and iOS 26’s Center Stage feature can auto-rotate between portrait and landscape like the native iOS Camera app. Is there a Swift or AVFoundation API that allows developers to manually control front camera orientation in the same way the native Camera app does? Or is this auto-rotation strictly handled by the system without public API access?
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331
Oct ’25
APMP & Photography?
Hi, I'm a fan of the gallery in vision pro which has video as well as still photography but I'm wondering if Apple has considered adding the projected media tags to heic so that we can go that next step from Spatial photos to Immersive photos. I have a device that can give me 12k x 6k fisheye images in HDR, but it can't do it at a framerate or resolution that's good enough for video, so I want to cut my losses and show off immersive photos instead. Is there something Apple is already working on for APMP stills or should I create my own app that reads metadata inside a HEIC that I infer in a similar way to the demo "ProjectedMediaConversion" is doing for Video. It would be great to have 180VR photos, which could show as Spatial in a gallery view, but going immersive would half-surround you instead of floating in the blurred view. I think that would be a pretty amazing effect.
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Oct ’25