Is there any way we can detect the status of the Show When Muted and Show on Skip Back device settings in code ?
Explore the integration of media technologies within your app. Discuss working with audio, video, camera, and other media functionalities.
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Hi 👋! We have a SpriteKit-based app where we play AVAudio sounds in three different ways:
Effects (incl. UI sounds) with AVAudioPlayer.
Long looping tracks with AVAudioPlayer.
Short animation effects on the timeline of SpriteKit's SKScene files (effectively SKAudioNode nodes).
We've found that when you exit the app or otherwise interrupt audio plays, future audio plays often fail. For example, there's a WebKit-based video trailer inside the app, and if you play it, our looping background music track (2.) will stop playing, and won't resume as you close the trailer (return from WebKit). This is probably due to us not manually restarting the track (so may well be easily fixed). Periodically played AVAudioPlayer audio (1.) are not affected.
However, the more concerning thing is that the audio tracks on SKScene file timelines (3.) will no longer play. My hypothesis is that AVAudioEngine gets interrupted, and needs to be restarted for those AVAudioNode elements to regain functionality. Thing is, we don't deal with AVAudioEngine at all currently in the app, meaning it is never initiated to begin with.
Obviously things return to normal when you remove the app from short-term memory and restart it. However, it seems many of our users aren't doing this, and often report audio failing presumably due to some interruption in the past without the app ever being cleared from memory.
Any idea why timeline-run SKAudioNodes would fail like this? Should the app react to app backgrounding/foregrounding regarding audio?
Any help would be very much appreciated ✌️!
I have an app that records a health provider’s conversation with a patient. I am using Audio Queue Services for this. If a phone call comes in while recording, the doctor wants to be able to ignore the call and continue the conversation without touching the phone. If the doctor answers the call, that’s fine – I will stop the recording. I can detect when the call comes in and ends using CXCallObserver and AVAudioSession.interruptionNotification. Unfortunately, when a call comes in and before it is answered or dismissed, the audio is suppressed. After the call is dismissed, the audio continues to be suppressed. How can I continue to get audio from the mic as long as the user does not answer the phone call?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Audio
Hello,
I have been running into issues with setting nowPlayingInfo information, specifically updating information for CarPlay and the CPNowPlayingTemplate.
When I start playback for an item, I see lock screen information update as expected, along with the CarPlay now playing information.
However, the playing items are books with collections of tracks. When I select a new track(chapter) within the book, I set the MPMediaItemPropertyTitle to the new chapter name. This change is reflected correctly on the lock screen, but almost never appears correctly on the CarPlay CPNowPlayingTemplate. The previous chapter title remains set and never updates.
I see "Application exceeded audio metadata throttle limit." in the debug console fairly frequently.
From that a I figured that I need to minimize updates to the nowPlayingInfo dictionary. What I did:
I store the metadata dictionary in a local dictionary and only set values in the main nowPlayingInfo dictionary when they are different from the current value.
I kick off the nowPlayingInfo update via a task that initially sleeps for around 2 seconds (not a final value, just for my current testing). If a previous Task is active, it gets cancelled, so that only one update can happen within that time window.
Neither of these things have been sufficient. I can switch between different titles entirely and the information updates (including cover art).
But when I switch chapters within a title, the MPMediaItemPropertyTitle continues to get dropped. I know the value is getting set, because it updates on the lock screen correctly.
In total, I have 12 keys I update for info, though with the above changes, usually 2-4 of them actually get updated with high frequency.
I am running out of ideas to satisfy the throttling thresholds to accurately display metadata. I could use some advice.
Thanks.
Hello, I'm trying to create a webbrowser but currently when signed into apple music webplayer I get the following message when I attempt to play on any versions of my webbrowser:
Not available on the web
You can listen to this in the Apple Music app.
Is there a way to setup DRM (assuming this is the issue) with apple to allow my webbrowser to play this content?
I believe Apple TV is also affected.
Thank you ahead of time.
I am work an app development on an app which request an audio function in background as an alert sound.
during debug testing , the function work fine,
but once I testing standalone without debugging , The function not work , it will play out the sound when I back to app.
does any way to trace the issues ?
ApplicationMusicPlayer is not available on watchOS but all other platforms. Is there a technical reason for that like battery life? Same goes for SystemMusicPlayer and MPMusicPlayerController. I already filed feedbacks for that.
Hello,
Basically, I am reading and writing an asset.
To simplify, I am just reading the asset and rewriting it into an output video without any modifications.
However, I want to add a fade-out effect to the last three seconds of the output video.
I don’t know how to do this.
So far, before adding the CMSampleBuffer to the output video, I tried reducing its volume using an extension on CMSampleBuffer.
In the extension, I passed 0.4 for testing, aiming to reduce the video's overall volume by 60%.
My question is:
How can I directly adjust the volume of a CMSampleBuffer?
Here is the extension:
extension CMSampleBuffer {
func adjustVolume(by factor: Float) -> CMSampleBuffer? {
guard let blockBuffer = CMSampleBufferGetDataBuffer(self) else { return nil }
var length = 0
var dataPointer: UnsafeMutablePointer<Int8>?
guard CMBlockBufferGetDataPointer(blockBuffer, atOffset: 0, lengthAtOffsetOut: nil, totalLengthOut: &length, dataPointerOut: &dataPointer) == kCMBlockBufferNoErr else { return nil }
guard let dataPointer = dataPointer else { return nil }
let sampleCount = length / MemoryLayout<Int16>.size
dataPointer.withMemoryRebound(to: Int16.self, capacity: sampleCount) { pointer in
for i in 0..<sampleCount {
let sample = Float(pointer[i])
pointer[i] = Int16(sample * factor)
}
}
return self
}
}
I'm working on an application that uses the iPhone camera for scientific purposes - and, as a result would like to receive sensor data in as unprocessed format as possible.
I'm using AVCapturePhotoOutput to take Bayer RAW stills and receiving data in kCVPixelFormatType_14Bayer_RGGB format.
However, I'm puzzled as to the content of the bits. I simply demosaic the image by taking each 2x2 square:
RG
GB
and use R, (G+G)/2, B to get 16-bit RGB values - and this indeed works.
However, I am puzzled as to the values we are getting as they seem to be approximately in the range 2048 - 16383. The top value is understandable - the maximum that you can fit in 14-bits (as implied by the pixel format type).
However we don't seem to be able to get lower than ~2048 no matter how black/dark we make the sensor.
I'm aware that the sensor is probably not 14-bits (we're using the iPhone 16e camera) and that maybe this is to do with the way the sensor data is packaged.
The Advances in iOS Photography video (https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016/501/) describes it as "10-bit sensor RAW packaged in 14 bits per pixel instead of eight."
Is there any documentation describing what is going on here? It's vital for our use that we get as close to the raw camera sensor light readings as possible, so any pointers as to the mapping (e.g. decompanding?) being used would be extremely useful.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Xcode Version 16.3 (16E140)
App developed in Flutter Flutter 3.29.3
Test iPhone device: iPhone 16 Pro running iOS 18.5
I have an app that requires Camera access. This used to work before with iOS 18.4.x. I have dumbed down my app to just get Camera permission. Even then it fails
flutter: Camera permission: PermissionStatus.denied
flutter: Photos permission: PermissionStatus.denied
flutter: Microphone permission: PermissionStatus.denied
flutter: --- End Debug Info ---
flutter: Loaded translations from asset for en_US
container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled
container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled
container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled
container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled
container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled
container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled
flutter: CAMERA PERMISSION STATUS: PermissionStatus.permanentlyDenied
Camera permissions don't show up in my App settings or under "Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Camera" and I am at loss to understand why this is happening.
Hi,
I am trying to remove the audio controls for my app on the lock screen. Since I use WKWebView, there are 3 audio tags in my html and I play and pause em via JS. However, if I do not play any sound since app launch, there are no audio controls on the lock screen. But if I play one of those 3 files (they are even less then 3 Sec sound effects e.g. for buttons) the audio controls appears on lock screen.
Note even when the sounds on pause() or not playing they were listed on the lock screen.
What I have tried so far without success
MPNowPlayingInfoCenter.default().nowPlayingInfo = [:]
and
``try audioSession.setCategory(.playback, mode: .default, options: [])
try audioSession.setActive(false, options: .notifyOthersOnDeactivation)``
and
UIApplication.shared.endReceivingRemoteControlEvents()
Another problem is that the app scales with iOS system settings "display zoom". Is there a way to deny it?
It is latest Xcode verion 16.3 and iOS 18.
I have no background mode in my Capabilities.
Nothing worked so far. Has anyone an idea?
Greetings
Environment→ ・Device: iPad 10th generation ・OS:**iOS18.3.2
We're using AVAudioPlayer to play a sound when a button is tapped. In our use case, this button can be tapped very frequently — roughly every 0.1 to 0.2 seconds. Each tap triggers the following function:
var audioPlayer: AVAudioPlayer?
func soundPlay(resource: String, type: String){
guard let path = Bundle.main.path(forResource: resource, ofType: type) else {
return
}
do {
audioPlayer = try AVAudioPlayer(contentsOf: URL(fileURLWithPath: path))
audioPlayer!.delegate = self
try audioSession.setCategory(.playback)
} catch {
return
}
self.audioPlayer!.play()
}
The issue is that under high-frequency tapping (especially around 0.1–0.15s intervals), the app occasionally crashes. The crash does not occur every time, but it happens randomly — sometimes within 30 seconds, within 1 minute, or even 3 minutes of continuous tapping.
Interestingly, adding a delay of 0.2 seconds between button taps seems to prevent the crash entirely. Delays shorter than 0.2 seconds (e.g.,0.15s,0.18s) still result in occasional crashes.
My questions are:
**Is this expected behavior from AVAudioPlayer or AVAudioSession?
Could this be a known issue or a limitation in AVFoundation?
Is there any documentation or guidance on handling frequent sound playback safely?**
Any insights or recommendations on how to handle rapid, repeated audio playback more reliably would be appreciated.
In iOS 18, CarPlay shows an error: “There was a problem loading this content” after playback starts. Audio works fine, but the Now Playing screen doesn’t load. I’m using MPPlayableContentManager. This worked fine in iOS 17. Anyone else seeing this error in iOS 18?
I'm developing a video capture app using AVFoundation, designed specifically for use on a boat pylon to record slalom water skiing. This setup involves considerable vibration.
As you may know, the OIS that Apple began adding to lenses since the iPhone 7 is actually very problematic in high vibration circumstances, ironically creating very shaky video, whereas lenses without OIS produce perfectly stable video. Because of this, up until iPhone 14, the solution for my app was simply to use the Selfie lens, which did not have OIS.
Starting with iPhone 14 through iPhone 16 (non-Pro models), technical specs suggest the selfie lens still does not include OIS. However, I’m still seeing the same kind of shaky video behavior I see on OIS-equipped lenses. The one hardware change I see in this camera module is the addition of PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus), so that is my best guess as to what is causing the unstable video.
1- Does that make any sense - that in high vibration settings, PDAF could create unstable video in the same way that OIS does? Or could it be something else that was changed between the iPhone 13 and 14 Selfie lens?
Thinking that the issue was PDAF, I figured that if I enabled my app to set a Manual Focus level, that ought to circumvent PDAF (expecting that if a lens is manually focusing, it can’t also be autofocusing via PDAF).
However, even with manual focus locked via AVCaptureDevice in my app, on the Selfie lens of an iPhone 16, the video still comes out very shaky, basically unusable. I also tested with the built-in Apple Camera app (using the press-and-hold to lock focus and exposure) and another 3rd party camera app to lock focus, all with the same results, so it's not that my app just isn't correctly doing manual focus.
So I'm stuck with these questions:
2- Does the selfie camera on iPhones 14–16 use PDAF even when focus is set to locked/manual mode?
3- Is there any way in AVFoundation to disable or suppress PDAF during video recording (e.g., a flag, device format setting, or private API)?
4- Is PDAF behavior or suppression documented or controllable via AVCaptureDevice or any related class?
5- If no control of PDAF is available, are there any best practices for stabilizing or smoothing this effect programmatically?
Note that I also have set my app to use the most aggressive form of stabilization available, so it defaults to .cinematicExtendedEnhanced, if that’s not available, then .cinematicExtended, etc. On the 16 Selfie lens, it is using .cinematicExtended. As an additional question:
6- Would those be the most appropriate stabilization settings for a high vibration environment, and if not, what would be best?
I created a virtual audio device to capture system audio with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. After capturing the audio, I forward it to the hardware sound card using AVAudioEngine, also with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. However, due to the clock sources being unsynchronized, problems occur after a period of playback. How can I retrieve the clock source of the hardware device and set it for the virtual device?
Hi Team,
We are using AVFoundation to read metadata from a stream and have noticed some delay between when the stream provides metadata and when the app receives it. Could someone from the team advise on ways to reduce this?
Thanks
I'm reaching out regarding a recurring issue I'm experiencing with MusicKit developer tokens.
I'm using a valid .p8 private key to sign JWTs for Apple MusicKit integration. Each token I generate includes the appropriate claims (iss, iat, exp) and is signed with the ES256 algorithm, with an expiration date set approximately 6 months ahead.
Everything works as expected immediately after generating the token. However, after a few days, the same JWT (still well within its expiration period) suddenly begins returning invalid/unauthorized responses when used in Postman and other API clients.
Importantly:
I did not delete or revoke the .p8 key during this time.
I verified the JWT contains valid claims and a proper structure.
The issue consistently resolves only when I create a new .p8 file and regenerate a fresh JWT with it—after which the cycle repeats.
This issue occurs even when the environment and app identifiers remain unchanged.
I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me understand:
Why these tokens become invalid after a few days, despite having a long exp value and an unchanged key.
Whether there's any automatic revocation or timeout policy on .p8 keys that could explain this behavior.
If there's a better way to maintain long-lived developer tokens without requiring new .p8 key generation every few days.
Thank you for your help and clarification on this issue.
Best regards,
Liad Altif
Hi, my daughter was given an Apple Watch due to her grandfather's passing. It is not GPS/cellular, and we cannot connect it to her Apple ID because of this. It doesn't seem right to leave her logged in to his Apple ID, but we are currently out of options. Is there a workaround to this? When I try to set her up from my phone, it tells me that the watch must have GPS/cellular to set it up. Why? Am I missing something?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
General
Does the library exists in xCode 16.4?
"import WorldCaptureKit" gives error "No such module 'WorldCaptureKit'".
And I do not find any information about the library in the apple documentation.
But AI keeps suggesting me to use the library
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
After upgrading to iOS 18.4, I'm no longer able to establish an AirPlay v1 connection to an audio system. The symptom is that the AirPlay route picker just spins when trying to connect to an audio system. It eventually gives up.
I tested this on an iPhone 14, connecting to a HomePod, AirPort express, AppleTV and a Wiim Pro. If I try connecting with AirPlay v2, ex: using Apple Music, the connection succeeds and audio can be played.
I'm the developer of an app that plays audio over AirPlay while also recording. My app has to use AirPlay v1 because AvAudioSession doesn't allow the policy .longFormAudio when the category is .playAndRecord. This issue is a real pain as it means my app is suddenly broken for many thousands of users.
Is anyone else seeing this issue? Any suggestions for a workaround?