Dive into the technical aspects of audio on your device, including codecs, format support, and customization options.

Audio Documentation

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Where is the License Agreement for Android version of ShazamKit?
I have integrated the ShazamKit SDK into my iOS app and would like to implement the same functionality in my Android app. My question is: Can I use the Android version of the ShazamKit SDK for commercial purposes? After extensive research, I could not find any official information regarding the license of the Android version of the ShazamKit SDK. Could you please provide a formal license statement?
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121
Apr ’25
Why does AVAudioRecorder show 8 kHz when iPhone hardware is 48 kHz?
Hi everyone, I’m testing audio recording on an iPhone 15 Plus using AVFoundation. Here’s a simplified version of my setup: let settings: [String: Any] = [ AVFormatIDKey: Int(kAudioFormatLinearPCM), AVSampleRateKey: 8000, AVNumberOfChannelsKey: 1, AVLinearPCMBitDepthKey: 16, AVLinearPCMIsFloatKey: false ] audioRecorder = try AVAudioRecorder(url: fileURL, settings: settings) audioRecorder?.record() When I check the recorded file’s sample rate, it logs: Actual sample rate: 8000.0 However, when I inspect the hardware sample rate: try session.setCategory(.playAndRecord, mode: .default) try session.setActive(true) print("Hardware sample rate:", session.sampleRate) I consistently get: `Hardware sample rate: 48000.0 My questions are: Is the iPhone mic actually capturing at 8 kHz, or is it recording at 48 kHz and then downsampling to 8 kHz internally? Is there any way to force the hardware to record natively at 8 kHz? If not, what’s the recommended approach for telephony-quality audio (true 8 kHz) on iOS devices? Thanks in advance for your guidance!
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242
Sep ’25
macOS Tahoe: Can't setup AVAudioEngine with playthrough
Hi, I'm trying to setup a AVAudioEngine for USB Audio recording and monitoring playthrough. As soon as I try to setup playthough I get an error in the console: AVAEInternal.h:83 required condition is false: [AVAudioEngineGraph.mm:1361:Initialize: (IsFormatSampleRateAndChannelCountValid(outputHWFormat))] Any ideas how to fix it? // Input-Device setzen try? setupInputDevice(deviceID: inputDevice) let input = audioEngine.inputNode // Stereo-Format erzwingen let inputHWFormat = input.inputFormat(forBus: 0) let stereoFormat = AVAudioFormat(commonFormat: inputHWFormat.commonFormat, sampleRate: inputHWFormat.sampleRate, channels: 2, interleaved: inputHWFormat.isInterleaved) guard let format = stereoFormat else { throw AudioError.deviceSetupFailed(-1) } print("Input format: \(inputHWFormat)") print("Forced stereo format: \(format)") audioEngine.attach(monitorMixer) audioEngine.connect(input, to: monitorMixer, format: format) // MonitorMixer -> MainMixer (Output) // Problem here, format: format also breaks. audioEngine.connect(monitorMixer, to: audioEngine.mainMixerNode, format: nil)
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181
Oct ’25
MusicKit: Best way to check if all tracks of albums are added to library.
I prefer to use the album fetched from the library instead of the catalog since this is faster. If doing so, how can I check if all tracks of an album are added to the library. In this case I'd like to fetch the catalog version or throw an error (for example when offline). Using .with(.tracks) on the library album fetches the tracks added to the library. The trackCount property is referring to the tracks that can be fetched from the library. The isComplete property is always nil when fetching from the library. One possible way is checking the trackNumber and discCount properties. However this only detects that not all tracks of an album are added to the library if there is a song not added ahead of one that is. I'd like to be able to handle this edge case as well. Is there currently a way to do this? I'd prefer to not rely on the apple music catalog for this since this is supposed to work offline as well. Fetching and storing all trackIDs when connected and later comparing against these would work, but this would potentially mean storing tens of thousands of track ids. Thank you
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94
Mar ’25
iOS Audio Routing - Bluetooth Output + Built-in Microphone Input
Hello! I'm experiencing an issue with iOS's audio routing system when trying to use Bluetooth headphones for audio output while also recording environmental audio from the built-in microphone. Desired behavior: Play audio through Bluetooth headset (AirPods) Record unprocessed environmental audio from the iPhone's built-in microphone Actual behavior: When explicitly selecting the built-in microphone, iOS reports it's using it (in currentRoute.inputs) However, the actual audio data received is clearly still coming from the AirPods microphone The audio is heavily processed with voice isolation/noise cancellation, removing environmental sounds Environment Details Device: iPhone 12 Pro Max iOS Version: 18.4.1 Hardware: AirPods Audio Framework: AVAudioEngine (also tried AudioQueue) Code Attempted I've tried multiple approaches to force the correct routing: func configureAudioSession() { let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() // Configure to allow Bluetooth output but use built-in mic try? session.setCategory(.playAndRecord, options: [.allowBluetoothA2DP, .defaultToSpeaker]) try? session.setActive(true) // Explicitly select built-in microphone if let inputs = session.availableInputs, let builtInMic = inputs.first(where: { $0.portType == .builtInMic }) { try? session.setPreferredInput(builtInMic) print("Selected input: \(builtInMic.portName)") } // Log the current route let route = session.currentRoute print("Current input: \(route.inputs.first?.portName ?? "None")") // Configure audio engine with native format let inputNode = audioEngine.inputNode let nativeFormat = inputNode.inputFormat(forBus: 0) inputNode.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 1024, format: nativeFormat) { buffer, time in // Process audio buffer // Despite showing "Built-in Microphone" in route, audio appears to be // coming from AirPods with voice isolation applied - welp! } try? audioEngine.start() } I've also tried various combinations of: Different audio session modes (.default, .measurement, .voiceChat) Different option combinations (with/without .allowBluetooth, .allowBluetoothA2DP) Setting session.setPreferredInput() both before and after activation Diagnostic Observations When AirPods are connected: AVAudioSession.currentRoute.inputs correctly shows "Built-in Microphone" after setPreferredInput() The actual audio data received shows clear signs of AirPods' voice isolation processing Background/environmental sounds are actively filtered out... When recording a test audio played near the phone (not through the app), the recording is nearly silent. Only headset voice goes through. Questions Is there a workaround to force iOS to actually use the built-in microphone while maintaining Bluetooth output? Are there any lower-level configurations that might resolve this issue? Any insights, workarounds, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. This is blocking a critical feature in my application that requires environmental audio recording while providing audio feedback through headphones 😅
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194
May ’25
AVAudioEngine installTap stops working after phone call interruption on iPhone 16e
Environment Device: iPhone 16e iOS Version: 18.4.1 - 18.7.1 Framework: AVFoundation (AVAudioEngine) Problem Summary On iPhone 16e (iOS 18.4.1-18.7.1), the installTap callback stops being invoked after resuming from a phone call interruption. This issue is specific to phone call interruptions and does not occur on iPhone 14, iPhone SE 3, or earlier devices. Expected Behavior After a phone call interruption ends and audioEngine.start() is called, the previously installed tap should continue receiving audio buffers. Actual Behavior After resuming from phone call interruption: Tap callback is no longer invoked No audio data is captured No errors are thrown Engine appears to be running normally Note: Normal pause/resume (without phone call interruption) works correctly. Steps to Reproduce Start audio recording on iPhone 16e Receive or make a phone call (triggers AVAudioSession interruption) End the phone call Resume recording with audioEngine.start() Result: Tap callback is not invoked Tested devices: iPhone 16e (iOS 18.4.1-18.7.1): Issue reproduces ✗ iPhone 14 (iOS 18.x): Works correctly ✓ iPhone SE 3 (iOS 18.x): Works correctly ✓ Code Initial Setup (Works) let inputNode = audioEngine.inputNode inputNode.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 4096, format: nil) { buffer, time in self.processAudioBuffer(buffer, at: time) } audioEngine.prepare() try audioEngine.start() Interruption Handling NotificationCenter.default.addObserver( forName: AVAudioSession.interruptionNotification, object: AVAudioSession.sharedInstance(), queue: nil ) { notification in guard let userInfo = notification.userInfo, let typeValue = userInfo[AVAudioSessionInterruptionTypeKey] as? UInt, let type = AVAudioSession.InterruptionType(rawValue: typeValue) else { return } if type == .began { self.audioEngine.pause() } else if type == .ended { try? self.audioSession.setActive(true) try? self.audioEngine.start() // Tap callback doesn't work after this on iPhone 16e } } Workaround Full engine restart is required on iPhone 16e: func resumeAfterInterruption() { audioEngine.stop() inputNode.removeTap(onBus: 0) inputNode.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 4096, format: nil) { buffer, time in self.processAudioBuffer(buffer, at: time) } audioEngine.prepare() try audioSession.setActive(true) try audioEngine.start() } This works but adds latency and complexity compared to simple resume. Questions Is this expected behavior on iPhone 16e? What is the recommended way to handle phone call interruptions? Why does this only affect iPhone 16e and not iPhone 14 or SE 3? Any guidance would be appreciated!
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159
Oct ’25
AVMIDIPlayer.play() function crashes on iOS 18
It's only occurs on iOS 18+. Backtrace attached below. Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000 Termination Reason: SIGNAL 6 Abort trap: 6 Terminating Process: NoteKeys [24384] Triggered by Thread: 0 Last Exception Backtrace: 0 CoreFoundation 0x1a2d4c7cc __exceptionPreprocess + 164 (NSException.m:249) 1 libobjc.A.dylib 0x1a001f2e4 objc_exception_throw + 88 (objc-exception.mm:356) 2 CoreFoundation 0x1a2e47748 +[NSException raise:format:] + 128 (NSException.m:0) 3 AVFAudio 0x1bd41f4c8 -[AVMIDIPlayer play:] + 300 (AVMIDIPlayer.mm:145) 4 NoteKeys 0x1023c0670 SoundGenerator.playData() + 20 (SoundGenerator.swift:170) 5 NoteKeys 0x1023c0670 EditViewController.playBtnTapped(startIndex:) + 940 (EditViewController.swift:2034) 6 NoteKeys 0x1024497fc specialized Keyboard.playBtnTapped(sender:) + 1904 (Keyboard.swift:1249) 7 NoteKeys 0x10244631c Keyboard.playBtnTapped(sender:) + 4 (<compiler-generated>:0) 8 NoteKeys 0x10244631c @objc Keyboard.playBtnTapped(sender:) + 48 9 UIKitCore 0x1a58739cc -[UIApplication sendAction:to:from:forEvent:] + 100 (UIApplication.m:5816) 10 UIKitCore 0x1a58738a4 -[UIControl sendAction:to:forEvent:] + 112 (UIControl.m:942) 11 UIKitCore 0x1a58736f4 -[UIControl _sendActionsForEvents:withEvent:] + 324 (UIControl.m:1013) 12 UIKitCore 0x1a5fe8d8c -[UIButton _sendActionsForEvents:withEvent:] + 124 (UIButton.m:4198) 13 UIKitCore 0x1a5fea5a0 -[UIControl touchesEnded:withEvent:] + 400 (UIControl.m:692) 14 UIKitCore 0x1a57bb9ac -[UIWindow _sendTouchesForEvent:] + 852 (UIWindow.m:3318) 15 UIKitCore 0x1a57bb3d8 -[UIWindow sendEvent:] + 2964 (UIWindow.m:3641) 16 UIKitCore 0x1a564fb70 -[UIApplication sendEvent:] + 376 (UIApplication.m:12972) 17 UIKitCore 0x1a565009c __dispatchPreprocessedEventFromEventQueue + 1048 (UIEventDispatcher.m:2686) 18 UIKitCore 0x1a5659f3c __processEventQueue + 5696 (UIEventDispatcher.m:3044) 19 UIKitCore 0x1a5552c60 updateCycleEntry + 160 (UIEventDispatcher.m:133) 20 UIKitCore 0x1a55509d8 _UIUpdateSequenceRun + 84 (_UIUpdateSequence.mm:136) 21 UIKitCore 0x1a5550628 schedulerStepScheduledMainSection + 172 (_UIUpdateScheduler.m:1171) 22 UIKitCore 0x1a555159c runloopSourceCallback + 92 (_UIUpdateScheduler.m:1334) 23 CoreFoundation 0x1a2d20328 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_A_SOURCE0_PERFORM_FUNCTION__ + 28 (CFRunLoop.c:1970) 24 CoreFoundation 0x1a2d202bc __CFRunLoopDoSource0 + 176 (CFRunLoop.c:2014) 25 CoreFoundation 0x1a2d1ddc0 __CFRunLoopDoSources0 + 244 (CFRunLoop.c:2051) 26 CoreFoundation 0x1a2d1cfbc __CFRunLoopRun + 840 (CFRunLoop.c:2969) 27 CoreFoundation 0x1a2d1c830 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 588 (CFRunLoop.c:3434) 28 GraphicsServices 0x1eecfc1c4 GSEventRunModal + 164 (GSEvent.c:2196) 29 UIKitCore 0x1a5882eb0 -[UIApplication _run] + 816 (UIApplication.m:3844) 30 UIKitCore 0x1a59315b4 UIApplicationMain + 340 (UIApplication.m:5496) 31 NoteKeys 0x10254bc10 main + 68 (AppDelegate.swift:15) 32 dyld 0x1c870aec8 start + 2724 (dyldMain.cpp:1334) Thanks very much for any help: )
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306
Feb ’25
No mic capture on iOS 18.5
Hello! We stumbled upon a problem with our karaoke app where user on iPhone 16e/iOS 18.5 has problem with mic capture, other users cannot hear him. The mic capture is working fine on 17.5, 16.8. Maybe there is something else we need when configuring AVAudioSession for iOS 18.5? Currently it's set up like this: override func viewDidLoad() { super.viewDidLoad() UIApplication.shared.isIdleTimerDisabled = true mRoomId = appDelegate.getRoomId() let audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() try! audioSession.setCategory(.playAndRecord, mode: .voiceChat, options: [.defaultToSpeaker]) try! audioSession.setPreferredSampleRate(48000) try! audioSession.setActive(true, options: []) }
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268
Nov ’25
WebM audio playback
Is it possible to play WebM audio on iOS? Either with AVPlayer, AVAudioEngine, or some other API? Safari has supported this for a few releases now, and I'm wondering if I missed something about how to do this. By default these APIs don't seem to work (nor does ExtAudioFileOpen). Our usecase is making it possible for iOS users to play back audio recorded in our webapp (desktop versions of Chrome & Firefox only support webm as a destination format for MediaRecorder)
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488
Mar ’25
In Speech framework is SFTranscriptionSegment timing supposed to be off and speechRecognitionMetadata nil until isFinal?
I'm working in Swift/SwiftUI, running XCode 16.3 on macOS 15.4 and I've seen this when running in the iOS simulator and in a macOS app run from XCode. I've also seen this behaviour with 3 different audio files. Nothing in the documentation says that the speechRecognitionMetadata property on an SFSpeechRecognitionResult will be nil until isFinal, but that's the behaviour I'm seeing. I've stripped my class down to the following: private var isAuthed = false // I call this in a .task {} in my SwiftUI View public func requestSpeechRecognizerPermission() { SFSpeechRecognizer.requestAuthorization { authStatus in Task { self.isAuthed = authStatus == .authorized } } } public func transcribe(from url: URL) { guard isAuthed else { return } let locale = Locale(identifier: "en-US") let recognizer = SFSpeechRecognizer(locale: locale) let recognitionRequest = SFSpeechURLRecognitionRequest(url: url) // the behaviour occurs whether I set this to true or not, I recently set // it to true to see if it made a difference recognizer?.supportsOnDeviceRecognition = true recognitionRequest.shouldReportPartialResults = true recognitionRequest.addsPunctuation = true recognizer?.recognitionTask(with: recognitionRequest) { (result, error) in guard result != nil else { return } if result!.isFinal { //speechRecognitionMetadata is not nil } else { //speechRecognitionMetadata is nil } } } } Further, and this isn't documented either, the SFTranscriptionSegment values don't have correct timestamp and duration values until isFinal. The values aren't all zero, but they don't align with the timing in the audio and they change to accurate values when isFinal is true. The transcription otherwise "works", in that I get transcription text before isFinal and if I wait for isFinal the segments are correct and speechRecognitionMetadata is filled with values. The context here is I'm trying to generate a transcription that I can then highlight the spoken sections of as audio plays and I'm thinking I must be just trying to use the Speech framework in a way it does not work. I got my concept working if I pre-process the audio (i.e. run it through until isFinal and save the results I need to json), but being able to do even a rougher version of it 'on the fly' - which requires segments to have the right timestamp/duration before isFinal - is perhaps impossible?
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147
Jul ’25
SpeechTranscriber not supported
I've tried SpeechTranscriber with a lot of my devices (from iPhone 12 series ~ iPhone 17 series) without issues. However, SpeechTranscriber.isAvailable value is false for my iPhone 11 Pro. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/speech/speechtranscriber/isavailable I'am curious why the iPhone 11 Pro device is not supported. Are all iPhone 11 series not supported intentionally? Or is there any problem with my specific device? I've also checked the supportedLocales, and the value is an empty array. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/speech/speechtranscriber/supportedlocales
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648
Nov ’25
FaceTime Screen-Share Audio and Video Experience
FaceTime’s screen-share audio balance is insanely absurd right now. Whenever I share media, the system audio that gets sent through FaceTime is a tiny whisper even at full volume (or even when connected to my speaker or headphones). The moment anyone on the call makes any noise at all, the shared audio ducks so hard it disappears, while the voice (or rustling or air conditioning noise) spikes to painful levels. It’s impossible to watch or listen to anything together. Also, the feature where FaceTime would shrink to a square during screen-sharing has been completely removed. That was a good feature and I'm really confused why it's gone. Now, the FaceTime window stays as a long rectangle that covers part of the content I'm trying to share (unless I do full screen tile, but then I can't pull up any other windows during the call) and can't be made smaller than about a third of the screen. You can't resize the window or adjust its dimensions, so it ends up blocking the actual media you're trying to watch. Here are some feature requests/fixes that would greatly improve the FaceTime screen-share experience: Option to adjust the shared media volume independently of call audio. Disable/toggle the extreme automatic audio docking while screen-sharing Reintroduce the minimized “floating square” mode or allow full manual resizing and repositioning of the FaceTime window during screen-share sessions. Overall, this setup makes FaceTime screen-sharing basically unusable. The audio balance is so inconsistent that it’s easier to switch to Zoom or Google Meet, which both handle shared sound correctly and let you move the call window out of the way. Until these issues are fixed, there’s no practical reason to use FaceTime for shared viewing at all.
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263
Nov ’25
Different behaviors of USB-C to Headphone Jack Adapters
I bought two "Apple USB-C to Headphone Jack Adapters". Upon closer inspection, they seems to be of different generations: The one with product ID 0x110a on top is working fine. The one with product ID 0x110b has two issues: There is a short but loud click noise on the headphone when I connect it to the iPad. When I play audio using AVAudioPlayer the first half of a second or so is cut off. Here's how I'm playing the audio: audioPlayer = try AVAudioPlayer(contentsOf: url) audioPlayer?.delegate = self audioPlayer?.prepareToPlay() audioPlayer?.play() Is this a known issue? Am I doing something wrong?
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319
Jul ’25
Displaying and working with Favorites in iOS app
New to iOS development and I've been trying to make heads or tails of the documentation. I know there is a difference between the data fields returned from songs from the user library and from the category, but whenever I search on the apple site I can't find a list of each. For example, Im trying to get the releaseDate of a song in my library, but it seems I'll have to cross-query either the catalog entry for the using song.catalogID or the song.irsc but when I try to use them I can't find a cross reference between the two. I'm totally turned around. Also trying to determine if a song in my library has been favorited or not? isFavorited (or something similar) doesn't seem to be a thing. Using this code and trying to find a way to display a solid star if the song has been favorited or an empty one if it's not. Seems like a basic request but I can't find anything on how to do it. I've searched docs, googled, tried. Does apple want us to query the user's Favorited Songs playlist or something? How do I know which playlist that is? I know isFavorited isn't a thing, just using it here so you can see what my intension is: HStack(spacing: 10) { Image(systemName: song.isFavorited ? "star.fill" : "star") .foregroundColor(song.isFavorited ? .yellow : .gray) Image(systemName: "magnifyingglass") }
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193
Oct ’25
Error resuming background audio while connected to CarPlay
My app utilizes background audio to play music files. I have the audio background mode enabled and I initialize the AVAudioSession in playback mode with the mixWithOthers option. And it usually works great while the app is backgrounded. I listen for audio interruptions as well as route changes and I am able to handle them appropriately and I can usually resume my background audio no problem. I discovered an issue while connected to CarPlay though. Roughly 50% of the time when I disconnect from a phone call while connected to CarPlay I get the following error after calling the play() method of my AVAudioPlayer instance: "ATAudioSessionClientImpl.mm:281 activation failed. status = 561015905" If I instead try to start a new audio session I get a similar error: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=561015905 "Session activation failed" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Session activation failed} Like I said, this isn't reproducible 100% of the time and is so far only seen while connected to CarPlay. I don't think Im forgetting so additional capability or plist setting, but if anyone has any clues it would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise this is likely just a bug that I need to report to Apple. One very important note, and reason I believe it's just a bug, is that while I was testing I found that other music apps like Spotify will also fail to resume their audio at the same time my app fails. Another important detail is that when it works successfully I receive the audio session interruption ended notification, and when it doesn't work I only receive a route configuration change or route override notification. From there I am able to still successfully granted background time to execute code, but my call to resume audio fails with the above mentioned error codes.
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262
Dec ’25
Homepod Crossfade
I’m running HomePod OS 26 on two HomePod minis and OS 18.6 on main HomePod (original) I’ve enabled Crossfade in the Home app. I’m playing Apple Music directly in the HomePod mini. Crossfade just doesn’t work on any HomePod. I can understand it not working on the HomePod - but why isn’t it working on the minis running OS 26? I’ve tried disabling and enabling Crossfade, rebooting HomePods etc but nothing?!
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307
Aug ’25