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

Audio Documentation

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Play Audio for a Metronome
Hi, I am looking for a good way to play sounds at a high frequency. At the moment I am using the AVAudioEngine, and create a couple AVAudioPlayerNode and for each sound I need to play I create a AVAudioPCMBuffer. When the app needs to play a sound, I get the correct AVAudioPCMBuffer for the sound and use the first available AVAudioPlayerNode and feed it to the buffer. The timing for a metronome app has to be very precise because if it's of by about 16ms the user can hear that it is not playing had the right interval. For low speeds this is working without any problems, but at high speeds it is getting worse. Maybe anyone has an idea on how I can improve my method. Its a Plugin for Flutter. import AVFoundation class FastSoundPlayer { private var audioPlayers: [SoundPlayer?] = [] private var sounds: [String: Sound] = [:] private var engine = AVAudioEngine() let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() init() { do { try session.setCategory(AVAudioSession.Category.playback, mode: AVAudioSession.Mode.default, options: [AVAudioSession.CategoryOptions.mixWithOthers]) try session.setActive(true) createSoundPlayers(count: 20) try engine.start() } catch { print("Error starting audio engine: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } // Selector method to handle applicationDidBecomeActiveNotification func applicationDidBecomeActive() { // Reinitialize AVAudioEngine and reattach all nodes do { engine.reset() objc_sync_enter(audioPlayers) audioPlayers.removeAll() createSoundPlayers(count: 20) objc_sync_exit(audioPlayers) try engine.start() } catch { print("Error starting audio engine: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } func createSoundPlayers(count: Int) { for _ in 0..<count { let player = SoundPlayer() engine.attach(player.player) engine.connect(player.player, to: engine.mainMixerNode, format: nil) audioPlayers.append(player) } } func load(sound: Data, name: String) { let sound = Sound(soundData: sound) sounds[name] = sound } func play(name: String) { if !engine.isRunning { applicationDidBecomeActive() } guard let sound = sounds[name] else { print("Sound not found") return } if let player = getAvailablePlayer() { player.play(sound: sound) } } func getAvailablePlayer() -> SoundPlayer? { for player in audioPlayers { if !player!.isPlaying { return player } } return nil } } class SoundPlayer { let player = AVAudioPlayerNode() var isPlaying = false init() { player.volume = 1.0 } func play(sound: Sound) { player.scheduleBuffer(sound.sound!, at: nil, options: .interrupts, completionCallbackType: .dataPlayedBack) { _ in self.complete() } if (player.engine != nil && player.engine!.isRunning) { player.play() isPlaying = true } } func complete() { isPlaying = false } } class Sound { var sound: AVAudioPCMBuffer? init(soundData: Data) { do { let temporaryURL = FileManager.default.temporaryDirectory.appendingPathComponent("tempSound.wav") try soundData.write(to: temporaryURL) // Create AVAudioFile from the temporary file URL let audioFile = try AVAudioFile(forReading: temporaryURL) // Define the format for the PCM buffer (44100Hz, stereo) let format = AVAudioFormat(commonFormat: .pcmFormatInt16, sampleRate: 44100, channels: 2, interleaved: false) // Create AVAudioPCMBuffer guard let pcmBuffer = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: format!, frameCapacity: AVAudioFrameCount(audioFile.length)) else { // Failed to create PCM buffer self.sound = nil return } // Read audio file into PCM buffer try audioFile.read(into: pcmBuffer) // Assign the created AVAudioPCMBuffer to the sound property self.sound = pcmBuffer } catch { print("Error loading sound file: \(error.localizedDescription)") self.sound = nil } } } Thanks!
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180
Mar ’25
Airplay selection not working
I'm trying to implement airplay into my app. I can successfully playback sound and trigger the airplay selector sheet. If the target device is a Bluetooth only device I can connect with no problem and stream the audio to the Bluetooth device, but if the audio device is a airplay specific device like a HomePod or an Apple TV when I select it, I get a spinning icon, indicating that it is trying to connect, and eventually it times out and stops without connecting. I don't believe it is an AirPlay audio issue because if I go to a different app, for example a podcast app and select my HomePods for output, and then switch back to my app. My audio will correctly stream to the HomePod. Not only that, I have it so that my icon will change color to indicate that it is connected via airplay and it is correctly indicating that it is connected via AirPlay. But I cannot then disconnect it using the Airplay selector. The issue appears to be in the AirPlay selection side, which I have spent several days attempting to troubleshoot mostly using ChatGPT to suggest code different than what I have to maybe work around the issue. Mostly it is focused on the audio player section, but it doesn't seem like that is really the route that is the problem.
2
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230
Jun ’25
iOS 26 HLS Audio Track Display Behavior: EXT-X-MEDIA NAME vs LANGUAGE Attributes
Hello Apple Developer Community, I am seeking clarification on the intended display behavior of HLS audio tracks within the iOS 26 (or current beta) native player, specifically concerning the NAME and LANGUAGE attributes of the EXT-X-MEDIA tag. In our HLS manifests, we define alternative audio tracks using EXT-X-MEDIA tags, like so: #EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=AUDIO,GROUP-ID="audio",LANGUAGE="ja",NAME="AUDIO-1",DEFAULT=YES,AUTOSELECT=YES,URI="audio_ja.m3u8" #EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=AUDIO,GROUP-ID="audio",LANGUAGE="ja",NAME="AUDIO-2",URI="audio_en.m3u8" Our observation is that when an audio track is selected and its name is displayed in the native iOS media controls (e.g., Control Center or within a full-screen video player's UI), the value specified in the NAME attribute ("AUDIO-1", "AUDIO-2") does not seem to be used. Instead, the display appears to derive from the LANGUAGE attribute ("ja", "en"), often showing the system's localized string for that language (e.g., "Japanese", "English"). We would like to understand the official or intended behavior regarding this. Is it the expected behavior for the iOS native player to prioritize the LANGUAGE attribute (or its localized equivalent) over the NAME attribute for displaying the selected audio track's label? If this is the intended design, what is the recommended best practice for developers who wish to present a custom, human-readable name for audio tracks (beyond the standard language name) in the native iOS UI? Are there any specific AVPlayer properties or AVMediaSelectionOption considerations that would allow more granular control over this display, or is this entirely managed by the system based on the LANGUAGE attribute? Any insights or official guidance on this behavior in iOS 26 (and potentially previous versions) would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and assistance.
2
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411
Aug ’25
Audio player app is silent if device connected via CarPlay
I have a SwiftUI app - (https://youtu.be/VbAfUk_eYl0?si=JxUBh0Bpb-vc1E1U) - which I thought was almost ready for release - a manager for airdropped audio files from Logic Pro or other music creation applications. It uses AVAudioEngine and AVAudioPlayerNode to play audio, and the MediaPlayer API to integrate with car audio and similar, all of which works well. It does not currently have an explicit CarPlay integration (and I'm slightly horrified at the amount of work that is going to require). I had the good or bad luck of getting a loaner car with carplay while mine is being repaired yesterday, and lo and behold, when connected to the vehicle via CarPlay, there is no audio output in the vehicle at all. The now playing panel correctly shows the information my app provides about the currently playing song; the player node believes it is playing, the AVAudioSession is configured as it should be. But there is no sound. Obviously I cannot ship it in this state. I've tried fiddling with the parameters the AVAudioSession is configured with, in case there was some parameter that was preventing audio output, to no avail - currently: var options = AVAudioSession.CategoryOptions() options.insert(.allowAirPlay) options.insert(.allowBluetooth) options.insert(.allowBluetoothA2DP) try session.setCategory(.playback, mode: .default, options: options) try? session.setPreferredIOBufferDuration(0.002) // ~96 samples at 44.1kHz try? session.setPrefersNoInterruptionsFromSystemAlerts(true) try? session.setPrefersInterruptionOnRouteDisconnect(false) try session.setActive(true, options: [.notifyOthersOnDeactivation]) All diagnostics within the app show the player operating correctly - files are played and flushed; AVAudioPlayerNodeCompletionCallbacks are called when they should be. But the output is not audible in the vehicle. I would much prefer to ship this app without full-blown CarPlay integration, but with working audio when connected via CarPlay, and work on full CarPlay integration for the next release. Is there some secret handshake I am just missing to make this work?
1
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181
Mar ’25
Delay in Microphone Input When Talking While Receiving Audio in PTT Framework (Full Duplex Mode)
Context: I am currently developing an app using the Push-to-Talk (PTT) framework. I have reviewed both the PTT framework documentation and the CallKit demo project to better understand how to properly manage audio session activation and AVAudioEngine setup. I am not activating the audio session manually. The audio session configuration is handled in the incomingPushResult or didBeginTransmitting callbacks from the PTChannelManagerDelegate. I am using a single AVAudioEngine instance for both input and playback. The engine is started in the didActivate callback from the PTChannelManagerDelegate. When I receive a push in full duplex mode, I set the active participant to the user who is speaking. Issue When I attempt to talk while the other participant is already speaking, my input tap on the input node takes a few seconds to return valid PCM audio data. Initially, it returns an empty PCM audio block. Details: The audio session is already active and configured with .playAndRecord. The input tap is already installed when the engine is started. When I talk from a neutral state (no one is speaking), the system plays the standard "microphone activation" tone, which covers this initial delay. However, this does not happen when I am already receiving audio. Assumptions / Current Setup Because the audio session is active in play and record, I assumed that microphone input would be available immediately, even while receiving audio. However, there seems to be a delay before valid input is delivered to the tap, only occurring when switching from a receive state to simultaneously talking. Questions Is this expected behavior when using the PTT framework in full duplex mode with a shared AVAudioEngine? Should I be restarting or reconfiguring the engine or audio session when beginning to talk while receiving audio? Is there a recommended pattern for managing microphone readiness in this scenario to avoid the initial empty PCM buffer? Would using separate engines for input and output improve responsiveness? I would like to confirm the correct approach to handling simultaneous talk and receive in full duplex mode using PTT framework and AVAudioEngine. Specifically, I need guidance on ensuring the microphone is ready to capture audio immediately without the delay seen in my current implementation. Relevant Code Snippets Engine Setup func setup() { let input = audioEngine.inputNode do { try input.setVoiceProcessingEnabled(true) } catch { print("Could not enable voice processing \(error)") return } input.isVoiceProcessingAGCEnabled = false let output = audioEngine.outputNode let mainMixer = audioEngine.mainMixerNode audioEngine.connect(pttPlayerNode, to: mainMixer, format: outputFormat) audioEngine.connect(beepNode, to: mainMixer, format: outputFormat) audioEngine.connect(mainMixer, to: output, format: outputFormat) // Initialize converters converter = AVAudioConverter(from: inputFormat, to: outputFormat)! f32ToInt16Converter = AVAudioConverter(from: outputFormat, to: inputFormat)! audioEngine.prepare() } Input Tap Installation func installTap() { guard AudioHandler.shared.checkMicrophonePermission() else { print("Microphone not granted for recording") return } guard !isInputTapped else { print("[AudioEngine] Input is already tapped!") return } let input = audioEngine.inputNode let microphoneFormat = input.inputFormat(forBus: 0) let microphoneDownsampler = AVAudioConverter(from: microphoneFormat, to: outputFormat)! let desiredFormat = outputFormat let inputFramesNeeded = AVAudioFrameCount((Double(OpusCodec.DECODED_PACKET_NUM_SAMPLES) * microphoneFormat.sampleRate) / desiredFormat.sampleRate) input.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: inputFramesNeeded, format: input.inputFormat(forBus: 0)) { [weak self] buffer, when in guard let self = self else { return } // Output buffer: 1920 frames at 16kHz guard let outputBuffer = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: desiredFormat, frameCapacity: AVAudioFrameCount(OpusCodec.DECODED_PACKET_NUM_SAMPLES)) else { return } outputBuffer.frameLength = outputBuffer.frameCapacity let inputBlock: AVAudioConverterInputBlock = { inNumPackets, outStatus in outStatus.pointee = .haveData return buffer } var error: NSError? let converterResult = microphoneDownsampler.convert(to: outputBuffer, error: &error, withInputFrom: inputBlock) if converterResult != .haveData { DebugLogger.shared.print("Downsample error \(converterResult)") } else { self.handleDownsampledBuffer(outputBuffer) } } isInputTapped = true }
4
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425
Aug ’25
[MusicKit] Check for availability of songs
Songs can be unavailable (greyed out) in Apple Music. How can I check if a song is unavailable via the MusicKit framework? Obviously the playback will fail with MPMusicPlayerControllerErrorDomain Code=6 "Failed to prepare to play" but how can I know that in advance? I need to check the availability of hundreds of albums and therefore initiating a playback for each of them is not an option. Things I have tried: Checking if the release date property is set to a future date. This filters out all future releases but doesn't solve the problem for already released songs. Checking if the duration is 0. This does not work since the duration of unavailable songs does not have to be 0. Initiating a playback and checking for the "Failed to prepare to play" error. This is not suitable for a huge amount of Albums. I couldn't find a solution yet but somehow other third-party-apps are able ignore/don't shows these albums. I believe the Apple Music app is only displaying albums where at least one song is available. I am using this function to fetch all albums of an artist. private func fetchAlbumsFor(_ artist: Artist) async throws -> [Album] { let artistWithAlbums = try await artist.with(.albums) var allAlbums = [Album]() guard var currentBadge = artistWithAlbums.albums else { return [] } allAlbums.append(contentsOf: currentBadge) while currentBadge.hasNextBatch { if let nextBatch = try await currentBadge.nextBatch() { currentBadge = nextBatch allAlbums.append(contentsOf: nextBatch) } else { break } } return allAlbums } Here is an example album where I am unable to detect its unavailability (at least in Germany): https://music.apple.com/de/album/die-haferhorde-immer-den-n%C3%BCstern-nach-h%C3%B6rspiel-zu-band-3/1755774804 Furthermore I was unable to navigate to this album via the Apple Music app directly. Thanks for any help Edit: Apparently this album is not included in an apple music subscription but can be bought seperately. The question remains: How can I check that?
1
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593
Feb ’25
Application tones start when I get incoming call or message
I've got a problem with my app where I'm testing it on my own phone. I'm using audio kit to generate tones as part of the app. Everything seems to work fine. Sounds start, Stop, etc. They play when the app is closed and when the phone is locked, so background is working. However, I'm seeing an issue where, even when STOP is pressed and the application exited, if I get a notification such as a text message, the base tone for the app starts to play. If I then open the app, check the Start/Stop button - it says start so that. hasnt' been activated. If I click Start, then a 2nd tone starts. This one stops with the Stop button. However the original tone that was set off by an incoming message carries on playing. Until I go to the Open Apps View on the phone and slide the application upwards. For the life of me, I can't figure out whats happening here.
1
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89
May ’25
Crackling/Popping sound when using AVAudioUnitTimePitch
I have a simple AVAudioEngine graph as follows: AVAudioPlayerNode -> AVAudioUnitEQ -> AVAudioUnitTimePitch -> AVAudioUnitReverb -> Main mixer node of AVAudioEngine. I noticed that whenever I have AVAudioUnitTimePitch or AVAudioUnitVarispeed in the graph, I noticed a very distinct crackling/popping sound in my Airpods Pro 2 when starting up the engine and playing the AVAudioPlayerNode and unable to find the reason why this is happening. When I remove the node, the crackling completely goes away. How do I fix this problem since i need the user to be able to control the pitch and rate of the audio during playback. import AVKit @Observable @MainActor class AudioEngineManager { nonisolated private let engine = AVAudioEngine() private let playerNode = AVAudioPlayerNode() private let reverb = AVAudioUnitReverb() private let pitch = AVAudioUnitTimePitch() private let eq = AVAudioUnitEQ(numberOfBands: 10) private var audioFile: AVAudioFile? private var fadePlayPauseTask: Task<Void, Error>? private var playPauseCurrentFadeTime: Double = 0 init() { setupAudioEngine() } private func setupAudioEngine() { guard let url = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "Song name goes here", withExtension: "mp3") else { print("Audio file not found") return } do { audioFile = try AVAudioFile(forReading: url) } catch { print("Failed to load audio file: \(error)") return } reverb.loadFactoryPreset(.mediumHall) reverb.wetDryMix = 50 pitch.pitch = 0 // Increase pitch by 500 cents (5 semitones) engine.attach(playerNode) engine.attach(pitch) engine.attach(reverb) engine.attach(eq) // Connect: player -> pitch -> reverb -> output engine.connect(playerNode, to: eq, format: audioFile?.processingFormat) engine.connect(eq, to: pitch, format: audioFile?.processingFormat) engine.connect(pitch, to: reverb, format: audioFile?.processingFormat) engine.connect(reverb, to: engine.mainMixerNode, format: audioFile?.processingFormat) } func prepare() { guard let audioFile else { return } playerNode.scheduleFile(audioFile, at: nil) } func play() { DispatchQueue.global().async { [weak self] in guard let self else { return } engine.prepare() try? engine.start() DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in guard let self else { return } playerNode.play() fadePlayPauseTask?.cancel() playPauseCurrentFadeTime = 0 fadePlayPauseTask = Task { [weak self] in guard let self else { return } while true { let volume = updateVolume(for: playPauseCurrentFadeTime / 0.1, rising: true) // Ramp up volume until 1 is reached if volume >= 1 { break } engine.mainMixerNode.outputVolume = volume try await Task.sleep(for: .milliseconds(10)) playPauseCurrentFadeTime += 0.01 } engine.mainMixerNode.outputVolume = 1 } } } } func pause() { fadePlayPauseTask?.cancel() playPauseCurrentFadeTime = 0 fadePlayPauseTask = Task { [weak self] in guard let self else { return } while true { let volume = updateVolume(for: playPauseCurrentFadeTime / 0.1, rising: false) // Ramp down volume until 0 is reached if volume <= 0 { break } engine.mainMixerNode.outputVolume = volume try await Task.sleep(for: .milliseconds(10)) playPauseCurrentFadeTime += 0.01 } engine.mainMixerNode.outputVolume = 0 playerNode.pause() // Shut down engine once ramp down completes DispatchQueue.global().async { [weak self] in guard let self else { return } engine.pause() } } } private func updateVolume(for x: Double, rising: Bool) -> Float { if rising { // Fade in return Float(pow(x, 2) * (3.0 - 2.0 * (x))) } else { // Fade out return Float(1 - (pow(x, 2) * (3.0 - 2.0 * (x)))) } } func setPitch(_ value: Float) { pitch.pitch = value } func setReverbMix(_ value: Float) { reverb.wetDryMix = value } } struct ContentView: View { @State private var audioManager = AudioEngineManager() @State private var pitch: Float = 0 @State private var reverb: Float = 0 var body: some View { VStack(spacing: 20) { Text("🎵 Audio Player with Reverb & Pitch") .font(.title2) HStack { Button("Prepare") { audioManager.prepare() } Button("Play") { audioManager.play() } .padding() .background(Color.green) .foregroundColor(.white) .cornerRadius(10) Button("Pause") { audioManager.pause() } .padding() .background(Color.red) .foregroundColor(.white) .cornerRadius(10) } VStack { Text("Pitch: \(Int(pitch)) cents") Slider(value: $pitch, in: -2400...2400, step: 100) { _ in audioManager.setPitch(pitch) } } VStack { Text("Reverb Mix: \(Int(reverb))%") Slider(value: $reverb, in: 0...100, step: 1) { _ in audioManager.setReverbMix(reverb) } } } .padding() } }
1
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223
Apr ’25
AVAudioUnit host - PCM buffer output silent
Hi, I just started to develop audio unit hosting support in my application. Offline rendering seems to work except that I hear no output, but why? I suspect with the player goes something wrong. I connect to CoreAudio in a different location in the code. Here are some error messages I faced so far: 2025-08-14 19:42:04.132930+0200 com.gsequencer.GSequencer[34358:18611871] [avae] AVAudioEngineGraph.mm:4668 Can't retrieve source node to play sequence because there is no output node! 2025-08-14 19:42:04.151171+0200 com.gsequencer.GSequencer[34358:18611871] [avae] AVAudioEngineGraph.mm:4668 Can't retrieve source node to play sequence because there is no output node! 2025-08-14 19:43:08.344530+0200 com.gsequencer.GSequencer[34358:18614927] AUAudioUnit.mm:1417 Cannot set maximumFramesToRender while render resources allocated. 2025-08-14 19:43:08.346583+0200 com.gsequencer.GSequencer[34358:18614927] [avae] AVAEInternal.h:104 [AVAudioSequencer.mm:121:-[AVAudioSequencer(AVAudioSequencer_Player) startAndReturnError:]: (impl->Start()): error -10852 ** (<unknown>:34358): WARNING **: 19:43:08.346: error during audio sequencer start - -10852 I have implemented an AVAudioEngine based AudioUnit host. Here I instantiate player and effect: /* audio engine */ audio_engine = [[AVAudioEngine alloc] init]; fx_audio_unit_audio->audio_engine = (gpointer) audio_engine; av_format = (AVAudioFormat *) fx_audio_unit_audio->av_format; /* av audio player node */ av_audio_player_node = [[AVAudioPlayerNode alloc] init]; /* av audio unit */ av_audio_unit_effect = [[AVAudioUnitEffect alloc] initWithAudioComponentDescription:[((AVAudioUnitComponent *) AGS_AUDIO_UNIT_PLUGIN(base_plugin)->component) audioComponentDescription]]; av_audio_unit = (AVAudioUnit *) av_audio_unit_effect; fx_audio_unit_audio->av_audio_unit = av_audio_unit; /* audio sequencer */ av_audio_sequencer = [[AVAudioSequencer alloc] initWithAudioEngine:audio_engine]; fx_audio_unit_audio->av_audio_sequencer = (gpointer) av_audio_sequencer; /* output node */ [[AVAudioOutputNode alloc] init]; /* audio player and audio unit */ [audio_engine attachNode:av_audio_player_node]; [audio_engine attachNode:av_audio_unit]; [audio_engine connect:av_audio_player_node to:av_audio_unit format:av_format]; [audio_engine connect:av_audio_unit to:[audio_engine outputNode] format:av_format]; ns_error = NULL; [audio_engine enableManualRenderingMode:AVAudioEngineManualRenderingModeOffline format:av_format maximumFrameCount:buffer_size error:&ns_error]; if(ns_error != NULL && [ns_error code] != noErr){ g_warning("enable manual rendering mode error - %d", [ns_error code]); } ns_error = NULL; [[av_audio_unit AUAudioUnit] allocateRenderResourcesAndReturnError:&ns_error]; if(ns_error != NULL && [ns_error code] != noErr){ g_warning("Audio Unit allocate render resources returned error - ErrorCode %d", [ns_error code]); } Then I render in a dedicated thread. ns_error = NULL; [audio_engine startAndReturnError:&ns_error]; if(ns_error != NULL && [ns_error code] != noErr){ g_warning("error during audio engine start - %d", [ns_error code]); } [av_audio_sequencer prepareToPlay]; ns_error = NULL; [av_audio_sequencer startAndReturnError:&ns_error]; if(ns_error != NULL && [ns_error code] != noErr){ g_warning("error during audio sequencer start - %d", [ns_error code]); } [av_audio_player_node play]; while(is_running){ /* pre sync */ /* IO buffers */ av_output_buffer = (AVAudioPCMBuffer *) scope_data->av_output_buffer; av_input_buffer = (AVAudioPCMBuffer *) scope_data->av_input_buffer; /* fill input buffer */ /* schedule av input buffer */ frame_position = 0; // (gint64) ((note_offset * absolute_delay) + delay_counter) * buffer_size; av_audio_player_node = (AVAudioPlayerNode *) fx_audio_unit_audio->av_audio_player_node; AVAudioTime *av_audio_time = [[AVAudioTime alloc] initWithHostTime:frame_position sampleTime:frame_position atRate:((double) samplerate)]; [av_audio_player_node scheduleBuffer:av_input_buffer atTime:av_audio_time options:0 completionHandler:nil]; /* render */ ns_error = NULL; status = [audio_engine renderOffline:AGS_FX_AUDIO_UNIT_AUDIO_FIXED_BUFFER_SIZE toBuffer:av_output_buffer error:&ns_error]; if(ns_error != NULL && [ns_error code] != noErr){ g_warning("render offline error - %d", [ns_error code]); } } regards, Joël
3
0
464
Aug ’25
Is AVAudioPCMFormatFloat32 required for playing a buffer with AVAudioEngine / AVAudioPlayerNode
I have a PCM audio buffer (AVAudioPCMFormatInt16). When I try to play it using AVPlayerNode / AVAudioEngine an exception is thrown: "[[busArray objectAtIndexedSubscript:(NSUInteger)element] setFormat:format error:&nsErr]: returned false, error Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-10868 (related thread https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/700497?answerId=780530022#780530022) If I convert the buffer to AVAudioPCMFormatFloat32 playback works. My questions are: Does AVAudioEngine / AVPlayerNode require AVAudioPCMBuffer to be in the Float32 format? Is there a way I can configure it to accept another format instead for my application? If 1 is YES is this documented anywhere? If 1 is YES is this required format subject to change at any point? Thanks! I was looking to watch the "AVAudioEngine in Practice" session video from WWDC 2014 but I can't find it anywhere (https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/747008).
1
0
1k
Oct ’25
Detecting if a phone call is being recorded by another app on iOS
Hello, I’m new here. I'm developing an iOS app and I’d like to know whether it is possible to detect if a phone call is being recorded by another app running in the background. I’ve already reviewed the documentation for CallKit and AVAudioSession, but I couldn’t find anything related. My expectation was that iOS might provide some callback or API to indicate if a call is being recorded (third-party apps), but so far I haven’t found a way. My questions are: Does iOS expose any API to detect if a call is being recorded? If not, is there any indirect, Apple's policy compliant method (e.g., microphone usage events) that can be relied upon? Or is this something that iOS explicitly prevents for privacyreasons? Expecting solutions that align with Apple’s policies and would be accepted under the App Store Review Guidelines. Thanks in advance for any guidance.
1
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253
Aug ’25
SpeechAnalyzer error "asset not found after attempted download" for certain languages
I am trying to use the new SpeechAnalyzer framework in my Mac app, and am running into an issue for some languages. When I call AssetInstallationRequest.downloadAndInstall() for some languages, it throws an error: Error Domain=SFSpeechErrorDomain Code=1 "transcription.ar asset not found after attempted download." The ".ar" appears to be the language code, which in this case was Arabic. When I call AssetInventory.status(forModules:) before attempting the download, it is giving me a status of "downloading" (perhaps from an earlier attempt?). If this language was completely unsupported, I would expect it to return a status of "unsupported", so I'm not sure what's going on here. For other languages (Polish, for example) SpeechTranscriber.supportedLocale(equivalentTo:) is returning nil, so that seems like a clearly unsupported language. But I can't tell if the languages I'm trying, like Arabic, are supported and something is going wrong, or if this error represents something I can work around. Here's the relevant section of code. The error is thrown from downloadAndInstall(), so I never even get as far as setting up the SpeechAnalyzer itself. private func setUpAnalyzer() async throws { guard let sourceLanguage else { throw Error.languageNotSpecified } guard let locale = await SpeechTranscriber.supportedLocale(equivalentTo: Locale(identifier: sourceLanguage.rawValue)) else { throw Error.unsupportedLanguage } let transcriber = SpeechTranscriber(locale: locale, preset: .progressiveTranscription) self.transcriber = transcriber let reservedLocales = await AssetInventory.reservedLocales if !reservedLocales.contains(locale) && reservedLocales.count == AssetInventory.maximumReservedLocales { if let oldest = reservedLocales.last { await AssetInventory.release(reservedLocale: oldest) } } do { let status = await AssetInventory.status(forModules: [transcriber]) print("status: \(status)") if let installationRequest = try await AssetInventory.assetInstallationRequest(supporting: [transcriber]) { try await installationRequest.downloadAndInstall() } } ...
8
0
879
4w
Distorted Audio When Recording External Mics With AVCaptureSession and AVAssetWriter
I’m working on a macOS app, written in Swift. My goal is to record audio from an external microphone, e.g., one connected via USB. For this, I’m using an AVCaptureSession and recording its output with an AVAssetWriter. This works perfectly in principle (and reliably with internal microphones, for example). The problem occurs after my app has successfully completed the first recording and I then want to make additional recordings (which makes me think it might be process-dependent, because it works again after restarting the app). The problem: Noisy or distorted-sounding audio files. In addition, the following error message appears in the Console from CoreAudio / its AudioConverter: Input data proc returned inconsistent 512 packets for 2048 bytes; at 3 bytes per packet, that is actually 682 packets It is easy to reproduce. This problem is reproducible even if I don’t configure the AVAssetWriter manually and instead let it receive its audioSettings using a preset from an AVOutputSettingsAssistant. I’m running on macOS 15.0 (24A335). I’ve filed a feedback including a demo project → FB15333298 🎟️ I would greatly appreciate any help! Have a great day, Martin
6
0
915
Feb ’25
Execution breakpoint when trying to play a music library file with AVAudioEngine
Hi all, I'm working on an audio visualizer app that plays files from the user's music library utilizing MediaPlayer and AVAudioEngine. I'm working on getting the music library functionality working before the visualizer aspect. After setting up the engine for file playback, my app inexplicably crashes with an EXC_BREAKPOINT with code = 1. Usually this means I'm unwrapping a nil value, but I think I'm handling the optionals correctly with guard statements. I'm not able to pinpoint where it's crashing. I think it's either in the play function or the setupAudioEngine function. I removed the processAudioBuffer function and my code still crashes the same way, so it's not that. The device that I'm testing this on is running iOS 26 beta 3, although my app is designed for iOS 18 and above. After commenting out code, it seems that the app crashes at the scheduleFile call in the play function, but I'm not fully sure. Here is the setupAudioEngine function: private func setupAudioEngine() { do { try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setCategory(.playback, mode: .default) try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setActive(true) } catch { print("Audio session error: \(error)") } engine.attach(playerNode) engine.attach(analyzer) engine.connect(playerNode, to: analyzer, format: nil) engine.connect(analyzer, to: engine.mainMixerNode, format: nil) analyzer.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 1024, format: nil) { [weak self] buffer, _ in self?.processAudioBuffer(buffer) } } Here is the play function: func play(_ mediaItem: MPMediaItem) { guard let assetURL = mediaItem.assetURL else { print("No asset URL for media item") return } stop() do { audioFile = try AVAudioFile(forReading: assetURL) guard let audioFile else { print("Failed to create audio file") return } duration = Double(audioFile.length) / audioFile.fileFormat.sampleRate if !engine.isRunning { try engine.start() } playerNode.scheduleFile(audioFile, at: nil) playerNode.play() DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in self?.isPlaying = true self?.startDisplayLink() } } catch { print("Error playing audio: \(error)") DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in self?.isPlaying = false self?.stopDisplayLink() } } } Here is a link to my test project if you want to try it out for yourself: https://github.com/aabagdi/VisualMan-example Thanks!
8
0
673
Jul ’25
[26] audioTimeRange would still be interesting for .volatileResults in SpeechTranscriber
So experimenting with the new SpeechTranscriber, if I do: let transcriber = SpeechTranscriber( locale: locale, transcriptionOptions: [], reportingOptions: [.volatileResults], attributeOptions: [.audioTimeRange] ) only the final result has audio time ranges, not the volatile results. Is this a performance consideration? If there is no performance problem, it would be nice to have the option to also get speech time ranges for volatile responses. I'm not presenting the volatile text at all in the UI, I was just trying to keep statistics about the non-speech and the speech noise level, this way I can determine when the noise level falls under the noisefloor for a while. The goal here was to finalize the recording automatically, when the noise level indicate that the user has finished speaking.
6
0
718
Nov ’25
Users experiencing frequent media services reset interruptions
I work on an iOS app that records video and audio. We've been getting reports for a while from users who are experiencing their video recordings being cut off. After investigating, I found that many users are receiving the AVAudioSessionMediaServicesWereResetNotification (.mediaServicesWereResetNotification) notification while recording. It's associated with the AVFoundationErrorDomain[-11819] error, which seems to indicate that the system audio daemon crashed. We have a handler registered to end the recording, show the user a prompt, and restart our AV sessions. However, from our logs this looks to be happening to hundreds of users every day and it's not an ideal user experience, so I would like to figure out why this is happening and if it's due to something that we're doing wrong. The debug menu option to trigger the audio session reset is not of much use, because it can't be triggered unless you leave the app and go to system settings. So our app can't be recording video when the debug reset is triggered. So far I haven't found a way to reproduced the issue locally, but I can see that it's happening to users from logs. I've found some posts online from developers experiencing similar issues, but none of them seem to directly address our issue. The system error doesn't include a userInfo dictionary, and as far as I can tell it's a system daemon crash so any logs would need to be captured from the OS. Is there any way that I could get more information about what may be causing this error that I may have missed?
1
0
93
Apr ’25
Why personal music recommendations contain no more than 12 item?
Hi! I get personal recommendations MusicItemCollection using this code: func getRecommendations() async throws -> MusicItemCollection<MusicPersonalRecommendation> { let request = MusicPersonalRecommendationsRequest() let response = try await request.response() let recommendations = response.recommendations return recommendations } However, all recommendations contain no more than 12 MusicItem's, while the Music.app application provides much more for some recommendations, for example, for the You recently listened recommendation, the Music.app application displays 40 items. Each recommendation has an items property that contains a collection of musical items MusicItemCollection<MusicPersonalRecommendation.Item>, the hasNextBatch property for these collections is always false. I expected that for some collections loading of new items would be available. Please tell me if I'm doing something wrong or is this a MusicKit bug? Thank you!
1
0
475
Feb ’25