I have an app under development - demo here - https://youtu.be/VbAfUk_eYl0?si=s6EDBx-4G6P_QbZO - which is sort of an audio player for airdropped files - something useful to musicians who dump work in progress to their phone, make notes, revise and update.
I've been testing my handling of audio session interruption notifications, but seems to be a lot of inconsistency in how, when and why iOS delivers them, and I'm wondering if there is some rhyme or reason to it that I'm just not detecting.
For example, I am playing a song in my app. Switch to Apple Music and start playing a song there. My app gets an interruption began notification - this is consistent.
Switch back to my app, and about half the time, I will get an interruption ended notification (coupled often with a blast of the tail of whatever audio buffer was partially played when the interruption started, even though the engine was stopped - and followed by call to my AVAudioPlayerNodeCompletionCallback - is there some way to avoid this?). Half the time I don't get an interruption ended notification; my app can (as expected) end the interruption by activating the AVAudioSession and playing something.
I have not been able to determine any pattern to this behavior, other than that if my app started playing using AVAudioPlayerNode.scheduleSegment rather than scheduleFile I think the notification will be consistently delivered on app activation rather than when I activate the session programmatically.
I would like my app to behave deterministically, and would appreciate any help in deciphering what causes the inconsistent behavior in notifications from iOS.
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Hi, I believe I've found a potential error in the sample code on the documentation page for creating and using a process tap with an aggregate device. The issue is in the section explaining how to add a tap to the aggregate device. I have already filed a Feedback Assistant ticket on this (ID: FB17411663) but haven't heard back for months.
Capturing system audio with Core Audio taps
The sample code for modifying the kAudioAggregateDevicePropertyTapList incorrectly uses the tapID as the target AudioObjectID when calling AudioObjectSetPropertyData.
// (Code to get the list and potentially modify listAsArray)
if var listAsArray = list as? [CFString] {
// ... (modification logic) ...
// Set the list back on the aggregate device. <--- The comment is correct
list = listAsArray as CFArray
_ = withUnsafeMutablePointer(to: &list) { list in
// INCORRECT: This call uses tapID as the target object.
AudioObjectSetPropertyData(tapID, &propertyAddress, 0, nil, propertySize, list)
}
}
The kAudioAggregateDevicePropertyTapList is a property that belongs to the aggregate device, not the individual tap. Therefore, to set this property, the AudioObjectSetPropertyData function must target the AudioObjectID of the aggregate device itself. Using tapID as the first argument is logically incorrect for this operation and will not update the aggregate device as intended.
Furthermore, the preceding AudioObjectGetPropertyData call to fetch the list also appears to use the incorrect tapID as its target in the sample.
The AudioObjectID for both getting and setting this property should be the ID of the aggregate device.
_ = AudioObjectGetPropertyData(aggregateDeviceID, &propertyAddress, 0, nil, &propertySize, &list)
_ = AudioObjectSetPropertyData(aggregateDeviceID, &propertyAddress, 0, nil, propertySize, newList)
Thank you!
I am developing a VOD playback app, but when I stream video to an external monitor connected via HDMI with Lightning on iOS 18 or later, the screen goes dark and I cannot confirm playback.
The app I am developing does not detect the HDMI and display the Player separately, but simply mirrors the video.
We have confirmed that the same phenomenon occurs with other services, but we were able to confirm playback with some services such as Apple TV.
Please let us know if there are any other necessary settings such as video certificates required for video playback.
We would also like to know if the problem occurs with iOS 18 or later.
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Audio
Hi,
I've had a new deck installed in my car for about 1.5 weeks.
I'm having compatibility issues with my 15PM.
It happens both wired and wirelessly, I get the error "Accessory not supported by this device". It used to happen all the time, now it's 50/50. Sometimes it works.
I've removed and added Bluetooth multiple times on phone and deck, I bought a belkin usb-c to usb-a cable today and it seems to fix it but the problem comes back.
I've changed the setting "FaceID and passcode-allow access when locked-accessories."
The car stereo guy reckons it's definitely an issue with the phone not the deck, I'm inclined to believe him since the error states "by this device".
Any advice appreciated.
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Audio
Hi,
Not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question in, but could you please advise if I can use Apple Digital Masters logo (badge) in my iOS app that is playing music from Apple Music service?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Audio
Is it possible to find IDR frame (CMSampleBuffer) in AVAsset h264 video file?
Since the last update to IOS 26.0 (23A5276f) the AirPods connect to my IPhone and the Audio is still running through the phone. They are shown in the Bluetooth Icon that they’re paired.
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Audio
I wrote a Swift macOS app to control a PCI audio device. The code switches between the default output and input channels. As soon as I launch the Audio-Midi Setup utility, channel switching stops working. The driver properties allow switching, but the system doesn't respond. I have to delete the contents of /Library/Preferences/Audio and reset Core Audio. What am I missing?
func setDefaultChannelsOutput() {
guard let deviceID = getDeviceIDByName(deviceName: "PCI-424") else { return }
let selectedIndex = DefaultChannelsOutput.indexOfSelectedItem
if selectedIndex < 0 || selectedIndex >= 24 { return }
let channel1 = UInt32(selectedIndex * 2 + 1)
let channel2 = UInt32(selectedIndex * 2 + 2)
var channels: [UInt32] = [channel1, channel2]
var propertyAddress = AudioObjectPropertyAddress(
mSelector: kAudioDevicePropertyPreferredChannelsForStereo,
mScope: kAudioDevicePropertyScopeOutput,
mElement: kAudioObjectPropertyElementWildcard
)
let dataSize = UInt32(MemoryLayout<UInt32>.size * channels.count)
let status = AudioObjectSetPropertyData(deviceID, &propertyAddress, 0, nil, dataSize, &channels)
if status != noErr {
print("Error setting default output channels: \(status)")
}
}
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Audio
Is there a way to permanently disable PHASE SDK logging? It seems to be a lot chattier than Apple's other SDKs.
While developing a RealityKit app that uses AudioPlaybackController, I must manually hide the PHASE SDK log output several times each day so I can see my app's log messages.
Thank you.
I recently got some plugins from Universal Audio, and have licensed them properly through both UA and iLok manager. Whenever I try to load up the plugins (specifically from UA) in GarageBand, it first says that
"NSCreateObjectFileImageFromMemory-p47UEwps” because the developper can not be verified.
After clicking either 'show in finder' or 'okay', it opens the plugin in a form without its GUI and showing that it is not licensed (even though it is). It also displays error code 100001. I have tried only some basic stuff to troubleshoot like restarting the DAW/my computer and reinstalling/relicensing the softwares. I don't know if the macOS version has anything to do with it but for some reason I just can't get it to work.
Hello. My app uses AVAudioRecorder to generate recording files, which are consistently only 4kb in size. Most users generate audio files normally, with only a few users experiencing this phenomenon occasionally. After uninstalling and installing the app, it will work normally, but it will reappear after a period of time. I have compared that the problematic audio files generated each time are fixed and cannot be played. Added the audioRecorderDidFinishRecording proxy method, which shows that the recording was completed normally. The user also reported that the recording is normal, but there is a problem with the generated file. How should I handle this issue? Look forward to your reply.
- (void)startRecordWithOrderID:(NSString *)orderID {
AVAudioSession *audioSession = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance];
[audioSession setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryRecord error:nil];
[audioSession setActive:YES error:nil];
NSMutableDictionary *settings = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
[settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithFloat: 8000.0] forKey:AVSampleRateKey];
[settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatLinearPCM] forKey:AVFormatIDKey];
[settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:16] forKey:AVLinearPCMBitDepthKey];
[settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt: 1] forKey:AVNumberOfChannelsKey];
[settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:AVLinearPCMIsBigEndianKey];
[settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:AVLinearPCMIsFloatKey];
NSString *path = [WDUtility createDirInDocument:@"audios" withOrderID:orderID withPathExtension:@"wav"];
NSURL *tmpFile = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:path];
recorder = [[AVAudioRecorder alloc] initWithURL:tmpFile settings:settings error:nil];
[recorder setDelegate:self];
[recorder prepareToRecord];
[recorder record];
}
Two issues:
No matter what I set in
try audioSession.setPreferredSampleRate(x)
the sample rate on both iOS and macOS is always 48000 when the output goes through the speaker, and 24000 when my Airpods connect to an iPhone/iPad.
Now, I'm checking the current output loudness to animate a 3D character, using
mixerNode.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: y, format: nil) { [weak self] buffer, time in
Task { @MainActor in
// calculate rms and animate character accordingly
but any buffer size under 4800 is just ignored and the buffers I get are 4800 sized.
This is ok, when the sampleRate is currently 48000, as 10 samples per second lead to decent visual results.
But when AirPods connect, the samplerate is 24000, which means only 5 samples per second, so the character animation looks lame.
My AVAudioEngine setup is the following:
audioEngine.connect(playerNode, to: pitchShiftEffect, format: format)
audioEngine.connect(pitchShiftEffect, to: mixerNode, format: format)
audioEngine.connect(mixerNode, to: audioEngine.outputNode, format: nil)
Now, I'd be fine if the outputNode runs at whatever if it needs, as long as my tap would get at least 10 samples per second.
PS: Specifying my favorite format in the
let format = AVAudioFormat(standardFormatWithSampleRate: 48_000, channels: 2)!
mixerNode.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: y, format: format)
doesn't change anything either
Let's consider the following code.
I've created an actor that loads a list of .mp3 files from a Bundle and then makes it available for audio reproduction.
Unfortunately, I'm experiencing a memory leak.
At the play method.
player.play()
From Instruments I get
_malloc_type_malloc_outlined libsystem_malloc.dylib
start_wqthread libsystem_pthread.dylib
private actor AudioActor {
enum Failure: Error {
case soundsNotLoaded([AudioPlayerClient.Sound: Error])
}
enum Player {
case music(AVAudioPlayer)
}
var players: [Sound: Player] = [:]
let bundles: [Bundle]
init(bundles: UncheckedSendable<[Bundle]>) {
self.bundles = bundles.wrappedValue
}
func load(sounds: [Sound]) throws {
try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setActive(true, options: [])
var errors: [Sound: Error] = [:]
for sound in sounds {
guard let url = bundle.url(forResource: sound.name, withExtension: "mp3")
else { continue }
do {
self.players[sound] = try .music(AVAudioPlayer(contentsOf: url))
} catch {
errors[sound] = error
}
}
guard errors.isEmpty
else { throw Failure.soundsNotLoaded(errors) }
}
func play(sound: Sound, loops: Int?) throws {
guard let player = self.players[sound]
else { return }
switch player {
case let .music(player):
player.numberOfLoops = loops ?? -1
player.play()
}
}
func stop(sound: Sound) throws {
guard let player = self.players[sound]
else { throw Failure.soundsNotLoaded([:]) }
switch player {
case let .music(player):
player.stop()
}
}
}
I have spent a long time refactoring lots of older Swift code to compile without error in Swift 6.
The app is a v3 audio unit host and audio unit.
Having installed Sonoma and XCode 16 I compile the code using Swift 6 and it compiles and runs without any warnings or errors.
My host will load my AU no problem.
LOGIC PRO is still the ONLY audio unit host that will load native Mac V3 audio units and so I like to test my code using Logic.
In Sonoma with XCode 16...
My AU passes the most stringent AUVAL tests both in terminal and Logic pro.
If I compile the AU source in Swift 5 Logic will see the AU, load it and run it without problems.
But when I compile the AU in Swift 6 Logic sees the AU, will scan it and verify it passes the tests but will not load the AU. In XCode I see a log message that a "helper application failed to run" but the debugger never connects to the AU and I don't think Logic even gets as far as instantiating the AU.
So... what is causing this? I'm stumped..
Developing AUv3 is a brain-aching maze of undocumented hurdles and I'm hoping someone might have found a solution for this one. Meanwhile I guess my only option is to continue using the Swift 5 compiler.
(appending a little note just to mention that all the DSP code is written in C/C++, Swift is used mainly for the user interface and also does some offline thready work )
I'm using AVFoundation to make a multi-track editor app, which can insert multiple track and clip, including scale some clip to change the speed of the clip, (also I'm not sure whether AVFoundation the best choice for me) but after making the scale with scaleTimeRange API, there is some short noise sound in play back. Also, sometimes it's fine when play AVMutableCompostion using AVPlayer with AVPlayerItem, but after exporting with AVAssetReader, will catch some short noise sounds in result file.... Not sure why.
Here is the example project, which can build and run directly. https://github.com/luckysmg/daily_images/raw/refs/heads/main/TestDemo.zip
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?!
Hi, everyone, I downloaded the source code EditingSpatialAudioWithAnAudioMix.zip from https://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cinematic/editing-spatial-audio-with-an-audio-mix, when I carried out one of the actions named "process" in command line the program crashed!!
Form the source code, I found that the value of componentType is set to kAudioUnitType_FormatConverter:
// The actual `AudioUnit`.
public var auAudioMix = AVAudioUnitEffect()
init() {
// Generate a component description for the audio unit.
let componentDescription = AudioComponentDescription(
componentType: kAudioUnitType_FormatConverter,
componentSubType: kAudioUnitSubType_AUAudioMix,
componentManufacturer: kAudioUnitManufacturer_Apple,
componentFlags: 0,
componentFlagsMask: 0)
auAudioMix=AVAudioUnitEffect(audioComponentDescription: componentDescription)
}
But in the document from https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfaudio/avaudiouniteffect/init(audiocomponentdescription:), it seems that componentType can not be set to kAudioUnitType_FormatConverter and :
Has everyone encountered this problem?
I have the new iOS 26 SpeechTranscriber working in my application. The issue I am facing is how to determine if the device I am running on supports SpeechTranscriber. I was able to create code that tests if the device supports transcription but it takes a bit of time to run and thus the results are not available when the app launches. What I am looking for is a list of what iOS 26 devices it doesn't run on. I think its safe to assume any new devices will support it so if we can just have a list of what devices that can run iOS 26 and not able to do transcription it would be much faster for the app. I have determined it doesn't work on a SE 2nd Gen, it works on iPhone 12, SE 3rd Gen, iPhone 14 Pro, 15 Pro. As the SpeechTranscriber doesn't work in the simulator I can't determine that way. I have checked the docs and it doesn't list the devices it doesn't work on.
I’m facing a problem while trying to achieve spatial audio effects in my iOS 18 app. I have tried several approaches to get good 3D audio, but the effect never felt good enough or it didn’t work at all.
Also what mostly troubles me is I noticed that AirPods I have doesn’t recognize my app as one having spatial audio (in audio settings it shows "Spatial Audio Not Playing"). So i guess my app doesn't use spatial audio potential.
First approach uses AVAudioEnviromentNode with AVAudioEngine. Chaining position of player as well as changing listener’s doesn’t seem to change anything in how audio plays.
Here's simple how i initialize AVAudioEngine
import Foundation
import AVFoundation
class AudioManager: ObservableObject {
// important class variables
var audioEngine: AVAudioEngine!
var environmentNode: AVAudioEnvironmentNode!
var playerNode: AVAudioPlayerNode!
var audioFile: AVAudioFile?
...
//Sound set up
func setupAudio() {
do {
let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
try session.setCategory(.playback, mode: .default, options: [])
try session.setActive(true)
} catch {
print("Failed to configure AVAudioSession: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
audioEngine = AVAudioEngine()
environmentNode = AVAudioEnvironmentNode()
playerNode = AVAudioPlayerNode()
audioEngine.attach(environmentNode)
audioEngine.attach(playerNode)
audioEngine.connect(playerNode, to: environmentNode, format: nil)
audioEngine.connect(environmentNode, to: audioEngine.mainMixerNode, format: nil)
environmentNode.listenerPosition = AVAudio3DPoint(x: 0, y: 0, z: 0)
environmentNode.listenerAngularOrientation = AVAudio3DAngularOrientation(yaw: 0, pitch: 0, roll: 0)
environmentNode.distanceAttenuationParameters.referenceDistance = 1.0 environmentNode.distanceAttenuationParameters.maximumDistance = 100.0
environmentNode.distanceAttenuationParameters.rolloffFactor = 2.0
// example.mp3 is mono sound
guard let audioURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "example", withExtension: "mp3") else {
print("Audio file not found")
return
}
do {
audioFile = try AVAudioFile(forReading: audioURL)
} catch {
print("Failed to load audio file: \(error)")
}
}
...
//Playing sound
func playSpatialAudio(pan: Float ) {
guard let audioFile = audioFile else { return }
// left side
playerNode.position = AVAudio3DPoint(x: pan, y: 0, z: 0)
playerNode.scheduleFile(audioFile, at: nil, completionHandler: nil)
do {
try audioEngine.start()
playerNode.play()
} catch {
print("Failed to start audio engine: \(error)")
}
...
}
Second more complex approach using PHASE did better. I’ve made an exemplary app that allows players to move audio player in 3D space. I have added reverb, and sliders changing audio position up to 10 meters each direction from listener but audio seems to only really change left to right (x axis) - again I think it might be trouble with the app not being recognized as spatial.
//Crucial class Variables:
class PHASEAudioController: ObservableObject{
private var soundSourcePosition: simd_float4x4 = matrix_identity_float4x4
private var audioAsset: PHASESoundAsset!
private let phaseEngine: PHASEEngine
private let params = PHASEMixerParameters()
private var soundSource: PHASESource
private var phaseListener: PHASEListener!
private var soundEventAsset: PHASESoundEventNodeAsset?
// Initialization of PHASE
init{
do {
let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
try session.setCategory(.playback, mode: .default, options: [])
try session.setActive(true)
} catch {
print("Failed to configure AVAudioSession: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
// Init PHASE Engine
phaseEngine = PHASEEngine(updateMode: .automatic)
phaseEngine.defaultReverbPreset = .mediumHall
phaseEngine.outputSpatializationMode = .automatic //nothing helps
// Set listener position to (0,0,0) in World space
let origin: simd_float4x4 = matrix_identity_float4x4
phaseListener = PHASEListener(engine: phaseEngine)
phaseListener.transform = origin
phaseListener.automaticHeadTrackingFlags = .orientation
try! self.phaseEngine.rootObject.addChild(self.phaseListener)
do{
try self.phaseEngine.start();
}
catch {
print("Could not start PHASE engine")
}
audioAsset = loadAudioAsset()
// Create sound Source
// Sphere
soundSourcePosition.translate(z:3.0)
let sphere = MDLMesh.newEllipsoid(withRadii: vector_float3(0.1,0.1,0.1), radialSegments: 14, verticalSegments: 14, geometryType: MDLGeometryType.triangles, inwardNormals: false, hemisphere: false, allocator: nil)
let shape = PHASEShape(engine: phaseEngine, mesh: sphere)
soundSource = PHASESource(engine: phaseEngine, shapes: [shape])
soundSource.transform = soundSourcePosition
print(soundSourcePosition)
do {
try phaseEngine.rootObject.addChild(soundSource)
}
catch {
print ("Failed to add a child object to the scene.")
}
let simpleModel = PHASEGeometricSpreadingDistanceModelParameters()
simpleModel.rolloffFactor = rolloffFactor
soundPipeline.distanceModelParameters = simpleModel
let samplerNode = PHASESamplerNodeDefinition(
soundAssetIdentifier: audioAsset.identifier,
mixerDefinition: soundPipeline,
identifier: audioAsset.identifier + "_SamplerNode")
samplerNode.playbackMode = .looping
do {soundEventAsset = try
phaseEngine.assetRegistry.registerSoundEventAsset(
rootNode: samplerNode,
identifier: audioAsset.identifier + "_SoundEventAsset")
} catch {
print("Failed to register a sound event asset.")
soundEventAsset = nil
}
}
//Playing sound
func playSound(){
// Fire new sound event with currently set properties
guard let soundEventAsset else { return }
params.addSpatialMixerParameters(
identifier: soundPipeline.identifier,
source: soundSource,
listener: phaseListener)
let soundEvent = try! PHASESoundEvent(engine: phaseEngine,
assetIdentifier: soundEventAsset.identifier,
mixerParameters: params)
soundEvent.start(completion: nil)
}
...
}
Also worth mentioning might be that I only own personal team account
I have a Catalyst app ('container') which hosts an embedded AUv3 Audio Unit extension ('plugin'). This used to work for years and has worked with this project until a few days ago.
it still works on iOS as expected
on MacOS the extension is never registered/installed and won't load
extension won't show up with AUVal
seems to have stopped working with the 26.1 XCode update
I'm fairly certain the problem is not code related (i.e. likely build settings, project settings, entitlements, signing, etc.)
I have compared all settings with another still-working project and can't find any meaningful difference
(I can't request code-level support because even the minimal thing vastly exceeds the 250 lines of code limit.)
How can I debug the issue? I literally don't know where to start to fix this problem, short of rebuilding the entire thing and hope that it magically starts working again.