Hey Swift community! I'm exploring building a macOS app that needs to monitor what's currently playing in music apps like Spotify and Apple Music (track info, playback position, play/pause state). I'm trying to figure out the most efficient architecture before diving in. The Goal: Monitor playback state across multiple music players to react to changes in real-time, ideally with minimal CPU overhead since this would run continuously in the background. Approaches I'm Considering AppleScript / ScriptingBridge Distributed Notifications Native Frameworks (Apple Music only) What's the recommended way to do this on macOS? Are distributed notifications reliable enough to avoid polling entirely? Is there a performance difference between AppleScript and ScriptingBridge for IPC? For Apple Music specifically, should I use MusicKit, MediaPlayer, or stick with AppleScript? Are there other approaches I'm missing?

Hello, We are experiencing on some occasions a wrong behavior with PDFDocument method: func page(at index: Int) -> PDFPage? With certain PDF files, this method returns the wrong PDFPage. This occurs on iOS 18.3, 18.5 and 18.6.2 (an maybe on other versions). Try this PDF for instance (page 81 is returned when index = 2): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MHm2wjfsbWB8OiRmARUMmvODYxp4DIqP&usp=drive_fs Also, I mention that this doesn't occur systematically with this PDF. When making a copy of this file we don't observe the issue. Could this be linked some kind of internal cache issue ?

Hi, We identified massive amounts of leaked memory with the tvOS 26 standard player user interface as soon as chapters (navigation markers) are involved. Artwork images associated with chapters are not correctly released anymore, leaking memory in chunks of several MiBs. Over time apps will be terminated by the system due to excessive memory consumption. The issue was reported to Apple as tvOS 26 regression: Huge memory leaks associated with navigation marker artworks displayed in the tvOS standard user interface, filed under FB21160665.

Has anyone seen this issue? We have a user who changed their Apple ID password about 5 days ago. Now when they authenticate via MusicKit JS: authorize() succeeds and returns a user token Immediately calling any /me/ endpoint returns 403 "Invalid authentication" (code 40300) Developer token works fine on catalog endpoints User has active Apple Music subscription Other users work fine through the same flow App doesn't appear in user's "Apps Using Your Apple ID" We've tried: Calling unauthorize() before authorize() Clearing localStorage/sessionStorage/cookies Multiple re-auth attempts over several days The token is freshly issued but Apple's API immediately rejects it. Anyone encountered this after a password change? Any workarounds?

I received my approval for FairPlay Streaming (FPS) and was getting things organized and then my computer crashed. So... Yes, I lost the 32 digit Account Security Key (ASk) that I was warned not to lose repeatedly... I understand that I can't query apple for the existing ASk. I don't see where I can delete the existing cert to request another one. So I assume I'll need to start from scratch either with another FPS approval process. Can someone please direct me on next steps for this boneheaded situation. Thank you

With the help of Claude and Codex, I've tried upgrading a screen magnification, capture, and pixel peeping app (SnoopX, from Stanford's software repository) to be HDR-aware. For images that are truly HDR (displayed in Apple Photos, Google Photos in Chrome, or Mac Preview), and on an HDR monitor with plenty of EDR headroom (Apple XDR display), I should see pixel values well above 1.0. Apple's Digital Color Meter does. However, my app does not. I think the code is doing all the right things with ScreenCaptureKit, but it never returns values above 1.0. Has anybody gotten this to work? Here is what Codex says about the code it helped me build in my app: • Set captureDynamicRange: We set config​.capture​Dynamic​Range = ​SCCapture​Dynamic​Range​HDRLocal​Display (when available). Note: Gemini’s SCCapture​Mode​HDRLocal​Display isn’t a real symbol — the actual API is SCCapture​Dynamic​Range. • Use preset: We try init​With​Preset: ​SCStream​Configuration​Preset​Capture​HDRStream​Local​Display, but your runtime crashes on init​With​Preset: (unrecognized selector), so we fall back to manual config. That means your system SDK headers mention the preset, but the runtime doesn’t implement it. • Pixel format: We explicitly set k​CVPixel​Format​Type​_64​RGBAHalf. Your logs show the stream buffer is 64RGBAHalf. • Enable HDR on display: EDR headroom logs show current=6.40, so HDR is active. • Color space: We set Extended Linear Display P3 for stream, and we forced the screenshot sampler to convert into extended‑linear P3 before reading. The screenshot itself reports Extended sRGB, but conversion doesn’t yield >1.0 either. Despite all of that, the OS is still delivering tone‑mapped values (max 1.0000) for both the stream and the screenshot path. So I don’t think there’s a missing knob here; it looks like a system‑level limitation on Tahoe for desktop capture.

I just bought a monitor S2725QC from Dell Technologies and isn't fully-integrated with MacOS even though it says on the website it is compatible with MacOS. https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/all-monitors/sac/monitors/all-monitors/macos-compatible?appliedRefinements=51765 The screen brightness and volume control buttons don't work with the monitors (I have two). What can I do in terms of writing code with Dell Monitor SDK and MacOS Frameworks/Technologies?

Product Xcode Version 26.3 (26C5131e) Platform macOS / iOS Simulator / iOS Device Classification Bug / Incorrect UI Behaviour Reproducibility Always (persists across restarts, scheme recreation, DerivedData clearing) Date Encountered February 20, 2026 Hardware Mac mini (M2) running macOS Test Device iPhone SE (2nd generation), iOS 26.3 Summary In Xcode 26.3, attempting to run an iOS app on any simulator destination using Cmd+R fails with the error: "A build only device cannot be used to run this target. Please select an available device or choose a simulated device as the destination." This occurs despite the selected destination being a valid iOS Simulator (not a "build only" device). The same project builds successfully using Cmd+B within Xcode and builds, installs, and runs correctly via the command line using xcodebuild, xcrun simctl, and xcrun devicectl. Steps to Reproduce Open a valid iOS project in Xcode 26.3. The project in question has target name "h", product name "DiabetesHbA1cPrediction", bundle identifier "com.diabeteshba1c.DiabetesHbA1cPrediction", with IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET set to 26.0. In the scheme/destination picker toolbar, select any iOS Simulator destination (e.g. iPhone 16, iPhone 17 Pro, or any other available simulator). The destination name appears correctly in the toolbar without any "build only" annotation. Press Cmd+R (Product > Run). Xcode immediately displays the error: "A build only device cannot be used to run this target." Press Cmd+B (Product > Build) instead. The build succeeds with no errors. Expected Behaviour Cmd+R should build and launch the application on the selected simulator, just as it does in previous Xcode versions. The user had been running simulators successfully for the prior week before this issue appeared. Actual Behaviour Xcode refuses to run the app, treating every simulator destination as a "build only device." The error appears instantly upon pressing Cmd+R, before any build activity begins. Cmd+B succeeds normally, confirming the project and scheme configuration are valid. Workarounds Attempted (All Failed) The following troubleshooting steps were performed, none of which resolved the Xcode UI issue: Changed IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET across multiple values (26.2, 18.0, 26.0) in all build settings within project.pbxproj. Deleted and recreated the Xcode scheme (removed .xcscheme files from xcshareddata and xcuserdata, let Xcode auto-create a new scheme). Deleted the entire DerivedData folder (rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData). Selected multiple different simulator destinations (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro) — all produced the same error. Verified the scheme’s Executable setting (confirmed it was set to the correct .app target). Changed "Show Run Destination" setting between Automatic and Always. Quit and restarted Xcode completely. Confirmed that simulator device names in the destination dropdown appeared normally, without any "build only" suffix. Working Workaround: Command-Line Build and Deploy The project builds, installs, and runs correctly when using command-line tools, confirming the project configuration is valid: Simulator deployment: xcodebuild -scheme h -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16' build xcrun simctl boot 7F0DF8DA-E4A3-41B2-A2E4-B1F528753189 xcrun simctl install booted xcrun simctl launch booted com.diabeteshba1c.DiabetesHbA1cPrediction Result: App launched and ran correctly in the simulator. Physical device deployment (iPhone SE 2020, iOS 26.3): xcodebuild -scheme h -destination 'id=00008030-001128DC2E51402E' build xcrun devicectl device install app --device xcrun devicectl device process launch --device com.diabeteshba1c.DiabetesHbA1cPrediction Result: BUILD SUCCEEDED, app installed and launched on the physical device without issue. Key Observations The disconnect between Xcode’s UI-based Run (Cmd+R) failing and the command-line build/deploy succeeding with identical configuration strongly suggests this is an Xcode IDE bug in the run destination resolution logic, not a project configuration issue. Cmd+B succeeds in Xcode itself, meaning the build system correctly recognises the project, scheme, and destination. The failure occurs specifically in the “run” pathway where Xcode evaluates whether the destination supports execution. The simulator dropdown shows destination names without any "build only" label, yet Xcode internally treats them as build-only when the Run action is invoked. This behaviour started occurring in Xcode 26.3. The same project and simulators worked correctly in the preceding week under the same Xcode installation. Environment Xcode version: 26.3 (26C5131e) macOS: Running on Mac mini (M2) iOS SDK: 26.3 Available simulator runtimes: iOS 18.6, iOS 26.2 Physical test device: iPhone SE (2nd generation), iOS 26.3 Project type: SwiftUI iOS app with HealthKit integration Signing: Automatic, with valid provisioning for both simulator and device

I am trying to create keys for my personal project with MusicKit and other resources, but MusicKit specifically for now. I want to gather my recent music history and log the time in my system to measure with my other life data to do analysis on. I have created an Identifier with an appropriate Description and Bundle ID and have MusicKit checked in AppServices. I have saved and reset cash and waited all day and the keys have still not update and show "There are no identifiers available that can be associated with the key" in this field. Please help!

Hi, So I want to use Apple Music API to get the top musics from Apple music. My question would be: Can I place ads between 2 apple music? Use case: User can listen 30 sec previews which I got from the API (link and stuff included of course). Then he/she swipes (like on tiktok) and see a banner or video ad. Then he/she swipe to the next 30 sec preview. (The ad itself is skippable, so it's not necessary to stay just to listen the music) Is this valid, or I shouldn't use ads this way?

AVPictureInPictureController with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer: Video not scaled in PiP window on macOS Platform: macOS 26.4 (Tahoe) Framework: AVKit / AVFoundation Xcode: 26.4 Summary When using AVPictureInPictureController with ContentSource(sampleBufferDisplayLayer:playbackDelegate:) on macOS, the video content in the PiP window is not scaled to fit — it renders at 1:1 pixel resolution, showing only the bottom-left portion of the video (zoomed/cropped). The same code works correctly on iOS. Setup let displayLayer = AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer() displayLayer.videoGravity = .resizeAspect // Host displayLayer as a sublayer of an NSView, enqueue CMSampleBuffers let source = AVPictureInPictureController.ContentSource( sampleBufferDisplayLayer: displayLayer, playbackDelegate: self ) let pip = AVPictureInPictureController(contentSource: source) pip.delegate = self The source display layer is 1280×720, matching the video stream resolution. PiP starts successfully — isPictureInPicturePossible is true, the PiP button works, and the PIPPanel window appears. However, the video in the PiP window (~480×270) shows only the bottom-left 480×270 pixels of the 1280×720 content, rather than scaling the full frame to fit. Investigation Inspecting the PiP window hierarchy reveals: PIPPanel (480×270) └─ AVPictureInPictureSampleBufferDisplayLayerView └─ AVPictureInPictureSampleBufferDisplayLayerHostView (layer = CALayerHost) └─ AVPictureInPictureCALayerHostView The CALayerHost mirrors the source AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer at 1:1 pixel resolution. Unlike AVPlayerLayer-based PiP (which works correctly on macOS), the sample buffer display layer path does not apply any scaling transform to the mirrored content. On iOS, PiP with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer works correctly because the system reparents the layer into the PiP window, so standard layer scaling applies. On macOS, the system uses CALayerHost mirroring instead, and the scaling step is missing. What I tried (none fix the issue) Setting autoresizingMask on all PiP internal subviews — views resize correctly, but CALayerHost content remains at 1:1 pixel scale Applying CATransform3DMakeScale on the CALayerHost layer — creates a black rectangle artifact; the mirrored content does not transform Setting CALayerHost.bounds to the source layer size — no effect on rendering Reparenting the internal AVPictureInPictureCALayerHostView out of the host view — video disappears entirely Hiding the CALayerHost — PiP window goes white (confirming it is the sole video renderer) Resizing the source AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer to match the PiP window size — partially works (1:1 mirror of a smaller source fits), but causes visible lag during resize, affects the main window's "This video is playing in Picture in Picture" placeholder, and didTransitionToRenderSize stops being called after the initial resize Expected behavior The video content should be scaled to fit the PiP window, respecting the display layer's videoGravity setting (.resizeAspect), consistent with: iOS PiP with AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer (works correctly) macOS PiP with AVPlayerLayer (works correctly) Environment macOS 26.4 (Tahoe) Xcode 26.4 Apple Silicon (M-series) Retina display (contentsScale = 2.0) Video: H.264 1280×720, hardware decoded via VTDecompressionSession, enqueued as CMSampleBuffer

Is anyone else seeing a sudden outage with the iTunes Search API (https://itunes.apple.com/search) today? As of this morning (April 16), all my requests to the /search endpoint are returning HTTP 404 Not Found. I've tested across multiple countries (us, gb, fr) and entities (software, iPadSoftware), but they all fail with the same error. Interestingly, the /lookup endpoint (e.g., https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=[APP_ID]) is still working perfectly fine. What I've checked so far: Apple System Status page is "All Green" (as usual). Tried different IP addresses/regions to rule out local blocking. Tested simple queries like term=car to rule out specific keyword issues. Questions: Are you guys seeing 404s as well, or is it just me? Has anyone heard of a sudden migration or deprecation notice for this legacy endpoint?

Hello together, is there an API or a way to react to AirPods Gestures for an Recording that got started from an Intent or even when the App is open? Scenario: I am walking, riding the bike or do some other mainly hands free activities or can't reach my phone but have my AirPods in my ears. Goal: Via Siri, I am able to start an AudioRecordingIntent and it runs smoothly. I'd like Pause / Resume the recording by Single Tapping the AirPods or to end the Recording by simply double-tapping. Pretty much like if I would mute/unmute or hang up on a call. MPRemoteCommandCenter doesn't seem to be the solution for this. Not sure if this is because the Recording is started through an AudioRecordingIntent.