I’m spot-checking some of the data I’m extracting from the Apple Music Feed parquet files and finding numerous issues of invalid album IDs. For example, just looking at any album with a primary artist id of 163043, I see a few albums that are not available at music.apple.com/us/album/NNN. These include: 981094158 - Time and the River 1803443737 - Celebration (Live New York ’80) 1525426873 - Anything You Want: The Warner-Reprise-Elektra Years I notice that neither of these album ids are returned using the general Music API, so I’m a bit confused why they would exist in the parquet files at all. Thanks.

I’m using ScreenCaptureKit on macOS to grab frames and measure end-to-end latency (capture → my delegate callback). For each CMSampleBuffer I read: let pts = CMSampleBufferGetPresentationTimeStamp(sampleBuffer).seconds to get the “capture” timestamp, and I also extract the mach-absolute display time: let attachments = CMSampleBufferGetSampleAttachmentsArray(sampleBuffer, createIfNecessary: false) as? [[SCStreamFrameInfo: Any]] let displayMach = attachments?.first?[.displayTime] as? UInt64 // convert mach ticks to seconds... Then I compare both against the current time: let now = CACurrentMediaTime() let latencyFromPTS = now - pts let latencyFromDisplay = now - displayTimeSeconds But I consistently see negative values for both calculations—i.e. the PTS or displayTime often end up numerically larger than now. This suggests that the “presentation timestamp” and the mach-absolute display time are coming from a different epoch or clock domain than CACurrentMediaTime(). Questions: Which clocks/epochs does ScreenCaptureKit use for PTS and for .displayTime? How can I align these timestamps with CACurrentMediaTime() so that now - pts and now - displayTime reliably yield non-negative real-world latencies? Any pointers on the correct clock conversions or APIs to use would be greatly appreciated.

Is there any way we can detect the status of the Show When Muted and Show on Skip Back device settings in code ?

In the latest production release of our iOS app (deployed via the App Store), we’ve observed a significant increase in AVCaptureSessionWasInterrupted notifications where the interruption reason has a rawValue of 4. The session does not automatically recover, even after returning from background or deleting/reinstalling the app. An employee ran into this and was able to get a recording. We see the below error when attempting to take photos. "Error Domain=AVFoundationErrorDomain Code=-11803 \"Cannot Record\" UserInfo={AVErrorRecordingFailureDomainKey=3, NSLocalizedDescription=Cannot Record, NSLocalizedRecoverySuggestion=Try recording again.}", } This interruption causes the camera preview to remain black, and any attempt to capture an image results in a failure with the following error: Some questions from our team: What common system conditions or foreground app behaviors can cause .videoDeviceNotAvailableWithMultipleForegroundApps (reason 4) to become persistent? Our teams under is under the impression the interruption reason 4 is mostly associated with iPad and PiP, but neither of these are true in the logs we see. Is manual recovery of the session required? Is there a recommended strategy to detect that the session is unrecoverable and gracefully notify the user or rebuild the session? Is there an instrument(s) in XCode you would recommend when trying to evaluate the increase in reason 4? Best, Ben

I have an app that records a health provider’s conversation with a patient. I am using Audio Queue Services for this. If a phone call comes in while recording, the doctor wants to be able to ignore the call and continue the conversation without touching the phone. If the doctor answers the call, that’s fine – I will stop the recording. I can detect when the call comes in and ends using CXCallObserver and AVAudioSession.interruptionNotification. Unfortunately, when a call comes in and before it is answered or dismissed, the audio is suppressed. After the call is dismissed, the audio continues to be suppressed. How can I continue to get audio from the mic as long as the user does not answer the phone call?

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?

Hello, I have been running into issues with setting nowPlayingInfo information, specifically updating information for CarPlay and the CPNowPlayingTemplate. When I start playback for an item, I see lock screen information update as expected, along with the CarPlay now playing information. However, the playing items are books with collections of tracks. When I select a new track(chapter) within the book, I set the MPMediaItemPropertyTitle to the new chapter name. This change is reflected correctly on the lock screen, but almost never appears correctly on the CarPlay CPNowPlayingTemplate. The previous chapter title remains set and never updates. I see "Application exceeded audio metadata throttle limit." in the debug console fairly frequently. From that a I figured that I need to minimize updates to the nowPlayingInfo dictionary. What I did: I store the metadata dictionary in a local dictionary and only set values in the main nowPlayingInfo dictionary when they are different from the current value. I kick off the nowPlayingInfo update via a task that initially sleeps for around 2 seconds (not a final value, just for my current testing). If a previous Task is active, it gets cancelled, so that only one update can happen within that time window. Neither of these things have been sufficient. I can switch between different titles entirely and the information updates (including cover art). But when I switch chapters within a title, the MPMediaItemPropertyTitle continues to get dropped. I know the value is getting set, because it updates on the lock screen correctly. In total, I have 12 keys I update for info, though with the above changes, usually 2-4 of them actually get updated with high frequency. I am running out of ideas to satisfy the throttling thresholds to accurately display metadata. I could use some advice. Thanks.

Hello, I'm trying to create a webbrowser but currently when signed into apple music webplayer I get the following message when I attempt to play on any versions of my webbrowser: Not available on the web You can listen to this in the Apple Music app. Is there a way to setup DRM (assuming this is the issue) with apple to allow my webbrowser to play this content? I believe Apple TV is also affected. Thank you ahead of time.

I am work an app development on an app which request an audio function in background as an alert sound. during debug testing , the function work fine, but once I testing standalone without debugging , The function not work , it will play out the sound when I back to app. does any way to trace the issues ?

ApplicationMusicPlayer is not available on watchOS but all other platforms. Is there a technical reason for that like battery life? Same goes for SystemMusicPlayer and MPMusicPlayerController. I already filed feedbacks for that.

ImageIO encoding to HEICS fails in macOS 15.5. log writeImageAtIndex:1246: *** CMPhotoCompressionSessionAddImageToSequence: err = kCMPhotoError_UnsupportedOperation [-16994] (codec: 'hvc1') seems to be related with https://github.com/SDWebImage/SDWebImage/issues/3732 affected version iOS 18.4 (sim and device), macOS 15.5 unaffected version iOS 18.3 (sim and device), macOS 15.3

Xcode Version 16.3 (16E140) App developed in Flutter Flutter 3.29.3 Test iPhone device: iPhone 16 Pro running iOS 18.5 I have an app that requires Camera access. This used to work before with iOS 18.4.x. I have dumbed down my app to just get Camera permission. Even then it fails flutter: Camera permission: PermissionStatus.denied flutter: Photos permission: PermissionStatus.denied flutter: Microphone permission: PermissionStatus.denied flutter: --- End Debug Info --- flutter: Loaded translations from asset for en_US container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled container_create_or_lookup_app_group_path_by_app_group_identifier: client is not entitled flutter: CAMERA PERMISSION STATUS: PermissionStatus.permanentlyDenied Camera permissions don't show up in my App settings or under "Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Camera" and I am at loss to understand why this is happening.

I created a virtual audio device to capture system audio with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. After capturing the audio, I forward it to the hardware sound card using AVAudioEngine, also with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. However, due to the clock sources being unsynchronized, problems occur after a period of playback. How can I retrieve the clock source of the hardware device and set it for the virtual device?

Hi, I am trying to remove the audio controls for my app on the lock screen. Since I use WKWebView, there are 3 audio tags in my html and I play and pause em via JS. However, if I do not play any sound since app launch, there are no audio controls on the lock screen. But if I play one of those 3 files (they are even less then 3 Sec sound effects e.g. for buttons) the audio controls appears on lock screen. Note even when the sounds on pause() or not playing they were listed on the lock screen. What I have tried so far without success MPNowPlayingInfoCenter.default().nowPlayingInfo = [:] and ``try audioSession.setCategory(.playback, mode: .default, options: []) try audioSession.setActive(false, options: .notifyOthersOnDeactivation)`` and UIApplication.shared.endReceivingRemoteControlEvents() Another problem is that the app scales with iOS system settings "display zoom". Is there a way to deny it? It is latest Xcode verion 16.3 and iOS 18. I have no background mode in my Capabilities. Nothing worked so far. Has anyone an idea? Greetings

Environment→ ・Device: iPad 10th generation ・OS：**iOS18.3.2 We're using AVAudioPlayer to play a sound when a button is tapped. In our use case, this button can be tapped very frequently — roughly every 0.1 to 0.2 seconds. Each tap triggers the following function: var audioPlayer: AVAudioPlayer? func soundPlay(resource: String, type: String){ guard let path = Bundle.main.path(forResource: resource, ofType: type) else { return } do { audioPlayer = try AVAudioPlayer(contentsOf: URL(fileURLWithPath: path)) audioPlayer!.delegate = self try audioSession.setCategory(.playback) } catch { return } self.audioPlayer!.play() } The issue is that under high-frequency tapping (especially around 0.1–0.15s intervals), the app occasionally crashes. The crash does not occur every time, but it happens randomly — sometimes within 30 seconds, within 1 minute, or even 3 minutes of continuous tapping. Interestingly, adding a delay of 0.2 seconds between button taps seems to prevent the crash entirely. Delays shorter than 0.2 seconds (e.g.,0.15s,0.18s) still result in occasional crashes. My questions are: **Is this expected behavior from AVAudioPlayer or AVAudioSession? Could this be a known issue or a limitation in AVFoundation? Is there any documentation or guidance on handling frequent sound playback safely?** Any insights or recommendations on how to handle rapid, repeated audio playback more reliably would be appreciated.

In iOS 18, CarPlay shows an error: “There was a problem loading this content” after playback starts. Audio works fine, but the Now Playing screen doesn’t load. I’m using MPPlayableContentManager. This worked fine in iOS 17. Anyone else seeing this error in iOS 18?

I'm developing a video capture app using AVFoundation, designed specifically for use on a boat pylon to record slalom water skiing. This setup involves considerable vibration. As you may know, the OIS that Apple began adding to lenses since the iPhone 7 is actually very problematic in high vibration circumstances, ironically creating very shaky video, whereas lenses without OIS produce perfectly stable video. Because of this, up until iPhone 14, the solution for my app was simply to use the Selfie lens, which did not have OIS. Starting with iPhone 14 through iPhone 16 (non-Pro models), technical specs suggest the selfie lens still does not include OIS. However, I’m still seeing the same kind of shaky video behavior I see on OIS-equipped lenses. The one hardware change I see in this camera module is the addition of PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus), so that is my best guess as to what is causing the unstable video. 1- Does that make any sense - that in high vibration settings, PDAF could create unstable video in the same way that OIS does? Or could it be something else that was changed between the iPhone 13 and 14 Selfie lens? Thinking that the issue was PDAF, I figured that if I enabled my app to set a Manual Focus level, that ought to circumvent PDAF (expecting that if a lens is manually focusing, it can’t also be autofocusing via PDAF). However, even with manual focus locked via AVCaptureDevice in my app, on the Selfie lens of an iPhone 16, the video still comes out very shaky, basically unusable. I also tested with the built-in Apple Camera app (using the press-and-hold to lock focus and exposure) and another 3rd party camera app to lock focus, all with the same results, so it's not that my app just isn't correctly doing manual focus. So I'm stuck with these questions: 2- Does the selfie camera on iPhones 14–16 use PDAF even when focus is set to locked/manual mode? 3- Is there any way in AVFoundation to disable or suppress PDAF during video recording (e.g., a flag, device format setting, or private API)? 4- Is PDAF behavior or suppression documented or controllable via AVCaptureDevice or any related class? 5- If no control of PDAF is available, are there any best practices for stabilizing or smoothing this effect programmatically? Note that I also have set my app to use the most aggressive form of stabilization available, so it defaults to .cinematicExtendedEnhanced, if that’s not available, then .cinematicExtended, etc. On the 16 Selfie lens, it is using .cinematicExtended. As an additional question: 6- Would those be the most appropriate stabilization settings for a high vibration environment, and if not, what would be best?

Hi, I’m building a PPG-based heart rate feature where the user places their finger over the rear telephoto camera. On iPhone 16 Pro Max, I'm explicitly selecting the telephoto lens like this: videoDevice = AVCaptureDevice.default(.builtInTelephotoCamera, for: .video, position: .back) And trying to lock it: if #available(iOS 15.0, *), device.activePrimaryConstituentDeviceSwitchingBehavior != .unsupported { try? device.lockForConfiguration() device.setPrimaryConstituentDeviceSwitchingBehavior(.locked, restrictedSwitchingBehaviorConditions: []) device.unlockForConfiguration() } I also lock everything else to prevent dynamic changes: try device.lockForConfiguration() device.focusMode = .locked device.exposureMode = .locked device.whiteBalanceMode = .locked device.videoZoomFactor = 1.0 device.automaticallyEnablesLowLightBoostWhenAvailable = false device.automaticallyAdjustsVideoHDREnabled = false device.unlockForConfiguration() Despite this, the camera still switches to another lens, especially under different lighting, even though the user’s finger fully covers the lens. Questions: How can I completely prevent lens switching in this scenario? Would using videoZoomFactor = 3.0 or 5.0 better enforce use of the telephoto lens? Thanks! Gal

Hi Team, We are using AVFoundation to read metadata from a stream and have noticed some delay between when the stream provides metadata and when the app receives it. Could someone from the team advise on ways to reduce this? Thanks

I'm reaching out regarding a recurring issue I'm experiencing with MusicKit developer tokens. I'm using a valid .p8 private key to sign JWTs for Apple MusicKit integration. Each token I generate includes the appropriate claims (iss, iat, exp) and is signed with the ES256 algorithm, with an expiration date set approximately 6 months ahead. Everything works as expected immediately after generating the token. However, after a few days, the same JWT (still well within its expiration period) suddenly begins returning invalid/unauthorized responses when used in Postman and other API clients. Importantly: I did not delete or revoke the .p8 key during this time. I verified the JWT contains valid claims and a proper structure. The issue consistently resolves only when I create a new .p8 file and regenerate a fresh JWT with it—after which the cycle repeats. This issue occurs even when the environment and app identifiers remain unchanged. I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me understand: Why these tokens become invalid after a few days, despite having a long exp value and an unchanged key. Whether there's any automatic revocation or timeout policy on .p8 keys that could explain this behavior. If there's a better way to maintain long-lived developer tokens without requiring new .p8 key generation every few days. Thank you for your help and clarification on this issue. Best regards, Liad Altif