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AVPlayer playing protected HLS, when session expires and open new session created the player is stall for a small time
I am playing the protected HLS streams and the authorization token expires in 3 minutes. I am trying to achieve this with 'AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate'. I can refresh the token and play it, but the problem is in between the session, the player stalls for a small time, LIKE 1 SECOND. Here's my code : class APLCustomAVARLDelegate: NSObject, AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate { static let httpsScheme = "https" static let redirectErrorCode = 302 static let badRequestErrorCode = 400 private var token: String? private var retryDictionary = [String: Int]() private let maxRetries = 3 private func schemeSupported(_ scheme: String) -> Bool { let supported = ishttpSchemeValid(scheme) print("Scheme '\(scheme)' supported: \(supported)") return supported } private func reportError(loadingRequest: AVAssetResourceLoadingRequest, error: Int) { let nsError = NSError(domain: NSURLErrorDomain, code: error, userInfo: nil) print("Reporting error: \(nsError)") loadingRequest.finishLoading(with: nsError) } // Handle token renewal requests to prevent playback stalls func resourceLoader(_ resourceLoader: AVAssetResourceLoader, shouldWaitForRenewalOfRequestedResource renewalRequest: AVAssetResourceRenewalRequest) -> Bool { print("Resource renewal requested for URL: \(renewalRequest.request.url?.absoluteString ?? "unknown URL")") // Handle renewal the same way we handle initial requests guard let scheme = renewalRequest.request.url?.scheme else { print("No scheme found in the renewal URL.") return false } if isHttpsSchemeValid(scheme) { return handleHttpsRequest(renewalRequest) } print("Scheme not supported for renewal.") return false } private func isHttpsSchemeValid(_ scheme: String) -> Bool { let isValid = scheme == APLCustomAVARLDelegate.httpsScheme print("httpsScheme scheme '\(scheme)' valid: \(isValid)") return isValid } private func generateHttpsURL(sourceURL: URL) -> URL? { // If you need to modify the URL, do it here // Currently this just returns the same URL let urlString = sourceURL.absoluteString print("Generated HTTPS URL: \(urlString)") return URL(string: urlString) } private func handleHttpsRequest(_ loadingRequest: AVAssetResourceLoadingRequest) -> Bool { print("Handling HTTPS request.") guard let sourceURL = loadingRequest.request.url, var redirectURL = generateHttpsURL(sourceURL: sourceURL) else { print("Failed to generate HTTPS URL.") reportError(loadingRequest: loadingRequest, error: APLCustomAVARLDelegate.badRequestErrorCode) return true } // Track retry attempts with a dictionary keyed by request URL let urlString = sourceURL.absoluteString let currentRetries = retryDictionary[urlString] ?? 0 if currentRetries < maxRetries { retryDictionary[urlString] = currentRetries + 1 } else { // Too many retries, report a more specific error reportError(loadingRequest: loadingRequest, error: NSURLErrorTimedOut) retryDictionary.removeValue(forKey: urlString) return true } if var urlComponents = URLComponents(url: redirectURL, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false) { var queryItems = urlComponents.queryItems ?? [] // Generate a fresh token each time let freshToken = AESTimeBaseEncription.secureEncryptSecretText() // Check if the token already exists if let existingTokenIndex = queryItems.firstIndex(where: { $0.name == "token" }) { // Update the existing token queryItems[existingTokenIndex].value = freshToken } else { // Add the token if it doesn't exist queryItems.append(URLQueryItem(name: "token", value: freshToken)) } urlComponents.queryItems = queryItems redirectURL = urlComponents.url! } let redirectRequest = URLRequest(url: redirectURL) let response = HTTPURLResponse(url: redirectURL, statusCode: APLCustomAVARLDelegate.redirectErrorCode, httpVersion: nil, headerFields: nil) print("Redirecting HTTPS to URL: \(redirectURL)") loadingRequest.redirect = redirectRequest loadingRequest.response = response loadingRequest.finishLoading() // If successful, reset the retry counter if retryDictionary[urlString] == maxRetries { retryDictionary.removeValue(forKey: urlString) } return true } }
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480
Mar ’25
Best approach for auto-play when using AVPlayer
Hello! I am trying to determine the best approach with AVPlayer for implementing auto-play, that is, playback that automatically starts without user initiation. Ideally this would work for both local and streaming audio. My current approach is using KVO and the status on an AVPlayerItem equal to readyToPlay to do this, but I was wondering if there was a better property or state to use, or, alternatively, whether this use case may already be handled when automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling is true, so that I could simply write: player.replaceCurrentItem(with: AVPlayerItem(url: streamingUrl)) player.rate = 1 or let playerItem = AVPlayerItem(url: streamingUrl) player = AVPlayer(playerItem: playerItem) player.rate = 1 and expect the item to be auto-played when ready. In the context of user-initiated playback, I've typically seen code that makes a button's enabled state contingent on player.currentItem.duration, e.g. in AVFoundationSimplePlayer-iOS. On the other hand, AVAutoWait, which utilizes automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling, does not seem to do this. As a side note, I am not using an AVQueuePlayer.
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378
Mar ’25
App recedes to background,audioEngine.start()
private var audioEngine = AVAudioEngine() private var inputNode: AVAudioInputNode! func startAnalyzing() { inputNode = audioEngine.inputNode let recordingFormat = inputNode.outputFormat(forBus: 0) let hardwareSampleRate = recordingSession.sampleRate inputNode.removeTap(onBus: 0) if recordingFormat.sampleRate != hardwareSampleRate { print("。") let newFormat = AVAudioFormat(commonFormat: recordingFormat.commonFormat, sampleRate: hardwareSampleRate, channels: recordingFormat.channelCount, interleaved: recordingFormat.isInterleaved) inputNode.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 1024, format: newFormat) { buffer, time in self.processAudioBuffer(buffer, time: time) } } else { inputNode.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 1024, format: recordingFormat) { buffer, time in self.processAudioBuffer(buffer, time: time) } } do { audioEngine.prepare() try audioEngine.start() } catch { print(": \(error)") } } I back the app to the background and then call startAnalyzing(), which reports an error and the background recording permissions are configured。 error: [10429:570139] [aurioc] AURemoteIO.cpp:1668 AUIOClient_StartIO failed (561145187) [10429:570139] [avae] AVAEInternal.h:109 [AVAudioEngineGraph.mm:1545:Start: (err = PerformCommand(*ioNode, kAUStartIO, NULL, 0)): error 561145187 Audio engine couldn't start. Is background boot not allowed?
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515
Jan ’25
Issue: FPS Drops to 30 After Trimming Video in Photos App
Hi, I am recording a video at 240 FPS within my application and saving it to the Photos app. The recorded video retains 240 FPS in the Photos app. However, after trimming the video using the Photos app and importing it back into my app, the FPS is reduced to 30 FPS. Steps to Reproduce: Record a video inside the application at 240 FPS. Save the recorded video to the Photos app. Verify that the video retains 240 FPS in the Photos app. Trim the video using the built-in Photos app editor. Import the trimmed video back into the application. The FPS of the imported video is now reduced to 30 FPS. Code Used for Importing Video: I am using the following code to fetch the video from the Photos app: let options: PHVideoRequestOptions = PHVideoRequestOptions() options.version = .current // Using `.original` preserves FPS, but I need `.current` for other changes options.deliveryMode = .highQualityFormat options.isNetworkAccessAllowed = true PHImageManager.default().requestAVAsset(forVideo: self, options: options) { (avAsset, audioMix, info) in if let urlAsset = avAsset as? AVURLAsset { completionHandler(urlAsset.url, self) } else { self.askForOriginal(completionHandler: completionHandler) } } Observations: The original video retains 240 FPS until it is trimmed in the Photos app. After trimming, the FPS automatically drops to 30 FPS when imported back into the app. If I use options.version = .original, the FPS is preserved, but I need .current to apply other modifications. Questions: Is this an expected behavior of PHImageManager when requesting a video with options.version = .current? Is there a way to preserve the original FPS while still using .current? Are there any workarounds to extract the trimmed video without FPS reduction? Any insights or solutions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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361
Mar ’25
Intermittent Memory Leak Indicated in Simulator When Using AVAudioEngine with mainMixerNode Only
Hello, I'm observing an intermittent memory leak being reported in the iOS Simulator when initializing and starting an AVAudioEngine. Even with minimal setup—just attaching a single AVAudioPlayerNode and connecting it to the mainMixerNode—Xcode's memory diagnostics and Instruments sometimes flag a leak. Here is a simplified version of the code I'm using: // This function is called when the user taps a button in the view controller: #import "ViewController.h" @interface ViewController () @end @implementation ViewController - (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad]; } - (IBAction)myButtonAction:(id)sender { NSLog(@"Test"); soundCreate(); } @end // media.m static AVAudioEngine *audioEngine = nil; void soundCreate(void) { if (audioEngine != nil) return; [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryAmbient error:nil]; [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] setActive:YES error:nil]; audioEngine = [[AVAudioEngine alloc] init]; AVAudioPlayerNode* playerNode = [[AVAudioPlayerNode alloc] init]; [audioEngine attachNode:playerNode]; [audioEngine connect:playerNode to:(AVAudioNode *)[audioEngine mainMixerNode] format:nil]; [audioEngine startAndReturnError:nil]; } In the memory leak report, the following call stack is repeated, seemingly in a loop: ListenerMap::InsertEvent(XAudioUnitEvent const&, ListenerBinding*) AudioToolboxCore ListenerMap::AddParameter(AUListener*, void*, XAudioUnitEvent const&) AudioToolboxCore AUListenerAddParameter AudioToolboxCore addOrRemoveParameterListeners(OpaqueAudioComponentInstance*, AUListenerBase*, AUParameterTree*, bool) AudioToolboxCore 0x180178ddf
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113
Apr ’25
Image brightness adapts despite exposure lock
Short summary When setting exposureMode to .locked or .custom the brightness of a video stream still changes depending on the composition and contrast of the visible scene. These changes seem to come from contrast enhancements or dynamic range optimizations and totally break any analysis of the image that requires to assess absolute luminance. While exposure lock seems to indeed lock the physical exposure parameters of the camera (shutter speed and ISO), I cannot find any way to control these "soft" modifiers. Details Background I am the developer of the app "phyphox", an educational app that makes the phone's sensors accessible to students as measurement tools in science experiments. Currently I am working on implementing photometric measurements through the camera and one very important aspect of it is luminance measurements. This is particularly relevant since the light sensor of the phone has no publicly accessible API and the camera could to some extend make experiments available to Apple users that are otherwise only possible on Android devices. Implementation The app uses AVFoundation and explicitly picks individual cameras since camera groups do not support custom exposure settings. This means that it handles camera switching during zoom by itself and even implements its own auto exposure routines to optimize for the use in experiments. Therefore it always stays in custom exposure mode. The app uses YUV420 color space and the individual frames are analyzed in Metal using compute shaders. However, the effects discussed here still occur if I remove all code to control the camera and replace it with a simple sequence of setting the exposure mode to custom, setting custom exposure values, setting a fixed white balance and then setting the exposure mode to locked as suggested on stackoverflow. This neither helps on an iPhone 14 Pro nor on an iPhone 8 despite a report on the developer forums that it would resolve the issue for older devices. The app is open source, so the code can be seen in our current development branch (without the changes for the tests here, though) on github. The videos below use the implementation with the suggestion from stackoverflow, but they can be reproduced in the same way with "professional" camera apps that promise manual control over the camera (like the Blackmagic cam to quote a reputable company) as well as the stock camera app after pressing and holding on the preview to enable AE/AF lock. Demonstration These examples were captured on an iPhone 14 Pro. The central part of the image (highlighted by the app using metal shaders after capture) should not change with fixed exposure settings, but significant changes are noticable if there are changes at the edge of the frame when I move a black piece of cardboard in from above: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b1f_3IB6yAQG-qSH27pm6oDQ The graph above the camera preview is the average luminance (gamma corrected and weighted based on sRGB) across the highlighted central area and as mentioned before it should not change because of something happening at the side of the frame (worst case it should get a bit darker because of the cardboard's shadow). In my opinion, the iPhone changes its mind on the ideal contrast as soon as it has a different exposure histogram because of the dark image part from the cardboard, but that's just me guessing. For completeness here is the same effect in the stock camera app with AE/AF lock enabled: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0cd7QM8ucBZKwPwE9mybnEowg Here you can also see that the iPhone "ramps" the changes. The brightness of the gray area does not change immediately but transitions smoothly, so this is clearly deliberate postprocessing. So... Any suggestion on how to prevent this behavior would be highly appreciated.
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124
Apr ’25
Impact on iOS Due to Image Policy Changes with Android Target SDK 34
As the image access policy has changed with Android targeting SDK 34, I’m planning to update the way our app accesses photos. We are using the react-native-image-picker library to access images. On Android, the system no longer prompts the user for image access permissions, but on iOS, permission requests still appear. Since Android no longer requires explicit permissions, I’ve removed the permission request logic for Android. In this case, is it also safe to remove the permission request for iOS? In our app, photo access is only used for changing the user profile picture and attaching images when writing a post on the bulletin board. Are there any limitations or considerations for this kind of usage?
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94
Apr ’25
WebM audio playback
Is it possible to play WebM audio on iOS? Either with AVPlayer, AVAudioEngine, or some other API? Safari has supported this for a few releases now, and I'm wondering if I missed something about how to do this. By default these APIs don't seem to work (nor does ExtAudioFileOpen). Our usecase is making it possible for iOS users to play back audio recorded in our webapp (desktop versions of Chrome & Firefox only support webm as a destination format for MediaRecorder)
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448
Mar ’25
How to inform Logic Pro that AU view does not have a fixed aspect ratio?
I have an AUv3 that passes all validation and can be loaded into Logic Pro without issue. The UI for the plug in can be any aspect ratio but Logic insists on presenting it in a view with a fixed aspect ratio. That is when resizing, both the height and width are resized. I have never managed to work out what it is I need to do specify to Logic to allow the user to resize width or height independently of each other. Can anyone tell me what I need to specify in the AU code that will inform Logic that the view can be resized from any side of the window/panel?
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79
Apr ’25
Capturing multiple screens no longer works with macOS Sequoia
Capturing more than one display is no longer working with macOS Sequoia. We have a product that allows users to capture up to 2 displays/screens. Our application is using gstreamer which in turn is based on AVFoundation. I found a quick way to replicate the issue by just running 2 captures from separate terminals. Assuming display 1 has device index 0, and display 2 has device index 1, here are the steps: install gstreamer with brew install gstreamer Then open 2 terminal windows and launch the following processes: terminal 1 (device-index:0): gst-launch-1.0 avfvideosrc -e device-index=0 capture-screen=true ! queue ! videoscale ! video/x-raw,width=640,height=360 ! videoconvert ! osxvideosink terminal 2 (device-index:1): gst-launch-1.0 avfvideosrc -e device-index=1 capture-screen=true ! queue ! videoscale ! video/x-raw,width=640,height=360 ! videoconvert ! osxvideosink The first process that is launched will show the screen, the second process launched will not. Testing this on macOS Ventura and Sonoma works as expected, showing both screens. I submitted the same issue on Feedback Assistant: FB15900976
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369
Apr ’25
Error codes -1102 and 1852797029 when entering the background playing HLS assets
In our logging tools (Firebase) I see a lot of errors reported when users are playing content and the app transitions to the background. A AVPlayerItemFailedToPlayToEndTime notification is fired with an error containing error codes like -1102 and 1852797029 which seem to correspond to NSURLErrorNoPermissionsToReadFile and kCMIOHardwareIllegalOperationError respectively. To me, it looks like these might have something to do with caching logic. The items being played are HLS streams and we make use of AVAssetDownloadTask to make any streamed content offline available. Our setup is similar to the sample provided here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/using-avfoundation-to-play-and-persist-http-live-streams. Whenever an item is selected for playback the app will check if a cached version is available and if so gets the url to the stored file like the "localAssetForStream()" method in the example, or get the asset from a currently running AVAssetDownloadTask for the item, or else, starts a new AVAssetDownloadTask and returns a AVAsset from that task to play. This seems to work fine, and I can't reproduce the issues our users and our logging tools are reporting. Is there some case I am missing where AVAssetDownloadTask and associated AVAssets might become unreadable when the app transitions to the background? Or do these errors indicate a different problem entirely?
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215
Mar ’25
How to display artwork images from MusicKit with UIKit?
In SwiftUI there is a built-in component for displaying album artworks called Artwork but there is no equivalent for UIKit. My current approach is to use the .url() method to read image's URL and download the image or read it from the disk but the performance is much worse than it was previously with MPMediaItem's artworkImage method. let artworkQueue = DispatchQueue( label: "MusicKit-ArtworkQueue", qos: .default, attributes: .concurrent ) let artworkSemaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 5) extension Song { func artworkImage(for size: CGSize, completion: @escaping (UIImage?) -> Void) { artworkQueue.async { artworkSemaphore.wait() defer { artworkSemaphore.signal() } let imageURL = artwork?.url( width: Int(size.width), height: Int(size.height) ) // I hate doing this as it might very well break in the future guard let imageURL, imageURL.scheme == "musicKit" else { return completion(nil) } guard let imageData = try? Data(contentsOf: imageURL), let image = UIImage(data: imageData) else { return completion(nil) } completion(image) } } } I really dislike this approach because it feels hacky but somewhat works. You might ask what's the semaphore for? Well, without it I could notice that MusicKit was choking and after reading too many artworks at once. Can someone from Apple please provide us with an example on how to use MusicKit with UIKit properly? Ideally (IMO) we would have a method defined on Song and other MusicKit structures that returns the image for us, just like MPMediaItem had the .artwork() method. It would make our lives so much easier.
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1k
Mar ’25
MusicLibrary.createPlaylist() Method Causing App to Freeze Despite Proper Authorization Checks
Dear Apple Developer Community, I'm encountering a critical issue with the MusicLibrary.shared.createPlaylist() method in MusicKit that's affecting our app's core functionality. Despite implementing all recommended authorization checks, the app consistently freezes for some users when this method is called. What we've already verified before calling createPlaylist(): Network connectivity is properly checked and confirmed Apple Music authorization is explicitly requested via MusicAuthorization.request() User subscription status is verified using MusicSubscription.current.canPlayCatalogContent Despite these precautions, many users report that their app completely freezes when attempting to create a playlist. This is particularly concerning as playlist creation is a core feature of our application. User-reported workarounds (with mixed success): Some users have resolved the issue by restarting their devices or reinstalling our app Others report success after enabling "Sync Library" in Settings → Music Unfortunately, a significant number of users are still experiencing the issue even after trying both solutions above We've reviewed the MusicKit documentation thoroughly and ensured our implementation follows all best practices. Our app correctly handles permissions and uses the async/await pattern as required by the API. Is there a known issue with the createPlaylist() method that might cause it to block indefinitely? Are there additional authorization steps or settings we should be checking before calling this method? Could this be related to how MusicKit communicates with Apple Music servers? Any insights from the developer community or official guidance would be greatly appreciated as this issue is severely impacting our user experience. Thank you for your assistance
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87
Apr ’25
"Remote call timed out" error when trying to play large collection of music items with MusicKit's ApplicationMusicPlayer
I am using MusicKit ApplicationMusicPlayer to play music in my app. Everything works fine as long as I'm not playing large playlists that contain hundreds of songs. When I to play collection of songs that is larger than around 300 I'm always getting the error message saying: "Prepare to play failed" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=Prepare to play failed, NSUnderlyingError=0x121d42dc0 {Error Domain=MPMusicPlayerControllerErrorDomain Code=9 "Remote call timed out" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=Remote call timed out}}})) It doesn't matter if songs are downloaded to the device or not. I am aware that there is another initializer for player's queue that accepts Playlist instances but in my app users can choose to sort playlist tracks in different order than the default and that makes using that initializer not feasible for me. I tried everything I could think of, I tried to fall back on MPMusicPlayerController and pass array of MPMusicPlayerPlayParameters to it but the result was the same. typealias QueueEntry = ApplicationMusicPlayer.Queue.Entry let player = ApplicationMusicPlayer.shared let entries: [QueueEntry] = tracks .compactMap { guard let song = $0 as? Song else { return nil } return QueueEntry(song) } Task(priority: .high) { [player] in do { player.queue = .init(entries, startingAt: nil) try await player.play() // prepareToPlay failed } catch { print(error) } }
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667
Mar ’25
SFSpeechRecognizer throws User denied access to speech recognition
I have created an app where you can speak using SFSpeechRecognizer and it will recognize you speech into text, translate it and then return it back using speech synthesis. All locales for SFSpeechRecognizer and switching between them work fine when the app is in the foreground but after I turn off my screen(the app is still running I just turned off the screen) and try to create new recognitionTask it it receives this error inside the recognition task: User denied access to speech recognition. The weird thing about this is it only happens with some languages. The error happens with Croatian or Hungarian locale for speech recognition but doesn't with English or Spanish locale.
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376
Mar ’25
Rear View Camera Installed – Now CarPlay Audio Stops After 15 Seconds via Bluetooth
I recently installed a rear-view camera in my car, and ever since, I've been experiencing a frustrating issue with my CarPlay. After about 15 seconds of playing audio via Bluetooth, the sound stops coming out of the speakers, even though the song continues to run in the background. For context, my stereo system is an aftermarket unit that I installed to enable CarPlay functionality. Everything worked perfectly before adding the rear-view camera. Unfortunately, my unit does not have a port for a wired connection, so I can't test the audio using a cable. Has anyone experienced a similar issue? Could the camera installation be interfering with the Bluetooth or audio system somehow? Any advice or troubleshooting tips would be greatly appreciated!
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316
Jan ’25
Prevent iOS from Switching Between Back Camera Lenses in getUserMedia (Safari/WebView, iOS 18)
I’m developing a hybrid app (WebView / Turbo Native) that uses getUserMedia to access the back camera for a PPG/heart rate measurement feature (the user places their finger on the camera). Problem: Even when I specify constraints like: { video: { deviceId: '...', facingMode: { exact: 'environment' }, advanced: [{ zoom: 1.0 }] }, audio: false } On iPhone 15 (iOS 18), iOS unexpectedly switches between the wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses during the measurement. This breaks the heart rate detection, and it forces the user to move their finger in the middle of the measurement. Question: Is there any way, via getUserMedia/WebRTC, to force iOS to use only the wide-angle lens and prevent automatic lens switching? I know that with AVFoundation (Swift) you can pick .builtInWideAngleCamera, but I’m hoping to avoid building a custom native layer and would prefer to stick with WebView/JavaScript if possible to save time and complexity. Any suggestions, workarounds, or updates from Apple would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a lot!
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402
Mar ’25