Hi everyone,
I’m seeing recurring internal AVFoundation camera logs on iOS 26.2 and I’m trying to understand whether this is expected behavior or a regression in the capture pipeline.
These logs appear shortly after starting an AVCaptureSession, while video frames are being delivered, and also when the camera is stopped or the capture session is torn down.
<<<< FigXPCUtilities >>>> signalled err=-17281 at <>:302
<<<< FigCaptureSourceRemote >>>> Fig assert: "err == 0 " at bail (FigCaptureSourceRemote.m:569) - (err=-17281)
Even in this clean, minimal setup, the same logs appear on iOS 26.2
The exact same logic did not produce these logs on iOS 18.x.
To rule out issues caused by my own code, GPT created a minimal SwiftUI example from scratch.
My primary interest is to perform real-time processing on the video frames delivered by the camera (via AVCaptureVideoDataOutput), for tasks such as analysis, computer vision, or custom frame handling, while simultaneously displaying the live preview.
Thanks in advance for any insight.
Example Code
Photos & Camera
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I'm adopting Liquid Glass in iOS 26, when I try to test VNDocumentCameraViewController with document scanning after Liquid Glass enabled, there's a crash just after a photo is taken in VNDocumentCameraViewController, here's the screenshot when it crashed
The exception output in XCode console is this:
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'Layout requested for visible navigation bar, <UINavigationBar: 0x1240bde00; frame = (0 117; 390 54); opaque = NO; tintColor = UIExtendedSRGBColorSpace 1 1 0 1; layer = <CALayer: 0x120c21e60>> standardAppearance=0x12407b900 scrollEdgeAppearance=0x12407bb80 compactAppearance=0x12407b880 no-scroll-edge-support, when the top item belongs to a different navigation bar. topItem = <UINavigationItem: 0x1240bd800> style=navigator leftBarButtonItems=0x123d4e5f0 rightBarButtonItems=0x123d4d5a0, navigation bar = <UINavigationBar: 0x107b9ad00; frame = (0 47; 390 54); opaque = NO; autoresize = W; tintColor = UIExtendedSRGBColorSpace 1 1 0 1; layer = <CALayer: 0x120c20150>> delegate=0x10a805200 standardAppearance=0x107b2c300 scrollEdgeAppearance=0x107b2c280 compactAppearance=0x107b2c100, possibly from a client attempt to nest wrapped navigation controllers.'
*** First throw call stack:
(0x18e1db994 0x18b0f5814 0x18c092aa0 0x193b18660 0x193a7d540 0x193a7e020 0x1953ec4a0 0x1943b7d78 0x18ed83420 0x18ed82f74 0x18eb83134 0x18eb44c10 0x18eb70bc4 0x18eb7e74c 0x193ac8cd0 0x193ac8c04 0x193ad6afc 0x193ad5f8c 0x27b456560 0x18e12c4cc 0x18e15c0b0 0x18e15bfd8 0x18e133c1c 0x18e132a6c 0x22ed54498 0x193af6ba4 0x193a9fa78 0x193bcb68c 0x102cc2718 0x102cc2688 0x102cc2794 0x18b14ae28)
libc++abi: terminating due to uncaught exception of type NSException
I’m writing to report a serious usability regression in the iOS 26 Photos app. Folders can still be created and albums can still be assigned to them, but folders can no longer be opened to view the albums they contain. A container that cannot be opened is not a container, and this breaks a fundamental information architecture model that has existed in Photos for well over a decade.
This change disproportionately harms users who maintain large, intentional photo libraries—travel archives, projects, professional work, or long-term personal documentation—where hierarchy and ordering are essential. Search and automated surfacing are not substitutes for deliberate structure. Removing the ability to browse folder → album hierarchy on iOS strips users of control while still exposing the UI for folder creation, which is internally inconsistent.
If this behavior is intentional, it should be clearly documented and the folder UI removed to avoid misleading users. If it is not intentional, it needs urgent correction. At minimum, iOS should retain parity with macOS Photos for basic navigation of folders and albums. This is not a niche request; it is a regression in core functionality.
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Environment
Device: iPhone 15 Pro
iOS: iOS 18.0
Framework: AVFoundation
App type: Custom camera app using AVCaptureSession + AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer
I’m seeing an intermittent but frequent issue where the camera preview layer briefly flashes empty after certain interruptions, even though the capture session reports itself as running and no errors are emitted.
This happens most often after:
Locking and unlocking the device
Switching cameras (back ↔ front)
The issue is not 100% reproducible, but occurs often enough to be noticeable in normal usage.
What happens
The preview layer briefly flashes as empty (sometimes just a “micro-frame”)
Duration: typically ~0.5–2 seconds before frames resume
session.isRunning == true throughout
No crash, no runtime error, no interruption end failure
Focus/exposure restore correctly once frames resume
Visually it looks like the preview layer loses frames temporarily, even though the session appears healthy.
Repro
Intermittent but frequent after:
Lock → unlock device
Switching camera (front/back)
Timing-dependent and non-deterministic
Happens multiple times per session, but not every time
Key observation
AVCaptureSession.isRunning == true does not guarantee that frames are actually flowing.
To verify this, I added an AVCaptureVideoDataOutput temporarily:
During the blank period, no sample buffers are delivered
Frames resume after ~1–2s without any explicit restart
Session state remains “running” the entire time
What I’ve tried (did NOT fix it)
Adding delays before/after startRunning() (0.1–0.5s)
Calling startRunning() on different queues
Restarting the session in AVCaptureSessionInterruptionEnded
Verifying session.connections (all show isActive == true)
Rebuilding inputs/outputs during interruption recovery
Ensuring startRunning() is never called between beginConfiguration() / commitConfiguration()
(Hit the expected runtime warning when attempted)
None of the above removed the brief blank preview.
Workaround (works visually but expensive)
This visually fixes the issue, but:
Energy impact jumps from Low → High in Xcode Energy Gauge
AVCaptureVideoDataOutput processes 30–60 FPS continuously
The gap only lasts ~1–2s, but toggling the delegate on/off cleanly is difficult
Overall CPU and energy cost is not acceptable for production
Additional notes
CPU usage is already relatively high even without the workaround (this app is camera-heavy by nature)
With the workaround enabled, energy impact becomes noticeably worse
The issue feels like a timing/state desync between session state and actual frame delivery, not a UI issue
Questions
Is this a known behavior where AVCaptureSession.isRunning == true but frames are temporarily unavailable after interruptions?
Is there a recommended way to detect actual frame flow resumption (not just session state)?
Should the AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer.connection (isActive / isEnabled) be explicitly checked or reset after interruptions?
Is there a lightweight, energy-efficient way to bridge this short “no frames” gap without using AVCaptureVideoDataOutput?
Is rebuilding the entire session the only reliable solution here, or is there a better pattern Apple recommends?
We have a very strange issue that I am trying to solve or find the best practice for.
We have a SwiftUI View that uses the Camera to preview. So as suggested in Apples Docs we check authorisation status and then if it's not determined we request authorisation.
We also have the privacy entry in the info.plist
case .notDetermined:
AVCaptureDevice.requestAccess(for: .video) { accessStatusAuthorised in
if !accessStatusAuthorised {
self.cameraStatus = .notAuthorised
} else {
self.isAuthorized = true
self.cameraStatus = .authorised
self.startCameraSession(cameraPosition: cameraPosition)
}
}
case .restricted:
cameraStatus = .notAuthorised
isAuthorized = false
case .denied:
cameraStatus = .notAuthorised
isAuthorized = false
case .authorized:
cameraStatus = .authorised
isAuthorized = true
startCameraSession(cameraPosition: cameraPosition)
break
@unknown default:
isAuthorized = true
cameraStatus = .notAuthorised
}
However when we call this code it freezes the Camera feed, even when allow has been tapped.
However and this is the confusing part.
If we do not call the code above, we still get the permission for camera access pop up and the camera works fine after allowing.
What im concerned about is changing the code to do this and its a possible apple bug that gets fixed and hey then none of the Apps allow the camera function.
I cannot see any where that the process has changed for iOS 26 / Xcode 26.
Can anyone shed any light on this or had similar experience ?
At which point in the image processing pipeline does iOS apply the white balance gains which can be set via AVCaptureDevice.setWhiteBalanceModeLocked(with:completionHandler:)?
Are those gains applied in the analog part of the camera pipeline, before the pixel voltage gets converted via the ADC to digital values? Or does the camera first convert the pixel voltages to digital values and then the gains are applied to the digital values?
Is this consistent across devices or can the behavior vary from device to device?
Hi Apple Developer Support Team,
We are developing an iOS application using a camera package within a hybrid (cross-platform) framework, and we would like to confirm whether it is possible to disable the camera shutter sound programmatically.
As per our understanding, the shutter sound on iOS is system-controlled and depends on the device’s silent/ring mode, and there is no App Store–approved API available to force-disable this sound. Kindly confirm whether this understanding is correct or if any supported alternative approach exists for hybrid or native implementations.
Thank you for your clarification.
Best regards,
ParkhyaSolutions
While implementing the new background backup feature introduced in iOS 26.1, I create a PHAssetResourceUploadJob in an Extension. On iOS 26.1, the system successfully triggers the upload. However, on iOS 26.2, although the job is created successfully and all related configurations are correctly set, the system does not trigger the upload.
Could you please help confirm the cause of this issue? Thank you.
Hello Apple Developer Support,
I’m developing a virtual camera using the CMIOExtensionDevice / CMIOExtensionStreamSource APIs on macOS. While the virtual camera appears in system settings and apps like Zoom and Google Meet, the video output exhibits the following issues:
Jittering frames: The first frame sometimes appears correctly, but subsequent frames flicker or jitter.
Solid color fill: Eventually, the camera feed fills entirely with a solid accent color (e.g., blue), rather than the intended video content.
Console logs: Repeated messages appear in Console.app:
Invalid display 0x00000000
Setup details:
The virtual camera is created using CMIOExtensionDevice and CMIOExtensionStream.
Video frames are rendered from NSImage/CGImage using CGContext and copied into CVPixelBuffers.
Frame delivery is controlled by a DispatchSourceTimer at 60 FPS.
macOS version: 26.2
Xcode version: 26.1
Observations:
The Invalid display 0x00000000 logs suggest that CGContext drawing or NSImage operations are failing in headless mode (i.e., there is no real display attached to the virtual camera).
Using CIContext with .useSoftwareRenderer = true appears to mitigate some flicker, but not entirely.
Questions / Requests:
Is it expected that CoreMediaIO virtual cameras cannot reliably render CGImage / NSImage frames offscreen?
Are there recommended APIs or approaches to render virtual camera frames fully headless to avoid display-dependent jitter?
Is there any documentation or sample code from Apple showing stable video output from a virtual camera extension that does not rely on a physical display?
Any guidance or examples would be greatly appreciated. This issue prevents the virtual camera from being used reliably in standard video apps.
Thank you,
Savvy
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Tags:
System Extensions
Core Media
Continuity Camera
Hello,
I am getting the following error while attempting to run my LockedCameraCapture compatible app on an iOS 15 device:
dyld[434]: Library not loaded: '/System/Library/Frameworks/LockedCameraCapture.framework/LockedCameraCapture'
Referenced from: '/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/.../MyApp.app/MyApp.debug.dylib'
Reason: tried: '/System/Library/Frameworks/LockedCameraCapture.framework/LockedCameraCapture' (no such file)
Of course iOS 15 doesn't have the library for LockedCameraCapture, but I have had no issue including Lock Screen Widgets (which require iOS 16), so I am not sure why the error is popping up.
Thank you!
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Hello, I'm wondering how to capture 24MP photos.
I'm currently testing on an iPhone 16 Pro Max. By default, the device's activeFormat supports 24MP (photo dimensions: {4032x3024, 5712x4284}). For the photoOutput, I'm setting the maxPhotoDimensions to videoDevice.activeFormat.supportedMaxPhotoDimensions.lastObject, and setting MaxPhotoQualityPrioritization to quality.
When capturing, I'm applying the same maxPhotoDimensions and photoQualityPrioritization settings from the photoOutput directly to the AVCapturePhotoSettings.
What could be the issue?
// Objective-C
// setup
[self.photoOutput setMaxPhotoQualityPrioritization:AVCapturePhotoQualityPrioritizationQuality];
CMVideoDimensions maxPhotoDimensions = [(NSValue *)videoDevice.activeFormat.supportedMaxPhotoDimensions.lastObject CMVideoDimensionsValue];
[self.photoOutput setMaxPhotoDimensions:maxPhotoDimensions];
// capturing
AVCapturePhotoSettings *photoSettings = [AVCapturePhotoSettings photoSettings];
photoSettings.maxPhotoDimensions = self.photoOutput.maxPhotoDimensions;
photoSettings.photoQualityPrioritization = self.photoOutput.maxPhotoQualityPrioritization;
[self.photoOutput capturePhotoWithSettings:photoSettings delegate:photoCaptureDelegate];
...
I'm developing an iOS app using AVFoundation for real-time video capture and object detection.
While implementing torch functionality with camera switching (between Wide and Ultra-Wide lenses), I encountered a critical issue where the camera freezes when toggling the torch while the Ultra-Wide camera is active.
Issue
If the torch is ON and I switch from Wide to Ultra-Wide, the camera freezes
If the Ultra-Wide camera is active and I try to turn the torch ON, the camera freezes
The iPhone Camera app allows using the torch while recording video with the Ultra-Wide lens, so this should be possible via AVFoundation as well.
Code snippet
DispatchQueue.global(qos: .userInitiated).async { [weak self] in
guard let self = self else { return }
let isSwitchingToUltraWide = !self.isUsingFisheyeCamera
let cameraType: AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? .builtInUltraWideCamera : .builtInWideAngleCamera
let cameraName = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? "Ultra Wide" : "Wide"
guard let selectedCamera = AVCaptureDevice.default(cameraType, for: .video, position: .back) else {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.showAlert(title: "Camera Error", message: "\(cameraName) camera is not available on this device.")
}
return
}
do {
let currentInput = self.videoCapture.captureSession.inputs.first as? AVCaptureDeviceInput
self.videoCapture.captureSession.beginConfiguration()
if isSwitchingToUltraWide && self.isFlashlightOn {
self.forceEnableTorchThroughWide()
}
if let currentInput = currentInput {
self.videoCapture.captureSession.removeInput(currentInput)
}
let videoInput = try AVCaptureDeviceInput(device: selectedCamera)
self.videoCapture.captureSession.addInput(videoInput)
self.videoCapture.captureSession.commitConfiguration()
self.videoCapture.updateVideoOrientation()
DispatchQueue.main.async {
if let barButton = sender as? UIBarButtonItem {
barButton.title = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? "Wide" : "Ultra Wide"
barButton.tintColor = isSwitchingToUltraWide ? UIColor.systemGreen : UIColor.white
}
print("Switched to \(cameraName) camera.")
}
self.isUsingFisheyeCamera.toggle()
} catch {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.showAlert(title: "Camera Error", message: "Failed to switch to \(cameraName) camera: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
}
}
}
Expected Behavior
Torch should be able to work when Ultra-Wide is active, just like the iPhone Camera app does.
The camera should not freeze when switching between Wide and Ultra-Wide with the torch ON.
AVCaptureSession should not crash when toggling the torch while Ultra-Wide is active.
Questions & Help Needed
Is this a known issue with AVFoundation?
How does the iPhone Camera app allow using the torch while recording in Ultra-Wide?
What’s the correct way to switch between Wide and Ultra-Wide cameras without freezing when the torch is active?
Info
Device tested: iPhone 13 Pro / iPhone 15 Pro / Iphone 15
iOS Version: iOS 17.3 / iOS 18.0
Xcode Version: 16.2
Hi
This is one of our top crashes. It does not contain any of our code in the stacktrace and we can't reproduce it. Those points make this crash very hard to understand and fix. We know that most of the crashes are happening on iPhone 13 with iOS 18.x.x. Also we see that a lot of cases happen when app goes into background (stacktrace contains -[UIApplication _applicationDidEnterBackground]).
2025-03-04_16-06-00.3670_-0500-6a273c7d5da97f098b5cc24898bb9761dc45208e.crash
2025-03-04_20-21-08.6609_-0500-2c08f640900f8a62c4f8a4f6f2a61feb052e66dd.crash
2025-03-04_20-46-27.7138_+0000-4d7ea89b1b564eda22ca63e708f7ad3909c7b768.crash
Hello everyone,
I’m working on an iOS app that fetches videos from the "Recently Deleted" album using the Photos framework in Swift. However, I’m unable to fetch any videos, even though the "Recently Deleted" album contains 233 items (including videos), as seen in the Photos app.
Environment:
iOS Version: 18.3.1
Xcode Version: 16.2
Swift Version: Swift 5
Device: iPhone (simulator and physical device both tested)
Photo Library Permission: "All Photos" access granted
Recently Deleted Lock: Face ID/Passcode is disabled for "Recently Deleted"
If new photo is added to library and app is not running in foreground or was not opened after the new photo was added but the app is having full access to gallery, can it access, read the new photo - If the app is not specifically a cloud syncing app, can it have this attached function, suppose it is a game app or beauty camera app?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Tags:
Privacy
PhotoKit
Background Tasks
Background Assets
Some users reported that their images are not loading correctly in our app. After a lot of debugging we identified the following:
This only happens when the app is build for Mac Catalyst. Not on iOS, iPadOS, or “real” macOS (AppKit).
The images in question have unusual color spaces. We observed the issue for uRGB and eciRGB v2.
Those images are rendered correctly in Photos and Preview on all platforms.
When displaying the image inside of a UIImageView or in a SwiftUI Image, they render correctly.
The issue only occurs when loading the image via Core Image.
When comparing the different Core Image render graphs between AppKit (working) and Catalyst (faulty) builds, they look identical—except for the result.
Mac (AppKit):
Catalyst:
Something seems to be off when Core Image tries to load an image with foreign color space in Catalyst.
We identified a workaround: By using a CGImageDestination to transcode the image using the kCGImageDestinationOptimizeColorForSharing option, Image I/O will convert the image to sRGB (or similar) and Core Image is able to load the image correctly. However, one potentially loses fidelity this way.
Or might there be a better workaround?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Tags:
Image I/O
Photos and Imaging
Core Image
Core Graphics
Has Objective-C been deprecated?
Hi guys,
Can I use CMIO to achieve the following feature on macOS when a USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker) is connected:
When a third-party video conferencing app is not in a meeting, ensure the app defaults to using the USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker).
When a third-party conferencing app is in a meeting, ensure the app automatically switches to the USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker).
Does the library exists in xCode 16.4?
"import WorldCaptureKit" gives error "No such module 'WorldCaptureKit'".
And I do not find any information about the library in the apple documentation.
But AI keeps suggesting me to use the library
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Hi! I am making an app for Apple Vision pro (VisionOS 2.5) that is scanning the surroundings and recognises all the texts around you. I tried to use the AVCaptureSession library, but when I run the app from xcode on the real AVP device, the camera is not accessible. I enabled the camera access in my Info.plist: NSCameraUsageDescription Used for live text recognition and I checked camera settings in the AVP, there are no restrictions. However I have always a black square with a crossed camera icon displayed instead of the image from the camera.
I tried a couple of different apps from Github using the AVCaptureSession and they all display the black square instead of the picture.
What can be wrong with the camera?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera