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AVPlayer: Significant Delays and Asset Loss When Playing Partially Downloaded HLS Content Offline
We're experiencing significant issues with AVPlayer when attempting to play partially downloaded HLS content in offline mode. Our app downloads HLS video content for offline viewing, but users encounter the following problems: Excessive Loading Delay: When offline, AVPlayer attempts to load resources for up to 60 seconds before playing the locally available segments Asset Loss: Sometimes AVPlayer completely loses the asset reference and fails to play the video on subsequent attempts Inconsistent Behavior: The same partially downloaded asset might play immediately in one session but take 30+ seconds in another Network Activity Despite Offline Settings: Despite configuring options to prevent network usage, AVPlayer still appears to be attempting network connections These issues severely impact our offline user experience, especially for users with intermittent connectivity. Technical Details Implementation Context Our app downloads HLS videos for offline viewing using AVAssetDownloadTask. We store the downloaded content locally and maintain a dictionary mapping of file identifiers to local paths. When attempting to play these videos offline, we experience the described issues. Current Implementation Here's our current implementation for playing the videos: - (void)presentNativeAvplayerForVideo:(Video *)video navContext:(NavContext *)context { NSString *localPath = video.localHlsPath; if (localPath) { NSURL *videoURL = [NSURL URLWithString:localPath]; NSDictionary *options = @{ AVURLAssetPreferPreciseDurationAndTimingKey: @YES, AVURLAssetAllowsCellularAccessKey: @NO, AVURLAssetAllowsExpensiveNetworkAccessKey: @NO, AVURLAssetAllowsConstrainedNetworkAccessKey: @NO }; AVURLAsset *asset = [[AVURLAsset alloc] initWithURL:videoURL options:options]; AVPlayerViewController *playerViewController = [[AVPlayerViewController alloc] init]; NSArray *keys = @[@"duration", @"tracks"]; [asset loadValuesAsynchronouslyForKeys:keys completionHandler:^{ dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{ AVPlayerItem *playerItem = [AVPlayerItem playerItemWithAsset:asset]; AVPlayer *player = [AVPlayer playerWithPlayerItem:playerItem]; playerViewController.player = player; [player play]; }); }]; playerViewController.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationFullScreen; [context presentViewController:playerViewController animated:YES completion:nil]; } } Attempted Solutions We've tried several approaches to mitigate these issues: Modified Asset Options: NSDictionary *options = @{ AVURLAssetPreferPreciseDurationAndTimingKey: @NO, // Changed to NO AVURLAssetAllowsCellularAccessKey: @NO, AVURLAssetAllowsExpensiveNetworkAccessKey: @NO, AVURLAssetAllowsConstrainedNetworkAccessKey: @NO, AVAssetReferenceRestrictionsKey: @(AVAssetReferenceRestrictionForbidRemoteReferenceToLocal) }; Skipped Asynchronous Key Loading: AVPlayerItem *playerItem = [AVPlayerItem playerItemWithAsset:asset automaticallyLoadedAssetKeys:nil]; Modified Player Settings: player.automaticallyWaitsToMinimizeStalling = NO; [playerItem setPreferredForwardBufferDuration:2.0]; Added Network Resource Restrictions: playerItem.canUseNetworkResourcesForLiveStreamingWhilePaused = NO; Used File URLs Instead of HTTP URLs where possible Despite these attempts, the issues persist. Expected vs. Actual Behavior Expected Behavior: AVPlayer should immediately begin playback of locally available HLS segments When offline, it should not attempt to load from network for more than a few seconds Once an asset is successfully played, it should be reliably available for future playback Actual Behavior: AVPlayer waits 10-60 seconds before playing locally available segments Network activity is observed despite all network-restricting options Sometimes the player fails completely to play a previously available asset Behavior is inconsistent between playback attempts with the same asset Questions: What is the recommended approach for playing partially downloaded HLS content offline with minimal delay? Is there a way to force AVPlayer to immediately use available local segments without attempting to load from the network? Are there any known issues with AVPlayer losing references to locally stored HLS assets? What diagnostic steps would you recommend to track down the specific cause of these delays? Does AVFoundation have specific timeouts for offline HLS playback that could be configured? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated as this issue is significantly impacting our user experience. Device Information iOS Versions Tested: 14.5 - 18.1 Device Models: iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14, iPhone 15 Xcode Version: 15.3-16.2.1
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559
Mar ’25
Apple Music web player will not work on wkwebview web browser or electron chromium browser.
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.
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161
May ’25
access transport in Logic Pro
hi, i need to read wether the transport is playing or stopped but my current method that works for vst does not work for au. is there a lpx resource available for developers anywhere? if (auto* playHead = processor->getPlayHead()) { juce::AudioPlayHead::CurrentPositionInfo posInfo; if (playHead->getCurrentPosition(posInfo)) { bool isCurrentlyPlaying = posInfo.isPlaying; if (isCurrentlyPlaying != wasTransportPlaying) { if (isCurrentlyPlaying) { wasTransportPlaying = isCurrentlyPlaying; startAllTimers(); } else { wasTransportPlaying = isCurrentlyPlaying; stopAllTimers(); } } } } thanks :)
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302
Mar ’25
Screen recording audio and video out of sync
I use startCaptureWithHandler to record screen and AVAssetWriter appendSampleBuffer: to save audio and video ,but when played the saved file audio and video are out of sync. I don t know if it s a AVAssetWriterInputr setup problem,here is my code NSDictionary *audioCompressionSettings = @{ AVEncoderBitRatePerChannelKey : @(64000), AVFormatIDKey : @(kAudioFormatMPEG4AAC), AVNumberOfChannelsKey : @(2), AVSampleRateKey : @(44100) }; AVAssetWriterInput *audioAssetWriterInput = [AVAssetWriterInput assetWriterInputWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeAudio outputSettings:audioCompressionSettings]; audioAssetWriterInput.expectsMediaDataInRealTime = YES; [_assetWriter addInput:audioAssetWriterInput]; NSDictionary *videoCompressSetting = @{AVVideoAverageBitRateKey:@(screenWidth*screenHeight*5), AVVideoMaxKeyFrameIntervalKey:@(30), AVVideoProfileLevelKey : AVVideoProfileLevelH264MainAutoLevel}; NSDictionary *codecSetting = @{AVVideoCodecKey:AVVideoCodecTypeH264, AVVideoScalingModeKey : AVVideoScalingModeResize, AVVideoWidthKey:@(screenWidth*2), AVVideoHeightKey:@(screenHeight*2), AVVideoCompressionPropertiesKey:videoCompressSetting }; AVAssetWriterInput* videoAssetWriterInput = [AVAssetWriterInput assetWriterInputWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo outputSettings:codecSetting]; videoAssetWriterInput.expectsMediaDataInRealTime = YES; [_assetWriter addInput:videoAssetWriterInput];
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138
Apr ’25
401 Authorization error for Music Feed API
I've established proper authorization for general music api calls, but when I use that same authorization to retrieve metadata for the latest music feeds (see https://developer.apple.com/documentation/applemusicfeed/requesting-a-feed-export), I get a 401 Unauthorized error. As per the documentation, I'm simply issuing a GET against https://api.media.apple.com/v1/feed/album/latest. Are there different entitlements needed for the Music Feed API?
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104
May ’25
Lightning to HDMI mirrors
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.
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283
Mar ’25
MusicKit developer token issue
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
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149
Jun ’25
Error -50 writing to AVAudioFile
I'm trying to write 16-bit interleaved 2-channel data captured from a LiveSwitch audio source to a AVAudioFile. The buffer and file formats match but I get a bad parameter error from the API. Does this API not support the specified format or is there some other issue? Here is the debugger output. (lldb) po audioFile.url ▿ file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/1EB14379-0CF2-41B6-B742-4C9A80728DB3/tmp/Heart%20Sounds%201 - _url : file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/1EB14379-0CF2-41B6-B742-4C9A80728DB3/tmp/Heart%20Sounds%201 - _parseInfo : nil - _baseParseInfo : nil (lldb) po error Error Domain=com.apple.coreaudio.avfaudio Code=-50 "(null)" UserInfo={failed call=ExtAudioFileWrite(_impl->_extAudioFile, buffer.frameLength, buffer.audioBufferList)} (lldb) po buffer.format <AVAudioFormat 0x302a12b20: 2 ch, 44100 Hz, Int16, interleaved> (lldb) po audioFile.fileFormat <AVAudioFormat 0x302a515e0: 2 ch, 44100 Hz, Int16, interleaved> (lldb) po buffer.frameLength 882 (lldb) po buffer.audioBufferList ▿ 0x0000000300941e60 - pointerValue : 12894608992 This code handles the details of converting the Live Switch frame into an AVAudioPCMBuffer. extension FMLiveSwitchAudioFrame { func convertedToPCMBuffer() -> AVAudioPCMBuffer { Self.convertToAVAudioPCMBuffer(from: self)! } static func convertToAVAudioPCMBuffer(from frame: FMLiveSwitchAudioFrame) -> AVAudioPCMBuffer? { // Retrieve the audio buffer and format details from the FMLiveSwitchAudioFrame guard let buffer = frame.buffer(), let format = buffer.format() as? FMLiveSwitchAudioFormat else { return nil } // Extract PCM format details from FMLiveSwitchAudioFormat let sampleRate = Double(format.clockRate()) let channelCount = AVAudioChannelCount(format.channelCount()) // Determine bytes per sample based on bit depth let bitsPerSample = 16 let bytesPerSample = bitsPerSample / 8 let bytesPerFrame = bytesPerSample * Int(channelCount) let frameLength = AVAudioFrameCount(Int(buffer.dataBuffer().length()) / bytesPerFrame) // Create an AVAudioFormat from the FMLiveSwitchAudioFormat guard let avAudioFormat = AVAudioFormat(commonFormat: .pcmFormatInt16, sampleRate: sampleRate, channels: channelCount, interleaved: true) else { return nil } // Create an AudioBufferList to wrap the existing buffer let audioBufferList = UnsafeMutablePointer<AudioBufferList>.allocate(capacity: 1) audioBufferList.pointee.mNumberBuffers = 1 audioBufferList.pointee.mBuffers.mNumberChannels = channelCount audioBufferList.pointee.mBuffers.mDataByteSize = UInt32(buffer.dataBuffer().length()) audioBufferList.pointee.mBuffers.mData = buffer.dataBuffer().data().mutableBytes // Directly use LiveSwitch buffer // Transfer ownership of the buffer to AVAudioPCMBuffer let pcmBuffer = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: avAudioFormat, bufferListNoCopy: audioBufferList) /* { buffer in // Ensure the buffer is freed when AVAudioPCMBuffer is deallocated buffer.deallocate() // Only call this if LiveSwitch allows manual deallocation } */ pcmBuffer?.frameLength = frameLength return pcmBuffer } } This is the handler that is invoked with every frame in order to convert it for use with AVAudioFile and optionally update a scrolling signal display on the screen. private func onRaisedFrame(obj: Any!) -> Void { // Bail out early if no one is interested in the data. guard isMonitoring else { return } // Convert LS frame to AVAudioPCMBuffer (no-copy) let frame = obj as! FMLiveSwitchAudioFrame let buffer = frame.convertedToPCMBuffer() // Hand subscribers a reference to the buffer for rendering to display. bufferPublisher?.send(buffer) // If we have and output file, store the data there, as well. guard let audioFile = self.audioFile else { return } do { try audioFile.write(from: buffer) // FIXME: This call is throwing error -50 } catch { FMLiveSwitchLog.error(withMessage: "Failed to write buffer to audio file at \(audioFile.url): \(error)") self.audioFile = nil } } This is how the audio file is being setup. static var recordingFormat: AVAudioFormat = { AVAudioFormat(commonFormat: .pcmFormatInt16, sampleRate: 44_100, channels: 2, interleaved: true)! }() let audioFile = try AVAudioFile(forWriting: outputURL, settings: Self.recordingFormat.settings)
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455
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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200
Apr ’25
Playing audio live from Bluetooth headset on iPhone speaker
Hi guys, I am having issue in live-streaming audio from Bluetooth headset and playing it live on the iPhone speaker. I am able to redirect audio back to the headset but this is not what I want. The issue happens when I am trying to override output - the iPhone switches to speaker but also switches a microphone. This is example of the code: import AVFoundation class AudioRecorder { let player: AVAudioPlayerNode let engine:AVAudioEngine let audioSession:AVAudioSession let audioSessionOutput:AVAudioSession init() { self.player = AVAudioPlayerNode() self.engine = AVAudioEngine() self.audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() self.audioSessionOutput = AVAudioSession() do { try self.audioSession.setCategory(AVAudioSession.Category.playAndRecord, options: [.defaultToSpeaker]) try self.audioSessionOutput.setCategory(AVAudioSession.Category.playAndRecord, options: [.allowBluetooth]) // enables Bluetooth HFP profile try self.audioSession.setMode(AVAudioSession.Mode.default) try self.audioSession.setActive(true) // try self.audioSession.overrideOutputAudioPort(.speaker) // doens't work } catch { print(error) } let input = self.engine.inputNode self.engine.attach(self.player) let bus = 0 let inputFormat = input.inputFormat(forBus: bus) self.engine.connect(self.player, to: engine.mainMixerNode, format: inputFormat) input.installTap(onBus: bus, bufferSize: 512, format: inputFormat) { (buffer, time) -> Void in self.player.scheduleBuffer(buffer) print(buffer) } } public func start() { try! self.engine.start() self.player.play() } public func stop() { self.player.stop() self.engine.stop() } } I am not sure if this is a bug or not. Can somebody point me into the right direction? I there a way to design a custom audio routing? I would also appreciate some good documentation besides AVFoundation docs.
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360
Mar ’25
AirDropped Videos from Photos Save to Files Instead of Photos on Receiving Device
My app allows users to capture and save videos to the Photos app using the following Swift code: PHPhotoLibrary.shared().performChanges { PHAssetChangeRequest.creationRequestForAssetFromVideo(atFileURL: fileURL) } completionHandler: { success, error in Videos are successfully saved to Photos and play correctly. However, users report that when they AirDrop these videos from the Photos app to another device (e.g., iPad to iPhone), the videos are saved in the Files app on the receiving device instead of the Photos app. This issue is more common with higher-resolution videos, such as 2K, recorded in HEVC format at 30 fps. I wasn't able to reproduce the issue locally. I've found a thread in public apple forum: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255276865?sortBy=rank but I wonder maybe there are some special flags that I should clear or add to my videos (e.g. PHAssetChangeRequest)? Thank you!
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138
May ’25
Photo permission dialog not shown when iOS app runs on Mac
According to the docs: The first time your app performs an operation that requires [photo library] authorization, the system automatically and asynchronously prompts the user for it. (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/photokit/delivering-an-enhanced-privacy-experience-in-your-photos-app) I.e. it's not necessary for the app to call PHPhotoLibrary.requestAuthorization. This does seem to be what happens when my app runs on an iPhone or iPad; the prompt is shown. But when it runs on a Mac in "designed for iPad" mode, the permission dialog is not presented. Instead the code continues to see status == .notDetermined. That's today, on macOS 15.3. It may have worked in the past. Is anyone else seeing issues with this? Should I call requestAuthorization explicitly? (Would that actually work?)
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509
Mar ’25
How to Get Device Orientation in Background (PiP) Mode?
My app is a camera app that supports Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode. Normally, when the device rotates, I get the device orientation from iOS and use it to rotate the camera feed so that the preview stays correctly aligned. However, when the app enters PiP mode, it is considered to be in the background, and I can no longer receive orientation updates from the system. As a result, I can’t apply rotation corrections to the camera video in PiP mode. Is there any way to retrieve device orientation while the app is in the background (specifically during PiP mode)? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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72
May ’25
Microphone Recording interrupts when phone ringing
I'm developing an iOS app that requires continuous audio recording. Currently, when a phone call comes in, the AVAudioSession is interrupted and recording stops completely during the ringing phase. While I understand recording should stop if the call is answered, my app needs to continue recording while the phone is merely ringing. I've observed that Apple's Voice Memos app maintains recording during incoming call rings. This indicates the hardware and iOS are capable of supporting this functionality. Request Please advise on any available AVAudioSession configurations or APIs that would allow my app to: Continue recording during an incoming call ring Only stop recording if/when the call is actually answered Impact This interruption significantly impacts the user experience and core functionality of my app. Workarounds like asking users to enable airplane mode are impractical and create a poor user experience. Questions Is there an approved way to maintain microphone access during call rings? If not currently possible, could this capability be considered for addition to a future iOS SDK? Are there any interim solutions or best practices Apple recommends for this use case? Thank you for your help. SUPPORT INFORMATION Did someone from Apple ask you to submit a code-level support request? No Do you have a focused test project that demonstrates your issue? Yes, I have a focused test project to submit with my request What code level support issue are you having? Problems with an Apple framework API in my app
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176
Jun ’25