Dive into the technical aspects of audio on your device, including codecs, format support, and customization options.

Audio Documentation

Posts under Audio subtopic

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ScaleTimeRange will cause noise in sound
I'm using AVFoundation to make a multi-track editor app, which can insert multiple track and clip, including scale some clip to change the speed of the clip, (also I'm not sure whether AVFoundation the best choice for me) but after making the scale with scaleTimeRange API, there is some short noise sound in play back. Also, sometimes it's fine when play AVMutableCompostion using AVPlayer with AVPlayerItem, but after exporting with AVAssetReader, will catch some short noise sounds in result file.... Not sure why. Here is the example project, which can build and run directly. https://github.com/luckysmg/daily_images/raw/refs/heads/main/TestDemo.zip
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131
Jul ’25
Track changes in the browser tab's audibility property.
Hi! I am writing a browser extension that allows you to control the playback of media content on a music service website. Unfortunately Safari does not support tracking changes to the audible property in an event tabs.onUpdated. Is there an alternative to this event? I'm looking for a way to track when the automatic inference engine interrupts playback on a music service website. That you.
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77
Apr ’25
How can I find the user's "Favorite Songs" playlist?
It sounds simple but searching for the name "Favorite Songs" is a non-starter because it's called different names in different countries, even if I specify "&l=en_us" on the query. So is there another property, relationship or combination thereof which I can use to tell me when I've found the right playlist? Properties I've looked at so far: canEdit: will always be false so narrows things down a little inFavorites: not helpful as it depends on whether the user has favourite the favourites playlist, so not relevant hasCatalog: seems always true so again may narrow things down a bit isPublic: doesn't help Adding the catalog relationship doesn't seem to show anything immediately useful either. Can anyone help? Ideally I'd like to see this as a "kind" or "type" as it has different properties to other playlists, but frankly I'll take anything at this point.
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273
Jul ’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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81
Apr ’25
macOS sample for AVAudioEngine recording with playthrough
Hi, I'm still stuck getting a basic record-with-playthrouh pipeline to work. Has anyone a sample of setting up a AVAudioEngine pipeline for recording with playthrough? Plkaythrough works with AVPlayerNode as input but not with any microphone input. The docs mention the "enabled state" of the outputNode of the engine without explaining the concept, i.e. how to enable an output. When the engine renders to and from an audio device, the AVAudioSession category and the availability of hardware determines whether an app performs output. Check the output node’s output format (specifically, the hardware format) for a nonzero sample rate and channel count to see if output is in an enabled state. Well, in my setup the output is NOT enabled, and any attempt to switch (e.g. audioEngine.outputNode.auAudioUnit.setDeviceID(deviceID) )/ attach a dedicated device / ... results in exceptions / errors
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261
Oct ’25
Why Does WebView Audio Get Quiet During RTC Calls? (AVAudioSession Analysis)
I developed an educational app that implements audio-video communication through RTC, while using WebView to display course materials during classes. However, some users are experiencing an issue where the audio playback from WebView is very quiet. I've checked that the AVAudioSessionCategory is set by RTC to AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord, and the AVAudioSessionCategoryOption also includes AVAudioSessionCategoryOptionMixWithOthers. What could be causing the WebView audio to be suppressed, and how can this be resolved?
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553
Jul ’25
Audio session activation occasionally fails from CarPlay
I'm working on adding CarPlay support to an audio app and am running into an issue. Occasionally, when a user opens the app from CarPlay while the main app scene is either not connected or is currently in the background, I will receive an error when attempting to activate the audio session. The code below mimics my setup: do { try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setCategory(.playback, mode: .spokenAudio) try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setActive(true) } catch { print(error) // NSOSStatusErrorDomain - 560557684: Session activation failed } That error code maps to AVAudioSession.ErrorCode.cannotInterruptOthers. Once in this state, all subsequent attempts to play different pieces of content will fail. However, things will start working normally if the user opens the app on their phone and tries again from CarPlay (while the app is in the foreground on their phone). I'm not sure why it would behave this way and want to note that I do have the audio background mode capability enabled. Has anyone else encountered this? Are there any workarounds or changes I could make to prevent this from happening?
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169
Apr ’25
ApplicationMusicPlayer fails play in macCatalyst 26.3 due to RemotePlayerService crash
I've filed this as FB21446798 but figured I'd post here too. In the first build of macOS 26.3, playback via ApplicationMusicPlayer is completely broken. When starting playback of anything at all, the console shows the following error: applicationController: xpc service connection interrupted Failed to obtain remoteObject: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4099 "The connection to service created from an endpoint was invalidated from this process." UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=The connection to service created from an endpoint was invalidated from this process.} Failed to prepareToPlay with error: Error Domain=MPMusicPlayerControllerErrorDomain Code=10 "(null)" UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0xc92910ff0 {Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4099 "The connection to service created from an endpoint was invalidated from this process." UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=The connection to service created from an endpoint was invalidated from this process.}}} In addition, several crash logs for RemotePlayerService are generated, showing my app as the parent process. This issue is 100% repeatable. No matter how I load the queue, whether it’s catalog or library content, any variation I can think of all fails like this. I really hope this can be fixed before 26.3 comes out, otherwise my app will be totally unusable. 😅
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5d
SystemAudio Capture API Fails with OSStatus error 1852797029 (kAudioCodecIllegalOperationError)
Issue Description I'm implementing a system audio capture feature using AudioHardwareCreateProcessTap and AudioHardwareCreateAggregateDevice. The app successfully creates the tap and aggregate device, but when starting the IO procedure with AudioDeviceStart, it sometimes fails with OSStatus error 1852797029. (The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error 1852797029.)) The error occurs inconsistently, which makes it particularly difficult to debug and reproduce. Questions Has anyone encountered this intermittent "nope" error code (0x6e6f7065) when working with system audio capture? Are there specific conditions or system states that might trigger this error sporadically? Are there any known workarounds for handling this intermittent failure case? Any insights or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this specific "nope" error code (0x6e6f7065) when working with system audio capture.
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140
May ’25
TTS Audio Unit Extension: File Write Access in App Group Container Denied Despite Proper Entitlements
I'm developing a TTS Audio Unit Extension that needs to write trace/log files to a shared App Group container. While the main app can successfully create and write files to the container, the extension gets sandbox denied errors despite having proper App Group entitlements configured. Setup: Main App (Flutter) and TTS Audio Unit Extension share the same App Group App Group is properly configured in developer portal and entitlements Main app successfully creates and uses files in the container Container structure shows existing directories (config/, dictionary/) with populated files Both targets have App Group capability enabled and entitlements set Current behavior: Extension can access/read the App Group container Extension can see existing directories and files All write attempts are blocked with "sandbox deny(1) file-write-create" errors Code example: const char* createSharedGroupPathWithComponent(const char* groupId, const char* component) { NSString* groupIdStr = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:groupId]; NSString* componentStr = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:component]; NSURL* url = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] containerURLForSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier:groupIdStr]; NSURL* fullPath = [url URLByAppendingPathComponent:componentStr]; NSError *error = nil; if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] createDirectoryAtPath:fullPath.path withIntermediateDirectories:YES attributes:nil error:&error]) { NSLog(@"Unable to create directory %@", error.localizedDescription); } return [[fullPath path] UTF8String]; } Error output: Sandbox: simaromur-extension(996) deny(1) file-write-create /private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/36CAFE9C-BD82-43DD-A962-2B4424E60043/trace Key questions: Are there additional entitlements required for TTS Audio Unit Extensions to write to App Group containers? Is this a known limitation of TTS Audio Unit Extensions? What is the recommended way to handle logging/tracing in TTS Audio Unit Extensions? If writing to App Group containers is not supported, what alternatives are available? Current entitlements: <dict> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>group.com.<company>.<appname></string> </array> </dict>
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107
Apr ’25
Correct way for an Audio Unit v3 to return fewer than requested number of samples given a buffer
I have an AUv3 plugin which uses an FFT - which requires n samples before it can produce any output - so, depending on the relation between the host's buffer size and the FFT window size, it may receive a several buffers of samples, producing no output, and then dumping out what it has once a sufficient number of samples have been received. This means that output is produced in fits and starts, in batches that match the FFT size (modulo oversampling) - e.g. if being fed buffers of 256 samples with an fft size of 1024, the output buffer sizes will be 0 for the first 3 buffers, and upon the fourth, the first 256 processed samples are returned and the remaining 768 cached; the next three buffers will return the remaining cached samples while processing and buffering subsequent ones, and so forth. The internal mechanics of that I have solved, caching output if the current output buffer is too small, and so forth - so it all works as advertised, and the plugin reports its latency correctly. And when run as an app in demo-mode, playback works as expected. In the plugin's render block, it captures the number of frames written, and if it is less than the number of frames passed in, adjusts the mDataByteSize of the output buffers to match the actual quantity of data being returned: unsigned int framesWritten = (unsigned int) processHelper->processWithEvents(inAudioBufferList, outAudioBufferList, timestamp, frameCount, realtimeEventListHead); if (framesWritten < frameCount) { for (UInt32 i = 0; i < outAudioBufferList->mNumberBuffers; ++i) { outAudioBufferList->mBuffers[i].mDataByteSize = framesWritten * 4; // assume 4 byte floats } } However, there are a couple of serious issues: auval -v fails it with - Render Test at 64 frames, sample rate: 22050 Hz ERROR: Output Buffer Size does not match requested When connected to Logic Pro, it appears that mDataByteSize is ignored, and the entire allocated buffer is read - audio has sections of silence snipped into it which corresponds the number of empty buffers being returned If I set Logic's buffer size to 1024 and use a 1024 sample FFT window, the plugin works correctly - but of course a plugin cannot dictate buffer size, and `1024 is too small a window size to be useful for anything but filtering very high frequencies This seems like it has to be a solvable problem, and most likely the issue is in how my code reports the number of usable samples in the returned buffer. So, what is the correct way for a plugin to report that it has no samples to return, but will, uh, real soon now? I know I could convert this plugin to be one that does offline rendering of the entire input, but this is real-time processing, just with a fixed amount of latency, so that should not be necessary.
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181
Nov ’25
About the built-in instrument sound of Apple devices
Does anyone know how to pronounce the sound of a specific instrument when you tap a button on the screen on your iPhone or iPad? Now, in the middle of creating a music learning app, I'm thinking of assigning monotones or chords to the button-like frames on the keyboard and fingerboard on the screen. Can it be achieved with SwiftUI chords alone? Once upon a time, MIDI level 1 I remember that there was a pronunciation function of the instrument, but I don't think about implementing the same function in the current OS. Please lend me your wisdom.
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57
May ’25
AVPlayerView with .inline controlsStyle macOS 26
My audio app shows a control bar at the bottom of the window. The controls show nicely, but there is a black "slab" appearing behind the inline controls, the same size as the playerView. Setting the player view background color does nothing: playerView.wantsLayer = true playerView.layer?.backgroundColor = NSColor.clear.cgColor How can I clear the background? If I use .floating controlsStyle, I don't get the background "slab".
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156
Oct ’25
Wi-Fi Access Point Not Reconnecting While AVAudioSession Is Active
We’ve encountered a reproducible issue where the iPhone fails to reconnect to a Wi-Fi access point under the following conditions: The device is connected to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network. A Bluetooth audio accessory is connected (e.g. headset). AVAudioSession is active (such as during a voice call or when using the Voice Memos app). The user moves away from the access point, causing a disconnect. Upon returning within range, the access point is no longer recognized or reconnected while AVAudioSession remains active. However, if the Bluetooth device is disconnected or the AVAudioSession is deactivated, the Wi-Fi access point is immediately recognized again. We confirmed this behavior not only in my app but also using Apple's built-in Voice Memos app, suggesting this is not specific to our implementation. It appears that the Wi-Fi system deprioritizes reconnection while AVAudioSession is engaged. Could this be by design? Or is this a known issue or limitation with Wi-Fi and AVAudioSession interaction? Test Environment: Device: iPhone 13 mini iOS: 17.5.1 Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz band Accessories: Bluetooth headset We’d appreciate clarification on whether this is expected behavior or a bug. Thank you!
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143
Jun ’25
AVAudioEngine Voice Processing Fails with Mismatched Input/Output Devices: AggregateDevice Channel Count Mismatch
I'm encountering errors while using AVAudioEngine with voice processing enabled (setVoiceProcessingEnabled(true)) in scenarios where the input and output audio devices are not the same. This issue arises specifically with mismatched devices, preventing the application from functioning as expected. Works: Paired devices (e.g., MacBook Pro mic → MacBook Pro speakers) Fails: Mismatched devices (e.g., AirPods mic → MacBook Pro speakers) When using paired input and output devices: The setup works as expected. Example: MacBook Pro microphone → MacBook Pro speakers. When using mismatched devices: AVAudioEngine setup fails during aggregate device construction. Example: AirPods microphone → MacBook Pro speakers. Error logs indicate a channel count mismatch. Here are the partial logs. Due to the content limit, I cannot post the entire logs. AUVPAggregate.cpp:1000 client-side input and output formats do not match (err=-10875) AUVPAggregate.cpp:1036 err=-10875 AVAEInternal.h:109 [AVAudioEngineGraph.mm:1344:Initialize: (err = PerformCommand(*outputNode, kAUInitialize, NULL, 0)): error -10875 AggregateDevice.mm:329 Failed expectation of constructed aggregate (312): mInput.streamChannelCounts == inputStreamChannelCounts AggregateDevice.mm:331 Failed expectation of constructed aggregate (312): mInput.totalChannelCount == std::accumulate(inputStreamChannelCounts.begin(), inputStreamChannelCounts.end(), 0U) AggregateDevice.mm:182 error fetching default pair AggregateDevice.mm:329 Failed expectation of constructed aggregate (336): mInput.streamChannelCounts == inputStreamChannelCounts AggregateDevice.mm:331 Failed expectation of constructed aggregate (336): mInput.totalChannelCount == std::accumulate(inputStreamChannelCounts.begin(), inputStreamChannelCounts.end(), 0U) AUHAL.cpp:1782 ca_verify_noerr: [AudioDeviceSetProperty(mDeviceID, NULL, 0, isInput, kAudioDevicePropertyIOProcStreamUsage, theSize, theStreamUsage), 560227702] AudioHardware-mac-imp.cpp:3484 AudioDeviceSetProperty: no device with given ID AUHAL.cpp:1782 ca_verify_noerr: [AudioDeviceSetProperty(mDeviceID, NULL, 0, isInput, kAudioDevicePropertyIOProcStreamUsage, theSize, theStreamUsage), 560227702] AggregateDevice.mm:182 error fetching default pair AggregateDevice.mm:329 Failed expectation of constructed aggregate (348): mInput.streamChannelCounts == inputStreamChannelCounts AggregateDevice.mm:331 Failed expectation of constructed aggregate (348): mInput.totalChannelCount == std::accumulate(inputStreamChannelCounts.begin(), inputStreamChannelCounts.end(), 0U) Is it possible to use voice processing with different input/output devices? If yes, are there any specific configurations required to handle mismatched devices? How can we resolve channel count mismatch errors during aggregate device construction? Are there settings or API adjustments to enforce compatibility between input/output devices? Are there any workarounds or alternative approaches to achieve voice processing functionality with mismatched devices? For instance, can we force an intermediate channel configuration or downmix input/output formats?
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2w
Changing instrument with AVMIDIControlChangeEvent bankSelect
I've been trying to use AVMIDIControlChangeEvent with a bankSelect message type to change the instrument the sequencer uses on a AVMusicTrack with no luck. I started with the Apple AVAEMixerSample, converting the initial setup/loading and portions dealing with the sequencer to Swift. I got that working and playing the "bluesyRiff" and then modified it to play individual notes. So my createAndSetupSequencer looked like func createAndSetupSequencer() { sequencer = AVAudioSequencer(audioEngine: engine) // guard let midiFileURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "bluesyRiff", withExtension: "mid") else { // print (" failed guard trying to get URL for bluesyRiff") // return // } let track = sequencer.createAndAppendTrack() var currTime = 1.0 for i: UInt32 in 0...8 { let newNoteEvent = AVMIDINoteEvent(channel: 0, key: 60+i, velocity: 64, duration: 2.0) track.addEvent(newNoteEvent, at: AVMusicTimeStamp(currTime)) currTime += 2.0 } The notes played, so then I also replaced the gs_instruments sound bank with GeneralUser GS MuseScore v1.442 first by trying guard let soundBankURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "GeneralUser GS MuseScore v1.442", withExtension: "sf2") else { return} do { try sampler.loadSoundBankInstrument(at: soundBankURL, program: 0x001C, bankMSB: 0x79, bankLSB: 0x08) } catch{.... } This appears to work, the instrument (8 which is "Funk Guitar") plays. If I change to bankLSB: 0x00 I get the "Palm Muted guitar". So I know that the soundfont has these instruments Stuff goes off the rails when I try to change the instruments in createAndSetupSequencer. Putting let programChange = AVMIDIProgramChangeEvent(channel: 0, programNumber: 0x001C) let bankChange = AVMIDIControlChangeEvent(channel: 0, messageType: AVMIDIControlChangeEvent.MessageType.bankSelect, value: 0x00) track.addEvent(programChange, at: AVMusicTimeStamp(1.0)) track.addEvent(bankChange, at: AVMusicTimeStamp(1.0)) just before my add note loop doesn't produce any change. Loading bankLSB 8 (Funk) in sampler.loadSoundBankInstrument and trying to change with bankSelect 0 (Palm muted) in createAndSetupSequencer results in instrument 8 (Funk) playing not Palm Muted. Loading bankLSB 0 (Palm muted) and trying to change with bankSelect 8 (Funk) doesn't work, 0 (Palm muted) plays I also tried sampler.loadInstrument(at: soundBankURL) and then I always get the first instrument in the sound font file (piano)no matter what values I put in my programChange/bankChange I've also changed the time in the track.addEvent to be 0, 1.0, 3.0 etc to no success The sampler.loadSoundBankInstrument specifies two UInt8 parameters, bankMSB and BankLSB while the AVMIDIControlChangeEvent bankSelect value is UInt32 suggesting it might be some combination of bankMSB and BankLSB. But the documentation makes no mention of what this should look like. I tried various combinations of 0x7908, 0X0879 etc to no avail I will also point out that I am able to successfully execute other control change events For example adding if i == 1 { let portamentoOnEvent = AVMIDIControlChangeEvent(channel: 0, messageType: AVMIDIControlChangeEvent.MessageType.portamento, value: 0xFF) track.addEvent(portamentoOnEvent, at: AVMusicTimeStamp(currTime)) let portamentoRateEvent = AVMIDIControlChangeEvent(channel: 0, messageType: AVMIDIControlChangeEvent.MessageType.portamentoTime, value: 64) track.addEvent(portamentoRateEvent, at: AVMusicTimeStamp(currTime)) } does produce a change in the sound. (As an aside, a definition of what portamento time is, other than "the rate of portamento" would be welcome. is it notes/seconds? freq/minute? beats/hour?) I was able to get the instrument to change in a different program using MusicPlayer and a series of MusicTrackNewMIDIChannelEvent on a track but these operate on a MusicTrack not the AVMusicTrack which the sequencer uses. Has anyone been successful in switching instruments through an AVMIDIControlChangeEvent or have any feedback on how to do this?
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352
Mar ’25
Potential Documentation Error in kAudioAggregateDevicePropertyTapList Sample Code
Hi, I believe I've found a potential error in the sample code on the documentation page for creating and using a process tap with an aggregate device. The issue is in the section explaining how to add a tap to the aggregate device. I have already filed a Feedback Assistant ticket on this (ID: FB17411663) but haven't heard back for months. Capturing system audio with Core Audio taps The sample code for modifying the kAudioAggregateDevicePropertyTapList incorrectly uses the tapID as the target AudioObjectID when calling AudioObjectSetPropertyData. // (Code to get the list and potentially modify listAsArray) if var listAsArray = list as? [CFString] { // ... (modification logic) ... // Set the list back on the aggregate device. <--- The comment is correct list = listAsArray as CFArray _ = withUnsafeMutablePointer(to: &list) { list in // INCORRECT: This call uses tapID as the target object. AudioObjectSetPropertyData(tapID, &propertyAddress, 0, nil, propertySize, list) } } The kAudioAggregateDevicePropertyTapList is a property that belongs to the aggregate device, not the individual tap. Therefore, to set this property, the AudioObjectSetPropertyData function must target the AudioObjectID of the aggregate device itself. Using tapID as the first argument is logically incorrect for this operation and will not update the aggregate device as intended. Furthermore, the preceding AudioObjectGetPropertyData call to fetch the list also appears to use the incorrect tapID as its target in the sample. The AudioObjectID for both getting and setting this property should be the ID of the aggregate device. _ = AudioObjectGetPropertyData(aggregateDeviceID, &propertyAddress, 0, nil, &propertySize, &list) _ = AudioObjectSetPropertyData(aggregateDeviceID, &propertyAddress, 0, nil, propertySize, newList) Thank you!
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320
Sep ’25