Photos & Camera

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Explore technical aspects of capturing high-quality photos and videos, including exposure control, focus modes, and RAW capture options.

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Apple Watch app closes when changing photo permissions in the iPhone app.
Apple Watch app closes when changing photo permissions in the iPhone app. App A is installed simultaneously on both the paired iPhone and Apple Watch. I'm running App A on both my iPhone and Apple Watch. When I change the photo permissions on App A installed on my iPhone, App A running on my Apple Watch automatically closes. At first, I assumed App A on my iPhone was abnormally closing, causing App A on my Apple Watch to also close. However, I've determined that changing the photo permissions is the cause of the app closing. I don't think this behavior existed before WatchOS/iOS 26. Is this behavior a natural addition to WatchOS/iOS 26? If I go to the home screen while running app A on my iPhone and change its photo permissions in the Settings app, app A running on my Apple Watch automatically closes.
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208
Nov ’25
Background uploading extension's identifier not official yet
Recently Apple gave us the possibility to upload asset resources in the background. We implemented our background upload extension but when our CI tried to upload the app on TestFlight we got an error that the extension point identifier - in our case com.apple.photos.backgound-upload - is not an official one. Any idea when it will become official and we will be able to release a working background uploading?
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178
Nov ’25
CoreImage memory build up on real device but not on simulator
I'm trying to benchmark a Core Image filter chains memory footprint and notice a weird quirk in instruments. On a real device, even with a simple Core Image chain, the memory balloons each time I ran the filter. See attached screen shots. Running on iPhone 17 Pro: Running on simulator (M2 Macbook Pro) As you can see there's a huge build up of 4MB "VM: IOSurface" memory on the real device, but the simulator seems to clean it up correctly. Here's my basic code: func processImage() { guard let inputImage = ContentViewModel.loadImageFromBundle(name: "kitty.HEIC") else { print("Failed to load sample_image from bundle") return } var outputImage = inputImage outputImage = outputImage.applyingFilter("CIBloom", parameters: [ kCIInputRadiusKey: 20, kCIInputIntensityKey: 0.8 ]) DispatchQueue.global(qos: .userInitiated).async { let data = self.context.jpegRepresentation(of: outputImage, colorSpace: CGColorSpace(name: CGColorSpace.sRGB)!) if let data = data, let uiImage = UIImage(data: data) { DispatchQueue.main.async { self.displayImage = Image(uiImage: uiImage) } } } } Why is this happening? Seems like a bug to me or I need to release an object. At the very least makes it challenging to measure memory usage. Any help is greatly appreciated. Alex
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216
Nov ’25
iPhone 17 (Pro) App Freeze When Changing Ultra-Wide Camera Frame Rate on iOS 26.1
Device: iPhone 17 Pro iOS Version: iOS 26.1 Camera: Ultra-wide (0.5x) using AVCaptureSession Our camera app freezes on iPhone 17 when switching frame rates (30fps ↔ 60fps). This works fine on iPhone 16 Pro and earlier. What We've Observed: Freeze happens on frame rate change - particularly when stabilization was enabled Thread.sleep is used - to allow camera hardware to settle before re-enabling stabilization Works on older iPhones - only iPhone 17 exhibits this behavior Console shows these errors before freeze: 17281 <<<< FigXPCUtilities >>>> signalled err=18446744073709534335 <<<< FigCaptureSourceRemote >>>> err=-17281 Is Thread.sleep on the main thread causing the freeze? Should all camera configuration be on a background queue? Is there something specific about iPhone 17 ultra-wide camera that requires different handling? Should we use session.beginConfiguration() / session.commitConfiguration() instead of direct device configuration? Is calling setFrameRate from a property's didSet (which runs synchronously) problematic? Are the FigCaptureSourceRemote errors (-17281) indicative of the problem, and what do they mean?
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552
Nov ’25
_shouldExposeItemIdentifier is false. Unable to get itemIdentifier
PHPhotoLibrary.authorizationStatus(for: .readWrite) == .authorized Iinfo.plist Privacy - Photo Library Usage Description set I check authorization before attempting to get the photoPickerItem.itemIdentifier, but every time the return value from itemIdentifier is nil. Seems I missing some permissions, but unsure why the system is still keeping _shouldExposeItemIdentifier set to false.
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214
3w
Can iOS capture video at 4032×3024 while running a Vision/ML model?
I am new to Swift and iOS development, and I have a question about video capture performance. Is it possible to capture video at a resolution of 4032×3024 while simultaneously running a vision/ML model on the video stream (e.g., using Vision or CoreML)? I want to know: whether iOS devices support capturing video at that resolution, whether the frame rate drops significantly at that scale, and whether it is practical to run a Vision/ML model in real-time while recording at such a high resolution. If anyone has experience with high-resolution AVCaptureSession setups or combining them with real-time ML processing, I would really appreciate guidance or sample code.
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130
2w
Photos & Imaging Régression - Photos app folders no longer function as folders in iOS 26
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.
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486
2d
dyld[434]: Library not loaded: error when running LockedCameraCapture compatible app on iOS 15
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!
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509
Mar ’25
How to access HDRGainMap from AVCapturePhoto
Hey, I'm building a camera app and I want to use the captured HDRGainMap along side the photo to do some processing with a CIFilter chain. How can this be done? I can't find any documentation any where on this, only on how to access the HDRGainMap from an existing HEIC file, which I have done successfully. For this I'm doing something like the following: let gainmap = CGImageSourceCopyAuxiliaryDataInfoAtIndex(source, 0, kCGImageAuxiliaryDataTypeHDRGainMap) let gainDict = NSDictionary(dictionary: gainmap) let gainData = gainDict[kCGImageAuxiliaryDataInfoData] as? Data let gainDescription = gainDict[kCGImageAuxiliaryDataInfoDataDescription] let gainMeta = gainDict[kCGImageAuxiliaryDataInfoMetadata] However I'm not sure what the approach is with a AVCapturePhoto output from a AVCaptureDevice. Thanks!
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711
Jan ’25
Torch Freezes Ultra-Wide Camera When Switching Between Wide & Ultra-Wide Lenses (AVFoundation Bug?)
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 &amp;&amp; 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 &amp; 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
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671
Oct ’25
AVCaptureDevice rotationCoordinator modifying CALayer on switching devices
I am trying to use AVCaptureDevice.rotationCoordinator API to observe angles for preview and capture and it seems there is an issue with the API when used with arbitrary CALayer (which is not a AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer) and switching cameras. Here is my setup. The below function is defined in an actor class called CameraManager that performs setup of rotationCoordinator. func updateRotationCoordinator(_ callback:@escaping @MainActor (CGFloat) -> Void) { guard let device = sessionConfiguration.activeVideoInput?.device, let displayLayer = displayLayer else { return } cancellables.removeAll() rotationCoordinator = AVCaptureDevice.RotationCoordinator(device: device, previewLayer: displayLayer) guard let coordinator = rotationCoordinator else { return } coordinator.publisher(for: \.videoRotationAngleForHorizonLevelPreview) .receive(on: DispatchQueue.main) .sink { degrees in let radians = degrees * .pi / 180 MainActor.assumeIsolated { callback(radians) } } .store(in: &cancellables) } This works the very first time but when I switch cameras and call this function again, it throws a runtime error that view's layer is modified from a non-main thread. This happens at the very line where rotation coordinator is been recreated. It's not clear why initialising rotation coordinator should modify CALayer properties right in it's init method. Modifying properties of a view's layer off the main thread is not allowed: view <MyApp.DisplayLayerView: 0x102ffaf40> with nearest ancestor view controller <_TtGC7SwiftUI19UIHostingControllerGVS_15ModifiedContentVS_7AnyViewVS_12RootModifier__: 0x101f7fb80>; backtrace: ( 0 UIKitCore 0x0000000194a977b4 575E5140-FA6A-37C2-B00B-A4EACEDFDA53 + 22509492 1 UIKitCore 0x000000019358594c 575E5140-FA6A-37C2-B00B-A4EACEDFDA53 + 416076 2 QuartzCore 0x00000001927f5bd8 D8E8E86D-85AC-3C90-B2E1-940235ECAA18 + 43992 3 QuartzCore 0x00000001927f5a4c D8E8E86D-85AC-3C90-B2E1-940235ECAA18 + 43596 4 QuartzCore 0x000000019283a41c D8E8E86D-85AC-3C90-B2E1-940235ECAA18 + 324636 5 QuartzCore 0x000000019283a0a8 D8E8E86D-85AC-3C90-B2E1-940235ECAA18 + 323752 6 AVFCapture 0x00000001af072a18 09192166-E0B6-346C-B1C2-7C95C3EFF7F7 + 420376 7 MyApp.debug.dylib 0x0000000105fa3914 $s10MyApp15CapturePipelineC25updateRotationCoordinatoryyy12CoreGraphics7CGFloatVScMYccF + 972 8 MyApp.debug.dylib 0x00000001063ade40 $s10MyApp11CameraModelC18switchVideoDevicesyyYaFTY3_ + 72 9 MyApp.debug.dylib 0x0000000105fe3cbd $s10MyApp11ContentViewV4bodyQrvg7SwiftUI6VStackVyAE05TupleE0VyAE6HStackVyAIyAE6SpacerV_AE6ButtonVyAE0E0PAEE5frame5width6height9alignmentQr12CoreGraphics7CGFloatVSg_AyE9AlignmentVtFQOyAqEE11scaledToFitQryFQOyAqEE10imageScaleyQrAE5ImageV0Z0OFQOyA3__Qo__Qo__Qo_GtGG_AmKyAIyAKyAIyAqEE7paddingyQrAE4EdgeO3SetV_AYtFQOyAA07CaptureM0V_Qo__AOyAE4TextVGAmKyAIyA9__AqEEArstUQrAY_AYA_tFQOyAM_Qo_A9_tGGtGG_AmqEE10background_AUQrqd___A_tAePRd__lFQOyAqEEArstUQrAY_AYA_tFQOyA21__Qo__AqEEArstUQrAY_AYA_tFQOyAE06_ShapeE0VyAE9RectangleVAE5ColorVG_Qo_Qo_SgtGGtGGyXEfU0_A42_yXEfU_A10_yXEfU_yyScMYccfU_yyYacfU_TQ1_ + 1 10 MyApp.debug.dylib 0x0000000105ff06d9 $s10MyApp11ContentViewV4bodyQrvg7SwiftUI6VStackVyAE05TupleE0VyAE6HStackVyAIyAE6SpacerV_AE6ButtonVyAE0E0PAEE5frame5width6height9alignmentQr12CoreGraphics7CGFloatVSg_AyE9AlignmentVtFQOyAqEE11scaledToFitQryFQOyAqEE10imageScaleyQrAE5ImageV0Z0OFQOyA3__Qo__Qo__Qo_GtGG_AmKyAIyAKyAIyAqEE7paddingyQrAE4EdgeO3SetV_AYtFQOyAA07CaptureM0V_Qo__AOyAE4TextVGAmKyAIyA9__AqEEArstUQrAY_AYA_tFQOyAM_Qo_A9_tGGtGG_AmqEE10background_AUQrqd___A_tAePRd__lFQOyAqEEArstUQrAY_AYA_tFQOyA21__Qo__AqEEArstUQrAY_AYA_tFQOyAE06_ShapeE0VyAE9RectangleVAE5ColorVG_Qo_Qo_SgtGGtGGyXEfU0_A42_yXEfU_A10_yXEfU_yyScMYccfU_yyYacfU_TATQ0_ + 1 11 MyApp.debug.dylib 0x0000000105f9c595 $sxIeAgHr_xs5Error_pIegHrzo_s8SendableRzs5NeverORs_r0_lTRTQ0_ + 1 12 MyApp.debug.dylib 0x0000000105f9fb3d $sxIeAgHr_xs5Error_pIegHrzo_s8SendableRzs5NeverORs_r0_lTRTATQ0_ + 1 13 libswift_Concurrency.dylib 0x000000019c49fe39 E15CC6EE-9354-3CE5-AF91-F641CA8283E0 + 433721 )
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579
Feb ’25
Does PHAsset localIdentifier change after device transfer?
Hi, I’m working on a photo backup app. I track the PHAsset localIdentifier to determine which photos have been backed up and which haven’t. Recently, I’ve noticed that two users seem to have experienced the localIdentifier changes after transferring data to a new iPhone using Quick Start. Additionally, others on StackOverflow have mentioned that the localIdentifier sometimes changes after updating the iOS version. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40094728/phobject-localidentifier-reliability I’d like to confirm the reliability of the localIdentifier after an iOS version upgrade or device transfer. Can I continue using these locally stored localIdentifiers? Or is there another recommended approach, such as using PHCloudIdentifier?
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388
Feb ’25
Crash in Photos framework
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
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450
Mar ’25
Unable to Fetch Videos from Recently Deleted Album Using Photos Framework in iOS 18.3.1
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"
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124
Mar ’25
Images with unusual color spaces not correctly loaded by Core Image
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?
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144
Aug ’25