Hi everyone, I’m working on a camera app as a learning project and have reached a point where I’m trying to better understand the intended architecture for Live Photo capture using AVCapturePhotoOutput. The app currently supports: Live Photos Depth data Location metadata Multiple lens presets on a virtual multi-camera device Everything is working well, but I’m now thinking about capture throughput and rapid shutter presses. Right now, my implementation is fairly conservative. I wait for a Live Photo capture to finish processing and importing before allowing another capture. This is reliable, but it doesn’t feel particularly camera-like when compared to Apple’s Camera app. One observation from field testing caught my attention: I took a Live Photo, immediately switched lenses, then took another Live Photo. When I viewed the first Live Photo later, the movie portion included the lens-switching actions that occurred after I pressed the shutter. That made me realize that I may be thinking about the capture lifecycle incorrectly. My questions are: When using AVCapturePhotoOutput with Live Photos enabled, what is the earliest point at which a capture can be considered “safely secured”? Is it expected that apps wait for PhotoKit import to complete before accepting another Live Photo capture request? If supporting rapid sequential shutter presses, is the recommended approach to queue capture requests and process them one at a time? Are there any best practices around lens changes or camera reconfiguration while a Live Photo is still being captured or processed? I’m not looking for details about the implementation of Apple’s Camera app. I’m mainly trying to understand the recommended approach when working with the public AVFoundation APIs. I’d appreciate any guidance, documentation references, or examples from developers who have worked through similar problems. Thanks!

I want to: Run ARKit on the main rear camera, and while it's running shoot high resolution pictures on the wide camera, without disturbing the AR tracking. Is this possible?

I have created code for iOS that allows me to start and stop video acquisition from a proprietary USB camera using AVFoundation's AVCaptureSession and AVCaptureDevice APIs. There is a start and stop method. The start method takes an argument to specify one of two formats that I use for my custom camera application. I can start the session and switch between formats all day without any errors. However, if I start and then stop the camera three times in a row, on the third invocation of start, I get errors in the console output and the CMSampleBuffers stop flowing to my callback. Additionally, once I get AVFoundation into this state, stoping the camera doesn't help. I have to kill the app and start over. Here are the errors. And below these, the code. I'm hoping someone who has experience with these errors or an engineer from Apple who knows the AVFoundation image capture pipeline code, can respond and tell me what I'm doing wrong. Thanks. <<<< FigCaptureSourceRemote >>>> Fig assert: "! storage->connectionDied" at bail (FigCaptureSourceRemote.m:235) - (err=0) <<<< FigCaptureSourceRemote >>>> Fig assert: "err == 0 " at bail (FigCaptureSourceRemote.m:558) - (err=-16453) <<<< FigCaptureSourceRemote >>>> Fig assert: "! storage->connectionDied" at bail (FigCaptureSourceRemote.m:235) - (err=0) <<<< FigCaptureSourceRemote >>>> Fig assert: "err == 0 " at bail (FigCaptureSourceRemote.m:253) - (err=-16453) <<<< FigCaptureSourceRemote >>>> Fig assert: "err == 0 " at bail (FigCaptureSourceRemote.m:269) - (err=-16453) <<<< FigCaptureSourceRemote >>>> Fig assert: "err == 0 " at bail (FigCaptureSourceRemote.m:511) - (err=-16453) Capture session error: The operation could not be completed Capture session error: The operation could not be completed func start(for deviceFormat: String) async throws -> AnyPublisher<CMSampleBuffer, Swift.Error> { func configureCaptureDevice(with deviceFormat: String) throws { guard let format = formatDict[deviceFormat] else { throw Error.captureFormatNotFound } captureSession.beginConfiguration() defer { captureSession.commitConfiguration() } try captureDevice.lockForConfiguration() captureDeviceFormat = deviceFormat captureDevice.activeFormat = format captureDevice.unlockForConfiguration() } return try await withCheckedThrowingContinuation { continuation in sessionQueue.async { [unowned self] in logger.debug("Start capture session for \(deviceFormat): \(String(describing: captureSession))") // If we were already steaming camera images from a different mode, terminate that stream. bufferPublisher?.send(completion: .finished) bufferPublisher = nil captureDeviceFormat = "" do { // Re-configure with the new format; should be harmless if called with the currently configured format. try configureCaptureDevice(with: deviceFormat) // Return a new stream publisher for this invocation. bufferPublisher = PassthroughSubject<CMSampleBuffer, Swift.Error>() // If we are not currently running, start the image capture pipeline. if captureSession.isRunning == false { captureSession.startRunning() } continuation.resume(returning: bufferPublisher!.eraseToAnyPublisher()) } catch { logger.fault("Failed to start camera: \(error.localizedDescription)") continuation.resume(throwing: error) } } } } func stop() async throws { try await withCheckedThrowingContinuation { continuation in sessionQueue.async { [unowned self] in logger.debug("Stop capture session: \(String(describing: captureSession))") // The following invocation is synchronous and takes time to execute; // looks like a stall but you can ignore it as the MainActor is not blocked. captureSession.stopRunning() // Terminate the stream and reset our state. bufferPublisher?.send(completion: .finished) bufferPublisher = nil captureDeviceFormat = "" // Signal the caller that we are done here. continuation.resume() } } }

When scanning a FIDO QR code within an iOS app—whether using a custom AVFoundation (AVCaptureSession) implementation or DataScannerViewController—the system displays a native OS confirmation prompt. However, scanning the same QR code using the native system Code Scanner bypasses this prompt entirely. As a developer: Is there a way to suppress or avoid this native prompt when using custom in-app scanners? Alternatively, can I programmatically invoke the system Code Scanner directly from my app and have it deep-link back to the app once the scan is complete?

When switching from RealityView’s .spatialTracking camera mode to .virtual camera mode, the camera’s orientation relative to the scene is preserved permanently with no way to reset to default World-Up orientation. Since .spatialTracking’s camera mode will always have a non-default orientation, switching to .virtual camera mode ensures that the cameras’s ‘UP’ direction will never match the device display’s ‘UP’ direction as is default. This is especially noticeable when using .orbit camera controls, as the orbit’s UP direction matches the scene, not camera, and all rotation directions give unexpected results. Expected: When setting virtual camera mode after using spatialTracking camera mode, either 1. The Virtual Camera orientation returns to default (world up). Or 2. A 'content.camera.resetOrientation()' call is made available which resets the RealityView camera to default orientation. Reality: Switching from .spatialTracking -> .virtual camera mode permanently locks the .virtual camera’s orientation the final frame of the .spatialTracking camera’s rotation (relative to the RealityView content scene). One imperfect workaround is to reset / rebuild the entire RealityView after changing modes (by resetting .id() or otherwise. This is not ideal as it causes everything inside the make closure to rerun, which not only is a performance & time cost, visually incurs a flicker and can also be problematic with managing increasingly complicated views. Another imperfect alternative is to use more than one RealityView - which is not ideal as it incurs double the base ram usage, significantly increases code, and seemingly goes against the intent of being able to change the camera .virtual/.spatatialTracking mode at will. Code Sample: import SwiftUI import RealityKit struct RKSpatialVirtualToggle: View { @State var showAR: Bool = false var body: some View { RealityView { content in let cube = ModelEntity(mesh: .generateBox(size: 0.25), materials: [SimpleMaterial()]) cube.position.z = -1 content.add(cube) content.camera = showAR ? .spatialTracking : .virtual content.cameraTarget = cube } update: { content in content.camera = showAR ? .spatialTracking : .virtual } .realityViewCameraControls(.orbit) VStack{ Spacer() Button("Toggle AR"){ showAR.toggle() } .buttonStyle(.borderedProminent) } } } Xcode Version: Version 26.0 (17A324) iOS Version: iOS 26.5 (23F75) Tested on devices, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro

Hello Apple Developer Team, We are currently developing an enterprise medical navigation application for Apple Vision Pro and would like to request clarification regarding the currently available visionOS Enterprise APIs related to camera access. Our application scenario involves real-time medical/surgical navigation and instrument tracking in a professional enterprise environment. We would like to better understand the following: How many cameras on Apple Vision Pro are currently accessible through the Enterprise APIs? Which specific cameras are accessible? For example: Main RGB cameras Passthrough cameras Tracking cameras Front-facing cameras Depth sensors LiDAR or structured-light related sensors Are simultaneous multi-camera streams supported? Does the Enterprise API provide: Real-time image frames Camera intrinsic/extrinsic parameters Stereo camera data Depth information Low-latency tracking-related data Are there any restrictions regarding the use of Vision Pro cameras for: Medical navigation Surgical guidance Instrument tracking Enterprise healthcare software Is Apple Vision Pro currently permitted or recommended for medical enterprise spatial-navigation workflows under the Enterprise APIs? We would greatly appreciate any official clarification regarding the current capabilities and limitations of camera access on Apple Vision Pro for enterprise medical applications.

I made CameraExtension and installed by OSSystemExtensionRequest. I got success callback. I did uninstall old version of my CameraExtension and install new version of my CameraExtension. "systemextensionsctl list" command shows "[activated enabled]" on my new version. But no daemon process with my CameraExtension is not running. I need to reboot OS to start the daemon process. This issue is new at macOS Sonoma 14.5. I did not see this issue on 14.4.x

I am working on a computational photography research project involving multi-exposure HDR reconstruction using Bayer RAW and Apple ProRAW captures. I would like to clarify the radiometric interpretation of Apple ProRAW and the availability of Bayer RAW capture through AVFoundation. My questions are: On current iPhone Pro devices, is it possible for third-party apps to capture and export true Bayer-pattern RAW DNG files through AVFoundation, rather than Apple ProRAW linear DNG files? If so, which availableRawPhotoPixelFormatTypes correspond to Bayer RAW, and what device or format restrictions apply? Apple ProRAW appears to be demosaiced and computationally processed, and may include multi-frame fusion. Is the decoded ProRAW image intended to be radiometrically linear and scene-referred? For a bracketed ProRAW sequence captured with fixed ISO, white balance, lens, and focus, but different exposure times, can one assume that the decoded linear pixel values Y_i(p) satisfy an exposure-proportional model in non-saturated regions, such as Y_i(p) ≈ t_i R(p), across brackets? This question is about radiometric consistency for algorithmic use, not about visual editing or tone mapping. Thank you for your help.

I’m seeing a reproducible system-level Camera crash/termination on iPhone Air running iOS 26.4.2. Steps to reproduce: Press Camera Control to launch the Camera app. Tap the lower-left thumbnail to enter the recent photo view. Browse photos, or tap Edit and start cropping a photo. The Camera/Photos flow unexpectedly exits and returns to the Home Screen or widget view. Additional detail: The issue can happen whether or not a new photo is taken after launching Camera with Camera Control. In other words, using Camera Control as a shortcut into Camera, then tapping the lower-left thumbnail to browse photos, can trigger the issue. Sometimes it happens while only browsing photos, without entering Edit. Expected result: The photo viewer/editor should stay open and allow normal browsing or cropping. Actual result: The flow exits unexpectedly. Mac Console evidence: Around 2026-05-12 21:53:59-21:54:00, Console showed SpringBoard/RunningBoard terminating com.apple.camera. Relevant log excerpt: Capture Application Requirements Unmet: "AVCaptureEventInteraction not installed" reportType: CrashLog ReportCrash Parsing corpse data for pid 94087 com.apple.camera: Foreground: false Storage is sufficient. Restart/reset-style support steps have already been tried and did not resolve the issue. This appears specific to the Camera Control launch path, not normal Photos app browsing. Has anyone else seen this on iOS 26.x, or is this a known Camera Control / AVCaptureEventInteraction regression? Already Filed as FB22766094.

Hi, I'm looking for some clarity around hardware implementation details for the Iphone 17 Pro / Pro Max's camera sync via SMPTE ST2139. Question 1 (Signaling) ST2139 specifies that on the USB connector, D+ (pin A6 and B6), D- (pin A7 and B7) SBU1 (A8) and SBU2 (B8) can be used for sync signals. Does the iphone 17 pro / pro-max support all of these per the standard, or only a subset of these pins for sync signaling? Question 2 (Frame rates) Does the Iphone 17 pro / pro-max support ST2139 sync at any / all of its video rates (24, 25, 30, 60, 100, 120 fps), or only a subset of those? Question 3 (Sync tolerances) What is the tolerance of these rates to sync variation (ie would the phone/camera accept 29.970 sync when the camera is set to 30 fps?) and what are the tolerances for jitter to maintain a good sync lock? Thanks

When interacting with RealityView’s realityViewCameraControls .orbit and setting a new RealityViewCameraContent .cameraTarget, the resulting camera target and camera orbit is incorrect. This can be demonstrated where one finger is orbiting the RealityView, and another pushes a button which changes the camera target. Instead of the camera facing the new target, some point in the scene is the new effective camera target and orbit point. This only occurs when an orbit interaction is currently taking place. If you stop interacting with the orbit, change target, then start orbit interacting again, everything works as expected. Though this example uses two-touches, any change of the camera target has this conflict with orbit interaction. This means interacting with orbit will result in the wrong camera view which is unexpected for users and difficult to reconcile or detect, for developers. Expected: Interacting (orbiting) the scene while setting a new camera target with the buttons on screen (at the same time), the camera’s new target shows centred in view the orbit revolves the new target and continues to match my gestures. Reality: Interacting (orbiting) the scene while setting a new camera target with the buttons on screen (at the same time), the camera’s new target is not centred in view, and camera is now orbiting an unexpected point in the scene, that is not my expected target. One imperfect workaround is to force a rebuild of the view after setting a new cameraTarget. This sets all targets correctly but results in a flicker, loss of orbit controls until re-touch and ultimately is a poor user experience, but is better than the wrong target being shown unexpectedly. Code Sample: import SwiftUI import RealityKit struct RKOribtTarget: View { @State private var target: Int = 0 @State private var rcContent: RealityViewCameraContent? @State private var rkID: UUID = UUID() let root = Entity() let center = ModelEntity(mesh: .generateSphere(radius: 0.05), materials: [UnlitMaterial(color: UIColor(.gray.opacity(0.5)))]) let red = ModelEntity(mesh: .generateBox(size: 0.1), materials: [SimpleMaterial(color: .red, isMetallic: false)]) let blue = ModelEntity(mesh: .generateBox(size: 0.1), materials: [SimpleMaterial(color: .blue, isMetallic: false)]) let green = ModelEntity(mesh: .generateBox(size: 0.1), materials: [SimpleMaterial(color: .green, isMetallic: false)]) var body: some View { VStack{ RealityView { content in red.position.x = 0.5 blue.position.z = 0.5 green.position.y = 0.5 center.position = .init(repeating: 0.25) content.cameraTarget = target == 0 ? root : blue root.addChild(red) root.addChild(blue) root.addChild(green) root.addChild(center) content.add(root) } update: { content in switch target{ case 0: content.cameraTarget = root case 1: content.cameraTarget = blue case 2: content.cameraTarget = red case 3: content.cameraTarget = green default: content.cameraTarget = root } } .id(rkID) .realityViewCameraControls(.orbit) VStack{ Text("Target") Button("Default") { target = 0 // Force rebuilding view resets orbit target and rotation // But shows a flicker, interaction requires touch reset // Not an ideal workaround // rkID = UUID() } .buttonStyle(.bordered) Button("Blue") { target = 1 // rkID = UUID() } .buttonStyle(.bordered) .tint(.blue) Button("Red") { target = 2 // rkID = UUID() } .buttonStyle(.bordered) .tint(.red) Button("Green") { target = 3 // rkID = UUID() } .buttonStyle(.bordered) .tint(.green) } } } } Xcode Version: Version 26.0 (17A324) iOS Version: iOS 26.5 (23F75) Tested on devices, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro

I am working on a computational photography research project involving multi-exposure HDR reconstruction using Bayer RAW and Apple ProRAW captures. I would like to clarify the radiometric interpretation of Apple ProRAW and the availability of Bayer RAW capture through AVFoundation. My questions are: 1.On current iPhone Pro devices, is it possible for third-party apps to capture and export true Bayer-pattern RAW DNG files through AVFoundation, rather than Apple ProRAW linear DNG files? If so, which availableRawPhotoPixelFormatTypes correspond to Bayer RAW, and what device or format restrictions apply? 2.Apple ProRAW appears to be demosaiced and computationally processed, and may include multi-frame fusion. Is the decoded ProRAW image intended to be radiometrically linear and scene-referred? 3.For a bracketed ProRAW sequence captured with fixed ISO, white balance, lens, and focus, but different exposure times, can one assume that the decoded linear pixel values Y_i(p) satisfy an exposure-proportional model in non-saturated regions, such as Y_i(p) ≈ t_i R(p), across brackets? This question is about radiometric consistency for algorithmic use, not about visual editing or tone mapping. Thank you for your help.

Whilst AVCaptureSession is setup to capture ProRes RAW video, is it possible to get video pixel data which can read and processed, such as using CIImage(cvPixelBuffer: ) AVCaptureVideoDataOutput outputs ProRes RAW in kCVPixelFormatType_96VersatileBayerPacked12 pixel format. Is there a provided way to debayer this pixel format into something more usable?

We use a single AVCaptureSession with AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer and AVCaptureVideoDataOutput (preview-sized buffers, BGRA). When we increase videoZoomFactor, beyond a certain zoom level the image from AVCaptureVideoDataOutput no longer zooms further, while AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer continues to zoom with the same zoom control. The preview and the video-data output therefore diverge. This behavior appears when the active camera is a physical lens device — wide, ultra-wide, or telephoto (e.g. builtInWideAngleCamera, builtInUltraWideCamera, builtInTelephotoCamera, or similar). It does not appear when the active input is a virtual / multi-camera (e.g. triple camera, dual-wide, or other system multi-camera). Are there known conditions under which this mismatch between preview and video-data output is expected? Thank you.

Hi, I'm investigating whether 18MP photo capture from the front camera on iPhone 17 Pro is available to third-party apps using AVFoundation. I first inspected all available AVCaptureDevice formats, but I could not find any format corresponding to ~18MP resolution (e.g., around 4896×3672). for format in device.formats { let desc = format.formatDescription let dims = CMVideoFormatDescriptionGetDimensions(desc) print("Format: (dims.width) x (dims.height)") } All reported formats appear to be limited to resolutions such as 4032×3024 (12MP) or below. Question: Is 18MP front camera capture actually available to third-party apps via AVFoundation on iPhone 17?

After update to ipad OS 26.4 or latest 26.3., we’ve been experiencing issues with focusing. We have an app that scans 1x1 cm QR or DataMatrix codes from a distance of 10–20 cm, and users across different devices (ipad 9 and 10) are reporting problems. I didn’t find anything related to the camera in the version changelog, but users from various places are reporting problem with camera.

It seems like every time an IOS update is installed, the camera app file formats get reset to defaults. This setting is not available to manage at the MDM level. Many people need the the most compatible settings for the purpose of file sharing. So, now we have nearly 1,000 devices with a complete mix of photo and video formats. And IT has wasted MANY hours converting files for people. Feature Request: Please either stop resetting the camera app file formats or allow us to manage those settings at the MDM level. Respectfully, Robert

Hey, I've noticed that in some scenarios photo data can be corrupted from the cameras on iPhone 17 Pro. The requirements are: The zoom level is greater than 2 times the base zoom, so 2x for the wide lens, and 8x for the telephoto. QualityPrioritization is set to .Quality. If set to .Balanced the images look as expected. The scene is well lit. I haven't managed to work out if there's an ISO cut off, but in darker scenes the images look as expected. The scene does not contain any objects or texture, e.g. a blank white screen, a blue sky, up close against a bright wall. Here is an example: This is really weird behavior. I have opened a ticket here: https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/feedback/22092908 There's also a repo here if anyone would like to try it: https://github.com/alexfoxy/CameraQualityTest. Thanks, Alex

I’m attempting to use a Locked Camera Capture Extension (created from Xcode’s template / following Apple’s “Creating a camera experience for the Lock Screen” guidance). The extension builds, embeds, and installs on a physical device, but I cannot get it provisioned with the required entitlement com.apple.developer.locked-camera-capture. Environment Xcode: 26.0.1 (17A400) iOS: 26.2.1 (device) Apple Developer Program: paid Individual (Team ID: FT55UW9363) Key issue: provisioning profile for the ExtensionKit appex lacks the locked-camera entitlement The locked camera capture target is embedded as an ExtensionKit extension: .../DirectionalCamera.app/Extensions/LockedCapture.appex I decoded the embedded provisioning profile inside that .appex and printed its Entitlements dictionary: security cms -D -i ".../DirectionalCamera.app/Extensions/LockedCapture.appex/embedded.mobileprovision" > /tmp/locked_profile.plist /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print:Entitlements" /tmp/locked_profile.plist Entitlements present in the embedded profile: Dict { com.apple.developer.avfoundation.multitasking-camera-access = true application-identifier = FT55UW9363.arp.geocam.LockedCapture keychain-access-groups = Array { FT55UW9363.* com.apple.token } get-task-allow = true com.apple.security.application-groups = Array { group.arp.geocam } com.apple.developer.team-identifier = FT55UW9363 } Critically, the required entitlement is absent: /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print:Entitlements:com.apple.developer.locked-camera-capture" /tmp/locked_profile.plist Print: Entry, ":Entitlements:com.apple.developer.locked-camera-capture", Does Not Exist Build behavior If I manually add com.apple.developer.locked-camera-capture to the extension’s .entitlements, Xcode refuses to sign with: “Provisioning profile failed qualification: Profile doesn't include the com.apple.developer.locked-camera-capture entitlement.” Notes The only other embedded extension is a widget/control extension under .../DirectionalCamera.app/PlugIns/... with a separate profile (expected). Question Has anyone successfully provisioned a Locked Camera Capture Extension on a standard paid developer account? Is com.apple.developer.locked-camera-capture gated/restricted (requiring Apple to enable it for a specific Team ID / App ID), or is there a specific capability in the Developer portal that maps to it? If it’s restricted, what is the official process to request enablement for a team/app-id? Any pointers appreciated.

I am encountering an issue where the Lock Screen Quick Action fails to visibly open my app. My app is a camera application that utilizes a CameraCaptureIntent to launch a standalone, lightweight camera view (accessible while the device is locked), distinct from the main application. Steps to Reproduce: Open the lightweight camera view using the Lock Screen Quick Action. From this view, launch the Main App. Lock the iPhone (put it to sleep). Attempt to launch the lightweight camera view via the Quick Action again. A slight animation occurs, but the camera view does not appear on screen. After multiple tests, it seems the view is actually launching but remains in an "invisible state." I suspect that the system hides the lightweight camera view when transitioning to the Main App, but fails to reset this hidden state when the Quick Action is triggered subsequently. I would appreciate any guidance on a potential workaround or confirmation if this is a known issue awaiting a system update.