Hello everyone,
I’m new to Swift development and have been working on an audio module that plays a specific sound at regular intervals - similar to a workout timer that signals switching exercises every few minutes.
Following AVFoundation documentation, I’m configuring my audio session like this:
let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
try session.setCategory(
.playback,
mode: .default,
options: [.interruptSpokenAudioAndMixWithOthers, .duckOthers]
)
self.engine.attach(self.player)
self.engine.connect(self.player, to: self.engine.outputNode, format: self.audioFormat)
try? session.setActive(true)
When it’s time to play cues, I schedule playback on a DispatchQueue:
// scheduleAudio uses DispatchQueue
self.scheduleAudio(at: interval.start) {
do {
try audio.engine.start()
audio.node.play()
for sample in interval.samples {
audio.node.scheduleBuffer(sample.buffer, at: AVAudioTime(hostTime: sample.hostTime))
}
} catch {
print("Audio activation failed: \(error)")
}
}
This works perfectly in the foreground. But once the app goes into the background, the scheduled callback runs, yet the audio engine fails to start, resulting in an error with code 561015905.
Interestingly, if the app is already playing audio before going to the background, the scheduled sounds continue to play as expected.
I have added the required background audio mode to my Info plist file by including the key UIBackgroundModes with the value audio.
Is there anything else I should configure? What is the best practice to play periodic audio when the app runs in the background? How do apps like turn-by-turn navigation handle continuous audio playback in the background?
Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated!
Audio
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I found that the aggregated device correctly obtains input channels in the standard microphone mode. However, in voice isolation mode, it only retrieves channels from the first sub-device in the aggregated device's list. If I want to properly obtain channel information in voice isolation mode, how should I do it?
I have sent in a feedback report (FB18222398) but I have no idea if anyone has looked at it. I know from past experiences that Apple devs do look at these forums.
This applies to each of the betas, 1, 2 and 3. I have created a new Personal Voice with each beta. I create a personal voice in English. When it's done processing, I tap Preview and it says in English what is expected. But after some time, an hour or a day, the language of the voice file changes languages and no longer works properly. If I press Preview it is no longer intelligible. I have a text to speech app and initially the created voice works but then when the language of the file changes, it no longer works. I have run an app on my iphone through Xcode that prints to the console the voices installed on the device with the language. Currently this is the voice file:
Voice Identifier: com.apple.speech.personalvoice.AAA9C6F2-9125-475F-BA2F-22C63274991D
Language: es-MX
and on a second device the same personal voice is in a different language:
Voice Identifier: com.apple.speech.personalvoice.AAA9C6F2-9125-475F-BA2F-22C63274991D
Language: zh-CN
Although, a previous personal voice file that listed as Spanish-Mexican played in English with a Spanish accent or when playing Spanish text, it sounded almost perfect. This current personal voice doesn't do that, and is unintelligible. Previous attempts have converted to Chinese.
I hope someone can look into this.
I created a virtual audio device to capture system audio with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. After capturing the audio, I forward it to the hardware sound card using AVAudioEngine, also with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. However, due to the clock sources being unsynchronized, problems occur after a period of playback. How can I retrieve the clock source of the hardware device and set it for the virtual device?
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.
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 :)
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>
I want the audio session to always use the built-in microphone. However, when using the setPreferredInput() method like in this example
private func enableBuiltInMic() {
// Get the shared audio session.
let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
// Find the built-in microphone input.
guard let availableInputs = session.availableInputs,
let builtInMicInput = availableInputs.first(where: { $0.portType == .builtInMic }) else {
print("The device must have a built-in microphone.")
return
}
// Make the built-in microphone input the preferred input.
do {
try session.setPreferredInput(builtInMicInput)
} catch {
print("Unable to set the built-in mic as the preferred input.")
}
}
and calling that function once in the initializer,
the audio session still switches to the external microphone once one is plugged in.
The session's preferredInput is nil again at that point, even if the built-in microphone is still listed in availableInputs.
So,
why is the preferredInput suddenly reset?
when would be the appropriate time to set the preferredInput again?
Observing the session’s availableInputs did not work and setting the preferredInput again in the routeChangeNotification handler seems a bad choice as it’s already a bit too late then.
I'm streaming mp3 audio data using URLSession/AudioFileStream/AVAudioConverter and getting occasional silent buffers and glitches (little bleeps and whoops as opposed to clicks). The issues are present in an offline test, so this isn't an issue of underruns.
Doing some buffering on the input coming from the URLSession (URLSessionDataTask) reduces the glitches/silent buffers to rather infrequent, but they do still happen occasionally.
var bufferedData = Data()
func parseBytes(data: Data) {
bufferedData.append(data)
// XXX: this buffering reduces glitching
// to rather infrequent. But why?
if bufferedData.count > 32768 {
bufferedData.withUnsafeBytes { (bytes: UnsafeRawBufferPointer) in
guard let baseAddress = bytes.baseAddress else { return }
let result = AudioFileStreamParseBytes(audioStream!,
UInt32(bufferedData.count),
baseAddress,
[])
if result != noErr {
print("❌ error parsing stream: \(result)")
}
}
bufferedData = Data()
}
}
No errors are returned by AudioFileStream or AVAudioConverter.
func handlePackets(data: Data,
packetDescriptions: [AudioStreamPacketDescription]) {
guard let audioConverter else {
return
}
var maxPacketSize: UInt32 = 0
for packetDescription in packetDescriptions {
maxPacketSize = max(maxPacketSize, packetDescription.mDataByteSize)
if packetDescription.mDataByteSize == 0 {
print("EMPTY PACKET")
}
if Int(packetDescription.mStartOffset) + Int(packetDescription.mDataByteSize) > data.count {
print("❌ Invalid packet: offset \(packetDescription.mStartOffset) + size \(packetDescription.mDataByteSize) > data.count \(data.count)")
}
}
let bufferIn = AVAudioCompressedBuffer(format: inFormat!, packetCapacity: AVAudioPacketCount(packetDescriptions.count), maximumPacketSize: Int(maxPacketSize))
bufferIn.byteLength = UInt32(data.count)
for i in 0 ..< Int(packetDescriptions.count) {
bufferIn.packetDescriptions![i] = packetDescriptions[i]
}
bufferIn.packetCount = AVAudioPacketCount(packetDescriptions.count)
_ = data.withUnsafeBytes { ptr in
memcpy(bufferIn.data, ptr.baseAddress, data.count)
}
if verbose {
print("handlePackets: \(data.count) bytes")
}
// Setup input provider closure
var inputProvided = false
let inputBlock: AVAudioConverterInputBlock = { packetCount, statusPtr in
if !inputProvided {
inputProvided = true
statusPtr.pointee = .haveData
return bufferIn
} else {
statusPtr.pointee = .noDataNow
return nil
}
}
// Loop until converter runs dry or is done
while true {
let bufferOut = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: outFormat, frameCapacity: 4096)!
bufferOut.frameLength = 0
var error: NSError?
let status = audioConverter.convert(to: bufferOut, error: &error, withInputFrom: inputBlock)
switch status {
case .haveData:
if verbose {
print("✅ convert returned haveData: \(bufferOut.frameLength) frames")
}
if bufferOut.frameLength > 0 {
if bufferOut.isSilent {
print("(haveData) SILENT BUFFER at frame \(totalFrames), pending: \(pendingFrames), inputPackets=\(bufferIn.packetCount), outputFrames=\(bufferOut.frameLength)")
}
outBuffers.append(bufferOut)
totalFrames += Int(bufferOut.frameLength)
}
case .inputRanDry:
if verbose {
print("🔁 convert returned inputRanDry: \(bufferOut.frameLength) frames")
}
if bufferOut.frameLength > 0 {
if bufferOut.isSilent {
print("(inputRanDry) SILENT BUFFER at frame \(totalFrames), pending: \(pendingFrames), inputPackets=\(bufferIn.packetCount), outputFrames=\(bufferOut.frameLength)")
}
outBuffers.append(bufferOut)
totalFrames += Int(bufferOut.frameLength)
}
return // wait for next handlePackets
case .endOfStream:
if verbose {
print("✅ convert returned endOfStream")
}
return
case .error:
if verbose {
print("❌ convert returned error")
}
if let error = error {
print("error converting: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
return
@unknown default:
fatalError()
}
}
}
Hello everyone,
I am working on an app that allows you to review your own music using Apple Music. Currently I am running into an issue with the skipping forwards and backwards outside of the app.
How it should work: When skipping forward or backwards on the lock or home screen of an iPhone, the next or previous song on an album should play and the information should change to reflect that in the app.
If you play a song in Apple Music, you can see a Now Playing view in the lock screen.
When you skip forward or backwards, it will do either action and it would reflect that when you see a little frequency icon on artwork image of a song.
What it's doing: When skipping forward or backwards on the lock or home screen of an iPhone, the next or previous song is reflected outside of the app, but not in the app.
When skipping a song outside of the app, it works correctly to head to the next song.
But when I return to the app, it is not reflected
NOTE: I am not using MusicKit variables such as Track, Album to display the songs. Since I want to grab the songs and review them I need a rating so I created my own that grabs the MusicItemID, name, artist(s), etc.
NOTE: I am using ApplicationMusicPlayer.shared
Is there a way to get the song to reflect in my app?
(If its easier, a simple example of it would be nice. No need to create an entire xprod file)
I've got a setup using AVAudioEngine with several tone generator nodes, each with a chain of processing nodes, the chains then mixed into the main output.
Generator ➡️ Effect ➡️... ➡️ .mainMixerNode ➡️ .outputNode).
Generator ➡️ Effect ➡️... ⤴️
...
Generator ➡️ Effect ➡️... ⤴️
The user should be able to mute any chain individually. I've found several potential approaches to muting, but not terribly happy with any of them.
Adjust the amplitudes directly in my tone generators. Issue: Consumes CPU even when completely muted. 4 generators adds ~15% cpu, even when all chains are muted.
Detach/attach chains that are muted/unmuted. Issue: Causes loud clicking/popping sounds whenever muted/unmuted.
Fade mixer output volume while detaching/attaching a chain (just cutting the volume immediately to 0 doesn't get rid of the clicking/popping). Issue: Causes all channels to fade during the transition, so not ideal.
The rest of these ideas are variations on making volume control+detatch/attach work for individual chains, since approach #3 worked well.
Add an AVAudioMixer to the end of each chain (just for volume control). Issue: Only the mixer on the final chain functions -- the others block all output. Not sure what's going on there.
Use matrix mixer (for multi-input volume control). Plus detach/attach to reduce CPU if necessary. Not yet attempted, due to perceived complexity and reports of fragility in order of wiring in. A bunch of effort before I even know if it's going to work.
Develop my own fader node to put on the end of each channel. Unlike the tone generator (simple AVSourceNode), developing an effect node seems complex and time consuming. Might not even fix CPU use.
I'm not completely averse to the learning curve of either 5 or 6, but would rather get some guidance on best approach before diving in. They both seem likely to take more effort than I'd like for the simple behavior I'm trying to achieve.
Many Apple users own both Bluetooth earphones (AirPods) and traditional wired earphones. While Bluetooth audio provides freedom of movement, some users still prefer wired earphones for comfort, sound profile, or personal preference. However, plugging wired earphones directly into an iPhone can feel restrictive and inconvenient during daily use.
This proposal suggests a hybrid audio approach where wired earphones can be connected to a Bluetooth-enabled AirPods charging case (or a similar Apple-designed module), allowing users to enjoy wired earphones without a physical connection to the iPhone.
#Problem Statement
*Wired earphones offer consistent audio quality and zero latency
*Bluetooth earphones provide freedom from cables
*Users must currently choose one or the other
*Plugging wired earphones into an iPhone limits movement and can feel intrusive in daily scenarios (walking, commuting, working)
There is no native Apple solution that allows wired earphones to function wirelessly while maintaining Apple’s audio experience standards.
#Proposed Solution
Introduce a Wired-to-Wireless Audio Mode through the AirPods charging case or a dedicated Apple Bluetooth audio bridge.
How it works:
User plugs wired earphones into the AirPods case (or a future AirPods accessory port)
The case acts as a Bluetooth audio transmitter
Audio is streamed wirelessly from iPhone to the case
The case outputs audio to the wired earphones
#User experiences:
No cable connected to the iPhone
Familiar wired earphone sound
Freedom of movement similar to Bluetooth earbuds
User Experience (UX Flow)
Plug wired earphones into the AirPods case
iPhone automatically detects:
“Wired Earphones via AirPods Case”
Seamless pairing using existing AirPods framework
Audio controls, volume, and switching handled through iOS
No additional apps required
#Key Benefits
Combines wired sound reliability with wireless convenience
Reduces physical cable disturbance during use
Extends usefulness of existing wired earphones
Minimal learning curve for users
Fits naturally into Apple’s ecosystem and design philosophy
#Privacy & Performance Considerations
On-device audio processing only
No cloud involvement
Low-latency audio using Apple’s proprietary Bluetooth codecs
Power-efficient usage leveraging AirPods case battery
#Target Users
Users who prefer wired earphones but want wireless freedom
Commuters and walkers
Developers and professionals who multitask
Users sensitive to Bluetooth earbud fit or comfort
#Ecosystem Fit
Builds on existing AirPods pairing and audio stack
Aligns with Apple’s focus on seamless UX
Could be implemented via:
New AirPods hardware
Firmware update + accessory
Dedicated Apple audio bridge
Hello,
The search functionality of the coreaudio-api mailing list archive has been broken for a very long time. Several of the lower-level audio APIs have only been discussed on this mailing list, making it critical for those of us maintaining old audio code.
Steps to reproduce:
Open https://lists.apple.com/archives/list/coreaudio-api@lists.apple.com/ in your web browser.
Enter a search term in the "Search this list" field in the top-right corner of the page.
The search will eventually time out with "502 Bad Gateway"
Can somebody please forward this information to the current maintainer? I've tried to contact developer support but they weren't sure what to do.
Thanks!
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Audio
I neet to take pcm data from aac data, but this api has fossy me deeply.
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?
ApplicationMusicPlayer is not available on watchOS but all other platforms. Is there a technical reason for that like battery life? Same goes for SystemMusicPlayer and MPMusicPlayerController. I already filed feedbacks for that.
I’m developing a macOS audio monitoring app using AVAudioEngine, and I’ve run into a critical issue on macOS 26 beta where AVFoundation fails to detect any input devices, and AVAudioEngine.start() throws the familiar error 10877.
FB#: FB19024508
Strange Behavior:
AVAudioEngine.inputNode shows no channels or input format on bus 0.
AVAudioEngine.start() fails with -10877 (AudioUnit connection error).
AVCaptureDevice.DiscoverySession returns zero audio devices.
Microphone permission is granted (authorized), and the app is properly signed and sandboxed with com.apple.security.device.audio-input.
However, CoreAudio HAL does detect all input/output devices:
Using AudioObjectGetPropertyDataSize and AudioObjectGetPropertyData with kAudioHardwarePropertyDevices, I can enumerate 14+ devices, including AirPods, USB DACs, and BlackHole.
This suggests the lower-level audio stack is functional.
I have tried:
Resetting CoreAudio with sudo killall coreaudiod
Rebuilding and re-signing the app
Clearing TCC with tccutil reset Microphone
Running on Apple Silicon and testing Rosetta/native detection via sysctl.proc_translated
Using a fallback mechanism that logs device info from HAL and rotates logs for submission via Feedback Assistant
I have submitted logs and a reproducible test case via Feedback Assitant : FB#: FB19024508]
Hi,
I try to record audio on the iPhone with the AVAudioRecorder and Xcode 26.0.1.
Maybe the problem is that I can not record audio with the simulator. But there's a menu for audio.
In the plist I added 'Privacy - Microphone Usage Description' and I ask for permission before recording.
if await AVAudioApplication.requestRecordPermission() {
print("permission granted")
recordPermission = true
} else {
print("permission denied")
}
Permission is granted.
let settings: [String : Any] = [
AVFormatIDKey: kAudioFormatMPEG4AAC,
AVSampleRateKey: 12000,
AVNumberOfChannelsKey: 1,
AVEncoderAudioQualityKey: AVAudioQuality.high.rawValue
]
recorder = try AVAudioRecorder(url: filename, settings: settings)
let prepared = recorder.prepareToRecord()
print("prepared started: \(prepared)")
let started = recorder.record()
print("recording started: \(started)")
started is always false and I tried many settings.
Error messages
AddInstanceForFactory: No factory registered for id <CFUUID 0x600000211480> F8BB1C28-BAE8-11D6-9C31-00039315CD46
AudioConverter.cpp:1052 Failed to create a new in process converter -> from 0 ch, 12000 Hz, .... (0x00000000) 0 bits/channel, 0 bytes/packet, 0 frames/packet, 0 bytes/frame to 1 ch, 12000 Hz, aac (0x00000000) 0 bits/channel, 0 bytes/packet, 1024 frames/packet, 0 bytes/frame, with status -50
AudioQueueObject.cpp:1892 BuildConverter: AudioConverterNew returned -50
from: 0 ch, 12000 Hz, .... (0x00000000) 0 bits/channel, 0 bytes/packet, 0 frames/packet, 0 bytes/frame
to: 1 ch, 12000 Hz, aac (0x00000000) 0 bits/channel, 0 bytes/packet, 1024 frames/packet, 0 bytes/frame
prepared started: true
AudioQueueObject.cpp:7581 ConvertInput: aq@0x10381be00: AudioConverterFillComplexBuffer returned -50, packetCount 5
recording started: false
All examples I find are the same, but apparently there must be something different.
Dear Sirs,
I’ve written a virtual audio driver based on AudioDriverKit and running as dext in my MacOS app. Sometimes when waking up from a sleep state the recording side of my driver extension seems to hang and I don’t see any calls to my io_operation callback. Then the recording app like a DAW seems to hang when trying to start a recording. This doesn’t happen after short sleep states or after a complete new start of my MacBook.
I already opened a case in Feedback-Assistant on 5th of May (FB17503622) which also includes a sysdiagnose and a ktrace but I didn't get any feedback so far. Meanwhile some of our customers are getting angry and I'd like to know if there's anything I could do to fix this problem on my side.
We’re not sure whether this worked in previous MacOS versions, we think we didn’t observe this before 15.3.1 but at least since 15.3.1. we’ve seen this problem.
Best regards,
Johannes
In iOS 18, CarPlay shows an error: “There was a problem loading this content” after playback starts. Audio works fine, but the Now Playing screen doesn’t load. I’m using MPPlayableContentManager. This worked fine in iOS 17. Anyone else seeing this error in iOS 18?