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

Audio Documentation

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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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366
Mar ’25
Unable to match music with shazamkit for Android
Hello, i can successfully match music using shazamkit on Apple using SwiftUI, a simple app that let user to load an audio file and exctracts the relative match, while i am unable to match music using shamzamkit on Android. I am trying to make the same simple app but i cannot match music as i get MATCH_ATTEMPT_FAILED every time i try to. I don't know what i am doing wrong but the shazam part in the kotlin Android code is in this method : suspend fun processAudioFileInBackground( filePath: String, developerTokenProvider: DeveloperTokenProvider ) = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) { val bufferSize = 1024 * 1024 val audioFile = FileInputStream(filePath) val byteBuffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(bufferSize) byteBuffer.order(ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN) var bytesRead: Int while (audioFile.read(byteBuffer.array()).also { bytesRead = it } != -1) { val signatureGenerator = (ShazamKit.createSignatureGenerator(AudioSampleRateInHz.SAMPLE_RATE_44100) as ShazamKitResult.Success).data signatureGenerator.append(byteBuffer.array(), bytesRead, System.currentTimeMillis()) val signature = signatureGenerator.generateSignature() println("Signature: ${signature.durationInMs}") val catalog = ShazamKit.createShazamCatalog(developerTokenProvider, Locale.ENGLISH) val session = (ShazamKit.createSession(catalog) as ShazamKitResult.Success).data val matchResult = session.match(signature) println("MatchResult : $matchResult") setMatchResult(matchResult) byteBuffer.clear() } audioFile.close() } I noticed that changing Locale in catalog creation results in different result as i get NoMatch without exception. Can you please help me with this? Do i need to create a custom catalog?
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118
May ’25
WebM audio playback
Is it possible to play WebM audio on iOS? Either with AVPlayer, AVAudioEngine, or some other API? Safari has supported this for a few releases now, and I'm wondering if I missed something about how to do this. By default these APIs don't seem to work (nor does ExtAudioFileOpen). Our usecase is making it possible for iOS users to play back audio recorded in our webapp (desktop versions of Chrome & Firefox only support webm as a destination format for MediaRecorder)
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492
Mar ’25
Add icon to DEXT based on AudioDriverKit
Dear Sirs, I'd like to add an icon to my audio driver based on AudioDriverKit. This icon should show up left of my audio device in the audio devices dialog. For an Audio Server Plugin I managed to do this using the property kAudioDevicePropertyIcon and CFBundleCopyResourceURL(...) but how would you do this with AudioDriverKit? Should I use IOUserAudioCustomProperty or IOUserAudioControl and how would I refer to the Bundle? Is there an example available somewhere? Thanks and best regards, Johannes
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1.2k
Jul ’25
AVQueuePlayer/AVPlayer rate property is not being changed everytime I assign a new value to it.
I have used AVQueuePlayer in my music app to play sequence of audios from a remote server, this how I have defined things my player in my ViewModel Variables private var cancellables = Set() private let audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() private var avQueuePlayer: AVQueuePlayer? @Published var playbackSpeed: Float = 1.0 before starting playback, I am making sure that audio session is set properly, the code snippet used for that is do { try audioSession.setCategory(.playback, mode: .default, options: []) try audioSession.setActive(true, options: []) } catch { return } and this is the function I am using to update playback speed func updatePlaybackSpeed(_ newSpeed: Float){ if newSpeed > 0.0, newSpeed <= 2.0{ playbackSpeed = newSpeed avQueuePlayer?.rate = newSpeed print("requested speed is (newSpeed) and actual speed is (String(describing: avQueuePlayer?.rate))") } } sometimes whatever speed is set, player seems to play at the same speed as it was set, e.g. Once I got "requested speed is 1.5 and actual speed is 1.5", and player also seemed to play at the speed of 1.5 but another time I got "requested speed is 2.0 and actual speed is 2.0", but player still seemed to play at the speed of 1.0 to observe changes in rate, I used this **private func observeRateChanges() { guard let avQueuePlayer = self.avQueuePlayer else { return } NotificationCenter.default.publisher(for: AVQueuePlayer.rateDidChangeNotification, object: avQueuePlayer) .compactMap { $0.userInfo?[AVPlayer.rateDidChangeReasonKey] as? AVPlayer.RateDidChangeReason } .sink { reason in switch reason { case .appBackgrounded: print("The app transitioned to the background.") case .audioSessionInterrupted: print("The system interrupts the app’s audio session.") case .setRateCalled: print("The app set the player’s rate.") case .setRateFailed: print("An attempt to change the player’s rate failed.") default: break } } .store(in: &cancellables) }** when rate was set properly, I got this "The app set the player’s rate." from the above function, but when it wasn't, I got this "An attempt to change the player’s rate failed.," now I am not able to understand why rate is not being set, and if it gave "requested speed is 2.0 and actual speed is 2.0" from updatePlaybackSpeed function, why does the player seems to play with the speed of 1.0?
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412
Feb ’25
iOS Audio Routing - Bluetooth Output + Built-in Microphone Input
Hello! I'm experiencing an issue with iOS's audio routing system when trying to use Bluetooth headphones for audio output while also recording environmental audio from the built-in microphone. Desired behavior: Play audio through Bluetooth headset (AirPods) Record unprocessed environmental audio from the iPhone's built-in microphone Actual behavior: When explicitly selecting the built-in microphone, iOS reports it's using it (in currentRoute.inputs) However, the actual audio data received is clearly still coming from the AirPods microphone The audio is heavily processed with voice isolation/noise cancellation, removing environmental sounds Environment Details Device: iPhone 12 Pro Max iOS Version: 18.4.1 Hardware: AirPods Audio Framework: AVAudioEngine (also tried AudioQueue) Code Attempted I've tried multiple approaches to force the correct routing: func configureAudioSession() { let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() // Configure to allow Bluetooth output but use built-in mic try? session.setCategory(.playAndRecord, options: [.allowBluetoothA2DP, .defaultToSpeaker]) try? session.setActive(true) // Explicitly select built-in microphone if let inputs = session.availableInputs, let builtInMic = inputs.first(where: { $0.portType == .builtInMic }) { try? session.setPreferredInput(builtInMic) print("Selected input: \(builtInMic.portName)") } // Log the current route let route = session.currentRoute print("Current input: \(route.inputs.first?.portName ?? "None")") // Configure audio engine with native format let inputNode = audioEngine.inputNode let nativeFormat = inputNode.inputFormat(forBus: 0) inputNode.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 1024, format: nativeFormat) { buffer, time in // Process audio buffer // Despite showing "Built-in Microphone" in route, audio appears to be // coming from AirPods with voice isolation applied - welp! } try? audioEngine.start() } I've also tried various combinations of: Different audio session modes (.default, .measurement, .voiceChat) Different option combinations (with/without .allowBluetooth, .allowBluetoothA2DP) Setting session.setPreferredInput() both before and after activation Diagnostic Observations When AirPods are connected: AVAudioSession.currentRoute.inputs correctly shows "Built-in Microphone" after setPreferredInput() The actual audio data received shows clear signs of AirPods' voice isolation processing Background/environmental sounds are actively filtered out... When recording a test audio played near the phone (not through the app), the recording is nearly silent. Only headset voice goes through. Questions Is there a workaround to force iOS to actually use the built-in microphone while maintaining Bluetooth output? Are there any lower-level configurations that might resolve this issue? Any insights, workarounds, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. This is blocking a critical feature in my application that requires environmental audio recording while providing audio feedback through headphones 😅
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195
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:&amp;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: &lt;dict&gt; &lt;key&gt;com.apple.security.application-groups&lt;/key&gt; &lt;array&gt; &lt;string&gt;group.com.&lt;company&gt;.&lt;appname&gt;&lt;/string&gt; &lt;/array&gt; &lt;/dict&gt;
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110
Apr ’25
AVAudioMixerNode outputVolume range?
According to the header file the outputVolume properties supported range is 0.0-1.0: /*! @property outputVolume @abstract The mixer's output volume. @discussion This accesses the mixer's output volume (0.0-1.0, inclusive). @property (nonatomic) float outputVolume; However when setting the volume to 2.0 the audio does indeed play louder. Is the header file out of date and if so, what is the supported range for outputVolume? Thanks
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115
Apr ’25
AVAudioEngine : Split 1x4 channel bus into 4x1 channel busses?
I'm using a 4 channel USB Audio interface, with 4 microphones, and want to process them through 4 independent effect chains. However the output from AVAudioInputNode is a single 4 channel bus. How can I split this into 4 mono busses? The following code splits the input into 4 copies, and routes them through the effects, but each bus contains all four channels. How can I remap the channels to remove the unwanted channels from the bus? I tried using channelMap on the mixer node but that had no effect. I'm currently using this code primarily on iOS but it should be portable between iOS and MacOS. It would be possible to do this through a Matrix Mixer Node, but that seems completely overkill, for such a basic operation. I'm already using a Matrix Mixer to combine the inputs, and it's not well supported in AVAudioEngine. AVAudioInputNode *inputNode=[engine inputNode]; [inputNode setVoiceProcessingEnabled:NO error:nil]; NSMutableArray *micDestinations=[NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:trackCount]; for(i=0;i<trackCount;i++) { fixMicFormat[i]=[AVAudioMixerNode new]; [engine attachNode:fixMicFormat[i]]; // And create reverb/compressor and eq the same way... [engine connect:reverb[i] to:matrixMixerNode fromBus:0 toBus:i format:nil]; [engine connect:eq[i] to:reverb[i] fromBus:0 toBus:0 format:nil]; [engine connect:compressor[i] to:eq[i] fromBus:0 toBus:0 format:nil]; [engine connect:fixMicFormat[i] to:compressor[i] fromBus:0 toBus:0 format:nil]; [micDestinations addObject:[[AVAudioConnectionPoint alloc] initWithNode:fixMicFormat[i] bus:0] ]; } AVAudioFormat *inputFormat = [inputNode outputFormatForBus: 1]; [engine connect:inputNode toConnectionPoints:micDestinations fromBus:1 format:inputFormat];
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255
Oct ’25
Playing audio live from Bluetooth headset on iPhone speaker
Hi guys, I am having issue in live-streaming audio from Bluetooth headset and playing it live on the iPhone speaker. I am able to redirect audio back to the headset but this is not what I want. The issue happens when I am trying to override output - the iPhone switches to speaker but also switches a microphone. This is example of the code: import AVFoundation class AudioRecorder { let player: AVAudioPlayerNode let engine:AVAudioEngine let audioSession:AVAudioSession let audioSessionOutput:AVAudioSession init() { self.player = AVAudioPlayerNode() self.engine = AVAudioEngine() self.audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() self.audioSessionOutput = AVAudioSession() do { try self.audioSession.setCategory(AVAudioSession.Category.playAndRecord, options: [.defaultToSpeaker]) try self.audioSessionOutput.setCategory(AVAudioSession.Category.playAndRecord, options: [.allowBluetooth]) // enables Bluetooth HFP profile try self.audioSession.setMode(AVAudioSession.Mode.default) try self.audioSession.setActive(true) // try self.audioSession.overrideOutputAudioPort(.speaker) // doens't work } catch { print(error) } let input = self.engine.inputNode self.engine.attach(self.player) let bus = 0 let inputFormat = input.inputFormat(forBus: bus) self.engine.connect(self.player, to: engine.mainMixerNode, format: inputFormat) input.installTap(onBus: bus, bufferSize: 512, format: inputFormat) { (buffer, time) -> Void in self.player.scheduleBuffer(buffer) print(buffer) } } public func start() { try! self.engine.start() self.player.play() } public func stop() { self.player.stop() self.engine.stop() } } I am not sure if this is a bug or not. Can somebody point me into the right direction? I there a way to design a custom audio routing? I would also appreciate some good documentation besides AVFoundation docs.
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341
Mar ’25
MusicKit playbackTime Accuracy
Hello, Has anyone else experienced variations in the accuracy of the playbackTime value? After a few seconds of playback, the reported time adjusts by a fraction of a second, making it difficult to calculate the actual playbackTime of the audio. This can be recreated by playing a song in MusicKit, recording the start time of the audio, playing for at least 10-20 seconds, and then comparing the playbackTime value to one calculated using the start time of the audio. In my experience this jump occurs after about 10 seconds of playback. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
1
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120
May ’25
Microphone Recording interrupts when phone ringing
I'm developing an iOS app that requires continuous audio recording. Currently, when a phone call comes in, the AVAudioSession is interrupted and recording stops completely during the ringing phase. While I understand recording should stop if the call is answered, my app needs to continue recording while the phone is merely ringing. I've observed that Apple's Voice Memos app maintains recording during incoming call rings. This indicates the hardware and iOS are capable of supporting this functionality. Request Please advise on any available AVAudioSession configurations or APIs that would allow my app to: Continue recording during an incoming call ring Only stop recording if/when the call is actually answered Impact This interruption significantly impacts the user experience and core functionality of my app. Workarounds like asking users to enable airplane mode are impractical and create a poor user experience. Questions Is there an approved way to maintain microphone access during call rings? If not currently possible, could this capability be considered for addition to a future iOS SDK? Are there any interim solutions or best practices Apple recommends for this use case? Thank you for your help. SUPPORT INFORMATION Did someone from Apple ask you to submit a code-level support request? No Do you have a focused test project that demonstrates your issue? Yes, I have a focused test project to submit with my request What code level support issue are you having? Problems with an Apple framework API in my app
2
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139
Jun ’25
Background recording app getting killed by watch dog.. how to avoid?
We have the necessary background recording entitlements, and for many users... do not run into any issues. However, there is a subset of users that routinely get recordings ending.. we have narrowed this down and believe it to be the work of the watch dog. First we removed the entire view hierarchy when app is backgrounded. There is just 'Text("Recording")' This got the CPU usage in profiler down to 0%. We saw massive improvements to recording success rate. We walked away assuming that was enough. However we are still seeing the same sort of crashes. All in the background. We're using Observation to drive audio state changes to a Live Activity. Are those Observations causing the problem? Why doesn't apple provide a better API to background audio? The internet is full of weird issues https://stackoverflow.com/questions/76010213/why-is-my-react-native-app-sometimes-terminated-in-the-background-while-tracking https://stackoverflow.com/questions/71656047/why-is-my-react-native-app-terminating-in-the-background-while-recording-ios-r https://github.com/expo/expo/issues/16807 This is such a terrible user experience. And we have very little visibility into what is happening and why. No where in apple documentation states that in order for background recording to work, the app can only be 'Text("Recording")' It does not outline a CPU or memory threshold. It just kills us.
2
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410
Mar ’25
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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156
May ’25
Making sense of AVAudioSession interruption notifications
I have an app under development - demo here - https://youtu.be/VbAfUk_eYl0?si=s6EDBx-4G6P_QbZO - which is sort of an audio player for airdropped files - something useful to musicians who dump work in progress to their phone, make notes, revise and update. I've been testing my handling of audio session interruption notifications, but seems to be a lot of inconsistency in how, when and why iOS delivers them, and I'm wondering if there is some rhyme or reason to it that I'm just not detecting. For example, I am playing a song in my app. Switch to Apple Music and start playing a song there. My app gets an interruption began notification - this is consistent. Switch back to my app, and about half the time, I will get an interruption ended notification (coupled often with a blast of the tail of whatever audio buffer was partially played when the interruption started, even though the engine was stopped - and followed by call to my AVAudioPlayerNodeCompletionCallback - is there some way to avoid this?). Half the time I don't get an interruption ended notification; my app can (as expected) end the interruption by activating the AVAudioSession and playing something. I have not been able to determine any pattern to this behavior, other than that if my app started playing using AVAudioPlayerNode.scheduleSegment rather than scheduleFile I think the notification will be consistently delivered on app activation rather than when I activate the session programmatically. I would like my app to behave deterministically, and would appreciate any help in deciphering what causes the inconsistent behavior in notifications from iOS.
2
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391
Mar ’25