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

Audio Documentation

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Issue using Siphon Tap on input AudioQueue
Hi all, I've developed an audio DSP application in C++ using AudioToolbox and CoreAudio on MacOS 14.4.1 with Xcode 15. I use an AudioQueue for input and another for output. This works great. I'm now adding real-time audio analysis eg spectral analysis. I want this to run independently of my audio processing so it can not interfere with audio playback. Taps on AudioQueues seem to be a good way of doing this... Since the analytics won't modify the audio data, I am using a Siphon Tap by setting the AudioQueueProcessingTapFlags to kAudioQueueProcessingTap_PreEffects | kAudioQueueProcessingTap_Siphon; This works fine on my output queue. However, on my input queue the Tap callback is called once and then a EXC_BAD_ACCESS occurs - screen shot below. NB: I believe that a callback should only call AudioQueueProcessingTapGetSourceAudio when not using a Siphon, so I don't call it. Relevant code: AudioQueueProcessingTapCallback tap_callback) { // Makes an audio tap for a queue void * tap_data_ptr = NULL; AudioQueueProcessingTapFlags tap_flags = kAudioQueueProcessingTap_PostEffects | kAudioQueueProcessingTap_Siphon; uint32_t max_frames = 0; AudioStreamBasicDescription asbd; AudioQueueProcessingTapRef tap_ref; OSStatus status = AudioQueueProcessingTapNew(queue_ref, tap_callback, tap_data_ptr, tap_flags, &max_frames, &asbd, &tap_ref); if (status != noErr) printf("Error while making Tap\n"); else printf("Successfully made tap\n"); } void tapper(void * tap_data, AudioQueueProcessingTapRef tap_ref, uint32_t number_of_frames_in, AudioTimeStamp * ts_ptr, AudioQueueProcessingTapFlags * tap_flags_ptr, uint32_t * number_of_frames_out_ptr, AudioBufferList * buf_list) { // Callback function for audio queue tap printf("Tap callback"); }``` Image of exception stack provided by Xcode: ![]("https://developer.apple.com/forums/content/attachment/27479e8d-a118-459b-aa2d-7e30528910e3" "title=Screenshot 2025-06-14 at 1.29.14 PM.png;width=932;height=562") What have I missed? Appreciate any help you learned folks may be able to provide. Best, Geoff.
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Jun ’25
AirPods Pro 3 Disconnecting from Apple Ultra 3 consistently
I have both apple devices, AirPods Pro 3 is up to date and Ultra 3 is on watch os 26.1 latest public beta. Each morning when I would go on my mindfulness app and start a meditation or listen to Apple Music on my watch and AirPods Pro 3, it will play for a few seconds then disconnects. My bluetooth settings on my watch says my AirPods is connected to my watch. I also have removed the tick about connecting automatically to iPhone on the AirPods setting in my iPhone. To fix this I invariably turn off my Apple Watch Ultra 3 and turn it on again. Then the connection becomes stable. I am not sure why I have to do this each morning. It is frustrating. I am not sure why this fix does not last long? Is there something wrong with my AirPods? Has anyone encountered this before?
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604
Oct ’25
How can third-party iOS apps obtain real-time waveform / spectrogram data for Apple Music tracks (similar to djay & other DJ apps)?
Hi everyone, I’m working on an iOS MusicKit app that overlays a metronome on top of Apple Music playback. To line the clicks up perfectly I’d like access to low-level audio analysis data—ideally a waveform / spectrogram or beat grid—while the track is playing. I’ve noticed that several approved DJ apps (e.g. djay, Serato, rekordbox) can already: • Display detailed scrolling waveforms of Apple Music songs • Scratch, loop or time-stretch those tracks in real time That implies they receive decoded PCM frames or at least high-resolution analysis data from Apple Music under a special entitlement. My questions: 1. Does MusicKit (or any public framework) expose real-time audio buffers, FFT bins, or beat markers for streaming Apple Music content? 2. If not, is there an Apple program or entitlement that developers can apply for—similar to the “DJ with Apple Music” initiative—to gain that deeper access? 3. Where can I find official documentation or a point of contact for this kind of request? I’ve searched the docs and forums but only see standard MusicKit playback APIs, which don’t appear to expose raw audio for DRM-protected songs. Any guidance, links or insider tips on the proper application process would be hugely appreciated! Thanks in advance.
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Oct ’25
How to capture audio from the stream that's playing on the speakers?
Good day, ladies and gents. I have an application that reads audio from the microphone. I'd like it to also be able to read from the Mac's audio output stream. (A bonus would be if it could detect when the Mac is playing music.) I'd eventually be able to figure it out reading docs, but if someone can give a hint, I'd be very grateful, and would owe you the libation of your choice. Here's the code used to set up the AudioUnit: -(NSString*) configureAU { AudioComponent component = NULL; AudioComponentDescription description; OSStatus err = noErr; UInt32 param; AURenderCallbackStruct callback; if( audioUnit ) { AudioComponentInstanceDispose( audioUnit ); audioUnit = NULL; } // was CloseComponent // Open the AudioOutputUnit description.componentType = kAudioUnitType_Output; description.componentSubType = kAudioUnitSubType_HALOutput; description.componentManufacturer = kAudioUnitManufacturer_Apple; description.componentFlags = 0; description.componentFlagsMask = 0; if( component = AudioComponentFindNext( NULL, &description ) ) { err = AudioComponentInstanceNew( component, &audioUnit ); if( err != noErr ) { audioUnit = NULL; return [ NSString stringWithFormat: @"Couldn't open AudioUnit component (ID=%d)", err] ; } } // Configure the AudioOutputUnit: // You must enable the Audio Unit (AUHAL) for input and output for the same device. // When using AudioUnitSetProperty the 4th parameter in the method refers to an AudioUnitElement. // When using an AudioOutputUnit for input the element will be '1' and the output element will be '0'. param = 1; // Enable input on the AUHAL err = AudioUnitSetProperty( audioUnit, kAudioOutputUnitProperty_EnableIO, kAudioUnitScope_Input, 1, &param, sizeof(UInt32) ); chkerr("Couldn't set first EnableIO prop (enable inpjt) (ID=%d)"); param = 0; // Disable output on the AUHAL err = AudioUnitSetProperty( audioUnit, kAudioOutputUnitProperty_EnableIO, kAudioUnitScope_Output, 0, &param, sizeof(UInt32) ); chkerr("Couldn't set second EnableIO property on the audio unit (disable ootpjt) (ID=%d)"); param = sizeof(AudioDeviceID); // Select the default input device AudioObjectPropertyAddress OutputAddr = { kAudioHardwarePropertyDefaultInputDevice, kAudioObjectPropertyScopeGlobal, kAudioObjectPropertyElementMaster }; err = AudioObjectGetPropertyData( kAudioObjectSystemObject, &OutputAddr, 0, NULL, &param, &inputDeviceID ); chkerr("Couldn't get default input device (ID=%d)"); // Set the current device to the default input unit err = AudioUnitSetProperty( audioUnit, kAudioOutputUnitProperty_CurrentDevice, kAudioUnitScope_Global, 0, &inputDeviceID, sizeof(AudioDeviceID) ); chkerr("Failed to hook up input device to our AudioUnit (ID=%d)"); callback.inputProc = AudioInputProc; // Setup render callback, to be called when the AUHAL has input data callback.inputProcRefCon = self; err = AudioUnitSetProperty( audioUnit, kAudioOutputUnitProperty_SetInputCallback, kAudioUnitScope_Global, 0, &callback, sizeof(AURenderCallbackStruct) ); chkerr("Could not install render callback on our AudioUnit (ID=%d)"); param = sizeof(AudioStreamBasicDescription); // get hardware device format err = AudioUnitGetProperty( audioUnit, kAudioUnitProperty_StreamFormat, kAudioUnitScope_Input, 1, &deviceFormat, &param ); chkerr("Could not install render callback on our AudioUnit (ID=%d)"); audioChannels = MAX( deviceFormat.mChannelsPerFrame, 2 ); // Twiddle the format to our liking actualOutputFormat.mChannelsPerFrame = audioChannels; actualOutputFormat.mSampleRate = deviceFormat.mSampleRate; actualOutputFormat.mFormatID = kAudioFormatLinearPCM; actualOutputFormat.mFormatFlags = kAudioFormatFlagIsFloat | kAudioFormatFlagIsPacked | kAudioFormatFlagIsNonInterleaved; if( actualOutputFormat.mFormatID == kAudioFormatLinearPCM && audioChannels == 1 ) actualOutputFormat.mFormatFlags &= ~kLinearPCMFormatFlagIsNonInterleaved; #if __BIG_ENDIAN__ actualOutputFormat.mFormatFlags |= kAudioFormatFlagIsBigEndian; #endif actualOutputFormat.mBitsPerChannel = sizeof(Float32) * 8; actualOutputFormat.mBytesPerFrame = actualOutputFormat.mBitsPerChannel / 8; actualOutputFormat.mFramesPerPacket = 1; actualOutputFormat.mBytesPerPacket = actualOutputFormat.mBytesPerFrame; // Set the AudioOutputUnit output data format err = AudioUnitSetProperty( audioUnit, kAudioUnitProperty_StreamFormat, kAudioUnitScope_Output, 1, &actualOutputFormat, sizeof(AudioStreamBasicDescription)); chkerr("Could not change the stream format of the output device (ID=%d)"); param = sizeof(UInt32); // Get the number of frames in the IO buffer(s) err = AudioUnitGetProperty( audioUnit, kAudioDevicePropertyBufferFrameSize, kAudioUnitScope_Global, 0, &audioSamples, &param ); chkerr("Could not determine audio sample size (ID=%d)"); err = AudioUnitInitialize( audioUnit ); // Initialize the AU chkerr("Could not initialize the AudioUnit (ID=%d)"); // Allocate our audio buffers audioBuffer = [self allocateAudioBufferListWithNumChannels: actualOutputFormat.mChannelsPerFrame size: audioSamples * actualOutputFormat.mBytesPerFrame]; if( audioBuffer == NULL ) { [ self cleanUp ]; return [NSString stringWithFormat: @"Could not allocate buffers for recording (ID=%d)", err]; } return nil; } (...again, it would be nice to know if audio output is active and thereby choose the clean output stream over the noisy mic, but that would be a different chunk of code, and my main question may just be a quick edit to this chunk.) Thanks for your attention! ==Dave [p.s. if i get more than one useful answer, can i "Accept" more than one, to spread the credit around?] {pps: of course, the code lines up prettier in a monospaced font!}
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Jun ’25
Music Keeps cutting off
Everytime I put my AirPods in and connect them to my phone or my Mac or my iPad since the iOS 18.3 update on my devices they’ve been disconnecting without reason, pausing songs I’m in the middle of playing, and only partially reconnecting in one pod and it’s getting really frustrating
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320
Feb ’25
Is Call Translation API available for VOIP?
I might have misunderstood the docs, but is Call Translation going to be available for VOIP applications? Eg in an already connected VOIP call, would it be possible for Call Translations to be enabled on an iOS 26 and Apple Intelligence supported device? I have personally tried it and it doesn’t look like it supported VOIP but would love to confirm this. reference: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/callkit/cxsettranslatingcallaction/
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75
Jun ’25
AVAudioRecorder loses audio recorded before interruption
Hi everyone, I'm running into an issue with AVAudioRecorder when handling interruptions such as phone calls or alarms. Problem: When the app is recording audio and an interruption occurs: I handle the interruption with audioRecorder?.pause() inside AVAudioSession.interruptionNotification (on .began). On .ended, I check for .shouldResume and call audioRecorder?.record() again. The recorder resumes successfully, but only the audio recorded after the interruption is saved. The audio recorded before the interruption is lost, even though I'm using the same file URL and not recreating the recorder. Repro: Start a recording with AVAudioRecorder Simulate a system interruption (e.g., incoming call) Resume recording after the interruption Stop and inspect the output audio file Expected: Full audio (before and after interruption) should be saved. Actual: Only the audio after interruption is saved; the earlier part is missing Notes: According to the documentation, calling .record() after .pause() should resume recording into the same file. I confirmed that the file URL does not change, and I do not recreate the recorder instance. No error is thrown by the system during this process. This behavior happens consistently when the app is interrupted and resumed. Question: Is this a known issue? Is there a recommended workaround for preserving the full recording when interruptions happen? Thanks in advance!
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Dec ’25
storing AVAsset in SwiftData
Hi, I am creating an app that can include videos or images in it's data. While @Attribute(.externalStorage) helps with images, with AVAssets I actually would like access to the URL behind that data. (as it would be stupid to load and then save the data again just to have a URL) One key component is to keep all of this clean enough so that I can use (private) CloudKit syncing with the resulting model. All the best Christoph
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604
Jun ’25
iOS 26.0 (23A5276f) - Bluetooth Call Audio Broken (AirPods + Car)
iOS 26.0 (23A5276f) – Bluetooth Call Audio Issue I’m experiencing a Bluetooth audio issue on iOS 26.0 (build 23A5276f). I cannot make or receive phone calls properly using Bluetooth devices — this affects both my car’s Bluetooth system and my AirPods Pro (2nd generation). Notably: Regular phone calls have no audio (either I can’t hear the other person, or they can’t hear me). WhatsApp and other VoIP apps work fine with the same Bluetooth devices. Media playback (music, video, etc.) works without issues over Bluetooth. It seems this bug is limited to the native Phone app or the system audio routing for regular cellular calls. Please advise if this is a known issue or if a fix is expected in upcoming beta releases.
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310
Jun ’25
APNs
{ "aps": { "content-available": 1 }, "audio_file_name": "ding.caf", "audio_url": "https://example.com/audio.mp3" } When the app is in the background or killed, it receives a remote APNs push. The data format is roughly as shown above. How can I play the MP3 audio file at the specified "audio_url"? The user does not need to interact with the device when receiving the APNs. How can I play the audio file immediately after receiving it?
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227
Oct ’25
Help for a plugin audio unit
Hello All, It seems that it's "very easy" (😬) to implement a little Swift code inside the prepared AU using Xcode 16.2 on Sequoia 15.1.1 and a Mac Studio M1 Ultra, but my issue is that I finally don't know... where. The documentation says that I've to find the AudioUnitViewController.swift file and then modify the render block : audioUnit.renderBlock = { (numFrames, ioData) in // Process audio here } in the Xcode project automatically generated, but I didn't find such a file... If somebody can help me in showing where is the file to be modified, I'll be very grateful ! Thank you very much. J
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457
Feb ’25
Graceful shutdown during background audio playback.
Hello. My team and I think we have an issue where our app is asked to gracefully shutdown with a following SIGTERM. As we’ve learned, this is normally not an issue. However, it seems to also be happening while our app (an audio streamer) is actively playing in the background. From our perspective, starting playback is indicating strong user intent. We understand that there can be extreme circumstances where the background audio needs to be killed, but should it be considered part of normal operation? We hope that’s not the case. All we see in the logs is the graceful shutdown request. We can say with high certainty that it’s happening though, as we know that playback is running within 0.5 seconds of the crash, without any other tracked user interaction. Can you verify if this is intended behavior, and if there’s something we can do about it from our end. From our logs it doesn’t look to be related to either memory usage within the app, or the system as a whole. Best, John
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117
Jun ’25
AVAudioSession automatically sets the tablet audio volume to 50% when recording audio.
Environment→ ・Device: iPad 10th generation ・OS:**iOS18.3.2 I'm using AVAudioSession to record sound in my application. But I recently came to realize that when the app starts a recording session on a tablet, OS automatically sets the tablet volume to 50% and when after recording ends, it doesn't change back to the previous volume level before starting the recording. So I would like to know whether this is an OS default behavior or a bug? If it's a default behavior, I much appreciate if I can get a link to the documentation.
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117
Apr ’25
The files generated using AVAudioRecorder have a constant size of only 4kb
Hello. My app uses AVAudioRecorder to generate recording files, which are consistently only 4kb in size. Most users generate audio files normally, with only a few users experiencing this phenomenon occasionally. After uninstalling and installing the app, it will work normally, but it will reappear after a period of time. I have compared that the problematic audio files generated each time are fixed and cannot be played. Added the audioRecorderDidFinishRecording proxy method, which shows that the recording was completed normally. The user also reported that the recording is normal, but there is a problem with the generated file. How should I handle this issue? Look forward to your reply. - (void)startRecordWithOrderID:(NSString *)orderID { AVAudioSession *audioSession = [AVAudioSession sharedInstance]; [audioSession setCategory:AVAudioSessionCategoryRecord error:nil]; [audioSession setActive:YES error:nil]; NSMutableDictionary *settings = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init]; [settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithFloat: 8000.0] forKey:AVSampleRateKey]; [settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt: kAudioFormatLinearPCM] forKey:AVFormatIDKey]; [settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:16] forKey:AVLinearPCMBitDepthKey]; [settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt: 1] forKey:AVNumberOfChannelsKey]; [settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:AVLinearPCMIsBigEndianKey]; [settings setObject:[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:AVLinearPCMIsFloatKey]; NSString *path = [WDUtility createDirInDocument:@"audios" withOrderID:orderID withPathExtension:@"wav"]; NSURL *tmpFile = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:path]; recorder = [[AVAudioRecorder alloc] initWithURL:tmpFile settings:settings error:nil]; [recorder setDelegate:self]; [recorder prepareToRecord]; [recorder record]; }
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167
Jul ’25