This is an issue with the Insta360 Flow Pro 2.
My iOS app uses DockKit to control the gimbal; in particular, my app disables tracking and sends angular velocity commands to control the gimbal's orientation. I only try to modify the yaw (rotation around the vertical axis); never the pitch or yaw. Note that I don't send the gimbal to a particular orientation directly; I modify the velocity.
Everything works great for a long period of time: typically for a continuous run of 4-6 hours; in the most recent case, I managed about 36 hours of continous operation before the following problem occurred.
I came back to check on the system, and because no visual activity had occurred in the camera's field of view for a while, the phone had commanded the gimbal to rotate back to a yaw angle of 0 degrees.
So the phone in the gimbal should have been looking straight ahead (i.e. the 0 degree yaw position), but it was definitely looking off at an angle. I've seen this twice now. The first time, when it should have been looking straight ahead, it was in fact looking 60 degrees off center. This time (caught on video, see below), it was off by 22 degrees from center.
Here's the weird part: the gimbal reports this way off center positioning as zero degrees (well close enough to zero, like 0.2 or something that's fine). But, mechanically, the gimbal still knows where zero degrees is: if we double click on the trigger of the Flow Pro 2, which is supposed to reset the gimbal to 0 degrees yaw and pitch, the gimbal responds correctly and reorients to a 0 degree position. However, the yaw values it reports are not zero, but as shown in my video, 22 degrees off axis or so.
Power cycling the gimbal and restarting immediately fixes the problem. Also, I switched from my app to the Insta360 app, which caused the phone to flip from landscape to portrait, then when I returned to my app and switched back to landscape, the gimbal now started reporting correct yaw angles.
Is there a possibility this is a bug in the DockKit framework? Has anyone seen this? I have a case open with Insta360, but although it's clearly a software issue, it's not clear if it's in Insta360's code or the DockKit layer. Any ideas for how I can get out of this mode? My concern is that the phone is in a tripod about 10' off the floor, and not very accessible. Also, if all goes well, we may have about 50 of these systems running, and having to fix them one by one after a few hours is not good.
For a demonstration of this bug, see the following video:
https://octoparry.com/offset.MOV
Any help greatly appreciated.
Explore the integration of media technologies within your app. Discuss working with audio, video, camera, and other media functionalities.
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If I want to edit image in preview app. But there is only option to rotate left and right 90degree rotations. No option to rorate in any prticular angle. So Please look into this and provide option in next update
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Tags:
Image I/O
Graphics and Games
App Review
Media
Hello Apple Developer Community,
We are developing a music management platform for restaurants and cafes in Saudi Arabia. Our app enables businesses to schedule playlists and allows visitors to request songs via barcodes. Music playback is powered by Apple Music, and users must have their own Apple Music subscriptions to access the music. Our service charges a monthly subscription fee for these management features, not for music access itself.
Project Overview and MusicKit Role
Our app integrates MusicKit to leverage Apple Music’s catalog and playback capabilities. Users log in with their Apple Music accounts, ensuring they have an active subscription for music playback. Our platform’s value lies in its tools—playlist scheduling and song requests—which are built on top of MusicKit’s APIs. We offer these features exclusively in Saudi Arabia.
Legal Context in Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, to our understanding, no special licenses are required for playing music in commercial venues like restaurants and cafes. This means our clients can use Apple Music subscriptions for playback without additional performance rights licenses. While this aligns with local laws, we recognize that Apple’s global policies may impose stricter requirements, prompting our need for clarification.
Subscription Model and Monetization Concerns
We charge a monthly subscription fee for access to our app’s features (e.g., scheduling playlists and managing song requests). This fee is separate from the Apple Music subscription, which users must maintain for playback. However, Apple’s MusicKit terms state: "You agree not to require payment for or indirectly monetize access to the Apple Music service." We’re concerned whether our subscription model might be interpreted as indirectly monetizing Apple Music access, given its reliance on MusicKit for functionality.
Scheduling Feature and Synchronization Rights
Our app allows businesses to schedule playlists for general time slots (e.g., “play this playlist from 6 PM to 8 PM”). It does not support precise scheduling, such as playing a specific song at an exact moment (e.g., “play this song at 7:30 PM”). Apple’s guidelines mention that “deeper or more complex music integration” may require additional licenses, like synchronization rights. We’re unsure if our general scheduling feature crosses this threshold or remains within MusicKit’s standard usage.
Questions for Clarification
We’d greatly appreciate expert input on the following:
Monetization: Does our subscription fee for management features (scheduling and song requests) violate Apple’s policy against indirectly monetizing Apple Music access?
Local Context: Given that Saudi Arabia requires no additional licenses for commercial music playback, does this impact our compliance with Apple’s global terms?
Scheduling: Does our playlist scheduling for general time slots (not exact moments) fall within MusicKit’s permitted scope, or does it require further licensing?
Thank you in advance for any insights or guidance to ensure our app aligns with Apple’s policies!
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Apple Music API
MusicKit
MusicKit JS
Apple Music Feed
Are serialized parameters already available inside -pluginInstanceAddedToDocument via FxParameterRetrievalAPI or are they being read later?
In our logging tools (Firebase) I see a lot of errors reported when users are playing content and the app transitions to the background. A AVPlayerItemFailedToPlayToEndTime notification is fired with an error containing error codes like -1102 and 1852797029 which seem to correspond to NSURLErrorNoPermissionsToReadFile and kCMIOHardwareIllegalOperationError respectively. To me, it looks like these might have something to do with caching logic.
The items being played are HLS streams and we make use of AVAssetDownloadTask to make any streamed content offline available. Our setup is similar to the sample provided here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/using-avfoundation-to-play-and-persist-http-live-streams. Whenever an item is selected for playback the app will check if a cached version is available and if so gets the url to the stored file like the "localAssetForStream()" method in the example, or get the asset from a currently running AVAssetDownloadTask for the item, or else, starts a new AVAssetDownloadTask and returns a AVAsset from that task to play.
This seems to work fine, and I can't reproduce the issues our users and our logging tools are reporting.
Is there some case I am missing where AVAssetDownloadTask and associated AVAssets might become unreadable when the app transitions to the background? Or do these errors indicate a different problem entirely?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Streaming
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to receive a 2018 iMac, and I’ve been using it to create content for my social media. I was truly impressed by the power of its processors. Even with this older model, I’ve been able to grow my presence online—something I couldn’t achieve with newer computers from other brands that I previously purchased.
I would love to become a promoter of your brand in the gaming world. All I ask for is technological support with more recent equipment and a minimal payment for collaborating with you. I am genuinely interested in being part of your company and leveraging the potential and reputation of Apple to reach even greater heights.
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Streaming
Tags:
GameplayKit
External Graphics Processors
Developer Tools
In the past, when using Lightning, many external devices had to go through MFi certification. However, since the iPhone 15 switched from Lightning to USB-C, is MFi certification still required?
Our company has developed several UVC devices, and we have confirmed that iPads can read frames from external cameras through the external device type in AVFoundation. However, this is not supported on iPhones.
We are currently exploring feasible ways to enable UVC device support on iPhones. Is MFi certification the only option? If so, is the MFi certification process for USB-C the same as it was for Lightning? Does it still require purchasing an MFi chip and manufacturing specially designed USB-C cables?
I am trying to stream audio from local filesystem.
For that, I am trying to use an AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate for an AVURLAsset. However, Content-Length is not known at the start. To overcome this, I tried several methods:
Set content length as nil, in the AVAssetResourceLoadingContentInformationRequest
Set content length to -1, in the ContentInformationRequest
Both of these cause the AVPlayerItem to fail with an error.
I also tried setting Content-Length as INT_MAX, and setting a renewalDate = Date(timeIntervalSinceNow: 5). However, that seems to be buggy. Even after updating the Content-Length to the correct value (e.g. X bytes) and finishing that loading request, the resource loader keeps getting requests with requestedOffset = X with dataRequest.requestsAllDataToEndOfResource = true. These requests keep coming indefinitely, and as a result it seems that the next item in the queue does not get played. Also, .AVPlayerItemDidPlayToEndTime notification does not get called.
I wanted to check if this is an expected behavior or is there a bug in this implementation. Also, what is the recommended way to stream audio of unknown initial length from local file system?
Thanks!
I have an iOS app that downloads HLS files, which are protected by FairPlay. These files are stored locally, and their locations are managed using Core Data. When playing these tracks, I use AVURLAsset to access the stored file paths.
Recently, a client upgraded to a new iPhone and used Quick Start to transfer data from his old device. While all other app data was successfully transferred, including Core Data records and UserDefaults, the actual HLS files were missing. As a result, the app retained metadata about the downloaded content, but the files themselves were gone, causing playback failures.
Does Quick Start exclude certain types of locally stored files, especially DRM-protected HLS downloads, or is the issue related to how FairPlay-protected content is handled during the transfer of locally stored files?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Streaming
Tags:
FairPlay Streaming
Cloud and Local Storage
HTTP Live Streaming
AVFoundation
FairPlay-Protected HLS Files Not Transferred via Quick Start I have an iOS app that downloads HLS files, which are protected by FairPlay. These files are stored locally, and their locations are managed using Core Data. When playing these tracks, I use AVURLAsset to access the stored file paths.
Recently, a client upgraded to a new iPhone and used Quick Start to transfer data from his old device. While all other app data was successfully transferred, including Core Data records and UserDefaults, the actual HLS files were missing. As a result, the app retained metadata about the downloaded content, but the files themselves were gone, causing playback failures.
Does Quick Start exclude certain types of locally stored files, especially DRM-protected HLS downloads, or is the issue related to how FairPlay-protected content is handled during the transfer of locally stored files?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Streaming
Tags:
FairPlay Streaming
HTTP Live Streaming
AVFoundation
Hello everyone,
I am looking for a solution to programmatically, e.g. using AppleScript to import photos into the Photos library on MacOS and also push them to the shared library, like it can be done using the standard GUI of the Photos application.
Maybe it is not possible using AppleScript, but using a short Swift script and PhotoKit, I do not not know.
Any help is appreciated!
Thomas
Hello everyone,
I’m working on an iOS app that fetches videos from the "Recently Deleted" album using the Photos framework in Swift. However, I’m unable to fetch any videos, even though the "Recently Deleted" album contains 233 items (including videos), as seen in the Photos app.
Environment:
iOS Version: 18.3.1
Xcode Version: 16.2
Swift Version: Swift 5
Device: iPhone (simulator and physical device both tested)
Photo Library Permission: "All Photos" access granted
Recently Deleted Lock: Face ID/Passcode is disabled for "Recently Deleted"
I'm working on an application that uses the iPhone camera for scientific purposes - and, as a result would like to receive video in as unprocessed format as possible.
In particular, I'm interested in getting pixel buffers that contain pretty much the bayer data as the sensor sees it - with the minimum processing of color possible.
Currently we configure the AVCaptureDevice to fix the focus and exposure, use a low ISO with no gain and set the white balance gains to 1. AVCaptureVideoDataOutput is using 32BGRA.
What I'd like to do is remove any additional color and brightness processing such that the data is effectively processed with a linear transfer function (i.e. gamma function is 1).
I thought that this might be down to using the AVCaptureDevice activeColorSpace - we currently use P3_D65 for this. But there only seems to be a few choices (e.g. sRGB, HLG_BT2020) all of which I think affect the gamma.
So:
is it possible to control or specify the gamma / transfer function when using CaptureVideoDelegate?
if not, does one of the color space settings have a defined gamma function that I can effectively reverse it from the pixel data without losing too much information?
or is there a better way to capture video-ish speed images (15-30fps) from the camera sensor that skips processing like this?
Many thanks for any suggestions.
Let's consider the following code.
I've created an actor that loads a list of .mp3 files from a Bundle and then makes it available for audio reproduction.
Unfortunately, I'm experiencing a memory leak.
At the play method.
player.play()
From Instruments I get
_malloc_type_malloc_outlined libsystem_malloc.dylib
start_wqthread libsystem_pthread.dylib
private actor AudioActor {
enum Failure: Error {
case soundsNotLoaded([AudioPlayerClient.Sound: Error])
}
enum Player {
case music(AVAudioPlayer)
}
var players: [Sound: Player] = [:]
let bundles: [Bundle]
init(bundles: UncheckedSendable<[Bundle]>) {
self.bundles = bundles.wrappedValue
}
func load(sounds: [Sound]) throws {
try AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setActive(true, options: [])
var errors: [Sound: Error] = [:]
for sound in sounds {
guard let url = bundle.url(forResource: sound.name, withExtension: "mp3")
else { continue }
do {
self.players[sound] = try .music(AVAudioPlayer(contentsOf: url))
} catch {
errors[sound] = error
}
}
guard errors.isEmpty
else { throw Failure.soundsNotLoaded(errors) }
}
func play(sound: Sound, loops: Int?) throws {
guard let player = self.players[sound]
else { return }
switch player {
case let .music(player):
player.numberOfLoops = loops ?? -1
player.play()
}
}
func stop(sound: Sound) throws {
guard let player = self.players[sound]
else { throw Failure.soundsNotLoaded([:]) }
switch player {
case let .music(player):
player.stop()
}
}
}
I am playing FairPlay + Multi-Key content (fMP4) in Safari browser.
I want to implement the implementation to distinguish between SD and HD video quality, and play it in HD if HDCP is supported, and in SD if HDCP is not supported.
I have already confirmed that HDCP support is the default, and that a black screen is output in non-HDCP environments.
What I want is to improve the user experience by appropriately switching to SD/HD depending on HDCP support when playing DRM content.
Question: Is there an API or function that can detect HDCP support in Safari through JavaScript or other methods? Or is there a way to indirectly guess it?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Streaming
Tags:
FairPlay Streaming
WebKit
Safari
HTTP Live Streaming
Feature Request: Long-Lived Access to Personal Apple Music Data
Use Case Summary
I'm developing a personal portfolio website (using Nuxt) and want to display information from my own Apple Music library - showcasing personal playlists, recently played tracks, or a read-only "now playing" widget. This is purely for personal use on my website and doesn't require other users to log in.
With Spotify's API, implementing this was straightforward thanks to automatic token refresh. I want a similarly seamless integration with Apple Music.
Challenge with MusicKit and Music User Tokens
Apple Music API requirements
Apple's Music API requires a valid Music User Token (MUT) for requests involving personal library data. Beyond the Apple Developer Token, you must obtain a user-specific token via MusicKit authentication to access your own library playlists, play history, or current playback status.
Token expiration and manual renewal
Music User Tokens expire after approximately 6 months without any mechanism to automatically refresh or renew them - unlike typical OAuth flows that provide refresh tokens. Apple's guidance suggests the device (e.g., iPhone) is responsible for obtaining new user tokens when old ones expire. This works for interactive apps on Apple devices but fails in server-side or long-lived web contexts like a personal website widget.
Impact on personal projects
Displaying Apple Music data on a public-facing site becomes difficult. I would need to periodically re-authenticate through the MusicKit JS flow every few months just to keep a widget alive. Embedding credentials in a public site is insecure, and manual token refreshing is cumbersome and easy to forget.
Comparison to Spotify's Token Model
Spotify's API offers a developer-friendly authentication model. Their OAuth flow provides a Refresh Token that applications can use to obtain new access tokens automatically without requiring user re-authorization. This means a personal app can maintain continuous access to a user's Spotify data for extended periods until access is revoked.
When building a similar feature with Spotify, this automatic token renewal was crucial. I could safely store the refresh token on my server and have my app periodically update the access token. Many developers have created public-facing widgets showing currently playing tracks on blogs or GitHub profiles using this model. Unfortunately, Apple Music's API lacks an equivalent capability, putting it at a disadvantage for personal projects.
Proposed Solutions
I request Apple's consideration for one of these enhancements:
Provide a mechanism to refresh or extend a Music User Token programmatically for server-side applications. This could be an OAuth-style refresh token issued alongside the MUT, or a dedicated endpoint to exchange an expired MUT for a new one. This would enable renewal without a full user re-auth/login each time.
Allow developers to access their own Apple Music library data with just the long-lived Developer Token. Apple could permit GET requests to personal library endpoints using the Developer Token alone, or a special token tied to the developer's Apple ID. This access would be read-only - no ability to modify the library, purely for retrieving data. It could be an opt-in feature in the Apple Developer account settings.
Either solution would significantly improve the developer experience for Apple Music API in personal projects.
Security and Privacy Considerations
This request is not about accessing others' data or creating privacy loopholes - it's about empowering an Apple Music subscriber to access their own information more conveniently. The proposed options respect privacy principles:
The data accessed is only what the user already has access to - their own playlists, library items, or playback status.
An automatic token refresh can be designed securely (revocable tokens bound to a single account with no increase in permissions).
Read-only developer token access could be restricted to non-sensitive data and require explicit opt-in.
Conclusion
I request an improvement to Apple Music's developer experience through either (1) an automatic Music User Token refresh mechanism, or (2) a provision for read-only personal library access using a Developer Token. This would bring Apple Music integration capabilities closer to parity with services like Spotify for personal projects.
I ask Apple's Developer Relations and the Apple Music API team to consider this feature request. If there are existing best practices or workarounds with current APIs, I would appreciate guidance.
I invite feedback from Apple or other developers. Are there known patterns for maintaining an Apple Music user token for server-side applications, or any plans to support non-interactive use cases? Any advice is welcome.
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to integrating Apple Music into my personal site as smoothly as with other services, and believe many developers would benefit from this added flexibility.
Sources:
User Authentication for MusicKit - Requirements for Music User Tokens
StackOverflow: Do Apple Music User Tokens expire? - Confirmation of 6-month expiration
MetaBrainz GSoC Blog - Documentation of MusicKit authentication limitations
Apple Developer Forums - Information on token renewal behavior
Spotify for Developers - Documentation on refresh token mechanism
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Audio
Tags:
Apple Music API
MusicKit
MusicKit JS
Apple Music Feed
I'm developing the VisionOS app. I want to know how to play spatial audio in addition to RealityKit? If it's iOS or macOS, how to play spatial audio in addition to RealityKit?
If new photo is added to library and app is not running in foreground or was not opened after the new photo was added but the app is having full access to gallery, can it access, read the new photo - If the app is not specifically a cloud syncing app, can it have this attached function, suppose it is a game app or beauty camera app?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Photos & Camera
Tags:
Privacy
PhotoKit
Background Tasks
Background Assets
Since iOS and tvOS 18, CMCD can now be automatically sent by AVPlayer (https://developer.apple.com/streaming/Whats-new-HLS.pdf).
However, after enabling CMCD, our streams occasionally fail with the following error: CoreMediaErrorDomain Error -17383
This issue appears to affect only DRM-protected (FairPlay) streams so far.
We activate CMCD via the resource loader of an AVURLAsset, before assigning the item to an AVPlayer.
Unfortunately, we haven’t found a reliable way to reproduce the issue, and we’ve been unable to gather any useful diagnostic information.
Has anyone else observed this behavior when enabling CMCD on FairPlay streams?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
Streaming
Tags:
FairPlay Streaming
iOS
HTTP Live Streaming
AVFoundation
Hi,
I am looking for a good way to play sounds at a high frequency.
At the moment I am using the AVAudioEngine, and create a couple AVAudioPlayerNode and for each sound I need to play I create a AVAudioPCMBuffer.
When the app needs to play a sound, I get the correct AVAudioPCMBuffer for the sound and use the first available AVAudioPlayerNode and feed it to the buffer.
The timing for a metronome app has to be very precise because if it's of by about 16ms the user can hear that it is not playing had the right interval. For low speeds this is working without any problems, but at high speeds it is getting worse.
Maybe anyone has an idea on how I can improve my method.
Its a Plugin for Flutter.
import AVFoundation
class FastSoundPlayer {
private var audioPlayers: [SoundPlayer?] = []
private var sounds: [String: Sound] = [:]
private var engine = AVAudioEngine()
let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
init() {
do {
try session.setCategory(AVAudioSession.Category.playback, mode: AVAudioSession.Mode.default, options: [AVAudioSession.CategoryOptions.mixWithOthers])
try session.setActive(true)
createSoundPlayers(count: 20)
try engine.start()
} catch {
print("Error starting audio engine: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
}
// Selector method to handle applicationDidBecomeActiveNotification
func applicationDidBecomeActive() {
// Reinitialize AVAudioEngine and reattach all nodes
do {
engine.reset()
objc_sync_enter(audioPlayers)
audioPlayers.removeAll()
createSoundPlayers(count: 20)
objc_sync_exit(audioPlayers)
try engine.start()
} catch {
print("Error starting audio engine: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
}
func createSoundPlayers(count: Int) {
for _ in 0..<count {
let player = SoundPlayer()
engine.attach(player.player)
engine.connect(player.player, to: engine.mainMixerNode, format: nil)
audioPlayers.append(player)
}
}
func load(sound: Data, name: String) {
let sound = Sound(soundData: sound)
sounds[name] = sound
}
func play(name: String) {
if !engine.isRunning {
applicationDidBecomeActive()
}
guard let sound = sounds[name] else {
print("Sound not found")
return
}
if let player = getAvailablePlayer() {
player.play(sound: sound)
}
}
func getAvailablePlayer() -> SoundPlayer? {
for player in audioPlayers {
if !player!.isPlaying {
return player
}
}
return nil
}
}
class SoundPlayer {
let player = AVAudioPlayerNode()
var isPlaying = false
init() {
player.volume = 1.0
}
func play(sound: Sound) {
player.scheduleBuffer(sound.sound!, at: nil, options: .interrupts, completionCallbackType: .dataPlayedBack) { _ in
self.complete()
}
if (player.engine != nil && player.engine!.isRunning) {
player.play()
isPlaying = true
}
}
func complete() {
isPlaying = false
}
}
class Sound {
var sound: AVAudioPCMBuffer?
init(soundData: Data) {
do {
let temporaryURL = FileManager.default.temporaryDirectory.appendingPathComponent("tempSound.wav")
try soundData.write(to: temporaryURL)
// Create AVAudioFile from the temporary file URL
let audioFile = try AVAudioFile(forReading: temporaryURL)
// Define the format for the PCM buffer (44100Hz, stereo)
let format = AVAudioFormat(commonFormat: .pcmFormatInt16, sampleRate: 44100, channels: 2, interleaved: false)
// Create AVAudioPCMBuffer
guard let pcmBuffer = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: format!, frameCapacity: AVAudioFrameCount(audioFile.length)) else {
// Failed to create PCM buffer
self.sound = nil
return
}
// Read audio file into PCM buffer
try audioFile.read(into: pcmBuffer)
// Assign the created AVAudioPCMBuffer to the sound property
self.sound = pcmBuffer
} catch {
print("Error loading sound file: \(error.localizedDescription)")
self.sound = nil
}
}
}
Thanks!