What changed in AVFAudio

In the context of WWDC 2024, there were several updates related to AVFAudio, particularly in the sessions discussing media performance metrics and spatial audio experiences.

1. AVFoundation Metrics: In iOS 18, a new AVFoundation API called AV Metrics was introduced. This API provides a unified way to gather metrics from various AVFoundation interfaces. It allows apps to subscribe to events such as playback rate changes, seek events, and error events, which are generated at the end of specific activities like media playlist fetches. This follows a publisher-subscriber model, enabling developers to subscribe only to the events they are interested in. This enhancement is particularly useful for diagnosing media playback issues and improving performance by providing more detailed client-side metrics (Discover media performance metrics in AVFoundation).

2. Spatial Audio in RealityKit: The session on enhancing spatial computing apps with RealityKit audio discussed how audio playback in RealityKit is spatial by default. This means that audio renders with six degrees of freedom, updating its level and tonality as the audio source or listener moves or rotates. The session also covered how to use audio mix groups to control different sounds in an app, allowing for a tailored audio experience (Enhance your spatial computing app with RealityKit audio).

These updates reflect Apple's ongoing efforts to enhance audio and media capabilities across its platforms, providing developers with more tools to create rich and immersive experiences.