This project is a basic audio recording application for macOS, developed as a technical assessment. The application captures system audio, saves it in sequential chunks, and allows for seamless playback.
- macOS: Sonoma 14.0 or later
- Xcode: 15.0 or later
- Language: Swift 6
- Frameworks: SwiftUI, AVFoundation ,AVAudioEngine, CoreMedia, ScreenCaptureKit
- System Audio Capture: Records audio output from the entire system (requires Screen Capture permission).
- Audio Chunking: Automatically splits the recording into separate audio files of a configurable duration.
- Continuous Saving: Writes audio chunks to disk in real-time during the recording session without interruption.
- Configurable Chunk Duration: The duration of each audio chunk can be adjusted from the app's
MenuBarExtra(default is 10 seconds). - Standard Naming Convention: Saved files follow the format audio_system_[number].wav.
- Minimalist UI: A clean interface providing essential controls: Record, Stop, and Playback.
- Sequential Playback: Plays the recorded audio chunks back-to-back, no audible gaps between files.
- Clone the Repository:
git clone https://github.com/HuntDigit/AudioRecorder.git
cd AudioRecorder
- Open in Xcode:
Open the .xcodeproj file in Xcode 15 or later.
or
open AudioRecorder.xcodeproj
-
Make sure you have a valid bundle ID and select
Signing Certificate->Sign to Run Locally. -
Run the Application:
Select the target device (My Mac) and press the "Run" button (or Cmd+R). -
Grant Permissions:
The first time you run the application and start a recording, macOS will prompt you to grant "Screen Recording" permissions. This is required for capturing system audio. Please grant access and restart the app if prompted.
The application is built using a modern SwiftUI lifecycle and relies on the AVFoundation framework for all audio processing.
A simplified MVVM architecture with dedicated Services and Managers to clearly separate responsibilities across classes.
- SystemAudioRecorder: This is the core class that encapsulates all audio-related logic. It manages the AVAudioEngine, handles the setup for system audio capture, and processes the incoming audio buffers. It exposes published properties (@Published) to update the SwiftUI view with the current recording state (e.g., isRecording, isPlaying).
- Audio Tapping and Chunking:
The AVAudioEngine's main mixer node is tapped to install a callback that receives raw audio buffers. A customSegmentedAudioWriteris responsible for accumulating these buffers. Once the accumulated audio data reaches the user-defined chunk duration (10,20,30 seconds), the manager writes the data to a .wav file and immediately starts a new chunk. This ensures that file I/O happens without interrupting the live audio capture.
For macOS 15 and later, .microphone capture is also available through ScreenCaptureKit, providing direct access to microphone input
- Playback:
The playback functionality is handled by a separateAudioPlayer, which is ideal for playing multiple items sequentially. When playback is initiated, all recorded .wav files for the session are loaded into the queue, providing a continuous listening experience as required.
- No Input Device Selection: The app defaults to system audio capture and the default microphone, and does not currently allow selecting other input sources such as external devices.
- Error Handling: Error handling is minimal. The app could be improved with more robust error reporting for scenarios like disk-full errors, permission denial, or audio hardware failures.
- Basic Playback Controls: Playback is sequential only. There are no controls for pausing, seeking, or viewing the playlist of chunks.
- No Visual Feedback: A real-time waveform or audio level meter would significantly improve the user experience by providing visual confirmation that audio is being captured.
- File Management: Recordings from previous sessions are not managed. An interface to browse, name, and delete past recording sessions would be a valuable addition.