memory leak in AudioToolbox library AVAudioPlayer

Question

Is there a memory lead issue with the AVAudioPlayer object? I'm getting a memory leak when using AVAudioPlayer in the simulator. It doesn't matter how I created the AVAudioPlayer. I've used initWithContentsOfURL and InitWithData. Below is a snippet of the code. Full project @ Github https://github.com/docchang/MemoryLeakAVAudioPlayer

NSError *error;
NSURL *playerURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"Bell" ofType:@"m4a"]];   
self.playerWithURL = [[AVAudioPlayer alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:playerURL error:&error];
if (!playerWithURL) {
    NSLog(@"no %@.%@: %@",@"Introduction2", @"m4a", [error localizedDescription]);  
}
playerWithURL.volume = 0.9f;
playerWithURL.numberOfLoops = 0;
[playerWithURL play];

However there is no memory leak when testing it on the device. This issue is starting to leaning towards issue with the AudioToolBox library, but just want to confirm it with stackoverflow folks.

Answer 1

I am getting the same memory leak when using AVAudioPlayer. I have seen a few posts about similar occurrences of this leak with the AVAudioPlayer and VideoPlayer libraries around the web. It appears to be a problem with the library itself (blame Apple):

1. iPhone: OpenAL & AudioToolbox leak
2. https://appcelerator.lighthouseapp.com/projects/32238/tickets/1992-ios-strange-behavior-and-intermittant-mem-leak-on-embedded-video-test-case

Edit: Also seeing the leak disappear when the target is run on the device.

Answer 2

Just ran a test as I was experiencing the same issue. Instruments showed a leak at the start of an app when sound was played using AVAudioPlayer. It was only registered once at the start. The sounds generated afterwards have not had any further leaks.

When I ran the same app build on my iPhone using Instruments, there was no leak at all.

I'm running iOS 11.2.5 and Xcode Deployment Target is 11.0

Looks like it is just an Xcode bug but could be related to MacOS.