AVKit

AVKit is Apple’s high-level framework for playing audiovisual media within applications on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS. It provides a ready-to-use playback UI and coordinates with AVFoundation for the actual media handling. The framework centers on AVPlayer, the playback engine, and AVPlayerItem, which represents a single media item, typically created from an AVAsset. AVKit supplies user interface components, most notably AVPlayerViewController (iOS and tvOS) and AVPlayerView (macOS). These components render video content and expose playback controls such as play/pause, scrubber, speed, and time remaining, with support for Picture-in-Picture and AirPlay where available.

Developers can configure AVPlayer with a media resource, monitor playback through KVO and notifications, and manage subitem status with AVPlayerItem. When using AVPlayerViewController, you can enable or disable features like closed captions, legible media descriptions, and external display routing.

AVKit does not perform decoding; it relies on AVFoundation to decode and render media using the device’s hardware acceleration. It is commonly used to present standard video playback in apps rather than building custom media players from scratch.

History and scope: Since its introduction, AVKit provides a consistent playback experience across Apple platforms, integrating with system-level features such as Picture-in-Picture and AirPlay, while allowing apps to customize UI and behavior as needed.