# ID3 text tags for IOS **URL:** \ **Category:** Wowza Streaming Engine\ **Created:** [June 11, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/id3-text-tags-for-ios/38807 "2012-06-11T13:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Richard\_Tolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/48db29/32.png) [@Richard\_Tolley](https://community.wowza.com/u/Richard_Tolley)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/id3-text-tags-for-ios/38807/1 "2012-06-11T13:21:13Z")
Hi, I’m developing an iOS app to stream live in-car video from a racing car with synchronized data. In order to provide a reference for the data, I’ve been trying to insert a Unix timestamp as a text ID3 tag. I’ve adapted the code from here [https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-add-poster-frames-to-apple-http-streams-id3-metadata-for-app-store-audio-renditions](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-add-poster-frames-to-apple-http-streams-id3-metadata-for-app-store-audio-renditions) to do so. At the moment my code just inserts the Unix time that the packetizer started in every frame. Unfortunately the iOS metadata API functions aren’t detecting the tags. This is strange, because I’ve tested the same code with a different HLS source also containing ID3s- a VOD m3u8 playlist containing chunks with ID3s created using Apple’s own tools. The iOS code works fine with this video- all tags are detected. I’ve verified that the chunks from Wowza do contain ID3s- although seemingly only one at the beginning of each chunk. I’ve examined the resulting chunks in a hex editor, and I’ve noticed that the Wowza-inserted chunk appends its ID3 to a TS **PMT** packet - hex dump below. This packet is over the standard 188 bytes- the ID3 is just stuck on the end. The highlighted numbers are the PMT table ID and the ID3 tag 47 4F FF 10 00 **02** B0 3C 00 01 C1 00 00 E1 00 F0 11 25 0F FF FF 49 44 33 20 FF 49 44 33 20 00 1F 00 01 15 E1 02 F0 0F 26 0D FF FF 49 44 33 20 FF 49 44 33 20 00 0F 1B E1 00 F0 00 04 E1 01 F0 00 48 81 B9 18 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF **49 44 33 04 00 10 00 00 00 13 54 58 58 58 00 00 00 09 00 00 03 54 65 73 74 54 65 78 74 33 44 49 04 00 10 00 00 00 13** **In contrast the Apple produced tag is in a PES packet which is 188 bytes long (Apple’s docs state that HLS metadata should be carried in a PES):** **47 41 03 10 00 00 01 0D 00 B2 84 80 90 21 00 37 77 41 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 49 44 33 04 00 00 00 00 00 15 54 58 58 58 00 00 00 0B 00 00 03 00 54 65 73 74 54 65 78 74 00** **I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong at the Wowza end, causing the tag to be inserted in the wrong place, and thus not correctly read - I suspect I’m misunderstanding some part of the API** **I should also mention, that for testing purposes I’m using VLC to create a fake live stream from a file, and that previously, while trying to use Apple’s live stream segmenter together with their ID3 inserter, I’ve run into trouble- and discovered on a post on an Apple developer forum that there is a known issue with trying to insert ID3s into MPEG2TS feeds from VLC, due to the fact that VLC apparently pads the MPEG2TS PMT with the adaptation field.** **My code is** **package com.cosworth.wms.module;** **import com.wowza.wms.application.\*;** **import com.wowza.wms.module.\*;** **import com.wowza.wms.httpstreamer.cupertinostreaming.livestreampacketizer.\*;** **import com.wowza.wms.media.mp3.model.idtags.\*;** **import com.wowza.wms.stream.livepacketizer.\*;** **public class Id3TagInserter2 extends ModuleBase {** **class LiveActionNotify implements ILiveStreamPacketizerActionNotify** **{** **private IApplicationInstance appInstance = null;** **public LiveActionNotify(IApplicationInstance appInstance)** **{** **this.appInstance = appInstance;** **}** **public void onLiveStreamPacketizerCreate(ILiveStreamPacketizer liveStreamPacketizer, String streamName)** **{** **}** **public void onLiveStreamPacketizerDestroy(ILiveStreamPacketizer liveStreamPacketizer)** **{** **}** **public void onLiveStreamPacketizerInit(ILiveStreamPacketizer liveStreamPacketizer, String streamName)** **{ getLogger().info(“LIVE STREAM PACKETIZER INIT”);** **while(true)** **{** **if (!(liveStreamPacketizer instanceof LiveStreamPacketizerCupertino))** **break;** **LiveStreamPacketizerCupertino cupertinoPacketizer = (LiveStreamPacketizerCupertino)liveStreamPacketizer;** **ID3Frames id3Header = cupertinoPacketizer.getID3FramesHeader();** **if (id3Header == null)** **break;** **Long unixTime = System.currentTimeMillis();** **String time = unixTime.toString();** **getLogger().info(“ABOUT TO ADD TEXT FRAME START TIMESTAMP”+time+"");** **ID3V2FrameTextInformation frame = new ID3V2FrameTextInformation(ID3V2FrameBase.TAG\_TXXX);** **frame.setValue(time);** **id3Header.putFrame(frame);** **break;** **}** **}** **}** **public void onAppStart(IApplicationInstance appInstance)** **{** **appInstance.addLiveStreamPacketizerListener(new LiveActionNotify(appInstance));** **getLogger().info(“ModuleCupertinoLiveAttachText.onAppStart[”+appInstance.getContextStr()+"]");** **}** **public void onAppStop(IApplicationInstance appInstance)** **{** **getLogger().info(“ModuleCupertinoLiveAttachText.onAppStop[”+appInstance.getContextStr()+"]");** **}** **}** **Any help would be very much appreciated** ---
**Author:** ![Jason\_Hilton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.wowza.com/jason_hilton/32/437_2.png) [@Jason\_Hilton](https://community.wowza.com/u/Jason_Hilton)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/id3-text-tags-for-ios/38807/2 "2012-06-11T15:24:19Z")
Hi I think you may be looking at the wrong header… ID3 is designed for audio so I’d start my trying to make the headers match the example in order to rule out some potential issues. Example : In the example it says “ID3Frames id3HeaderAudio = cupertinoPacketizer.getID3FramesHeaderAudio();” Your code says : ID3Frames id3Header = cupertinoPacketizer.getID3FramesHeader(); I’d replace “id3Header” with “id3HeaderAudio” as a starting point but let us know how you get on. Jason ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Tolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/48db29/32.png) [@Richard\_Tolley](https://community.wowza.com/u/Richard_Tolley)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/id3-text-tags-for-ios/38807/3 "2012-06-11T15:49:01Z")
Thanks for the reply. I just tried what you suggested, but it didn’t make any difference- the metadata didn’t show up in the iOS app, and the ID3 tag is in the same place in the TS.