iOS & iPadOS
The Swift package renders Essence 2 and Expression 2 on iPhone and iPad.
The avatar renders inside your app, with no render server. Why on the device.
Before you start
You feed 16 kHz mono speech in and take lip-synced frames out. The same package builds Mac apps.
| Detail | Expression 2 | Essence 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Renders | any character from one portrait | a photoreal person from one portrait |
| Devices | iPhone or iPad, iOS 16 or newer; measured on iPhone 15 only | iPhone, or an M-series iPad, iOS 26 or newer; measured on iPhone 15 only |
| Product | . | . (Swift), or . (C) |
| Credential | an API secret, Creator plan or higher | an API secret, Creator plan or higher |
| First-run download | about 370 MB (avatar and shared engine) | about 250 MB (avatar and engine resources) |
| Worked example | iOS Expression 2 | iOS Essence 2 |
- Xcode 26 or newer and an Apple Developer team.
- A paid plan (Creator or higher): usage bills per second while the avatar runs (pricing).
- A physical iPhone or iPad for device builds. Essence 2 does not run in the Simulator: use a physical device. Expression 2 does run in the Simulator.
- Essence 1 is not available on phones or in the Swift package: use Essence 2 or Expression 2 on devices (First generation).
Install
In Xcode choose File → Add Package Dependencies… and paste https://gitlab.com/bithuman/sdk/homebrew-bithuman. In a Package.swift:
.package(url: "https://gitlab.com/bithuman/sdk/homebrew-bithuman", from: "2.20.5")
// then attach the product your target uses:
// .product(name: "Expression2", package: "homebrew-bithuman")
// .product(name: "Essence2Kit", package: "homebrew-bithuman")
// .product(name: "Essence2", package: "homebrew-bithuman")
The products:
| Product | Import | What it is | Deployment target |
|---|---|---|---|
Expression2 | import Expression2 | the Expression 2 engine with a Swift API | iOS 16 · macOS 13 |
Essence2Kit | import Essence2Kit | the Essence 2 engine with a Swift API; it includes Essence2 | iOS 26 · macOS 26 |
Essence2 | import Essence2 | the Essence 2 engine as a C library, for C, C++ and plugins | iOS 26 · macOS 26 |
Every product ships ios-arm64, ios-arm64-simulator (arm64 only) and macos-arm64.
The package lives in the homebrew-bithuman repository, so its package identity is homebrew-bithuman; the name is expected. The Simulator slices are arm64 only: for a generic/platform=iOS Simulator or other command-line build, set EXCLUDED_ARCHS[sdk=iphonesimulator*] = x86_64 in your target’s build settings.
Authenticate
The engines check an API secret when a session starts. Set BITHUMAN_API_SECRET in the scheme's environment, or pass it in code before you create an engine: Expression2Credential.set(secret) or Essence2Credential.set(secret) (Your API secret).
The scheme's environment is for local builds. A shipped app fetches its secret from your backend and keeps it in the Keychain (What a shipped app holds).
Run your first avatar
The quickest way to see it work is the example app: clone bithuman-examples, open the iOS Expression 2 example in Xcode, set BITHUMAN_API_SECRET in the scheme and run it on your iPhone. The code below is the core of that app.
Download the wise-pup sample avatar (agent code A23WJF0199), the shared Expression 2 engine and a 16 kHz speech clip. No account is needed for these downloads:
curl -fL -o wise-pup.imx "https://api.bithuman.ai/v1/agent/A23WJF0199/model/download?model=expression-2"
curl -fLO "https://downloads.bithuman.ai/homebrew-bithuman/expression2-engine-mac-arm64-1.0.0/mac-arm64-1.0.0.engine"
curl -fL -o speech16k.wav "https://api.bithuman.ai/v1/agent/A23WJF0199/model/download?model=expression-2&member=demo_speech_16k.wav"
Add them to your app, then render. The mac engine file is the right one for iPhone apps too. For Essence 2, download the avatar in the app with Essence2Download (Swift: Integrate into your app).
Expression 2
// excerpt: inside your app. samples is the clip as [Float], 16 kHz mono;
// show(_:_:_:) draws B, G, R bytes; the URLs point at the files above.
import Expression2
import AVFoundation
Expression2Credential.set(ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["BITHUMAN_API_SECRET"] ?? "")
let engine = try Expression2Engine.create(
avatarContainer: avatarURL, // wise-pup.imx
sharedEngineContainer: sharedEngineURL, // mac-arm64-1.0.0.engine
stagingDir: stagingURL) // any writable directory; keep it between launches
let audio = AVAudioEngine(), player = AVAudioPlayerNode() // your app's audio output
let format = AVAudioFormat(standardFormatWithSampleRate: 16000, channels: 1)!
audio.attach(player); audio.connect(player, to: audio.mainMixerNode, format: format); try audio.start()
let reply = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: format, frameCapacity: AVAudioFrameCount(samples.count))!
reply.frameLength = reply.frameCapacity
samples.withUnsafeBufferPointer { reply.floatChannelData![0].update(from: $0.baseAddress!, count: samples.count) }
// seconds of the current reply your player has played (nil before it starts); frames() reads it
// off the main actor, so the player goes in a Sendable box
final class PlayedSeconds: @unchecked Sendable {
let node: AVAudioPlayerNode
init(_ node: AVAudioPlayerNode) { self.node = node }
func callAsFunction() -> Double? {
guard let t = node.lastRenderTime, let pt = node.playerTime(forNodeTime: t) else { return nil }
return Double(pt.sampleTime) / pt.sampleRate
}
}
let played = PlayedSeconds(player)
engine.feed(samples) // [Float], 16 kHz mono
engine.flushTail() // end of the reply
for await frame in engine.frames(audioClock: { played() }) {
show(frame.bgr, frame.width, frame.height) // B, G, R bytes
if frame.audioTime == 0 { player.scheduleBuffer(reply, completionHandler: nil); player.play() } // the reply's first frame: start its audio
if frame.endsReply { break } // the reply is over; idle frames follow
}
Essence 2
// excerpt: inside your app. samples is the clip as [Float], 16 kHz mono;
// show(_:_:_:) draws B, G, R bytes.
import Essence2Kit
import AVFoundation
Essence2Credential.set(ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["BITHUMAN_API_SECRET"] ?? "")
let imxURL = try await Essence2Download.identity(agentCode: "A52DHS2219") // sofia-ramirez
let engine = try await Essence2Engine.create(identity: imxURL) // waits until the engine is ready
let audio = AVAudioEngine(), player = AVAudioPlayerNode() // your app's audio output
let format = AVAudioFormat(standardFormatWithSampleRate: 16000, channels: 1)!
audio.attach(player); audio.connect(player, to: audio.mainMixerNode, format: format); try audio.start()
let reply = AVAudioPCMBuffer(pcmFormat: format, frameCapacity: AVAudioFrameCount(samples.count))!
reply.frameLength = reply.frameCapacity
samples.withUnsafeBufferPointer { reply.floatChannelData![0].update(from: $0.baseAddress!, count: samples.count) }
engine.feed(samples) // [Float], 16 kHz mono
engine.flushTail() // that is the whole reply
for await frame in engine.frames(following: player) {
show(frame.bgr, frame.width, frame.height) // B, G, R bytes, width * height * 3
if frame.audioTime == 0 { // the reply's first speech frame:
player.stop(); player.scheduleBuffer(reply, completionHandler: nil); player.play() // start its audio now
}
if frame.endsReply { break } // the reply is over; idle frames follow
}
engine.shutdown()
Expected result
- Expression 2: 416×720 frames, 20 a second: idle motion between replies, speech while a reply plays. Each speech frame is handed out when your player has played its audio. The first start prepares the engine for the device; later starts reuse the staging directory.
- Essence 2: 25 frames a second at the avatar’s own size (1080×1920 for
sofia-ramirez).frames(following: player)keeps voice and lips together however long the reply is; a frame that would be shown late is skipped. The firstcreatedownloads the engine’s three runtime files (about 112 MB), checks their sha256 and keeps them in Application Support. To ship them in your app instead, passresourcesDirectory:.
The C interface for C, C++ and plugins (Essence2) is on the Swift reference.

Capture details
Captured on iPhone 15 (iOS 26) · Swift package 2.14.2 · wise-pup (Expression 2) · 2026-09-23.Performance
| Configuration | Essence 2 | Expression 2 |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 15 iPhone · Swift package | 2.1× real timeiPhone 15 · Swift package 2.17.3 · measured 2026-09-27 | 5.5× real timeiPhone 15 · Swift package 2.18.0 · measured 2026-09-27 |
| iPhone 15 iPhone · Swift package held 10 min | 1.3× real timeiPhone 15 · Swift package 2.15.0 · held 10 min · measured 2026-09-25 | 5.1× real timeiPhone 15 · Swift package 2.15.0 · held 10 min · measured 2026-09-25 |
Times real time: seconds of avatar video rendered per second. At 1.0× or more, an avatar holds a live conversation. Select a figure for its release and date. All configurations and how we measure.
This section moved: docs.bithuman.ai/platforms/ios#run-your-first-avatar
This section moved: docs.bithuman.ai/platforms/swift/app#integrate-into-your-app
This section moved: docs.bithuman.ai/platforms/swift/app#download-an-avatar-in-the-app
This section moved: docs.bithuman.ai/platforms/swift/app#complete-example
This section moved: docs.bithuman.ai/platforms/swift/app#platform-notes
This section moved: docs.bithuman.ai/platforms/swift/troubleshooting#ios
This section moved: docs.bithuman.ai/platforms/swift/reference