Transferring video from Windows computer to iPhone mutes the sound in Photos

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Level 1

4 points

Transferring video from Windows computer to iPhone mutes the sound in Photos

I have a video on my computer that I want on my phone to be able to text to friends. Typically I upload it to iCloud Drive on my computer but no dice. Plugged in my phone and tried iTunes and still nothing. Tried google drive and email, still no audio. Looked up apps that could do it, found the Documents: File Manager and set up the server and still nothing. In almost all these instances it gets sent to the Files app. Which if send the video to the VLC app, it plays with audio, however outside of VLC it has no audio. I also tried to sync it by setting up a server in the VLC app but same issue. The little speaker is just greyed out.

What I discovered with the Documents app is that you can extract the MP3 track from the video in the app. So the audio track must be there but I can't unmute it. Low and behold that is exactly the case. I was then able to stitch it together with iMovie and get working audio outside of the VLC. So I am left wondering why the audio is muted/disabled without anyway of me being able to unmute it besides jumping through multiple hoops?

iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 26

Posted on Aug 17, 2025 04:24 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 17, 2025 10:30 PM in response to JoshRn86

Maybe that movie's uncommon audio codec was not supported anywhere except apps like VLC and IINA.

You can check video and audio codecs as well as other details with MediaInfo or Invisor.

And optionally then convert audio to some more widely supported codec while losslessly copying the video part. You can use apps like Handbrake, Shutter Encoder and ffmpeg for that.

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Answer 2

JoshRn86 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 17, 2025 11:31 PM in response to Matti Haveri

It’s an MP3, I recorded it and later checked. Was layer 3 not 1/2. Included it being MP3 in my original post. Was able to play the separated audio track just fine. I would chalk it up as a iOS 26 issue but it’s happened to me before at random. I’ve had working and not working audio that has come from the same source, including times I have re encoded to AAC or FLAC for Plex.

Original file is H.264 MP4 + MP3, 2 channel, 320kbps, 48khz

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Answer 3

Aug 18, 2025 12:31 AM in response to JoshRn86

Yes, Sequoia QuickTime Player does not play mp3 audio codec in .mp4 movie.

As a test I converted a .mp4 with AAC audio to mp3 audio with:

ffmpeg -i aac_audio.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a libmp3lame mp3_audio.mp4

Unlike VLC and IINA, QuickTime Player does not play audio in that output .mp4. MediaInfo and Invisor display that audio as:

Format                                   : MPEG Audio
Format version                           : Version 1
Format profile                           : Layer 3

You can convert such movie's mp3 audio to QuickTime Player compatible AAC audio with (video is copied losslessly):

ffmpeg -i mp3_audio.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a aac_at -b:a 128k aac_audio.mp4

Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity

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Answer 4

Aug 18, 2025 07:27 AM in response to JoshRn86

Actually, if you have a problem with iOS26 Beta, you really ought to using the built-in Feedback Assistant app, which can be opened from the Home screen on your iPhone or iPad or from the Dock on your Mac.

Of course, Matti's response is right-on. But your agreement with Beta is that you will send suggestions there.

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Answer 5

JoshRn86 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 18, 2025 10:07 AM in response to Matti Haveri

MP3 not being supported in an MP4 container is one thing, I have also had AAC and FLAC not work at random unless they are also not supported in either MP4 or MKV containers. If that is also the case, that's just plain stupid. And yes I know how to use ffmpeg and handbrake, use both of those on a regular basis

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Answer 6

JoshRn86 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 18, 2025 10:08 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

"I would chalk it up as a iOS 26 issue but it’s happened to me before at random."

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