On iOS the remote end heard the mic twice and crackly (BT headset + internal mic in Voice Chat; mono + stereo copies of the internal mic in Stereo Mic). Root cause is an io-thread ordering race. `ensure_audio_running()` only set `external_capture` when a MIC stream already existed, but it also runs from `sync_remote_streams` on the post-auth `ServerStateSnapshot` — before the user joins voice. With `external_playback_` still false and no MIC stream, `AudioEngine::start()` opened a real miniaudio capture device that stayed open all session (later calls early-return on running()), racing the AVAudioEngine input tap fed via `vc_stream_feed_pcm`. `on_capture_frame` then encoded+sent both paths — the mic transmitted twice, the two unsynchronized capture clocks producing the crackle. - core (ensure_audio_running): force `external_capture = true` whenever `external_playback_` is set, so iOS unified mode never opens a hardware capture device. No-op on desktop. - ios (AppState): move `setExternalPlayback(true)` before `connect()`, so the flag is set before the io thread processes any message — closing the race. Verified on device: remote end hears the iOS mic once and clean in both Voice Chat (+ BT) and Stereo Mic.