I’m manipulating some data inside a widget extension, and at the same time there is an active Live Activity (Dynamic Island / Lock Screen).
How can I update the Live Activity’s local notification when the data changes?
I tried accessing the current activity using Activity.activities, but it seems that this API is not accessible from inside the widget extension. What is the correct way to refresh or update the Live Activity in this case?
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Hi everyone,
I am encountering an issue where my Live Activity (Dynamic Island) suddenly became invalid and failed to launch. It was working perfectly before, and I haven't modified any code since then.
My Environment:
Xcode: 26.1.1
Device iOS: 26.1
Testing: I also tested on iOS 18, but the Live Activity fails to start there as well.
Here is my code:
Live Activity Manager (Start/Update/End):
func startLiveActivity() {
// Initial static data
let attributes = SimpleIslandAttributes(name: "Test Order")
// Initial dynamic data
let initialContentState = SimpleIslandState(message: "Preparing...")
// Adapting for iOS 16.2+ new API (Content)
let activityContent = ActivityContent(state: initialContentState, staleDate: nil)
do {
let activity = try Activity.request(
attributes: attributes,
content: activityContent,
pushType: nil // Set to nil as remote push updates are not needed
)
print("Live Activity Started ID: \(activity.id)")
} catch {
print("Failed to start: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
}
// 2. Update Live Activity
func updateLiveActivity() {
Task {
let updatedState = SimpleIslandState(message: "Delivering 🚀")
let updatedContent = ActivityContent(state: updatedState, staleDate: nil)
// Iterate through all active Activities and update them
for activity in Activity<SimpleIslandAttributes>.activities {
await activity.update(updatedContent)
print("Update")
}
}
}
// 3. End Live Activity
func endLiveActivity() {
Task {
let finalState = SimpleIslandState(message: "Delivered ✅")
let finalContent = ActivityContent(state: finalState, staleDate: nil)
for activity in Activity<SimpleIslandAttributes>.activities {
// dismissalPolicy: .default (immediate), .after(...) (delayed), .immediate (no animation)
await activity.end(finalContent, dismissalPolicy: .default)
print("End")
}
}
}
The Models (Shared between App and Widget Extension):
// 1. Define State (Dynamic data, changes over time, e.g., remaining delivery time)
public struct SimpleIslandState: Codable, Hashable {
var message: String
}
// 2. Define Attributes (Static data, constant after start, e.g., Order ID)
public struct SimpleIslandAttributes: ActivityAttributes {
public typealias ContentState = SimpleIslandState
var name: String // e.g., "My Order"
}
The Widget Code:
//
// SimpleIslandWidget.swift
// ReadyGo
//
// Created by Tang Yu on 2025/11/19.
//
import WidgetKit
import SwiftUI
import ActivityKit
struct SimpleIslandWidget: Widget {
var body: some WidgetConfiguration {
ActivityConfiguration(for: SimpleIslandAttributes.self) { context in
// UI shown on the Lock Screen
VStack {
Text("Lock Screen Notification: \(context.state.message)")
}
.activityBackgroundTint(Color.cyan)
.activitySystemActionForegroundColor(Color.black)
} dynamicIsland: { context in
// Inside Widget Extension
DynamicIsland {
// Expanded Region
DynamicIslandExpandedRegion(.center) {
Text("Test") // Pure text only
}
} compactLeading: {
Text("L") // Pure text only
} compactTrailing: {
Text("R") // Pure text only
} minimal: {
Text("M") // Pure text only
}
}
}
}
Additional Info:
This is the minimal code setup I created for testing, but even this basic version is failing.
I have set NSSupportsLiveActivities (Supports Live Activities) to YES (true) in the Info.plist for both the Main App and the Widget Extension.
Has anyone experienced this? Any help would be appreciated.
I started monitoring using the following code:
deviceActivityCenter.startMonitoring(
DeviceActivityName(name),
during: makeDailySchedule(),
events: events
)
Where:
DeviceActivitySchedule(
intervalStart: DateComponents(hour: 0, minute: 0),
intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour: 23, minute: 59),
repeats: true,
warningTime: nil
)
In DeviceActivityMonitor, I read and write data using UserDefaults and keep the logic minimal to ensure the size does not exceed 6MB.
However, after a period of time, monitoring continues to fail.
Why is this happening? How can I resolve this issue?
I found that in iOS 18.5, DeviceActivityCenter startMonitoring cannot start multiple monitors, even if their names and periods are different, and restarting the phone cannot solve it. My app uses DeviceActivityCenter, which makes the entire function unusable. (I have less than 20 monitors)
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Family Controls
Device Activity
Managed Settings
I have developed three apps using the Screen Time API. The following are common problems I encountered in the three apps:
DeviceActivityMonitorExtension is automatically killed after running for a few days (frequently)
The same DeviceActivityEvent in DeviceActivityMonitorExtension is triggered twice during eventDidReachThreshold (especially obvious in iOS18.5)
Screen Time authorization is automatically canceled for no reason (occasionally)
I hope to get help
I use DeviceActivityCenter to monitor app usage.
For DeviceActivityEvent, I set 30 events, and the threshold of each event increases by 2 minutes:
var events: [DeviceActivityEvent.Name: DeviceActivityEvent] = [:]
for index in 0..<30 {
let threshold = (index == 29)
? DateComponents(hour: 1)
: DateComponents(minute: (index + 1) * 2)
let name = DeviceActivityEvent.Name("\(prefix)|\(index)")
events[name] = DeviceActivityEvent(applications: tokens, threshold: threshold)
}
After reaching the last DeviceActivityEvent, I will restart directly in DeviceActivityMonitor
private func restartMonitoring(activity: DeviceActivityName) {
let center = DeviceActivityCenter()
let currentEvents = center.events(for: activity)
do {
try center.startMonitoring(activity, during: schedule, events: currentEvents)
} catch {
print("Fail: \(error)")
}
}
But I found that after restarting, DeviceActivityEvent will be automatically executed even if I don't use the app.
My iOS version is 18.5
.fullScreenCover(isPresented: $isShow) {
Button(action : {
isPresented.toggle()
}){
Text("Choose")
}
.familyActivityPicker(
isPresented: $isPresented,
selection: $selection)
.onChange(of: selection){ value in
}
}
In the official version of iOS 18, when I click the Done button of familyActivityPicker, the fullScreenCover pop-up box will disappear.
How to display DeviceActivityReportScene in a widget.
When I was developing a widget, I found that DeviceActivityReportScene could not be displayed in the widget.
I am developing an app that can help users disable selected apps at a specified time, so that users can get away from their phones and enjoy real life.
Here is my data structure:
extension ActivityModel {
@NSManaged public var id: UUID
@NSManaged public var name: String
@NSManaged public var weeks: Data
@NSManaged public var weekDates: Data
@NSManaged public var appTokens: Data
}
Among them, weeks is of [Bool] type, indicating which weeks from Sunday to Saturday are effective; weekDates is of [[Date,Date]] type, indicating the effective time period; appTokens is of Set type, indicating the selected apps。
At the beginning, I will open a main monitor:
let deviceActivityCenter = DeviceActivityCenter()
do{
try deviceActivityCenter.startMonitoring(
DeviceActivityName(activityModel.id),
during: DeviceActivitySchedule(
intervalStart: DateComponents(hour: 0,minute: 0,second: 0),
intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour: 23,minute: 59,second: 59),
repeats: true
)
)
}catch {
return false
}
Since the time range may be different every day, I will start the sub-monitoring of the day every time the main monitoring starts:
override func intervalDidStart(for activity: DeviceActivityName) {
super.intervalDidStart(for: activity)
if activity.rawValue.hasPrefix("Sub-") {
ActivityModelManager.disableApps(
Tools.getUUIDFromString(activity.rawValue)
)
return
}
let weekIndex = Calendar.current.component(.weekday, from: .now)
let weeks = ActivityModelManager.getWeeks(activity.rawValue)
if weeks[weekIndex] {
let weekDates =
ActivityModelManager.getWeekDates(activity.rawValue)
let deviceActivityCenter = DeviceActivityCenter()
do{
try deviceActivityCenter.startMonitoring(
DeviceActivityName("Sub-" + activityModel.id),
during: DeviceActivitySchedule(
intervalStart: getHourAndMinute(weekDates[weekIndex][0]),
intervalEnd: getHourAndMinute(weekDates[weekIndex][1]),
repeats: false
)
)
}catch {
return
}
}esle {
return
}
}
I will judge whether it is main monitoring or sub monitoring based on the different activity names.
When the sub-monitor starts, I will get the bound application and then disable it:
static func disableApps(_ id : UUID){
let appTokens = ActivityModelManager.getLimitAppById(id)
let name = ManagedSettingsStore.Name(id.uuidString)
let store = ManagedSettingsStore(named: name)
store.shield.applications = appTokens
return
}
When the child monitoring is finished, I resume the application:
static func enableApps(_ id : UUID){
let name = ManagedSettingsStore.Name(id.uuidString)
let store = ManagedSettingsStore(named: name)
store.shield.applications = []
}
The above is my code logic.
When using DeviceActivityMonitorExtension, I found the following problems:
intervalDidStart may be called multiple times, resulting in several sub-monitors being started.
After a period of time, the monitoring is turned off.
The static methods enableApps and disableApps are sometimes not called
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Family Controls
Device Activity
Screen Time
Entitlements
HStack{
FormLable(text: NSLocalizedString("Color", comment: ""))
Spacer()
Image(systemName: "circle.fill")
.font(.system(size: AppFontSize.baseSize.size() * 1.2, weight: .medium))
.foregroundColor(color)
.overlay(ColorPicker("Color", selection: $color).labelsHidden().opacity(0.015))
}
This is how I use the color picker. I used the same code in two different apps, and the color picker appeared in one app but not in the other. By the way, I upgraded Xcode to the latest version.
let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule(
intervalStart: startInterval,
intervalEnd: endInterval,
repeats: false,
warningTime : DateComponents(hour : 0 , minute: 0 , second: 30)
)
```
I hope it will only be executed on the same day, but the monitoring is still there the next day. My system version is 18.2
When using DeviceActivityMonitorExtension, I found that when repeats in DeviceActivitySchedule is true, the same DeviceActivityEvent under DeviceActivity on the next day will be triggered twice.
What I did wrong?
I am a Swift developer using the ScreenTime API to develop an app that helps users manage app usage time on their phones. While working with DeviceActivity, I've noticed that it sometimes gets activated multiple times in succession, and occasionally, the code within intervalDidStart stops executing midway. What could be the cause of this?
Topic:
Community
SubTopic:
Apple Developers
I am developing an app using DeviceActivity.
let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule(
intervalStart: DateComponents(hour : 0, minute : 0, second: 1),
intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour : 23, minute : 59, second: 59),
repeats: true
)
I found that on the second day, intervalDidStart(for: DeviceActivityName) gets called multiple times.
I also tried
let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule(
intervalStart: DateComponents(hour : 0, minute : 0, second: 1),
intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour : 23, minute : 59, second: 59),
repeats: false
)
and started monitoring for the next day in the intervalDidEnd(for: DeviceActivityName) method.
but , intervalDidStart(for: DeviceActivityName) still gets called multiple times.
How should I resolve this issue?
I have two apps that share data through an App Group. However, I’ve noticed that when one of the apps is uninstalled, the shared Core Data model is also uninstalled. If I don't create a shared model in one of the apps, I cannot access the data. What should I do to resolve this issue?