Clarification on Opening Parent App from Shield Extension Hi @DTS Engineer , Based on your response, can I confirm that currently Apple does not provide a supported API to directly open the main (container) app from a Shield Action extension? I’m trying to understand the correct way to handle this use case: When the user taps the primary button in the shield UI, we’d like to open the parent app. Apps like Wellspent and JOMO appear to have achieved this behavior, so I’m wondering what mechanism they might be using that is compliant with Apple’s guidelines. I’ve already tried using Darwin notifications to signal the container app to open a URL, but I now understand this won’t work reliably due to app suspension and background limitations. I also experimented with App Intents, but that didn’t work either within the Shield Action extension context. Can you please advise on the proper or recommended method to achieve this behavior, if any? If it’s not currently possible, I’d appreciate guidance on how to file an enhancement request, and whether Apple is aware of any workarounds being used by other apps that comply with App Store guidelines. Thanks for your time and support.

@DTS Engineer We've been waiting a long time for this issue. Please help us with the queries mentioned above.

I understand and agree that opening URLs directly from background processes (like app extensions) is restricted by design for privacy and security reasons. However, in our case, we are trying to handle a specific user interaction: When the user taps the primary button inside an App Extension (specifically, an App Shield), we want to open the main (parent) app. Here’s what we’ve tried so far: Custom URL Schemes Universal Links NSUserActivity Darwin Notifications Kingfisher-style runtime access to UIApplication.shared Other commonly suggested workarounds found in developer threads and documentation None of these approaches successfully triggered the parent app from within the extension in our case. We’re looking for guidance on the correct and supported way to handle this: How can we properly launch the main app from an App Extension in response to a user-initiated tap? Any official direction or best practice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Still, I haven’t had any luck opening the app. My Link: https://sixteen-server-c008110f8759.herokuapp.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association/ Method to open the link: static void onReceiveDarwinNotification(CFNotificationCenterRef center, void *observer, CFStringRef name, const void *object, CFDictionaryRef userInfo) { dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{ NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:@"https://sixteen-server-c008110f8759.herokuapp.com/launch/sixteen"]; if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:url]) { [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:url options:@{} completionHandler:^(BOOL success) { NSLog(@"🔗 Opened universal link: %d", success); }]; } else { NSLog(@"❌ Cannot open URL"); } }); } I'm using a Darwin notification from the Shield extension to communicate with the main app, and that communication works perfectly. I also tried using NSUserActivity, but had no success. I’m stuck with the following errors: ...retrieving pasteboard named com.apple.UIKit.pboard.general failed with error: Error Domain=PBErrorDomain Code=10 "Pasteboard com.apple.UIKit.pboard.general is not available at this time." UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Pasteboard com.apple.UIKit.pboard.general is not available at this time.} Failed to open URL https://sixteen-server-c008110f8759.herokuapp.com/launch/sixteen: Error Domain=FBSOpenApplicationServiceErrorDomain Code=4 "(null)" UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x14f3b25e0 {Error Domain=FBSOpenApplicationErrorDomain Code=3 "Request is not trusted." UserInfo={BSErrorCodeDescription=Security, NSLocalizedFailureReason=Request is not trusted.}}, NSLocalizedFailure=The request to open "com.apple.mobilesafari" failed., FBSErrorContext=147937300, BSErrorCodeDescription=InvalidRequest} This is a React Native app with a native Swift module used to integrate the FamilyControls framework. please help me to come out of this blocker.