FB18383742
Setup
🛠️ Xcode 16.4 (16F6)
📱 iPhone 13 mini (iOS 18.0.1)
⌚️ Apple Watch Series 10 (watchOS 11.3.1)
Observations
As AccessorySetupKit does not request "Core Bluetooth permissions", when a watchOS companion app is installed after having installed the iOS app, the toggle in the watch settings for Privacy & Security > Bluetooth is turned off and disabled
After removing the iPhone associated with the Apple Watch, Bluetooth works as expected in the watchOS app
Upon reinstalling the iOS app, there's a toggle for Bluetooth in the iOS ASK app's settings and the ASK picker cannot be presented 🤨
From ASK Documentation:
AccessorySetupKit is available for iOS and iPadOS. The accessory’s Bluetooth permission doesn’t sync to a companion watchOS app.
But this doesn't address not being able to use Core Bluetooth in a watch companion app at all 🥲
Reproducing the bug
Install the iOS + watchOS apps
Launch iOS app, tap "start scan", observe devices can be discovered (project is set up to find heart rate monitors)
Launch watchOS, tap allow on Bluetooth permission pop-up
watchOS app crashes 💥
Meanwhile, in the iOS app, there should be a log entry for 💗 CBCentralManager state: poweredOff and the ASK picker is no longer able to discover any devices
The state of the device permissions:
iOS app has no paired accessories or Bluetooth permission
watchOS app's Bluetooth permission shown as turned off & disabled
Remove the iOS app
Relaunch the watchOS app
Notice the CBCentralManager state is unauthorized
Remove and reinstall the watchOS app
Tap allow on Bluetooth permission pop-up
watchOS app does not crash and CBCentralManager state is poweredOn
The state of the watch permissions:
Bluetooth is turned on & the toggle is not disabled
Note that at this time the iOS app is not installed, there is no way to remove Bluetooth permission for the watch app.
Reinstall + launch the iOS app
Notice a warning in the log:
[##### WARNING #####] App has companion watch app that maybe affected if using CoreBluetooth framework. Please read developer documentation for AccessorySetupKit.
Notice a log entry for 💗 CBCentralManager state: poweredOn before tapping start scan
Tap start scan and observe another log entry:
Failed to show picker due to: The operation couldn’t be completed. (ASErrorDomain error 550.)
ASErrorDomain 550:
The picker can't be used because the app is in the background.
Is this the expected error? 🤔
The state of the iOS permissions:
The app's settings show a Bluetooth toggle normally associated with Core Bluetooth, but the app never showed a Core Bluetooth pop-up
The iOS ASK app now has Core Bluetooth permission 😵💫
Following up with Apple
This is a known bug that should be fixed in watchOS 26 when Bluetooth permissions for watch apps can be set independently of the iOS app. I've yet to test it with watchOS 26.
See repo for the same post with screenshots of the settings and demo code reproducing the bug:
https://github.com/superturboryan/AccessorySetupKit-CoreBluetooth-watchOS-Demo
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I'm receiving reports from users that my app is crashing immediately after being opened on the Apple Watch Series 10 using watchOS 11.
I've updated my personal Apple Watch Series 8 to watchOS 11 and I'm unable to reproduce this crash using the same release build from the App Store. The version currently on the App Store was built using Xcode 15.4 (22622).
I'm preparing an update that is built using Xcode 16.0 (23051) and have asked one of the users reporting the crash to try a TestFlight build built using Xcode 16.0 and they are no longer experiencing this crash.
As far as I can tell, the only difference between the version on the App Store and the TestFlight build is that it is built with the watchOS 11 SDK included with Xcode 16.0. I don't think any of my app's dependencies (all managed by Swift Package Manager) have been updated in the TestFlight build.
I'm attaching a crash report submitted by one of the users. I believe this is a partially symbolicated crash report and have tried opening it in Xcode in an attempt to make it fully symbolicated without success. I've also received a video recording of the app crashing.
I'm also not able to see any crashes occurring with an Apple Watch Series 10 in the Xcode Organizer, which leads me to believe this crash may be occurring at the Springboard level.
Any help to further diagnose this issue would be much appreciated.