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MultipeerConnectivity background operation for mesh relay — alternatives to CoreBluetooth rewrite?
'm building a peer-to-peer mesh messaging app using MultipeerConnectivity. The app implements TTL-bounded flooding relay so messages can traverse multiple hops across devices that aren't directly connected to each other. The core limitation I'm hitting: MPC stops browsing and advertising when the app is backgrounded, which means a node can no longer relay messages for the rest of the mesh. For the mesh to be useful in practice, nodes need to stay active as relays even when users switch to other apps. I'm aware of the standard options: . Background task extension (beginBackgroundTask) — only buys ~30 seconds, not a real solution . Push notifications (APNs) — requires a server, defeats the goal of a fully offline/local mesh . CoreBluetooth with state preservation/restoration — genuine background capability, but essentially a full rewrite of the transport layer, and BLE throughput (~100–250 kbps) would hurt larger payloads Before committing to a CoreBluetooth rewrite, I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. specifically questions are: Is there any way to keep an MCNearbyServiceAdvertiser or MCNearbyServiceBrowser running in the background that I'm not aware of? Does MCSession maintain existing connections long enough in the background to be useful for relay (i.e., does it survive past the background task expiry)? Is Network.framework's local network discovery (NWBrowser with Bonjour) any more background-friendly than MPC's browser/advertiser? • Has anyone successfully implemented a hybrid approach — CoreBluetooth for background discovery/signaling + a higher-bandwidth channel (WiFi Direct or Network.framework TCP) negotiated when foregrounded? • Are there any entitlements or capabilities (e.g., AccessorySetupKit, NEAppProxyProvider, or anything in the networking extension family) that could help here that aren't commonly discussed? The relay/routing layer, E2EE, and message dedup all sit above the transport and are transport-agnostic, so the rewrite scope is limited to the discovery and session management layer — but it's still significant. Any experience with this pattern would be very helpful.
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1.3k
Jun ’26
eliable way to match an MCPeerID across notifications — is identity comparison safe?
I have a MultipeerConnectivity-based app where a view controller is opened for a specific connected peer. When data arrives for that peer, my networking manager posts a Notification whose userInfo carries the sender's MCPeerID, and the view controller filters updates like this: guard let incomingPeerID = userInfo["peerID"] as? MCPeerID, incomingPeerID == self.peerID else { return } // apply update…
1
0
602
Jun ’26
Xcode 26 on Tahoe crashing
I've instilled Tahoe and Xcode 26(17A324) and the combination is virtually unusable, particularly the latter I'm no longer able to build projects reliably. My workflow is completely disrupted by a spinning beach ball so just a warning that you might want to delay until taking the plunge as I should have done. Fortunately, I have a back sequoia machine I can use instead.
1
1
171
Sep ’25
MultipeerConnectivity background operation for mesh relay — alternatives to CoreBluetooth rewrite?
'm building a peer-to-peer mesh messaging app using MultipeerConnectivity. The app implements TTL-bounded flooding relay so messages can traverse multiple hops across devices that aren't directly connected to each other. The core limitation I'm hitting: MPC stops browsing and advertising when the app is backgrounded, which means a node can no longer relay messages for the rest of the mesh. For the mesh to be useful in practice, nodes need to stay active as relays even when users switch to other apps. I'm aware of the standard options: . Background task extension (beginBackgroundTask) — only buys ~30 seconds, not a real solution . Push notifications (APNs) — requires a server, defeats the goal of a fully offline/local mesh . CoreBluetooth with state preservation/restoration — genuine background capability, but essentially a full rewrite of the transport layer, and BLE throughput (~100–250 kbps) would hurt larger payloads Before committing to a CoreBluetooth rewrite, I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. specifically questions are: Is there any way to keep an MCNearbyServiceAdvertiser or MCNearbyServiceBrowser running in the background that I'm not aware of? Does MCSession maintain existing connections long enough in the background to be useful for relay (i.e., does it survive past the background task expiry)? Is Network.framework's local network discovery (NWBrowser with Bonjour) any more background-friendly than MPC's browser/advertiser? • Has anyone successfully implemented a hybrid approach — CoreBluetooth for background discovery/signaling + a higher-bandwidth channel (WiFi Direct or Network.framework TCP) negotiated when foregrounded? • Are there any entitlements or capabilities (e.g., AccessorySetupKit, NEAppProxyProvider, or anything in the networking extension family) that could help here that aren't commonly discussed? The relay/routing layer, E2EE, and message dedup all sit above the transport and are transport-agnostic, so the rewrite scope is limited to the discovery and session management layer — but it's still significant. Any experience with this pattern would be very helpful.
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1.3k
Activity
Jun ’26
eliable way to match an MCPeerID across notifications — is identity comparison safe?
I have a MultipeerConnectivity-based app where a view controller is opened for a specific connected peer. When data arrives for that peer, my networking manager posts a Notification whose userInfo carries the sender's MCPeerID, and the view controller filters updates like this: guard let incomingPeerID = userInfo["peerID"] as? MCPeerID, incomingPeerID == self.peerID else { return } // apply update…
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1
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602
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Jun ’26
Xcode 26 on Tahoe crashing
I've instilled Tahoe and Xcode 26(17A324) and the combination is virtually unusable, particularly the latter I'm no longer able to build projects reliably. My workflow is completely disrupted by a spinning beach ball so just a warning that you might want to delay until taking the plunge as I should have done. Fortunately, I have a back sequoia machine I can use instead.
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171
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Sep ’25
multi seat subscriptions
Is it possible to have a subscription pricing model where the subscription is a prime number of activation of an app on multiple devices? This would be for a period of time before needing to renew. If this is possible, please could some point me in the direction of some documentation or guidance.
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230
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Mar ’25