I would like to suggest adding a third Home Screen app icon size option that separates icon size from the option to remove app names. After using the current Home Screen customization options, I noticed that removing app names creates a much cleaner and more minimal look, but it also automatically increases the size of the app icons. While some users may prefer the larger icons, I personally prefer the regular icon size because it feels more balanced and organized. I discussed this idea with my friends and family, and we all agreed that we like the clean look of having no app names while still wanting to keep the original regular app icon size and compensating for the space of the name's of these apps being gone. My suggestion is to add a third option: Regular icons with app names (current default) Regular icons without app names (new option) Large icons without app names (current option) This would allow users to create a cleaner, more customizable Home Screen without forcing the app icons to become larger when removing app names. To help visualize this idea, I have also created some design mockups of what this option could look like. I hope these concepts help demonstrate how this feature could fit naturally into the existing Home Screen customization options. Adding this option would give users more control over their Home Screen design while maintaining the simplicity and attention to detail that Apple is known for. A small change like this could make the experience feel more personalized for many users.

Hello Apple DTS Team, We are optimizing a real-time iOS 26 WidgetKit architecture that utilizes both direct WidgetKit APNs pushes and Notification Service Extension (NSE) background asset downloading. We would appreciate technical clarification regarding budget allocation, execution latency, and view hierarchy invalidation on iOS 26. Architecture Overview Our system handles real-time visual updates across multiple distinct Widget kinds (KindA, KindB) using a dual-path pipeline: Direct WidgetKit APNs Push (iOS 26): Registers tokens via WidgetPushHandler (pushTokenDidChange(_:widgets:)). Remote server sends APNs requests targeting <bundleID>.push-type.widgets with apns-push-type: widgets and payload {"aps": {"content-changed": true}}. NSE Asset Pre-Fetch (Notification Service Extension): Server sends a remote notification containing mutable-content: 1 and asset metadata. The NSE intercepts the payload, streams the binary image asset into a shared App Group container (FileManager.default.containerURL(forSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier:)), writes JSON state to shared UserDefaults, and executes targeted timeline reloads via WidgetCenter.shared.reloadTimelines(ofKind: "KindA"). Timeline Provider: TimelineProvider.getTimeline() reads data synchronously from the shared App Group UserDefaults, resolves the local file path via UIImage(contentsOfFile:), and returns a single SimpleEntry with TimelineReloadPolicy.after(25 minutes) alongside TimelineEntryRelevance(score: 100.0). Technical Questions & Observed Behaviors Per-Kind Budget Isolation vs. Bundle-Wide Budget: Does dasd / chronod maintain an independent 70-reload daily budget for each individual Widget kind (or widget instance), or is the daily background reload budget shared globally across all widget kinds within the extension bundle? Does calling WidgetCenter.shared.reloadTimelines(ofKind: "KindA") from an NSE deduct budget tokens only from KindA's budget bucket, or does it deduct from a global shared bundle pool? NSE Reload Budget Deductions vs. Direct WidgetKit Pushes: Does a direct WidgetKit APNs push (apns-push-type: widgets) draw from a completely separate APNs push budget pool than a WidgetCenter.shared.reloadTimelines(ofKind:) call issued inside an NSE? When an NSE issues reloadTimelines(ofKind:) in response to a user-visible notification (alert + mutable-content: 1), does iOS grant notification grace tokens that bypass standard _DASWidgetBudget deductions? WidgetKit Push Notification Delivery & Rendering Inconsistencies on iOS 26: When sending direct WidgetKit APNs pushes (apns-push-type: widgets), we observe 3 distinct, inconsistent behaviors in production on iOS 26: a) Successful Instant Update: APNs push arrives → WidgetKit wakes up immediately → getTimeline() executes (<0.1s) → Home Screen widget displays the new image instantly. b) Complete Execution Drop: APNs push is sent by our server (HTTP 200 response from APNs api.push.apple.com) → WidgetKit never wakes up, and getTimeline() is completely ignored/not invoked by iOS. c) Execution Success but Screen Bitmap Stale: APNs push arrives → getTimeline() wakes up, executes, and loads the image successfully from disk (UIImage(contentsOfFile:) returns a valid image) → completion(Timeline(entries: [entry])) returns → BUT the displayed image on the Home Screen does NOT change or repaint until the user opens the main app. Questions for DTS Engineers: Why does iOS 26 occasionally drop getTimeline invocation for direct apns-push-type: widgets pushes even when APNs returns HTTP 200? Is Image(uiImage:) rendering inside WidgetKit subject to view hierarchy caching if the SimpleEntry struct date is updated but SwiftUI considers the view tree structurally identical? Does binding an explicit .id(assetPath) modifier to the Image view force SpringBoard's compositor layer to invalidate and repaint immediately upon getTimeline completion? Thank you for your guidance!

After the installation and upgrade of the iOS App coverage, the desktop widget became unavailable. When deleting and re-adding them, they could not be found in the widget gallery . The problem was solved after the phone system was restarted

Environment: iOS Version: iOS 27.0 Framework: ActivityKit Xcode Version: Xcode 26.1 Issue Description: In iOS 27, Live Activities fail to adapt to the system colorScheme. Regardless of whether the system theme is set to Light or Dark mode, @Environment(.colorScheme) inside the Live Activity view always returns .dark. This behavior worked as expected on iOS 26, where the Live Activity correctly responded to light/dark mode changes and rendered the appropriate theme. Expected Behavior: The Live Activity view should respect the system's current colorScheme (returning .light when the system is in Light Mode) on iOS 27, consistent with the behavior on iOS 26. Actual Behavior: The Live Activity view strictly defaults to .dark mode on iOS 27, even when the device is explicitly set to Light Mode. struct LockScreenView<T: BaseLiveActivityAttributes>: View { let context: ActivityViewContext<T> @Environment(\.colorScheme) var colorScheme var isLight: Bool { colorScheme == .light } var body: some View { Color(isLight ? .white : .black) .overlay(alignment: .topTrailing) { VStack(alignment: .trailing, spacing: 2) { Text("colorScheme: \(String(describing: colorScheme))") } .font(.system(size: 9, weight: .bold, design: .monospaced)) .foregroundColor(.yellow) .padding(4) .background(Color.black.opacity(0.6)) .cornerRadius(4) .padding(.trailing, 8) .padding(.top, 4) } } } Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello, I am trying to set up Widgets in my app. I want to fetch my data in the SwiftData container that is shared between my app and my WidgetExtension with App Group. let modelContext = ModelContext(modelContainer) let predicate = #Predicate<Test>{ return $0.attribute == true } return try modelContext.fetch(FetchDescriptor (predicate: predicate, sortBy: [SortDescriptor(\Test.name)])) When this code is run in my WidgetExtension, returned objects attributes values are replaced with "" string. In the logs, Swift Data writes Query returned unrequested identifiers that have been dropped: <private> Any idea what I might be doing wrong to share my SwiftData between my App and my Widget? App Groups capability has been added to both apps and extension with the same identifier. Thank you

Hi Apple Home Team, We are integrating a Matter-enabled Tower Fan with Apple Home and have observed that the current Apple Home UI does not expose all the capabilities defined by the Matter Fan Control cluster. Wind Mode Our device supports the following WindMode values: Normal Natural Sleep However, Apple Home does not provide any UI to view or control the Natural and Sleep wind modes. Only the basic fan controls are available. Rock Mode (Oscillation Direction) Our device also supports the following RockMode values: Off Left-Right Up-Down In Apple Home, we only see a single Oscillation toggle (On/Off). There is no option to select the oscillation direction (e.g., Left-Right or Up-Down). Could you please clarify: Does Apple Home currently support the Matter WindMode attribute of the Fan Control cluster? Is the current On/Off Oscillation control the expected behavior for devices that support multiple RockMode directions? What is the recommended approach for Matter devices that implement multiple RockMode values (e.g., Left-Right and Up-Down)? Are there any plans to add native UI support for Wind Mode and Rock Mode direction selection in a future Apple Home release? Thank you for your support. We look forward to your guidance on the recommended implementation for Apple Home. Thanks, Chintan Patel

I'm working on adding Live Activities to my app but I'm running into a problem, and I'm wondering if anyone knows what's going on. The live activities are started and updated entirely via push notifications (sent through FCM). On the lock screen, updates come through fine for a while, but then the activity gets stuck while the phone is locked. The moment I unlock the device, it immediately jumps to the latest state. I've tried different update frequencies and sending with both priority 5 and priority 10, but no luck. I've also looked through the liveactivitiesd logs, but I'm not really sure what I should be looking for. And yes, NSSupportsLiveActivitiesFrequentUpdates is enabled.

We are migrating ClockKit complications to WidgetKit in our watch app (watchOS 9+). The migration went smoothly, UI part works just fine. However, we've hit the wall with widgets not updating when requested by the watch app. I believe we are missing something very simple and fundamental, but couldn't find what exactly so far. Advice and tips would be very welcome! 🙇‍♂️ Our implementation details: Whenever data is changed in the main app, the updated data is submitted to the watch app via WatchConnectivity framework using WCSession.default.transferCurrentComplicationUserInfo(_:). According to documentation, this method should be used to transfer complication-related data, since it will wake the watch app even if it is in the background or not opened at all. Watch app receives updated data and stores it in UserDefaults shared with Watch Widget Extension hosting WidgetKit complications via App Group. Watch app then request widget timeline reload via WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines(). According to documentation, it reloads the timelines for all configured widgets belonging to the containing app, so it seems the appropriate way to reload WidgetKit complications. Widget Timeline Provider class in Watch Widget Extension reads updated data from shared UserDefaults and uses it to provide the updated snapshot for widget views to render. We believe our implementation logic is correct, but it doesn't work, for some reason. Widgets sometimes update when the watch app is opened, but not always. The most definitive way to force widgets to update is to switch to a different watch face, which confirms that the Widget Timeline Provider has access to properly updated data. P.S. We are aware of the daily reload budget imposed on widgets, so we use widgets reload trigger sparingly. Anyway, according to documentation, reload budget is not effective when in DEBUG mode, but widgets won't reload even in DEBUG mode. Thank you!

Hello, I'm trying to add a new Live Activity to my app showing a timer to a specific date and time. I thought I could use some TimeDataSource so that the timer would be updated automatically by SwiftUI without relying on Live Activity updates. That's not the case with .dateRange(endingAt:) though. Text(.dateRange(endingAt: targetDate), format: .components(style: .narrow)) Something like this correctly shows the timer exactly how I want it, but it never updates. Other TimeDataSource like .currentDate and .durationOffset(to:) do update automatically, but are not what I'm looking for. Am I missing something? Should I use another formatter to make it work?

Hi I developed a music app that plays offline audio and displays lyrics using Live Activities. According to ActivityKit documentation, Live Activities can be updated from the background. However, in my case, updates stop after ~30 seconds when the app goes to the background or the device is locked. Important points: The app continues running in the background (audio playback works fine using AVAudioSession with .playback) Background code execution is working as expected Only the Live Activity stops updating I am not using push updates since this is an offline app. Is there any limitation or requirement for updating Live Activities continuously in the background during audio playback? Audio Session Configuration let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() try session.setCategory( .playback, mode: .default, options: [.mixWithOthers] // ✅ DO NOT interrupt other audio ) try session.setActive(true) print("✅ [AudioSession] Activated with mixWithOthers") } catch { print("❌ [AudioSession] Error: \(error)") } Live Activity Update Methods guard let activity = getLiveActivity(for: recordID) else{ print("⚠️ No Live Activity found for recordID: \(recordID)") return } guard activity.activityState == .active else { print("⚠️ Activity is not active") return } Task { let content = ActivityContent( state: state, staleDate: Date().addingTimeInterval(60 * 60 * 12), relevanceScore: 1.0 ) await activity.update(content) print("✅ Live Activity updated with ActivityContent") } }

I've created a basic Multiplatform Project in Xcode, by going to File > New > Project. I've also included the default widget extension target. When I run the widget on Mac, and I control-click and choose "Edit Widget" the widget just kinda turns gray and floats over other windows, but does not let me configure anything. We leave the option to use configure with app intents turned on when adding the widget extension target. When I run the same project on an iPhone simulator, I can configure the widget without any issue. If someone else has a few minutes, can they see if this repeats for them? We are running this test because we are seeing the same experience in a real widget we are trying to develop but we can't get it to go into configuration mode on Mac.

Not sure if this is an intented change in terms of UI on 27 beta 1, but I think the previous implementation of configuring array of App Entity is better with a list and options and reorder and remove items. My widget configuration code: struct BusWidgetConfiguration: WidgetConfigurationIntent { static var title: LocalizedStringResource { "Bus Stop Configuration" } static var description: IntentDescription { "Configure youe top 3 most commonly used bus stop to open in app." } @Parameter(title: "Bus Stop", default: [], size: IntentCollectionSize(min: 0, max: 3)) var busStops: [BusStopEntity] @Parameter(title: "Open in Maps", default: false) var openInMaps: Bool } iOS 27 Beta 1: iOS 26.5:

I'm really struggling to get a handle on all the different aspects of Control Widgets. I wish the docs led with comprehensive visual examples. I'm trying to make a Control Widget that shows the user a quick status of something (on or off), and lets the user change that status, but when they turn it off, it can be turned off for a period of time. I want to present some options in a manner similar to the Focus widget. When you first display widets on macOS, you get this: On the Focus widget, see how it has a round button with a moon, the word "Focus", and a disclosure chevron? I want to reproduce that. If you click the moon button, it turns that focus mode on. If you click anywhere else, it shows this: And even those controls are quite fancy, expanding when you click on them. How do I get that second level of UI?

I'm seeing a Live Activity that successfully starts via Activity.request() — activityState returns .active, a valid ActivityKit push token is issued and works correctly — but nothing ever appears on the Lock Screen, and the widget extension process never shows up in Xcode's Debug → Attach to Process list (the main app process does appear). This happens consistently across many clean rebuilds. Setup: Flutter app (using the live_activities Flutter plugin, which wraps ActivityKit) with a native iOS Widget Extension target for the Live Activity Xcode 26.5, iOS 18.7.9 on a physical iPhone XS Max Bundle ID: com.santitech.foodboda, extension: com.santitech.foodboda.FoodbodaLiveActivity NSSupportsLiveActivities = YES confirmed in both the main app's Info.plist and the extension's Info.plist (verified in the compiled .appex binary itself, not just source) App Group entitlement confirmed present in both compiled provisioning profiles via security cms -D on embedded.mobileprovision Deployment target 16.6 on both targets (Live Activities require 16.1+) Settings → [App] → Live Activities toggle confirmed ON; Low Power Mode OFF What I've already ruled out: Target membership of Swift source files — confirmed correct in File Inspector WidgetBundle only references the real Live Activity widget (removed unused Control/home-widget/AppIntent boilerplate) Info.plist NSExtensionPointIdentifier = com.apple.widgetkit-extension — correct Built a brand-new, separate, minimal test app+extension from Xcode's default template, using the exact same Attributes/ContentState/SwiftUI view code as the main app (copy-pasted verbatim) — this minimal test successfully renders on the Lock Screen on the same physical device. This proves the Swift code itself, the device, and the Apple ID/provisioning are all capable of supporting Live Activities correctly. Confirmed areActivitiesEnabled() returns true and getActivityState() returns .active on every test Tested with full app delete + device restart + DerivedData wipe between attempts — no change Question: Given that identical code works in an isolated minimal project but not in the main app's bundle ID, what could cause this specific symptom — ActivityKit registering an activity as active while WidgetKit never instantiates the extension to render it — tied to one specific app/bundle identifier rather than the device or account in general? Is there a known interaction with App Groups that have been reconfigured many times during development, or any way to fully reset WidgetKit's registration state for a specific bundle ID short of changing the bundle identifier entirely?

Hi team, I’m working on an ActivityKit use case where a Live Activity is useful on the Lock Screen, but not in the Dynamic Island. Today, Live Activities appear to be treated as a unified presentation across system surfaces: Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, StandBy, etc. For our app, the Lock Screen presentation is the right user experience, but showing the same activity in the Dynamic Island creates unnecessary persistent foreground UI while the user is actively using the device. Is there any supported way to create a Live Activity that appears on the Lock Screen but opts out of Dynamic Island presentation on supported iPhones? If not, I’d love to request an ActivityKit enhancement that lets developers specify supported presentation destinations for a Live Activity, for example something like: Lock Screen only or Lock Screen + StandBy, but not Dynamic Island This would be useful for apps where the Live Activity is meant to act as a passive lock-screen status/reminder, rather than an ongoing foreground indicator. Thanks!

I have a widget that uses a WidgetConfigurationIntent where a user can pick what to display in the widget. This configurable widget works fine in iOS 26, but if the app is built with the iOS 27 SDK / Xcode 27, it no longer will respond to any changes from the parameter, and the default is always shown. Is this behavior a bug, or have there been underlying changes in this area that need new accommodations? Thanks!

Anyone unable to configure their widgets on iOS 27? I can edit a widget’s configuration but that doesn’t have any effect on the widget. I’m seeing this in the simulator and I have some users seeing it on-device. Is this a known issue or are there workarounds?

Hi, do you have suggestions for implementing widgets that get populated with data from external sources at different times? Example: a few numbers are displayed that usually update once or twice a day but some days multiple times per hour for part of the day. We can't get this to work reliably on all of the devices we are testing with and because the throttling/budgeting behavior is opaque it is more of a challenge to pinpoint why. Here are some things we are starting to experiment with, it would be helpful to know if some or all of these approaches would be too demanding of resources to be useful when populating widgets with content: creating dynamic timelines that have different frequencies on different days in the main app downloading new schedules from a server for the timelines for future dates using a combination of silent push notifications and background tasks to download the data when notifications are missed And we're already aware of the basic guidelines (relaxed budget constraints when debugging from xcode, avoid force quitting apps, etc.), would be great to get additional insight beyond the documentation like how to tell when an app has already depleted its budgets. (The questions are primarily geared towards iPhone/iPad). Thanks again!

When I set an alarm using the AlarmKit Demo App provided by WWDC, wait for the alarm to go off while the device is unlocked, and the Dynamic Island pops up with a notification, instead of tapping the button to dismiss it, I collapsed the Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island displayed a black blank screen; when I long-pressed to expand it, it still showed a black blank screen. When I tapped it while collapsed, it redirected me to the Demo App, and this state persisted indefinitely. The issue was only resolved by turning off the device or setting a new alarm and waiting for it to go off, then explicitly tapping to dismiss it. Additionally, I’m currently developing my own AlarmKit-based alarm app, which is how I discovered this bug. Now that I’ve found the official demo has the same issue, I look forward to a fix. Xcode version 26.5 (17F42) macOS version 26.5 (25F71) Simulator version 26.4.1 Device version 26.5.1 Demo App link： https://docs-assets.developer.apple.com/published/c2045ce0bff8/SchedulingAnAlarmWithAlarmKit.zip

Hi everyone, I'm working on a Live Activity implementation for a ticketing app (written in Swift/SwiftUI with ActivityKit), and I've encountered an unexpected behavior on iOS 26.2.1 that contradicts my understanding of the documentation. What the docs say: The official ActivityKit documentation states: "The system uses the minimal presentation when more than one app has an active Live Activity." This implies the two minimal slots are intended for two different apps. There is no documented scenario where a single app occupies both minimal positions simultaneously. What I observed: On a device running iOS 26.2.1, with two active Live Activities from the same app running at the same time, both minimal views appeared on the Dynamic Island simultaneously — one attached to the island, one as a detached floating pill. Questions: Is this behavior intentional in iOS 26, or is it a regression / unintended side effect? Has the system policy changed in iOS 26 to allow a single app to occupy both minimal slots? If this is expected, is there any updated documentation or release notes that cover this change? Environment: Device: iPhone 14pro iOS: 26.2.1 Xcode: xcode26 Any insights from Apple engineers or developers who've seen this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!