SFAuthorizationPluginView password field does not accept keyboard input until click on macOS Tahoe 26.4.1

We are using an SFAuthorizationPluginView-based authentication plug-in for screen unlock, and we are seeing focus/activation behavior on macOS Tahoe 26.4.1 that appears different from earlier macOS releases.

In our lock-screen plug-in UI, the view is displayed correctly, but keyboard input does not go to our password field until the user physically clicks inside the plug-in view.

We have already tried the documented focus-related hooks and standard AppKit approaches, including:

  1. Overriding firstResponder
  2. Overriding firstKeyView / lastKeyView
  3. Calling becomeFirstResponder
  4. Calling makeFirstResponder on the host window during activation
  5. Setting up the key view loop between controls

Despite this, on Tahoe 26.4.1 the password field still does not accept typing until the first mouse click inside the plug-in view.

Could you clarify the following:

  1. On macOS Tahoe 26.4.1, are there any known changes in SecurityAgent / SFAuthorizationPluginView behavior that affect firstResponder, firstKeyView, or keyboard activation during screen unlock?
  2. Is a physical click now required before keyboard input is delivered to an SFAuthorizationPluginView in this context?
  3. If not, what is the recommended supported way to ensure the password field becomes keyboard-active immediately when the plug-in view is shown?
  4. Are becomeFirstResponder / makeFirstResponder expected to work in this host context, or are only the SFAuthorizationPluginView hooks (firstResponder, firstKeyView, lastKeyView) supported?
  5. Is there any recommended host-window or activation API for this scenario, or is this considered a regression in Tahoe?
appears different from earlier macOS releases.

What OS releases are you talking about here? Different from 26.4? From 26.3? From 26 itself? Or from macOS 15?

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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
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SFAuthorizationPluginView password field does not accept keyboard input until click on macOS Tahoe 26.4.1
 
 
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