Delve into the world of built-in app and system services available to developers. Discuss leveraging these services to enhance your app's functionality and user experience.

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Setting the "Open With ..." application for multiple files
On macOS, one can set the "Open With ..." application in the information panel of a file without changing the default for this file type. However, doing this for a number of files is very tedious. A simple case is to change all .txt files in a directory to a special editor, but leave the system wide default (usually TextEdit). I have tried AppleScript, command line tools as well as a minimal GUI app (using LSSetItemAttribute), but all fail because of a lack of permission. Is there any way to achieve this?
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119
Oct ’25
App Clip unavailable
Issue with App Clip Card Showing "App Clip unavailable" for DIGI LIVE App In my DIGI LIVE application, I have an App Clip configured for iOS 17.6+ (the file exceeds the 15 MB limit), and I have made all the necessary preparations for the App Clip to work correctly. However, the App Clip card constantly displays an "App Clip unavailable" error for various users (depending on their system language). The URL associated with the App Clip invocation is: https://ar.digi-live.de The AASA file is located at /.well-known/apple-app-site-association and contains the required fields for the App Clip: { "applinks": { "details": [ { "appIDs": ["N9QR6LF765.de.digilive.app"], "components":[ { "#": "no_universal_links", "exclude": true, "comment": "Matches any URL whose fragment equals no_universal_links and instructs the system not to open it as a universal link" }, { "/": "*", "comment": "Matches any URL like ar.digi-live.de" } ] } ] }, "appclips": { "apps": ["N9QR6LF765.de.digilive.app.Clip"] } } If I use the default App Clip link (https://appclip.apple.com/id?p=de.digilive.app.Clip) to launch it, the "App Clip unavailable" error no longer appears. But if I delete the App Clip from the settings, the error comes back, and it can only be launched again using the default link. It feels like the problem is with the App Clip loading at the moment the App Clip card is triggered — it simply fails to load. Video https://storage.yandexcloud.net/mmrs/files/digilive/IMG_2259.mp4
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149
Oct ’25
SensorKit keyboard sensor data collection range
Hello, Recently we got a question about the keyboard sensor data collection in our research project: "For the typing statistics, was any typing included or only messaging and notes? E.g., typing in the browser, phone search, calendar, etc?" While I believe it should be any typing included, I was not able to find a document explicitly stating that. Could you help to confirm it or guide me to any documentation explaining it? Thanks!
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87
Jan ’26
How to find renamed app using old name in Spotlight?
We are planning on renaming our app. The new name is not like the current name. It will be renamed in the App Store as well as the App display name. Yet, we still want new and existing users to be able to find the app by using the old name in search/spotlight under iOS. A great example of this is entering Twitter to find the X app and it shows up in the App section in the Spotlight search. Are there any guidelines, settings, or tricks for doing this? Some have suggested adding a Spotlight search term but that will not have it show up in the App section I fear.
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651
Oct ’25
CardSession.Error.maxSessionDurationReached not thrown on iOS 26
Hello, I have an app that emulates an NFC card using NFC HCE. Since yesterday I saw an increasing number of crashes on iOS 26 only, which wasn't there before. From what I can see, it seems the app crashes when the NFC presentment intent is shown and 60 seconds passed and user does nothing. The app just crashes after 60 seconds. On previous iOS versions, I know that CardSession.Error.maxSessionDurationReached was thrown after 60 seconds. Is something changed in iOS 26?
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Sep ’25
How to protect endpoints used by Message Filtering Extension?
Hi, I am just wondering if there is any option to protect my endpoints that will be used by Message Filtering Extension? According to the documentation our API has 2 endpoints: /.well-known/apple-app-site-association /[endpoint setup in the ILMessageFilterExtensionNetworkURL value of the Info.plist file] that the deferQueryRequestToNetwork will request on every message Since all requests to these 2 endpoints are made by iOS itself (deferQueryRequestToNetwork), I don't understand how I can protect these endpoints on my side, like API key, or maybe mTLS. The only way that I found is white list for Apple IP range. Is there other methods for it?
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150
Oct ’25
ExtensionFoundation on iOS 26
Hi, I'm trying to add an extension to my app on iOS 26. I've followed the instructions on https://developer.apple.com/documentation/extensionfoundation/adding-support-for-app-extensions-to-your-app and made it as far as being able to launch the extension: let monitor = try await AppExtensionPoint.Monitor(appExtensionPoint: .localWebServerExtension) currentIdentity = monitor.identities.first if let currentIdentity = currentIdentity { let myConfig = AppExtensionProcess.Configuration(appExtensionIdentity: currentIdentity, onInterruption: { NSLog("extension was terminated") }) myProcess = try await AppExtensionProcess(configuration: myConfig) myConnection = try myProcess?.makeXPCConnection() } None of these calls throw, and when I examine myProcess from inside that code, it seems to be normal (there's a pid, for example). Yet the code inside my extension seems to not be executed: breakpoints are not triggered, NSLog() calls do not appear on the console. The onInterruption() callback is also not triggered, or at least it does not appear on the console either. I've probably missed something obvious, but what could it be?
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Oct ’25
When is Apple ever going to release an updated screensaver Xcode template?
Since legacyScreenSaver is still the thing running screensavers we make, and it's still buggy, why won't they give us a new template for building screensavers that run in the new engine? And hopefully they don't require them to blend in with the desktop, because most of us don't want that. A wallpaper is a wallpaper, and a screensaver is a screensaver.
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Oct ’25
IdentityLookup deferQueryRequestToNetwork error 3 despite valid AASA and extension setup
I'm seeking help troubleshooting a persistent com.apple.IdentityLookup.error.messagefilter Code=3 error when my Message Filter Extension tries to defer to network. I’ve exhausted Apple documentation and forum posts, and Apple Support has asked me to escalate this via the forums to reach engineering. ✅ My Setup: Xcode: 16.2 macOS: Sequoia 15.3.1 (Apple Silicon Mac mini) Device: iPhone 14 Pro iOS: 18.3.2 (Developer Mode enabled) Tested via: TestFlight install on real device 📦 App Structure: Main App Target (minimal "hello world" logic) Message Filter Extension Target Messages Extension Target Message Reporting Extension Target Notifications Extension Target ✅ Capabilities & Configurations Main App Capabilities: App Groups: group.com.example.shared Network Extensions: Content Filter Associated Domains: messagefilter:my-api.example.com applinks:my-api.example.com Message Filter Capabilities: App Groups: same as main app Network Extensions: Content Filter Associated Domains: same as above 📄 Info.plist Config Main App Info.plist: NSAppTransportSecurity with: NSAllowsArbitraryLoads = YES Exception domain my-api.example.com with: NSIncludesSubdomains = YES NSTemporaryExceptionAllowsInsecureHTTPLoads = YES NSTemporaryExceptionMinimumTLSVersion = TLSv1.2 MessageFilter Info.plist: Same ATS settings as above NSExtension block: <key>NSExtension</key> <dict> <key>NSExtensionAttributes</key> <dict> <key>ILMessageFilterExtensionNetworkURL</key> <string>https://my-api.example.com/api/sms-filter</string> <key>ILClassificationExtensionSMSReportDestination</key> <string>+10000000000</string> </dict> <key>NSExtensionPointIdentifier</key> <string>com.apple.identitylookup.message-filter</string> <key>NSExtensionPrincipalClass</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).MessageFilterExtension</string> </dict> 📜 Entitlements Main App Entitlements <key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key> <array> <string>messagefilter:my-api.example.com</string> <string>applinks:my-api.example.com</string> </array> <key>com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension</key> <array> <string>content-filter-provider</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>group.com.example.shared</string> </array> Message Filter Extension Entitlements Identical to main app’s, scoped to the extension. 📄 AASA File (Hosted on https://my-api.example.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association) Serves as application/json, returns 200 OK, and is reachable on device via Safari. Logs confirm AASA is downloaded and installed successfully during TestFlight install. { "applinks": { "apps": [], "details": [ { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app", "paths": ["*"] }, { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app.MessageFilter", "paths": ["*"] } ] }, "messagefilter": { "apps": [], "details": [ { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app", "filterType": "URL", "domains": ["my-api.example.com"] }, { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app.MessageFilter", "filterType": "URL", "domains": ["my-api.example.com"] } ] }, "classificationreport": { "apps": [], "details": [ { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app", "domains": ["my-api.example.com"] }, { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.MessageReporting", "domains": ["my-api.example.com"] } ] } } ❌ The Problem When the extension launches and receives an SMS to classify, logs show: deferQueryRequestToNetwork failed: The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.IdentityLookup.error.messagefilter error 3.) The extension loads, network URL is available, the AASA is installed, and yet the extension is not allowed to defer to network. This occurs every time. 🧪 Other Notes Tried rebuilding everything from scratch Archiving to TestFlight, not running via Xcode Clean entitlements verified using codesign -d --entitlements :- Console logs show no issues with AASA download or validation Any help or insights from Apple engineering or others in the community who have successfully deployed a working Message Filter Extension would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance 🙏
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Sep ’25
CallKit requestTransaction error code 2
Hello, In production, a large number of users experience outgoing call reporting fails with the following error: com.apple.CallKit.error.requesttransaction Code=2 The iOS version doesn't matter, errors are present in v15-26 Details My CXProvider held as a global singleton, so it’s unlikely to be deinited. There is no explicit call to CXProvider.invalidate() in the app. If I manually invalidate the CXProvider, I observe the expected failure when trying to create an outgoing call (com.apple.CallKit.error.requesttransaction error 2). However, If I recreate the CXProvider after the error, outgoing calls are reported correctly. Many users trigger the providerDidReset delegate method (CXProviderDelegate) before this error. According to the documentation, providerDidReset can be called by the system, and we are supposed to end all active calls, but the documentation doesn't suggest recreating the CXProvider. Question Should I recreate CXProvider after providerDidReset and forget about that, or could this error be caused by something else?
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Oct ’25
Using MetricKit for Hangs on macOS
Hallo all, I did a test integration of MetricKit into one of our apps...I'am on macOS Ventura 13.3.1 (a). The app is not distributed via the App Store. I subscribed to the MXMetricManager and implemented the didReceiveDiagnosticPayloads function. So far everything seems to work, when I use in Xcode: Debug -> Simulate MetricKit Payload I get a callback and the payload. So I did some further testing. When I build the app debug version with a test crash and then run the Debug Version (without Xcode) and let it crash the next time I start the app I get a callback to didReceiveDiagnosticPayloads with all the information about the crash. But I'am not able to get a hang report. I tested it by adding a sleep (60) and adding some intensive computation work on the main thread so that it is busy for several seconds, I get no hang reports :-( I'am using the Debug version and run it without Xcode. Are hang reports expected to be reported immediately? I also get after 24 hours no hang reports. Can someone help me? Thanks and have a nice day!
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1.3k
Sep ’25
CallKit Call Blocking Not Working
I have also tested this on iOS 26 (Beta 9 and above), and the CallKit call blocking functionality is not working. Numbers that should be blocked still ring through. Caller Identification continues to function as expected, but blocking entries (addBlockingEntry) are ignored.
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265
Sep ’25
App Crashing iOS26
I have four apps currently deployed on the App Store. One of these apps crashes on launch when running on iOS 26, but functions as expected on iOS 18 and earlier versions. I am seeking to understand what changes in iOS 26 might be causing this issue. When running the app in debug mode on devices with iOS 26 using Xcode 16.1, the app crashes. The crash log references libobjc-trampolines.dylib, suggesting a potential issue with the Objective-C runtime. Has anyone else encountered a similar issue? AGX: AGX: agxa_device_template.hpp:1467:setupCompiler: *** FATAL: driver shader binary file not found in (null) for extension g15p!!! D [yHZ]: added warning: [MEDIUM]: SW04: A debugger is attached to the App. D [ProbeCallbacks]: [IXGUARD] debugger detected objc[1461]: couldn't dlopen libobjc-trampolines.dylib: dlopen(/usr/lib/libobjc-trampolines.dylib, 0x0106): tried: '/usr/lib/system/introspection/libobjc-trampolines.dylib' (no such file, not in dyld cache), '/usr/lib/libobjc-trampolines.dylib' (no such file), '/private/preboot/Cryptexes/OS/usr/lib/libobjc-trampolines.dylib' (open() failed with errno=24), '/usr/lib/libobjc-trampolines.dylib' (no such file, not in dyld cache) What steps can I take to resolve this crash? Thank you for your assistance.
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202
Sep ’25
iMessage apps do not launch in iOS 26
In iOS 26, on iPad (as least, but maybe phone too, yet to test) if you tap an iMessage (a second time) that should launch an iMessage App, it does not launch app. Has anyone else seen this - it makes many iMessage app unusable. Steps to reproduce Send a message that launches iMessage on tap. Tap message on recipient's device. Observe iMessage App open. Dismiss iMessage Tap message again Observe nothing happens, app is not launched.
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111
Sep ’25
3rd-party closed-source XCFramework security
Hey! I am developing a macOS application with the help of an external vendor, who is supplying me with a closed-source XCFramework. In Xcode, when I import their XCFramework bundle, when running the app, or opening a SwiftUI preview, or interacting with the app in any form, I get the familiar dialog: "[SDK name].framework" Not Opened - Apple could not verify "[SDK name].framework" is free from malware that may harm your Mac or compromise privacy. (Regardless, the application can run on my machine.) But indeed, their cross-platform iOS/macOS XCFramework is not notarized at all (using spctl -a -t install), plus the macOS binary embedded is not code signed correctly (using codesign -d). The XCFramework itself is production code signed with a Developer ID certificate, however I believed the above issues to be valid. Now, I asked the vendor to provide a correctly distributed (so code signed and notarized) framework, however they pointed out that "when I embed and sign the product in my app, it will be re-signed anyways". I understand this is true, but I believe this to be an important security boundary. If I were to re-sign under my name a closed source binary - previously unchecked for malware by Apple Notary Service -, I would put myself up for embedding potentially malicious code in my app, which could only be traced back to me - which would in turn mean a security issue would hinder my reputation here. Am I being over-protective here, or is this a valid concern? I have no way to see the source code, so I strongly believe this XCFramework should be notarized correctly. I understand that an in-house XCFramework is fine unnotarized, given that I know its origin, but this seems like a unique case where notarization should be enforced from my side on the vendor.
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180
Sep ’25
How to debug Quick Look Preview Extension
I'm facing the same problem as addressed in this discussion: After switching from legacy QLGenerators to Preview extensions on macOS I cannot debug the extensions' code in Xcode, anymore: I launch the app with the embedded appex from Xcode in debug mode. When trying to attach to the appex process the following error is reported: Code: 6 Failure Reason: Ensure “AppName Preview” is not already running, and matthias has permission to debug it. User Info: {... } System Information macOS Version 15.4.1 (Build 24E263) Xcode 16.3 (23785) (Build 16E140) Timestamp: 2025-05-12T14:07:14+02:00 I'm using a standard user account (no admin) and might miss some obvious steps. Can someone detail the steps to debug a Preview (or Thumbnail) extension with Xcode 16? For legacy Quick Look plugins I was using "qlmanage", but that's not working on extensions. All the best, Matthias P.S.: Pardon me re-posting my reply as a separate thread, to increase visibility, but I'm quite desperate and couldn't find any solution on the web...
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198
May ’25