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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FamilyActivityPicker: manage own device AND children device
Hello, I am unable to figure out how I tell the FamilyActivityPicker whether it should show apps installed on my personal device (to be used with AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .individual)) or apps installed on my child’s device (authenticated their phone via AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .child)). Is there any parameter or SwiftUI modifier I need to apply? Otherwise, how does the user or the app know which token belongs to them and which token belongs to their child’s device? Radar: FB17020977 Thanks a lot for your help!
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124
Mar ’25
FamilyControls Framework Not Working for TestFlight Testers
Hello everyone, I’m developing an app using the FamilyControls framework, I distributed through TestFlight the other day using the “Family Controls” distribution (not Development). Everything works as expected in dev builds — but for external TestFlight testers, nothing in the FamilyControls framework seems to function. I'm using the correct Family Controls capability in Xcode (added via Signing & Capabilities). The com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement is present in my .entitlements file. All the users who reported the issue had correctly given screen time permissions to the app. Would really appreciate some help regarding where the issue could come from.
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181
Jul ’25
Alarmkit
我完全复用了官方wwdc的Alarmkit的demo。测试过程发现12,13pro闹钟完全正常,15pro和16pro闹铃时间不对,经常不响,而且在设置中切换市时区时会立马响。这是api的bug么
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237
Sep ’25
[Proposal] Sense & Store – Intelligent App Suggestions from Safari (with On-Device AI)
Hello everyone, I’d like to propose Sense & Store — a seamless integration between Safari and the App Store, powered by on-device AI, designed to understand what users are reading, searching, or selecting in Safari, and suggest relevant apps that match their current context or intention. 🔍 Key Idea: “Sense” the user’s need through intelligent analysis of web content, then “Store” — offer the most relevant app, either already installed or available in the App Store. 🌟 Core Features: • AI-powered context detection directly inside Safari • Real-time app suggestions based on user intent • Smart overlays when selecting text or data (e.g., phone numbers, emails, tools) • Privacy-first: All AI runs on-device (Apple Neural Engine) • Instant App Launch or Installation via StoreKit ✅ Examples: • Reading an article on productivity? → Suggests Notion or Things. • Looking up meditation tips? → Recommends Calm or Headspace. • Selecting a phone number? → Offers CRM or spam blocker apps. • Exploring code samples? → Suggests Pythonista or developer tools. 🔒 Privacy & Performance: • 100% on-device intelligence (no data sent to servers) • Follows Apple’s privacy framework • Works with SafariKit + StoreKit + CoreML ⸻ I’m happy to provide a full prototype roadmap and technical architecture. Feedback and collaboration are welcome! Would love to hear your thoughts — especially from developers who build for Safari, App Clips, or work with CoreML. Thanks! Jose Luiz Horta Barbosa Maurity Cruz - Apple lover...
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128
Jun ’25
Unable to locate my stickers in message app after installed my app
My sticker app was rejected when I submitted it to App Store Connect. Reason: "We were unable to locate your stickers in message app after installed your app." When I checked on an iOS18 device, this was correct. However, my stickers is visible when I dragged the half-modal(like sheetPresentationController) part. I hope what I need to do to get the stickers to display initially. My code(Xcode16.2) class StickerViewController: MSStickerBrowserViewController { var stickers = [MSSticker]() override func viewDidLoad() { super.viewDidLoad() loadStickers() } override var stickerSize: MSStickerSize { get { return .small } } func loadStickers() { var imageSetPath = "en" for index in 1...20 { var strIndex = "" strIndex = "stmp" + String(index) + imageSetPath createSticker(assetLocation: "\(strIndex)", assetDescription: "\(strIndex)") } } func createSticker(assetLocation: String, assetDescription: String) { guard let path = Bundle.main.path(forResource: assetLocation, ofType: "png") else { return } let url = URL(fileURLWithPath: path) do { let sticker = try MSSticker(contentsOfFileURL: url, localizedDescription: assetDescription) stickers.append(sticker) } catch { print(error) } } } extension StickerViewController { override func numberOfStickers(in stickerBrowserView: MSStickerBrowserView) -> Int { return stickers.count } override func stickerBrowserView(_ stickerBrowserView: MSStickerBrowserView, stickerAt index: Int) -> MSSticker { return stickers[index] } }
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112
May ’25
How to display a full-screen light based (sunrise) alarm notification at specific time (like Clock app)? Can Critical Alerts help with visuals too?
I'm building a light-based(sunrise) alarm iOS app using SwiftUI , the idea is to wake users not with sound, but with a full-screen bright light UI (mimicking sunrise or a light alarm clock). I'd like to replicate behavior similar to the native Clock app: My goal: When the scheduled time is reached, forcefully display a full-screen "light" screen, even if the device is: locked running another app or the app is backgrounded The problem: So far, I can: Show a full-screen AlarmView only if the app is opening But I cannot: Automatically wake the screen when app is closed My confusion: I've read that Critical Alerts allow bypassing Do Not Disturb and Silent Mode but that's only for sound right? Can Critical Alerts also help with waking the screen or displaying visuals like full-screen UI automatically? If not, is there any way to simulate this kind of alarm: light-based screen effect ( sunrise alarm clock) triggered automatically at a specific time without needing the user to manually tap the notification? Do I need to consider: PushKit + VoIP? CallKit (but it's meant for calls)? Background tasks + silent push? Or is it simply impossible without special entitlements? Thanks in advance for any insights. This seems like a simple use case (light-based alarm), but I’m surprised how limited the options is.
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105
Aug ’25
Issue with Sticker Pack Extension
I'm unable to have stickers show in messages even with a new iOS app and a sticker pack extension target. I do see the iMessage App Icon but after tapping it nothing shows and I see a warning: "Error creating the CFMessagePort needed to communicate with PPT" This was tested on simulator and on real device. Xcode 16.1 (16B40) iOS 18.1 & 18.2
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Mar ’25
FamilyActivityPicker not showing in iOS 26
Hi, after updating to iOS 26 I'm encountering an issue where the FamilyActivityPicker no longer opens. No errors are shown in the console, it just never shows up. It works fine pre iOS 26. I've never had any issues with the picker showing up until iOS 26. My latest update was rejected because of this issue, but I've changed nothing in the code. Is anyone else experiencing this?
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201
Sep ’25
Device Activity Report Not showing any information
All After about 20 hours straight of working on this and having scrapped it twice I am realizing I should have asked everyone here for help. I am just trying to get device activity report extension to work inside an existing app. I have been heavily using family controls, managedsettings and deviceactivity and decided it would be nice to output some of the app usage so the User (parent) can see their children's app usage. I installed the target via xcode, confirmed group names match, and think I have it embedded correctly but when I run the app and call the view within the extension to show minutes used by any apps it just shows no time has been used. In addition, when I put print statements into the extension they do not show up in console. I have confirmed the main app target->Build phases->Link binary with Libraries has: ManagedSettings.framework FamilyControls.Framework DeviceActivity.framework I have confirmed in xcode that the main app target->Build phases -> Embed Foundation Extensions has: ShieldConfiguration.appex ShieldActionExtension.appex DeviceActivityMonitor.appex I have confirmed in xcode that the main app target->Build phases-> Embed ExtensionKit Extensions has: UsageReportExtension.appex I have used the apps I am trying to show data for extensively in the last 36 hours. Here is my UsageReportExtension info.plist EXAppExtensionAttributes EXExtensionPointIdentifier com.apple.deviceactivityui.report-extension .entitlement com.apple.developer.family-controls com.apple.security.application-groups group.com.jrp.EarnYourTurnMVP2.data Here is the file in the app (timebankview.swift) calling the extension/showing the extension view(AppUsageReportView.swift) import DeviceActivity import ManagedSettings struct TimeBankView: View { @EnvironmentObject private var appState: AppState @State private var reportInterval: DateInterval = { let calendar = Calendar.current let now = Date() let yesterdayDate = calendar.date(byAdding: .day, value: -1, to: now) ?? now return DateInterval(start: yesterdayDate, end: now) }() private var reportFilter: DeviceActivityFilter { let selection = appState.screenTimeController.currentSelection return DeviceActivityFilter( segment: .daily(during: reportInterval), users: .children, devices: .all, applications: selection.applicationTokens, categories: selection.categoryTokens // webDomains: selection.webDomains // Add if needed ) } var body: some View { ZStack { Color.appTheme.background(for: appState.isParentMode) .edgesIgnoringSafeArea(.all) ScrollView { VStack(spacing: 20) { Text("Time Bank") DeviceActivityReport(.childUsageSummary, filter: reportFilter) Here is AppUsageReportView.swift import SwiftUI struct AppUsageReportView: View { let config: DetailedAppUsageConfiguration // Use the detailed config var body: some View { VStack { Text("App Usage Details") Text("Total Screen Time: \(config.totalDurationFormatted)") if config.applicationsUsed.isEmpty { Text("No specific app usage data available for the selected period/filter.") } else { Text("Apps Used:") List { ForEach(config.applicationsUsed) { appInfo in HStack { Image(systemName: "app.dashed") Text(appInfo.appName) .lineLimit(1) Text(appInfo.durationFormatted) Here is AppUsageReportScene.swift: import SwiftUI import ManagedSettings struct AppInfo: Identifiable, Hashable { let id = UUID() let appName: String let durationFormatted: String } struct DetailedAppUsageConfiguration { var totalDurationFormatted: String = "Calculating..." var applicationsUsed: [AppInfo] = [] } struct AppUsageReportScene: DeviceActivityReportScene { let context: DeviceActivityReport.Context = .childUsageSummary let content: (DetailedAppUsageConfiguration) -> AppUsageReportView func makeConfiguration(representing data: DeviceActivityResults<DeviceActivityData>) async -> DetailedAppUsageConfiguration { var config = DetailedAppUsageConfiguration() var appDurations: [String: TimeInterval] = [:] var totalAggregatedDuration: TimeInterval = 0 let formatter = DateComponentsFormatter() formatter.allowedUnits = [.hour, .minute, .second] formatter.unitsStyle = .abbreviated formatter.zeroFormattingBehavior = .pad var segmentCount = 0 var categoryCount = 0 var appCount = 0 for await activityData in data { // Check segments var tempSegmentCount = 0 for await segment in activityData.activitySegments { segmentCount += 1 tempSegmentCount += 1 totalAggregatedDuration += segment.totalActivityDuration var tempCategoryCount = 0 for await categoryActivity in segment.categories { categoryCount += 1 tempCategoryCount += 1 var tempAppCount = 0 for await appActivity in categoryActivity.applications { appCount += 1 tempAppCount += 1 let appName = appActivity.application.localizedDisplayName ?? "Unknown App" let duration = appActivity.totalActivityDuration appDurations[appName, default: 0] += duration }}} } config.totalDurationFormatted = formatter.string(from: totalAggregatedDuration) ?? "N/A" config.applicationsUsed = appDurations .filter { $0.value >= 1 .map { AppInfo(appName: $0.key, durationFormatted: formatter.string(from: $0.value) ?? "-") } .sorted { lhs, rhs in let durationLHS = appDurations[lhs.appName] ?? 0 let durationRHS = appDurations[rhs.appName] ?? 0 return durationLHS > durationRHS } if !config.applicationsUsed.isEmpty { for (index, app) in config.applicationsUsed.enumerated() { } } else { } return config }} UsageReportExtension.swift struct UsageReportExtension: DeviceActivityReportExtension { init() { print("🚀 [UsageReportExtension] Extension initialized at \(Date())") print("🔍 [UsageReportExtension] Process info: \(ProcessInfo.processInfo.processName) PID: \(ProcessInfo.processInfo.processIdentifier)") } var body: some DeviceActivityReportScene { let _ = print("📊 [UsageReportExtension] Building report scenes at \(Date())") TotalActivityReport { totalActivity in print("🕰️ [TotalActivityReport] Creating view with data: \(totalActivity)") return TotalActivityView(totalActivity: totalActivity) }}}
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423
Apr ’25
Universal Links not working with subdomains without AASA on root domain
Hi all, I'm trying to set up universal links for my app but it's not working. What I want: cogover.com → Safari (website) - NOT my app *.cogover.com (any subdomain like abc.cogover.com) → My app What I did: Added applinks:*.cogover.com in Xcode Put AASA files on all subdomains They work fine (checked with curl) Problem: All links still open in Safari, not my app. I do not put AASA on my root domain cogover.com because I don't want open my app with root domain. I have checked TN3155: Debugging universal links | Apple Developer Documentation but it only say about universal link works with both root domain and subdomains. Weird thing I found: I checked how Salesforce does it - their *.force.com subdomains work perfectly. But when I tried to check their setup, (https://force.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association) doesn't seem to exist either! So how does theirs work? Even stranger - Apple's CDN has their file cached at (https://app-site-association.cdn-apple.com/a/v1/force.com) but the actual domain doesn't serve it. Can Apple's CDN have a file cached even if it's not on the website anymore? Thanks for any help!
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157
Jul ’25
How to reset system window private picker alert with Screen Capture Kit
Hi, I would like to reset system window private picker alert with ScreenCapture kit. i can reset the ScreenCapture permission with tccutil reset ScreenCapture. but it does not reset the system window private picker alert. i tried deleting the application directory from container and it does not help. the system window private picker alert uses the old approval i gave and it does not prompt a new alert. How can i starta with fresh screencapture kit settings for an app in testing? Thanks
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139
Jun ’25
Crashes with Rosetta after Sonoma update (crash reports).
Hello. We have an app and a custom dylib hat seems to be crashing only when Rosetta is involved. I believe it's the custom DYLIB that crashes. Here are some observations. The issue happens on the older 2022 built DYLIB (Intel only) And the newer DYLIB built (Universal) The universal DYLIB works fine natively on both Intel and M1 machines. It's only when we access it through an Intel only .app and it's running with Rosetta that we see the crash. The older Intel only .DYLIB worked perfectly with the same testing .app in versions before Sonoma, now they crash with the same .app, same build. Crash reports have been all over the place, they vary but repeat themselves. It has been a little confusing as to how to approach this issue and would appreciate any input that can help us understand what is going wrong and how to move forward. Crash reports are attached Crash Report 1 Crash Report 2 Crash Report 3 The crash occurs as SIGSEGV Version: 2.0 (1) Code Type: X86-64 (Translated) Parent Process: launchd [1] User ID: 501 Date/Time: 2025-04-14 19:55:06.0103 +0200 OS Version: macOS 14.6 (23G5075b) Report Version: 12 Anonymous UUID: A08ECCFA-BF01-8636-7453-E4476586D3A8 Time Awake Since Boot: 3900 seconds System Integrity Protection: enabled Notes: PC register does not match crashing frame (0x0 vs 0x102920144) Crashed Thread: 10 Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x000000011d052840 Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000011d052840 Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 11 Segmentation fault: 11 Terminating Process: exc handler [3174] VM Region Info: 0x11d052840 is not in any region. Thank you so much for all the attention and effort.
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141
Apr ’25
App-Site-Association file is wrongly cached
Hi Everyone, When we first hosted our apple-app-site-association file, our hosting provider was unintentionally blocking Apple’s crawler. As a result, Apple’s CDN seems to have cached a timeout / missing file response. We’ve since corrected the issue — the AASA file is now valid and accessible at: https://our-domain.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association sidenote: I am using "our-domain" as an alias. It is not our actual domain. We have verified that we return a valid JSON, HTTPS 200, correct MIME type. We used apple recommended tools to check this as well as other tools we found on the internet. However, when fetching through the Apple CDN: https://app-site-association.cdn-apple.com/a/v1/our-domain.com we still receive: Apple-Failure-Reason: SWCERR00301 Timeout Apple-Failure-Details: {"cause":"context deadline exceeded (Client.Timeout exceeded while awaiting headers)"} This has persisted for several days. Tools like getuniversal.link and yURL show that the CDN works fine in U.S. regions, but in Europe it continues serving the old timeout response. I’ve already opened a support ticket (Case ID: 102734912696), but the current support channel seems to be general developer account assistance rather than technical. They claim they can only assist us with account related issues (even though I used the code-support form...) Can someone please advise or help us escalate this to the appropriate internal team to refresh the Apple CDN cache for our domain? Thank you so much for your time and help.
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190
Oct ’25
UV Index hourly forecast instability
I pull an hourly UV index forecast in my app via WeatherKit, but I’ve noticed it flips back and forth between two "stable" forecasts throughout the day, as if the data source is switching between providers, as a result giving a sense of instability in the presented forecast. Is there any way to lock or specify a single forecast source for greater consistency? I have a feature that notifies users when the UV index crosses a set threshold, but these repeated “back-and-forth” changes trigger multiple alerts that feel spammy and unreliable. Any advice or best practices for handling this would be greatly appreciated.
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153
Jun ’25
Background Modes for Audio Playback
Summary: I'm developing an iOS audio app in Flutter that requires background audio playback for long-form content. Despite having a paid Apple Developer Program account, the "Background Modes" capability does not appear as an option when creating or editing App IDs in the Developer Portal, preventing me from enabling the required com.apple.developer.background-modes entitlement. Technical Details: In the app that I am developing, users expect uninterrupted playback when app is backgrounded or device is locked similar to Audible, Spotify, or other audio apps that continue playing in background The Problem: When building for device testing or App Store submission, Xcode shows: Provisioning profile "iOS Team Provisioning Profile: com.xxxxx-vxxx" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.background-modes entitlement. However, the "Background Modes" capability is completely missing from the Developer Portal when creating or editing any App ID. I cannot enable it because the option simply doesn't exist in the capabilities list. What I've Tried: Multiple browsers/devices: Safari, Chrome, Firefox, incognito mode, different computers Account verification: Confirmed paid Individual Developer Program membership is active New App IDs: Created multiple new App IDs - capability never appears for any of them Documentation review: Followed all Apple documentation for configuring background execution modes Different regions: Tried changing portal language to English (US) Cache clearing: Logged out, cleared cookies, tried different sessions Apple Support Response: Contacted Developer Support (Case #102633509713). Received generic documentation links and was directed to Developer Forums rather than technical escalation. Has anyone else experienced the "Background Modes" capability missing from their Developer Portal? Has anyone successfully used the App Store Connect API to add background-modes when the GUI doesn't show it? What's the proper escalation path when Developer Support provides generic responses instead of technical assistance? Things I have attempted to solve this: audio_service package: Implemented as potential workaround, but still requires the system-level entitlement Manual provisioning profiles: Cannot create profiles with required entitlement if capability isn't enabled on App ID Other perhaps important facts about the environment where I am building the app: macOS Sonoma Xcode 15.x Flutter 3.5.4+ Apple Developer Program (Individual, paid)
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125
Jul ’25
Couple simple suggestions to make WKExtendedRuntimeSession a lot better
I just launched my watch app with alarms using WKExtendedRuntimeSession, as an api I wish it was possible to: set a small title/message on the alarm ui itself, right now all it displays is the "Alarm from < app name >" with the app icon, but it would be nice to be able to set a short 1~2 line message below it as well! be able to read the current scheduled date, right now it's only possible to know it's scheduled.
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100
Jul ’25
How to register ContactProviderDomain
Hi there, we are implementing the new ContactProviderExtension introduced in iOS 18 and we are able to activate the extension, add data and everything. But we want to add domains to seperate contacts and currently we are getting an error "ContactProvider.ContactProviderError.domainNotRegistered". That makes sense because in the API docu we are not finding a way to register our domains. We are using ContactProviderDomain to create domains but we are not able to find any function to register. Could you please give a hint? Thank you
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217
Apr ’25