Is there any information available on how developers can implement the "Firmware Update Readiness" and/or "Firmware Update Status" characteristics in HomeKit? Many consumer devices support this (showing an "update available" icon), however, there appears to be nothing in the documentation about this characteristic, and it is not listed as an option in the HomeKit Accessory Simulator. Thanks in advance!

Hi, I am trying to build a very simple iOS app in Xcode that starts an NFCNDEFReaderSession when I press a button. My goal right now is only to verify that the NFC reading process starts correctly on a real iPhone. I am not trying to publish the app on the App Store. When I try to start the session, I get this error in the console: -[NFCHardwareManager areFeaturesSupported:outError:]:435 XPC Error: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4099 "The connection to service named com.apple.nfcd.service.corenfc was invalidated: Connection init failed at lookup with error 159 - Sandbox restriction." UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=The connection to service named com.apple.nfcd.service.corenfc was invalidated: Connection init failed at lookup with error 159 - Sandbox restriction.} and then my app reports that NFC is not available on this device. Important details: I added Near Field Communication Tag Reading in Signing & Capabilities. I added the NFC privacy usage description in the target settings. I am using automatic signing. I am not using an Apple Developer Program paid account. I am using a Personal Team / free account. I should also mention that I am not experienced with Swift/iOS development, so I may be missing something basic in the setup. My question is: Is this expected when using a Personal Team / free account, or is there some configuration issue I should still check? I am happy to provide any additional information needed

The app crashes when using EAAccessoryManager.showBluetoothAccessoryPicker(withNameFilter:) to connect to a Bluetooth accessory in a multi-accessory scenario. The crash occurs immediately after selecting an accessory from the picker UI. Steps to Reproduce: Ensure a Bluetooth accessory (Accessory A) is already connected to the iPhone/iPad and is visible in Bluetooth settings. Launch the app. Initiate a connection flow that presents the Bluetooth accessory picker using EAAccessoryManager.showBluetoothAccessoryPicker(withNameFilter:). Ensure another compatible accessory (Accessory B) is available and visible in the picker. Select Accessory B from the picker to connect. After connection, simulate a disconnect of Accessory B (e.g., power cycle or remove battery). Attempt to reconnect Accessory B by triggering the same picker flow again. Select Accessory B from the picker. Result: The accessory connects successfully at the system level. The app crashes immediately after selecting the accessory from the picker (during dismissal). Reproducibility: Occurs consistently under the described multi-accessory scenario. Not observed when only a single accessory is present.

Hi everyone, I'm developing a standalone Matter controller app on iOS 18+ using Apple's Matter.framework directly — without integrating with Apple Home or HomeKit. We manage our own Matter fabric and handle the full commissioning flow ourselves. Current setup: BLE-based Matter device discovery and commissioning via Matter.framework Own fabric management (not adding devices to Apple Home) During development, we rely on the "Bluetooth Central Matter Client Developer Mode" profile to enable BLE access The challenge: As we approach our App Store release, we need end users to be able to commission Matter devices without installing any developer profiles. I'm trying to figure out the correct entitlement path for a non-HomeKit Matter controller app in production. Questions: Which entitlements are required for a third-party Matter controller app using Matter.framework directly (not via HomeKit) to work in production? Is there a formal entitlement request process for something like com.apple.developer.matter.allow-setup-payload? If so, where do we initiate it? Are there additional program memberships or certifications required beyond the standard Apple Developer Program membership? We've gone through the Matter framework documentation and relevant WWDC sessions but haven't found a clear answer specifically for non-HomeKit standalone Matter controller apps. Would appreciate any input from Apple staff or developers who've shipped a similar app. Happy to provide more details if needed. Tagging for visibility: @Apple or relevant team — this involves a non-HomeKit Matter.framework usage pattern and entitlement approval process.

In an application we are developing, we would like to show a (non-interactable) textfield when a hardware keyboard is connected to the iPad. Therefore my question: Using SwiftUI, is it possible to detect the presence of a hardware keyboard and store that state inside a boolean like isHardwareKeyboardConnected?

I am currently developing an app for MacOS that needs to control HomeKit devices like lights. However, it seems like MacOS is supported on the official documentation, but not when I try to create an app ID on developer.apple.com. On the link https://developer.apple.com/apple-home/, MacOS is clearly showed as supported for MacOS. But when I try to create an app ID, it shows that it is only compatible for iOS, VisionOS and WatchOS. Could this be clarified? Best regards, orangeidle25

I recently noticed a UX inconsistency while using the battery charge limit feature on my MacBook with a MagSafe charger. With the optimized charging feature, users can set a custom maximum charging limit (for example, 95%) to improve battery health. However, the MagSafe LED indicator continues to show the charging state (amber) even after the device reaches this user-defined limit. Previously, the LED would turn green when charging reached 100%, clearly indicating a “fully charged” state. But now, when charging stops at a user-defined limit, there is no clear visual feedback that charging has effectively completed based on the user’s preference. This creates confusion, as the LED suggests that charging is still ongoing even though the system has stopped charging at the configured limit. A possible approach to improve this could be to treat the user-defined limit as an effective “fully charged” state during charging. For example: if is_charging: if battery_percentage < user_defined_limit: LED = AMBER else: LED = GREEN This would align the physical LED indicator with the system’s charging behavior and improve clarity for users without requiring hardware changes. Has anyone else observed this behavior, or is there any existing workaround?

Hi, We are currently in the process of getting an custom iAP2 device communicating via USB-C. We have been using the 'EADemo' app as a test app to ensure full function before certification. Currently, the device completes the authentication and identification successfully. The device appears within the 'EADemo' app, and we are able to select it and see the available protocol. Selecting the protocol sends the EAStartSession command to the accessory and we ACK it. This is where the issues begin. Attempting to send either a string or hex packet results in nothing being sent. The app does not appear to attempt to send a packet when these are pressed. The 'EADemo' app also does not increment its receive counter when the accessory sends an EA packet, but we do receive the ACK from the device. This indicates the device is receiving the packet, but not processing it in app. Sending the EASessionStatus from the accessory with a status of okay does not change the behavior. Sending the EASessionStatus packet from the accessory with a status of closed results in the device sending an EAStopSession packet. The issue does not appear to be with the accessory or the underlying transport layer. Previous attempts to contact MFi support resulted in them referring me to developer support. Are there any known issues within the 'EADemo' app that we should know about/and or need to fix? Does Apple have any other EA example application? Are there any other publicly avalilbe EA examples that Apple would recommend us trying? Thanks, Mike

DJI's DNG files display abnormally in the Apple Photos app on iOS devices, with dark areas showing as very black, but the same files appear normal in Photoshop. I'm curious about what causes this issue.

After update to ipad OS 26.4 or latest 26.3., we’ve been experiencing issues with focusing. We have an app that scans 1x1 cm QR or DataMatrix codes from a distance of 10–20 cm, and users across different devices (ipad 9 and 10) are reporting problems. I didn’t find anything related to the camera in the version changelog, but users from various places are reporting problem with camera.

Hello dear Apple Platform Engineers, I'm working on an iOS App that connects to a Bluetooth Low Energy Peripheral in the foreground. Whenever the App moves into Background, we want to continue syncing data & therefore implemented State Restoration to be informed about Discovery, Connect, Disconnect or Characteristic changes in the Background in order to wake the App up whenever it was "Terminated due to memory issue". I consulted https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/NetworkingInternetWeb/Conceptual/CoreBluetooth_concepts/CoreBluetoothBackgroundProcessingForIOSApps/PerformingTasksWhileYourAppIsInTheBackground.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40013257-CH7-SW1 for this & assigned: CBCentralManagerOptionRestoreIdentifierKey Reinstantiate the dedicated CentralManager & implemented the centralManager(_ central: CBCentralManager, willRestoreState dict: [String : Any]) Delegate Additionally, I assigned the following keys on connect(_ peripheral: CBPeripheral, options: [String : Any]? = nil) CBConnectPeripheralOptionNotifyOnConnectionKey CBConnectPeripheralOptionNotifyOnDisconnectionKey CBConnectPeripheralOptionNotifyOnNotificationKey However, from my experience the App gets woken up, but neither the willRestoreState nor the didDiscover, didConnect or didDisconnectPeripheral is called even though launchOptions?[UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey.bluetoothCentrals] as? [String] is not empty. What might I be missing when trying to make this approach work? Thanks a lot for any insights & support!

The FindMy device is currently MFI certified, but we plan to support UWB ranging functionality in the Find My app, similar to AirTag. After searching for relevant information, I found the relevant UWB functions in this article "Nearby-Interaction-Accessory-Protocol-Specification-Release-R4", but we need to develop third-party applications ourselves. So how can we make it display distance and direction in the "Find My" app like AirTag does?

目前这个findmy 设备是已经通过MFI认证，不过后续想的在”Find My “应用上像 AirTag 一样支持UWB测距功能。 寻找了相关资料，在这篇文章《Nearby-Interaction-Accessory-Protocol-Specification-Release-R4》中找到了UWB的相关功能，但是需要我们自己开发第三方应用。 所以需要怎么做才可以做到像airtag 一样在“Find My”应用上显示距离和方向

EASession(accessory:forProtocol:) always returns nil — MFI accessory iAP2 Platform: iOS 17+ | Hardware: Custom MFI-certified accessory (USB-C, iAP2) | Language: Swift Problem We have a custom MFI-certified accessory communicating over USB-C using ExternalAccessory. The app calls EASession(accessory:forProtocol:) after receiving EAAccessoryDidConnect but it always returns nil. We never get past session creation. What we have verified We captured a sysdiagnose on-device and analysed the accessoryd-packets log. The full iAP2 handshake completes successfully at the OS level: USB attach succeeds MFI auth certificate is present and Apple-issued Auth challenge and response complete successfully IdentificationInformation is accepted by iOS — protocol string and Team ID are correct EAAccessoryDidConnect fires as expected iOS sends StartExternalAccessoryProtocolSession — the OS-level session is established So the hardware, MFI auth, protocol string, and Team ID are all correct. Despite this, EASession(accessory:forProtocol:) returns nil in the app. We also confirmed: Protocol string in UISupportedExternalAccessoryProtocols in Info.plist matches the accessory exactly Protocol string in code matches Info.plist App entitlements are correctly configured EAAccessoryManager.shared().registerForLocalNotifications() is called before connection Current connection code @objc private func accessoryDidConnect(_ notification: Notification) { guard let accessory = notification.userInfo?[EAAccessoryKey] as? EAAccessory else { return } DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 1.0) { self.tryConnectToAccessory() } } private func tryConnectToAccessory() { DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 3.0) { for accessory in EAAccessoryManager.shared().connectedAccessories { let session = EASession(accessory: accessory, forProtocol: "") // session is always nil here } } } Questions The packet log shows a ~4 second gap between EAAccessoryDidConnect firing and iOS internally completing session readiness (StartExternalAccessoryProtocolSession). Is there a reliable way to know when iOS Is it actually ready to grant an EASession, rather than using a fixed delay? Is there a delegate callback or notification that fires when the accessory protocol session is ready to be opened, rather than relying on EAAccessoryDidConnect + an arbitrary delay? Are there any known conditions on iOS 17+ under which EASession returns nil even though the iAP2 handshake completed successfully at the OS level? Is retrying EASession after a nil result a supported pattern, or does a nil result mean the session will never succeed for that connection? Any guidance appreciated.

Hello Apple Developer Technical Support Team, I’m working on an iOS banking/security SDK and we’re trying to match an Android feature that reads payment cards via NFC (EMV). On Android, this is implemented using an NFC scanning screen (e.g., “NfcScanActivity”) that can read EMV data from contactless credit/debit cards. Could you please clarify the current iOS capabilities and App Store policy around this? On iOS, is it currently possible for a third-party App Store app to read contactless credit/debit cards using Core NFC (i.e., accessing EMV application data/AIDs from payment cards)? If this is possible, what are the supported APIs/frameworks and any entitlement requirements (if applicable)? If this is not possible for App Store apps, could you recommend the closest acceptable alternatives for achieving a similar user outcome? For example: Using Apple Pay / PassKit flows for payment-related experiences Card scanning alternatives (camera-based OCR) for capturing card details (if allowed) Using an external certified card reader accessory (MFi) and required approach/entitlements Any other Apple-recommended approach for “card verification / identification” without reading EMV NFC data Our goal is not to bypass security restrictions, but to provide a compliant solution on iOS comparable to Android’s NFC-based card reading, or to adopt an Apple-approved alternative if direct EMV reading is not supported. If helpful, I can share a brief technical summary of the Android behavior and the exact data we need to obtain (e.g., whether it’s card presence verification vs. reading specific EMV tags). Thank you for your guidance. Best regards, Anis

Hello Apple Developer Technical Support Team, I’m working on an iOS banking/security SDK and we’re trying to match an Android feature that reads payment cards via NFC (EMV). On Android, this is implemented using an NFC scanning screen (e.g., “NfcScanActivity”) that can read EMV data from contactless credit/debit cards. Could you please clarify the current iOS capabilities and App Store policy around this? On iOS, is it currently possible for a third-party App Store app to read contactless credit/debit cards using Core NFC (i.e., accessing EMV application data/AIDs from payment cards)? If this is possible, what are the supported APIs/frameworks and any entitlement requirements (if applicable)? If this is not possible for App Store apps, could you recommend the closest acceptable alternatives for achieving a similar user outcome? For example: Using Apple Pay / PassKit flows for payment-related experiences Card scanning alternatives (camera-based OCR) for capturing card details (if allowed) Using an external certified card reader accessory (MFi) and required approach/entitlements Any other Apple-recommended approach for “card verification / identification” without reading EMV NFC data Our goal is not to bypass security restrictions, but to provide a compliant solution on iOS comparable to Android’s NFC-based card reading, or to adopt an Apple-approved alternative if direct EMV reading is not supported. If helpful, I can share a brief technical summary of the Android behavior and the exact data we need to obtain (e.g., whether it’s card presence verification vs. reading specific EMV tags). Thank you for your guidance. Best regards, Imran

Hi all, I’m facing a device-specific issue in a live production iOS app distributed privately via the App Store . The app crashes immediately after login on one client’s iPhone, while the same account works fine on other devices. There’s no crash log generated in Analytics, and the app just pops to the home screen. Environment: App: Production app on App Store iOS version: 26.3 Devices: Only one device exhibits the crash; other iPhones work fine Login flow: App calls an API and writes the response to a local SQLite database immediately after login Distribution: App Store (Privately). The user is install via the redemption codes. Observations: All users on the problematic device crash immediately after login. The crash does not occur on any other devices, including the same iOS version. The client had already uninstalled and reinstalled the app via App Store cloud download, but the crash persisted. No crash log appears in Analytics or Xcode (process just terminates). Device restart had not been attempted before reinstall. App does not use Keychain tokens; local DB is only SQLite in the app sandbox. Hypotheses so far: Corrupted binary or cached app installation on that device SQLite database corruption or write failure Device-specific OS/environment issue (temp files, file locks, provisioning) iOS watchdog silently terminating the app during post-login DB write Language / region differences unlikely Questions: Is it possible for a device to retain a corrupted app binary or cached installation even after uninstall + cloud download reinstall from the App Store? Can uninstalling, restarting the device, and reinstalling guarantee a fresh binary and sandbox? Are there any known iOS behaviors where a local SQLite write could trigger an instant crash on one device only, without generating crash logs? Any other suggestions for diagnosing this device-specific post-login crash in a live production environment? Thanks in advance for any guidance — this issue is affecting a client’s live usage, and we’d like to understand the root cause and best way to resolve it safely.

Right now, I am scanning for specific BLE peripherals with my iPad app, using this: [self.cbCentralManager scanForPeripheralsWithServices:serviceUUIDsToScanFor options:@{CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey:@YES}]; I have the "CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey" set true because I need to be able to detect when a peripheral is no longer advertising, so I capture each "didDiscoverPeripheral" callback and set a 3-second timer that notifies the user that that peripheral is no longer in range if another didDiscoverPeripheral hasn't been received in that time. The peripherals all advertise at 100ms intervals. What's weird is that if I leave the scan on for a long time, the advertising packets slow down, and eventually one of those timers times out, around about one or two minutes for the first instance, and then every 10-20 seconds after that. I've checked with ATS for all the BLE traffic, and there are indeed > 3-second gaps in the advertising packets that the iPad sees, so it's not my code introducing the gap. Is there some reason long-running scans should not be done on iPadOS (both 18 and 26.1 used)? I've tested out switching my scan to "stopScan" and restart it every 10 seconds, and that seems to have resolved the issue, but it's unclear why that would matter (and that does not seem like an appropriate use of the stop and start scans). Thanks!

Hello, I am a Bluetooth Engineer at Google investigating an interoperability bug between an Android device and AirPods 4. When requesting an L2CAP connection (with PSM = AVDTP) to the AirPods during SDP service discovery, The AirPods L2CAP layer incorrectly responds with a "refused - no resources available" status followed by a Pending status and a Success status. This violates the specification, which says that the request has been fully rejected after the refused status and should not receive followup responses. I suspect the "no resources available" response is a bug. This prevents A2DP from working with the AirPods. This bug does not exist with AirPods 2 firmware. Here is a packet capture: 1602 1969-12-31 16:07:04.805261 0.062473 localhost () Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) L2CAP 17 Sent Connection Request (AVDTP, SCID: 0x22c6) 1603 1969-12-31 16:07:04.810953 0.005692 controller host HCI_EVT 8 Rcvd Number of Completed Packets 1604 1969-12-31 16:07:04.811078 0.000125 Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) localhost () SDP 27 Rcvd Service Search Attribute Request : Device Information: [Bluetooth Profile Descriptor List 0x0009] 1605 1969-12-31 16:07:04.821249 0.010171 localhost () Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) SDP 19 Sent Service Search Attribute Response 1606 1969-12-31 16:07:04.876396 0.055147 controller host HCI_EVT 8 Rcvd Number of Completed Packets 1607 1969-12-31 16:07:04.876464 0.000068 Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) localhost () L2CAP 21 Rcvd Connection Response - Refused - no resources available (SCID: 0x22c6) 1608 1969-12-31 16:07:04.942539 0.066075 Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) localhost () SDP 41 Rcvd Service Search Attribute Request : Unknown: [Bluetooth Profile Descriptor List 0x0009] 1609 1969-12-31 16:07:04.951052 0.008513 localhost () Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) SDP 19 Sent Service Search Attribute Response 1610 1969-12-31 16:07:05.010605 0.059553 controller host HCI_EVT 8 Rcvd Number of Completed Packets 1611 1969-12-31 16:07:05.080593 0.069988 Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) localhost () SDP 27 Rcvd Service Search Attribute Request : GATT: [Bluetooth Profile Descriptor List 0x0009] 1612 1969-12-31 16:07:05.087636 0.007043 localhost () Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) SDP 19 Sent Service Search Attribute Response 1613 1969-12-31 16:07:05.209417 0.121781 controller host HCI_EVT 8 Rcvd Number of Completed Packets 1614 1969-12-31 16:07:05.279491 0.070074 Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) localhost () L2CAP 21 Rcvd Connection Response - Pending (SCID: 0x22c6) 1615 1969-12-31 16:07:05.280731 0.001240 Apple_6b:db:09 (AirPods) localhost () L2CAP 21 Rcvd Connection Response - Success (SCID: 0x22c6, DCID: 0x0406) Please file this bug with the AirPods Bluetooth team.

I have a BLE device which my app connects to and can detect button presses. On a button press, I want my app to start recording using the AudioRecordingIntent. But my app doesn't work and throws a background error. Is there any reliable way I can get the app to start recording audio in the background?