General:
Forums subtopic: App & System Services > Networking
TN3151 Choosing the right networking API
Networking Overview document — Despite the fact that this is in the archive, this is still really useful.
TLS for App Developers forums post
Choosing a Network Debugging Tool documentation
WWDC 2019 Session 712 Advances in Networking, Part 1 — This explains the concept of constrained networking, which is Apple’s preferred solution to questions like How do I check whether I’m on Wi-Fi?
TN3135 Low-level networking on watchOS
TN3179 Understanding local network privacy
Adapt to changing network conditions tech talk
Understanding Also-Ran Connections forums post
Extra-ordinary Networking forums post
Foundation networking:
Forums tags: Foundation, CFNetwork
URL Loading System documentation — NSURLSession, or URLSession in Swift, is the recommended API for HTTP[S] on Apple platforms.
Moving to Fewer, Larger Transfers forums post
Testing Background Session Code forums post
Network framework:
Forums tag: Network
Network framework documentation — Network framework is the recommended API for TCP, UDP, and QUIC on Apple platforms.
Building a custom peer-to-peer protocol sample code (aka TicTacToe)
Implementing netcat with Network Framework sample code (aka nwcat)
Configuring a Wi-Fi accessory to join a network sample code
Moving from Multipeer Connectivity to Network Framework forums post
NWEndpoint History and Advice forums post
Network Extension (including Wi-Fi on iOS):
See Network Extension Resources
Wi-Fi Fundamentals
TN3111 iOS Wi-Fi API overview
Wi-Fi Aware framework documentation
Wi-Fi on macOS:
Forums tag: Core WLAN
Core WLAN framework documentation
Wi-Fi Fundamentals
Secure networking:
Forums tags: Security
Apple Platform Security support document
Preventing Insecure Network Connections documentation — This is all about App Transport Security (ATS).
WWDC 2017 Session 701 Your Apps and Evolving Network Security Standards [1] — This is generally interesting, but the section starting at 17:40 is, AFAIK, the best information from Apple about how certificate revocation works on modern systems.
Available trusted root certificates for Apple operating systems support article
Requirements for trusted certificates in iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 support article
About upcoming limits on trusted certificates support article
Apple’s Certificate Transparency policy support article
What’s new for enterprise in iOS 18 support article — This discusses new key usage requirements.
Technote 2232 HTTPS Server Trust Evaluation
Technote 2326 Creating Certificates for TLS Testing
QA1948 HTTPS and Test Servers
Miscellaneous:
More network-related forums tags: 5G, QUIC, Bonjour
On FTP forums post
Using the Multicast Networking Additional Capability forums post
Investigating Network Latency Problems forums post
WirelessInsights framework documentation
iOS Network Signal Strength forums post
Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
[1] This video is no longer available from Apple, but the URL should help you locate other sources of this info.
Networking
RSS for tagExplore the networking protocols and technologies used by the device to connect to Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices, and cellular data services.
Selecting any option will automatically load the page
Post
Replies
Boosts
Views
Created
I have to continuously disable Limit IP Tracking on my local Wi-Fi network. When it's enable I am not able to access some services on the same subnet that falls under rfc1918. Accessing remote network, over site to site vpn, is not affected, just my local network. I opened FB21483619 for this.
I would expect to see rfc1918 subnets not included. Also would expect all DNS queries to be sent to the servers provided in DHCP.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Networking
We have an application which is written in Swift, which activates Transparent Proxy network extension. Our Transparent Proxy module is a system extension, which is exposing an app proxy provider interface (We are using NETransparentProxyProvider class and in extension’s Info.plist we use com.apple.networkextension.app-proxy key.)
We are using JamF MDM profile with VPN payload for deployment. With this MDM profile, we are observing an issue, ie TransparentProxy extension is not enabled when user performs logout and login and only in Sonoma.
By analyzing it further we are noticing that in Sonoma some times, the system invokes NETransparentProxyProvider's stopProxy delegate once or twice with NEProviderStopReason as 12 ie userLogout. Due to this after login the system extension is not activated.
We are having an issue with the Local Network permission pop-up not getting triggered for our apps that need to communicate with devices via local network interfaces/addresses.
As we understand, apps using UDP should trigger this, causing macOS to prompt for access, or, if denied, fail to connect. However, we are facing issues with macOS not prompting this popup at all.
Here are important and related points:
Our application is packaged as a .app package and distributed independently (not on the App Store).
The application controls hardware that we manufacture. In order to find the hardware on the network, we send a UDP broadcast with a message for our hardware on the local network, and the hardware responds with a message back.
However, the popup (to ask for permission) never shows up. The application is not able to find the hardware device. It is interesting to note that data is still sent out to the network (without the popup) but we receive back the wrong data.
The behaviour is consistent macOS Sequoia (and above) with both Apple And Intel silicon.
Workarounds that have been tried:
Manual Authorization: One solution suggested in various blogs was to go to "Settings → Privacy and Security-> Local network", find your application and grant access. However, the application never shows up in the list here.
Firewall: No difference is seen in behaviour with firewall being ON OR OFF.
Setting NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription: We have also tried setting the Info.plist adding the NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription with a meaningful string and updating the NSBonjourServices.
Running Via terminal (WORKS): Running the application via terminal sees no issues. The application runs correctly and is able to send UDP and receive correct data (and find the devices on the network). But this is not an appropriate solution.
How can we get this bug/issue fixed in macOS Sequoia (and above)?
Are there any other solutions/workarounds that we can try on our end?
Hello,
I have a .app NSApplication which is ran as a LaunchDaemon, in it's lifecycle I never call any AppKit functions (I start it with CFRunLoopRun). (mentioned on this post as well).
I intercept a couple of signals using signal(s) in order to trigger CFRunLoopStop(CFRunLoopGetCurrent()) to do some cleanup.
This LaunchDaemon has the purpose of providing VPN connectivity, as such I call connect functions that trigger the "Add VPN configuration" dialog (I can't provide extra details about this, as I integrate another SDK so I'm not sure what happens under the hood) and I noticed that whenever it is displayed, after allowing it, during the lifecycle of the application when it's time to send the signal, the signal isn't received.
I tried re-adding the NSApp callbacks in order to investigate, but it looks like those aren't called as well.
I'm interested in knowing more about this scenario and what happens... I couldn't really find information about this dialog...
Thanks!
As part of iOS 26, we get X25519MLKEM768 key exchange group support, but SecP256r1MLKEM768 and SecP384r1MLKEM1024 are not supported. Is there any way to enable these key exchange groups on iOS 26? We need them for WKWebView and NSURLSession.
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
On iOS 26, connect to the PQC server using Safari.
The key exchange group is limited to X25519MLKEM768.
I've implemented
func urlSession(_ session: URLSession, task: URLSessionTask, willPerformHTTPRedirection response: HTTPURLResponse, newRequest request: URLRequest, completionHandler: @escaping (URLRequest?) -> Void)
and
func urlSession(_ session: URLSession, downloadTask: URLSessionDownloadTask, didWriteData bytesWritten: Int64, totalBytesWritten: Int64, totalBytesExpectedToWrite: Int64)
I've put a breakpoint in each but the BP in willPerformHTTPRedirection never fires.
When the didWriteData fires and I inspect downloadTask.originalRequest I see my original request URL
When I inspect downloadTask.currentRequest the returned request contains a different URL.
I'm the farthest thing from an HTTP wizard, but I had thought when originalRequest differs from currentRequest there had been some sort of server-side 'redirection'.
Is there a way for my code to receive a callback when something like this happens?
NOTE: my download code works fine, I'm just hoping to detect the case when currentRequest changes.
any/all guidance greatly appreciated
on the off chance it helps, are are my original and current request values:
(lldb) po downloadTask.originalRequest
▿ Optional<URLRequest>
▿ some : https://audio.listennotes.com/e/p/c524803c1a90412f922948274ecc3625/
(lldb) po downloadTask.currentRequest
▿ Optional<URLRequest>
▿ some : https://26973.mc.tritondigital.com:443/OMNY_HAPPIERWITHGRETCHENRUBIN_PODCAST_P/media-session/76cfceb2-1801-4570-b830-ded57611a9cf/d/clips/796469f9-ea34-46a2-8776-ad0f015d6beb/e1b22d0b-6974-4bb8-81ba-b2480119983c/2f35a8ca-b982-44e9-8122-b3dc000ae0e1/audio/direct/t1769587393/Ep_571_Want_to_Join_Us_for_a_No-Spend_February_Plus_a_Better_Word_for_Squats.mp3?t=1769587393&in_playlist=751ada7f-ded3-44b9-bfb8-b2480119985b&utm_source=Podcast
Description
Our NETransparentProxyProvider system extension maintains a persistent TLS/DTLS control channel to a security gateway. To maintain this stateful connection the extension sends application-level "Keep Alive" packets every few seconds (example : 20 seconds).
The Issue: When the macOS device enters a sleep state, the Network Extension process is suspended, causing our application-level heartbeat to cease. Consequently, our backend gateway—detecting no activity—terminates the session via Dead Peer Detection (DPD).
The problem is exacerbated by macOS Dark Wake cycles. We observe the extension's wake() callback being triggered periodically (approx. every 15 minutes) while the device remains in a sleep state (lid closed). During these brief windows:
The extension attempts to use the existing socket, finds it terminated by the backend, and initiates a full re-handshake.
Shortly after the connection is re-established, the OS triggers the sleep() callback and suspends the process again.
This creates a "connection churn" cycle that generates excessive telemetry noise and misleading "Session Disconnected" alerts for our enterprise customers.
Steps to Reproduce
Activate Proxy:
Start the NETransparentProxyProvider and establish a TLS session to a gateway.
Apply Settings: Configure NETransparentProxyNetworkSettings to intercept outbound TCP/UDP traffic.
Initialize Heartbeat: Start a 20-second timer (DispatchSourceTimer) to log and send keep-alive packets.
Induce Sleep: Put the Mac to sleep (Apple Menu > Sleep).
Observe Logs: Monitor the system via sysdiagnose or the macOS Console.
Observation: Logs stop entirely during sleep, indicating process suspension.
Observation: wake() and sleep() callbacks are triggered repeatedly during Dark Wake intervals, causing a cycle of re-connections.
Expected Behavior
We seek to minimize connection turnover during maintenance wakes and maintain session stability while the device is technically in a sleep state.
Questions for Apple
Is it possible to suppress the sleep and wake callback methods of NETransparentProxyProvider when the device is performing a maintenance/Dark Wake, only triggering them for a full user-initiated wake?
Is it possible to prevent the NETransparentProxyProvider process from being suspended during sleep, or at least grant it a high-priority background execution slot to maintain the heartbeat?
If suspension is mandatory, is there a recommended way to utilize TCP_KEEPALIVE socket options that the kernel can handle on behalf of the suspended extension?
How can the extension programmatically identify if a wake() call is a "Dark Wake" versus a "Full User Wake" to avoid unnecessary re-connection logic?
TL;DR: How does one use DNSServiceReconfirmRecord() to invalidate mDNS state of a device that's gone offline?
I'm using the DNSServiceDiscovery API (dns_sd.h) for a local P2P service. The problem I'm trying to solve is how to deal with a peer that abruptly loses connectivity, i.e. by turning off WiFi or simply by moving out of range or otherwise losing connectivity. In this situation there is of course no notification that the peer device has gone offline; it simply stops sending any packets.
After my own timeout mechanism determines the peer is not responding, I mark it as offline in my own data structures. The problem is how to discover when/if it comes back online later. My DNSServiceBrowse callback won't be invoked because mDNS doesn't know the device went offline in the first place.
I am trying to use DNSServiceReconfirmRecord, which appears to be for exactly this use case -- "Instruct the daemon to verify the validity of a resource record that appears to be out of date (e.g. because TCP connection to a service's target failed.)" However my attempts always return a BadReference error (-65541). The function requires me to pass a DNS record, and the only one I know is the TXT record; perhaps it needs a different one? Which, and how would I get it?
Thanks!
Tags
NetworkExtension, NEFilterManager, Content-Filter, TestFlight, iOS, Swift, Entitlements, App-Groups
Problem Summary
I'm experiencing a critical issue with a Network Extension Content Filter that works perfectly in debug mode but fails in TestFlight with:
```
-[NEFilterManager saveToPreferencesWithCompletionHandler:]_block_invoke_3:
failed to save the new configuration:
Error Domain=NEFilterErrorDomain Code=5 "permission denied"
UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=permission denied}
```
This is blocking completion of a client project and requires urgent assistance.
Environment
• Platform: iOS
• Minimum Deployment: iOS 16.0
• Development: Xcode with Flutter integration
• Testing Method: TestFlight (production build)
• Works in: Debug mode (direct device deployment)
• Fails in: TestFlight builds
What Works vs. What Fails
WORKS IN DEBUG MODE (✓):
• Network extension installs successfully
• System permission dialog appears correctly
• Filter starts and blocks content as expected
• All domain management functions work
FAILS IN TESTFLIGHT (✗):
• System permission dialog never appears
• NEFilterManager.saveToPreferences fails immediately
• Error Code 5: "permission denied"
• Cannot set up the filter at all
Implementation Details
ARCHITECTURE:
The implementation consists of:
Main App (Flutter) - handles UI and configuration
Network Extension Plugin (Swift) - bridges Flutter to NetworkExtension framework
FilterDataProvider (Swift) - implements content filtering logic
App Group - shared storage for configuration (group.app.v1.dev0)
PERMISSION REQUEST CODE:
```swift
func requestPermissions(completion: @escaping (Result<Bool, Error>) -> Void) {
NEFilterManager.shared().loadFromPreferences { error in
if let error = error {
DispatchQueue.main.async { completion(.failure(error)) }
return
}
let config = NEFilterProviderConfiguration()
config.organization = "Testing
config.filterBrowsers = true
config.filterSockets = true
let manager = NEFilterManager.shared()
manager.providerConfiguration = config
manager.localizedDescription = " Screen Shield"
manager.isEnabled = true
manager.saveToPreferences { saveError in
DispatchQueue.main.async {
completion(saveError == nil ? .success(true) : .failure(saveError!))
}
}
}
}
```
EXTENSION INFO.PLIST:
```xml
ENTITLEMENTS:
```xml
What I've Already Tried
VERIFIED ENTITLEMENTS (✓)
• Both main app and extension have matching entitlements
• App Group identifier is identical in both targets
• content-filter-provider capability is set
CHECKED PROVISIONING PROFILES (✓)
• Created distribution provisioning profiles with Network Extension capability
• App Group is included in all profiles
• All capabilities are enabled in App Store Connect
VERIFIED APP GROUP CONFIGURATION (✓)
• App Group exists in Apple Developer portal
• Added to both App ID and Extension App ID
• Regenerated provisioning profiles after adding
CODE SIGNING (✓)
• Both targets build and sign successfully
• No code signing errors during archive
• Extension is embedded in main app bundle
TESTFLIGHT REQUIREMENTS (✓)
• Using distribution certificate for archive
• Archive validation passes without warnings
• Upload to TestFlight successful
BUILD CONFIGURATION (✓)
• Minimum deployment target is iOS 16.0 for both targets
• Extension deployment target matches main app
• All required frameworks are properly linked
Specific Questions
Permission Dialog: In debug mode, the system permission dialog appears. In TestFlight, it never shows. Is there a TestFlight-specific permission issue with Network Extensions?
Entitlements Propagation: Are there known issues with entitlements not being properly included in TestFlight builds despite being present in the archive?
Distribution vs Development: Are there any differences in how Network Extensions are authorized between development builds and distribution builds?
Additional Context
• The extension works flawlessly when deployed directly from Xcode
• No console errors or warnings in TestFlight build
• UserDefaults(suiteName:) successfully accesses the App Group in both modes
• Filter logic itself is tested and working (confirmed in debug mode)
• This is urgent as it's blocking client project completion
I tested this with both adult acc and also with child app
What I Need
Specific steps to diagnose why NEFilterManager.saveToPreferences returns Code 5 in TestFlight
Confirmation of whether Network Extension entitlements require special handling for TestFlight
Any known issues or workarounds for this specific error in production builds
Debugging techniques that work in TestFlight environment (since console logs are limited)
System Information
• Xcode Version: Latest stable
• iOS Target: 16.0+
• Swift Version: 5.0
• Framework: Flutter with native iOS plugin
• Build Type: Distribution (Ad Hoc via TestFlight)
Thank you for any assistance. This is blocking critical client work and I need to resolve it urgently.
Hi,
After the release of macOS Tahoe 26.2. We are seeing memory leaks if our Network Protection Extension is used alongside the Apple Built In Firewall, a second Security Solution that does Network Protection and a VPN. Our NEXT, socketfilterfw and the other security solution consume instead of a few MB of Memory now multiple Gigabytes of Memory. This issue started with the public release of macOS Tahoe 26.2, this issue was not present in earlier versions of macOS and the same set of Software. Just testing our solution by itself will not show this behavior. I unfortunately can't try to reproduce the issue on my test device that runs the latest 26.3 beta as I do not have the third party software installed there and I can't get it.
Our Network extension implements depending on the license and enabled features:
NEFilterDataProvider
NEDNSProxyProvider
NETransparentProxyProvider
For all man in the middle Use Cases we are using Network Framework, to communicate with the peers. And leaks suggest that the there is a memory leak within internals of the Network Framework.
Here is a shortened sample of the leaks output of our Network extension. However, the third party NEXT does show the same leaks.
More details can be found on the Feedback with the ID FB21649104
snippet is blocking post? sensitive language
Does anyone see similar issues or has an idea what could cause this issue, except a regression of the Network.framework introduced with macOS Tahoe 26.2?
Best Regards,
Timo
Hi,
i programmed an app the uses MultipeerConnectivity to connect iOS-Devices to exchange Video-Files from the camera (https://pellepepper.my.canva.site/jumpcontrol). In general the solution works fine but I have some challenges:
The connection is pretty stable when there are only few other devices around. It seems to become more fragile when there are more other iOS-Devices in the area
Testing of the App worked with several meters of distance (up to 10). In real environments of athletics venues the solution is only stable in a region of about 2 meters
It seems that newer iOS-Releases make the connection more unstable. Last weekend we used it with iOS 18-Devices on older hardware, what worked fine. Integrating an iOS 26 device made trouble. Working on iPhone 13 with iOS 26 is hardly not usable.
What can I do to improve stability of the connection and therefore the App. What are the metrics to look for? Is there something I can do on the code base to make to connection more stable?
Many thx
Rainer
I’m trying to determine the actual Wi-Fi band (e.g. 2.4GHz, 5GHz, or 6GHz) of the network that is currently connected on macOS.
I’m not looking for a heuristic based on the Wi-Fi name (SSID), such as checking whether it contains “5G” or “6G”.
Instead, I want a reliable and accurate method that reflects the real connection parameters reported by the system.
Specifically, I’m interested in:
Whether macOS exposes the current Wi-Fi band or channel information through public APIs (e.g. CoreWLAN)
Or if there is any supported system-level way to retrieve this information programmatically
If this information is not directly accessible, I’d also like to understand:
Why macOS does not expose it
And whether there is a recommended alternative approach
Any insights or examples would be greatly appreciated.
Hi there,
How can I best understand the changes on the eSIM Installation wizard, i.e. on iOS 18 and later after an eSIM installation you used to get steps such as labeling the eSIM, deciding what to use for iMessage & FaceTime, what to use for mobile data, main voice line, etc.
Whereas on iOS 26 you are not prompted for these steps.
We are developing a macOS VPN application using NEPacketTunnelProvider with a custom encryption protocol.
We are using standard On-Demand VPN rules with Wi-Fi SSID matching but we want to add some additional feature to the native behaviour.
We want to control the 'conenect/disconnect' button status and allow the user to interact with the tunnel even when the on demand rule conditions are satisfied, is there a native way to do it?
In case we need to implement our custom on-demand behaviour we need to access to this information:
connected interface type
ssid name
and being informed when it changes so to trigger our logic, how to do it from the app side?
we try to use CWWiFiClient along with ssidDidChangeForWiFiInterface monitoring, it returns just the interface name en0 and not the wifi ssid name.
Is location access mandatory to access wifi SSID on macOS even if we have a NEPacketTunnelProvider?
Please note that we bundle our Network Extension as an App Extension (not SystemExtension).
We’re developing an enterprise VPN client for macOS using NetworkExtension (PacketTunnelProvider) with Always-On / On-Demand VPN, deployed via MDM.
On macOS 14.x and 15.x we observe the following log message from nesessionmanager:
nesessionmanager: NESMVPNSession[...] Resetting VPN On Demand
This most commonly occurs after sleep → wake.
After this happens, the VPN no longer reconnects automatically, even though isOnDemandEnabled remains true and On-Demand rules are still present.
Then a manual user action is required to reconnect.
Questions:
Is the “Resetting VPN On Demand” log message expected during sleep/wake transitions?
Under what conditions does macOS reset On-Demand VPN state?
Is there a supported way to detect or recover from this state programmatically?
Any guidance on expected behavior or best practices would be appreciated.
I have noticed race conditions on macOS when tearing down and re-configuring an NEPacketTunnelProvider.
My goal is to handle switching out one VPN profile for another identical/near identical one (I'll add some context for this below).
The flow that I have tested was to wait for the NEVPNStatusDidChange notification to report a NEVPNStatus.disconnected state, and then start the process of re-configuring the VPN with a new profile.
In practice however, I have noticed that I must wait a couple of seconds between NEVPNStatus.disconnected state being reported and setting up a new tunnel. Otherwise, the system routing table gets messed up but the VPN reports being in NEVPNStatus.connected state, resulting in a tunnel that appears healthy but can't be accessed.
With this, I wanted to ask if you have any suggestions on any OS items I can observer, in order to deterministically know that the system has fully cleaned up my packet tunnel, and that I am safe to configure another? This would be much more optimal than a hard-coded delay.
Additional context:
Jamf is a common solution for deploying MDM configuration profiles. However, in my tests, it doesn't support Apple's recommended approach of using the PayloadIdentifier to mark profiles for replacement, as PayloadIdentifiers are automatically updated to match the PayloadUUID of that same profile on upload. Although given what I've observed, I'm not sure the Apple recommended approach would work here in any case.
Additionally, it would be nice to transition from non-MDM to MDM cleanly, however, this also requires an indeterminate wait time between the non-MDM configuration being disconnected and subsequently removed, and the MDM one being configured.
With these scenarios, we need to be able to add a second configuration, with possibly identical VPN settings, then remove the old one, allowing the system to transition to the new configuration.
For the MDM case, the pattern I've noticed on the system is that when the current profile is suddenly deleted, the connection will go into disconnected state, then NEVPNConfigurationChange will fire. The new profile can be configured from NEVPNConfigurationChange, however some time is needed to avoid races.
For non-MDM, I had experimented with an approach of polling for MDM configurations appearing. When they do, I'd remove my previous notification observers, and set up a new NEVPNStatusDidChange notification observer, to remove the non-MDM VPN configuration after. it enters a disconnected state. Following the removal, I would call a function to reconfigure the VPN with new configuration. When this logic is in place, the call to stopVPNTunnel() is made. Again, a hardcoded delay is required between stopping and removing the old configuration and setting up a new one.
Thanks!
Case-ID: 17935956
In the NetworkExtension framework, for the NETransparentProxyProvider and NEDNSProxyProvider classes: when calling the open func writeDatagrams(_ datagrams: [Data], sentBy remoteEndpoints: [NWEndpoint]) async throwsin the NEDNSProxyProvider class, and the open func write(_ data: Data, withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping @Sendable ((any Error)?) -> Void)in the NETransparentProxyProvider class, errors such as "The operation could not be completed because the flow is not connected" and "Error Domain=NEAppProxyFlowErrorDomain Code=1 "The operation could not be completed because the flow is not connected"" occur.
Once this issue arises, if it occurs in the NEDNSProxyProvider, the entire system's DNS will fail to function properly; if it occurs in the NETransparentProxyProvider, the entire network will become unavailable.
I’m developing an iOS idle game (guild management). To detect manual device time changes that would break progression, I need a trusted “current real-world time” reference.
I’m considering querying Apple’s NTP host time.apple.com, but I couldn’t find any official guidance about whether third-party apps may use time.apple.com directly (acceptable use, rate limits, whether it’s discouraged, etc.). Apple Developer Support couldn’t provide info and suggested asking on the forums.
Questions:
1. Is it permitted for a third-party iOS app to query time.apple.com via NTP/SNTP (Yes/No or conditional)?
2. If permitted, are there any published or recommended constraints (rate limits, caching, prohibited patterns, commercial app considerations)?
3. If not permitted / not recommended, what is the recommended alternative approach (run our own time service, use public NTP pool, or any Apple-recommended mechanism)?
4. If there is any official document / policy covering this, could you point me to it?
For context: I do not need sub-second accuracy and I do not intend high-frequency polling. If implemented at all, it would be very low frequency (e.g., first launch + once per 24h) with caching and graceful fallback on failure. My main goal is policy clarity rather than implementation details.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Networking
I want to know the right way/API/usage to use NWConnectionGroup to send both datagram and non-datagram stream.
I am currently working on an P2P video streaming app. I want to leverage NWConnectionGroup over QUIC to handle both message channel (traditionally handled by a TCP connection) and media channel (traditionally handled by sth. over UDP) to transmit SRT packets back and forth.
I created a NWConnectionGroup and it worked fine on non-datagram parts. The problems are with datagram part. I tried
extracting a connection with datagram = true either from the group or from message, doesn't and in some cases it breaks other non-datagram connections.
I currently send datagram directly using the NWConnectionGroup.send(content:completion). It kinda works but I keep seeing it canceled a lot of messages, which breaks SRT shortly after start. The warnings belong flooded my console. (Seems like want me to create a connection to transmit datagram, how?)
nw_connection_create_with_connection [C1600] Original connection not yet connected
nw_connection_group_create_connection_for_endpoint_and_parameters [G1] failed to create connection with parameters quic, local: fe80::439:68b4:6ec2:694%en0.60517, definite, attribution: developer, server
I must use it in wrong way. What should I do to fix it?
Hi everyone 👋
As a network engineer and indie iOS developer, I couldn’t find a lightweight mobile tool that fully supports IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack diagnostics — so I built NetToolbox -All-In-One Utility for engineers, DevOps, and developers.
Here are its core features that solve real mobile networking pain points:
One-Click Full Diagnostics: Integrates ping, traceroute, and multi-type DNS queries (A/AAAA/CNAME) — no need to switch between apps
IPv4/IPv6 Dual-Stack Support: Seamlessly works in IPv6-only networks, with the ability to test connectivity differences between dual-stack environments
LAN Device Scanning: Quickly identifies all devices on the same network segment and checks port availability
Offline Functionality: Diagnostic logic is stored locally, enabling LAN troubleshooting without an internet connection
Lightweight Design: 5MB install size, no storage bloat, and low power consumption during operation
Dark Mode Support: Tailored for developers who work late at night
During development, I leveraged Apple Intelligence alongside Claude Code and Gemini 3 to accelerate the process, optimize iOS native networking stack adaptation and local storage logic, and significantly boost development efficiency.
I’d love to hear from the community:
What must-have features are missing from mobile network diagnostic tools?
Do you have experience optimizing iOS workflows with Apple Intelligence?
👉 You can try the app here:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nettoolbox-all-in-one-utility/id6757392404
Feedback is highly appreciated — I’ll keep iterating to make it better! 🚀
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Networking
Tags:
Developer Tools
Network Extension
Network
Apple Intelligence