Networking

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Explore the networking protocols and technologies used by the device to connect to Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices, and cellular data services.

Networking Documentation

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Local Hotspot
Hello, we are developing hardware that needs to connect to an iPhone via Wi-Fi to send requests to a server. On Android, we have managed to create a programmatic local hotspot within the app to facilitate connection and improve the user experience. On iOS, however, Personal Hotspot must be manually enabled from the system settings, and the user must manually enter the SSID and password, which significantly degrades the UX. My questions are: Is there a workaround, unofficial method, or private API to generate a local hotspot from an app on iOS, similar to what can be done on Android? Is there an alternative within the MFi program or through specific frameworks to facilitate a quick and automatic connection between the hardware and the iPhone without relying on the manual Personal Hotspot? Are there any best practices for improving the local Wi-Fi connection experience between an accessory and an iPhone in the absence of hotspot controls? I would appreciate any guidance, experience, or resources that would help me better understand the feasible options in iOS for scenarios where fast and direct communication between hardware and mobile devices via Wi-Fi is required.
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111
Sep ’25
macOS 15.6 network failure with VPNs?
I filed FB19631435 about this just now. Basically: starting with 15.6, we've had reports (internally and outternally) that after some period of time, networking fails so badly that it can't even acquire a DHCP lease, and the system needs to be rebooted to fix this. The systems in question all have at least 2 VPN applications installed; ours is a transparent proxy provider, and the affected system also had Crowdstrike's Falcon installed. A customer system reported seemingly identical failures on their systems; they don't have Crowdstrike, but they do have Cyberhaven's. Has anyone else seen somethng like this? Since it seems to involve three different networking extensions, I'm assuming it's due to an interaction between them, not a bug in any individual one. But what do I know? 😄
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529
Jan ’26
Prevent SSL Handshake with User Installed Certificates
how can I prevent handshake when certificate is user installed for example if user is using Proxyman or Charles proxy and they install their own certificates now system is trusting those certificates I wanna prevent that, and exclude those certificates that are installed by user, and accept the handshake if CA certificate is in a real valid certificate defined in OS I know this can be done in android by setting something like <network-security-config> <base-config> <trust-anchors> <certificates src="system" /> </trust-anchors> </base-config> </network-security-config>
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214
Aug ’25
Disable Local Network Access permission check
I'm using a Mac Studio in a homelab context and use Homebrew to manage the installed services. The services include things that access the local network, for example Prometheus which monitors some other servers, a reverse proxy which fronts other web services on the network, and a DNS server which can use another as upstream. Local Network Access permissions make it impossible to reliably perform unattended updates of services because an updated binary requires a GUI login to grant local network permissions (again). I use brew services to manage the services as launchd agents, i.e. they run in a non-root GUI context. I know that I can also use sudo brew services which instead installs the services as launchd daemons, but running services as root has negative security implication and generally doesn't look like a good idea to me. If only there was a way to disable local network access checks altogether…
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428
Feb ’26
No route to host
I upgraded my Mac to Sequoia 15.4.1 an i hat to upgrade XCode to Version 16.3. I access a MQTT Broker by an sending an mosquitto_sub request to the Broker. Now its no longer possible the request fails i granted Network permission to my App
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210
May ’25
get Wi-Fi controller info
Hello, I'm trying to get a list of all network devices (device audit for DLP system). CFMutableDictionaryRef matchingDictionary = IOServiceMatching(kIONetworkControllerClass); if (matchingDictionary == nullptr) { std::cerr << "IOServiceMatching() returned empty matching dictionary" << std::endl; return 1; } io_iterator_t iter; if (kern_return_t kr = IOServiceGetMatchingServices(kIOMasterPortDefault, matchingDictionary, &iter); kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { std::cerr << "IOServiceGetMatchingServices() failed" << std::endl; return 1; } io_service_t networkController; while ((networkController = IOIteratorNext(iter)) != IO_OBJECT_NULL) { std::cout << "network device: "; if (CFDataRef cfIOMACAddress = (CFDataRef) IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(networkController, CFSTR(kIOMACAddress), kCFAllocatorDefault, kNilOptions); cfIOMACAddress != nullptr) { std::vector<uint8_t> data(CFDataGetLength(cfIOMACAddress)); CFDataGetBytes(cfIOMACAddress, CFRangeMake(0, data.size()), data.data()); std::cout << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short)data[0] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[1] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[2] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[3] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[4] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[5]; CFRelease(cfIOMACAddress); } std::cout << std::endl; IOObjectRelease(networkController); } IOObjectRelease(iter); The Wi-Fi controller shows up in I/O Registry Explorer, but IOServiceGetMatchingServices() does not return any information about it. Any way to retrieve Wi-Fi controller info in daemon code? Thank you in advance!
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178
Jun ’25
URLSession not working on iOS26/Xcode26
Hi, I’m trying out my app with Xcode 26, running on an iOS 26 simulator. I'm having issues with URLSessions, it crashes when I set the URLSessionConfiguration to default, and if I don’t use the URLSessionConfiguration, it crashes if I use URLSession.shared. When running in a real device, it doesn't crash, but any network request will hang and time out after a while. Is it a known issue in the latest beta versions?
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288
Jun ’25
Cellular only VPN app
I have a requirement to create a VPN app which only works on Cellular. But I'm facing an issue like when wifi is ON, OS is using wifi interface to route the traffic instead of cellular. I tried some ways like let cellularParams = NWParameters.udp cellularParams.requiredInterfaceType = .cellular But this is not working properly as expected. How can I manually bind to cellular interface in iOS?
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115
Jul ’25
Network is not working when upload smb using NEFilterDataProvider in macOS
Network is not working when over 50MB size file upload smb using NEFilterDataProvider in macOS The event received through NEFilterDataProvider is returned immediately without doing any other work. override func handleNewFlow(_ flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterNewFlowVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .filterDataVerdict(withFilterInbound: true, peekInboundBytes: Int.max, filterOutbound: true, peekOutboundBytes: Int.max) } override func handleInboundData(from flow: NEFilterFlow, readBytesStartOffset offset: Int, readBytes: Data) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return NEFilterDataVerdict(passBytes: readBytes.count, peekBytes: Int.max) } override func handleOutboundData(from flow: NEFilterFlow, readBytesStartOffset offset: Int, readBytes: Data) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return NEFilterDataVerdict(passBytes: readBytes.count, peekBytes: Int.max) } override func handleInboundDataComplete(for flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .allow() } override func handleOutboundDataComplete(for flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .allow() } how can i fix it?
3
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600
Feb ’26
Network connectivity issue observed on OS 15.4.1
Recently, we have observed that after upgrading to OS 15.4.1, some devices are experiencing network issues. We are using a Network Extension with a transparent app proxy in our product. The user encounters this issue while using our client, but the issue persists even after stopping the client app. This appears to be an OS issue. Below is the sytem logs. In the system logs, it says [C669.1 Hostname#546597df:443 failed transform (unsatisfied (No network route), flow divert agg: 2)] event: transform:children_failed @0.001s In scutil --dns, it says not reachble. DNS configuration resolver #1 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) resolver #2 domain : local options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300000 resolver #3 domain : 254.169.in-addr.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300200 resolver #4 domain : 8.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300400 resolver #5 domain : 9.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300600 resolver #6 domain : a.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300800 resolver #7 domain : b.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 301000 We need to restart the system to recover from the issue.
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355
Jun ’25
NEAppPushProvider ios 18.4+ Push Connectivity
Did iOS 18.4 ( and 18.5) with iPhone 14 or 15 introduce new network connectivity or battery optimization policies that would break Local Push Connectivity? (suspend PushProvider in a new way that prevents it from listening and reponding to incoming messages from private network server)? We have a private app using local push connectivity for real time local alerts on a local private network & server. The current application version works on prev devices including iPhone 12, iOS 14-18.1 that we know of. A new(er) installation with iPhone 14s & 15s on iOS 18.4 is having new connectivity problems that seem to occur along with sleep. Previously NEAppPushProvider could listen and reply to incoming messages from server for local notifications, incoming sip invites, and connection health messages. We'll be performing addtional testing to narrow the issue in the meantime, but it would be VERY helpful to have clarification regarding any iOS minor patches since 18.1 that are now breaking existing Local Push Connectivity applications. If so what are the recommendations or remedies. Are known issues with Network Extensions patched in 18.5? Are existing applications expected to redesign their networking solutions for 18.3 & 18.4? Did iOS18 versions later than 18.1 begin requiring new entitlements or exceptions for private apps in app store?
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98
Jun ’25
Background Download Support for Large Video Files in visionOS App
Hi everyone, I'm developing a visionOS app that allows users to download large video files (similar to a movie download experience, with each file being around 10 GB). I've successfully implemented the core video download functionality using URLSession, and everything works as expected while the app is active. Now, I’m looking to support background downloading. Specifically, I want users to be able to start a download and then leave the app (e.g., switch apps or return to the home screen) while the download continues in the background. Additionally, I’d like to confirm a specific scenario: If the user starts a download, then removes the headset (keeping the device turned on and connected to power), will the download continue in the background? Or does visionOS suspend the app or downloads in this case? I’m considering using a background URLSessionConfiguration (as done in iOS/macOS) to enable this behavior, but I’m not sure if it behaves the same way on visionOS or if there are special limitations or best practices when handling large downloads on this platform. Any insights or official guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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157
May ’25
NEAppPushProvider blocked from local network access even when container app has permission
Hi everyone, I’m encountering what appears to be a system-level issue with NEAppPushProvider extensions being unable to communicate with other devices on the local network, even when the main app has already been granted Local Network permission by the user. Context The following problem occurs in an iPad app running iOS 18.5. The main app successfully requests and is granted Local Network access via NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription in its Info.plist configuration. It can connect to a WebSocket server hosted on the local network without any issues, resolving its address by name. The extension (NEAppPushProvider) uses the same networking code as the app, extended via target membership of a controller class. It attempts to connect to the same hostname and port but consistently fails to establish a connection. The system log shows it properly resolving DNS but being stopped due to "local network prohibited". An extract of the logs from the Unified Logging System: 12:34:10.086064+0200 PushProvider [C526 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 initial parent-flow ((null))] event: path:start @0.000s 12:34:10.087363+0200 PushProvider [C526 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 waiting parent-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: path:satisfied @0.005s 12:34:10.090074+0200 PushProvider [C526 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 in_progress parent-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: flow:start_connect @0.006s 12:34:10.093190+0200 PushProvider [C526.1 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 in_progress resolver (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: resolver:start_dns @0.009s 12:34:10.094403+0200 PushProvider [C526.1.1 IPv4#f261a0dc:8443 waiting path (unsatisfied (Local network prohibited), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, uses wifi)] event: path:unsatisfied @0.010s 12:34:10.098370+0200 PushProvider [C526.1.1.1 IPv4#f261a0dc:8443 failed path (unsatisfied (Local network prohibited), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, uses wifi)] event: null:null @0.014s 12:34:10.098716+0200 PushProvider [C526.1 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 failed resolver (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: resolver:children_failed @0.015s 12:34:10.099297+0200 PushProvider [C526 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 waiting parent-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: flow:child_failed @0.016s What I’ve Confirmed: The extension works perfectly if the DNS is changed to resolve the name to a public IP instead of a local one. The extension always connects by hostname. Devices on the local network can resolve each other’s IP addresses correctly and respond to pings. What I’ve Tried Adding NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription to the main app’s Info.plist, as recommended. Clean building the project again. Removing and reinstalling the app to ensure permission prompts are triggered fresh. Restarting the iPad. Ensuring main app cannot access the local network until the permission is granted. Ensuring the main app has connected to the same hostname and port before the extension attempts a connection Toggling the permission manually in Settings. Apple’s documentation states (TN3179): “In general, app extensions share the Local Network privilege state of their container app.” It also notes that some background-running extension types may be denied access if the privilege is undetermined. But in my case, the main app clearly has Local Network access, and the extension never receives it, even after repeated successful connections by the main app. Question Is this a known limitation with NEAppPushProvider? Is there a recommended way to ensure the extension is able to use the local network permission once the user has granted it on the app? Any feedback, suggestions, or confirmation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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167
Aug ’25
Need help on MDM Profile for Transparent Proxy
We have an application which is written in Swift, which activates Transparent Proxy network extension. We want to use MDM deployment for this network system 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 don’t have any remote server setup to forward the traffic, instead we open a connection with a certain localhost:port (127.0.0.1:3128) to redirect the traffic which is received in our transparent proxy. We have another module that listens to the particular localhost:port to process the traffic further. As per https://developer.apple.com/documentation/devicemanagement/vpn/transparentproxy documentation, we noticed that we can use the VPN payload with app-proxy as Provider Type for Transparent Proxy. By referring this document, we created the profile. If we provide "127.0.0.1" as RemoteAddress field, we were able to install the profile and also while installing our product, the Transparent Proxy gets mapped with the one which is installed via profile. However after that the network is broken and hence unable to browse anything. We are suspecting the remote server(RemoteAddress) filed is causing this. What value should be provided in the RemoteAddress field?
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160
Jul ’25
NE System Extension stuck on Validation By Category
Hello, I'm having some problems when install my Packet Tunnel network extension as system extension on my mac(macos 15.0). It stuck on Validation By Category. (it works well as NE app extension on ios) systemextensionsctl list --- com.apple.system_extension.network_extension enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state] <...> com.myteam.balabalabla.ne (1.0/1) - [validating by category] This is my install System Extension Code sample public class SystemExtension: NSObject, OSSystemExtensionRequestDelegate { private let forceUpdate: Bool private let inBackground: Bool private let semaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 0) private var result: OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? private var properties: [OSSystemExtensionProperties]? private var error: Error? private init(_ forceUpdate: Bool = false, _ inBackground: Bool = false) { } // some request function i overwrite public func activation() throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { let request = OSSystemExtensionRequest.activationRequest(forExtensionWithIdentifier: FilePath.packageName + ".myNeName", queue: .main) request.delegate = self OSSystemExtensionManager.shared.submitRequest(request) semaphore.wait() if let error { throw error } return result } public func getProperties() throws -> [OSSystemExtensionProperties] { let request = OSSystemExtensionRequest.propertiesRequest(forExtensionWithIdentifier: FilePath.packageName + ".myNeName", queue: .main) request.delegate = self OSSystemExtensionManager.shared.submitRequest(request) semaphore.wait() if let error { throw error } return properties! } public nonisolated static func install(forceUpdate: Bool = false, inBackground: Bool = false) async throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { try await Task.detached { try SystemExtension(forceUpdate, inBackground).activation() }.result.get() } public nonisolated static func uninstall() async throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { try await Task.detached { try SystemExtension().deactivation() }.result.get() } } // And other methods I follow this post Your Friend the System Log and use this command line to collect log. After I initiated the system extension request sudo log collect --last 5m Here is my log (),I only pasted some code snippets that caught me, full version see attachments.(only include com.apple.sysextd), if need more, plz ask me. 1. Some policy missing ```log 22:00:13.818257 `sysextd` extension mockTeamID app.balabala.com.mockbalabala (1.0/1) advancing state from staging to validating 22:00:13.818263 sysextd returning cdhash for local arch arm64 of extension app.balabala.com.mockbalabala info 2025-05-01 22:00:13.818336 sysextd Extension with identifier <private> reached state <private> 22:00:13.819185 sysextd [0x9a2034b00] activating connection: mach=false listener=false peer=false name=com.apple.CodeSigningHelper 22:00:13.819911 sysextd [0x9a2034b00] invalidated after the last release of the connection object 22:00:13.821024 sysextd making activation decision for extension with teamID teamID("mockTeamID ), identifier app.balabala.com.mockbalabala 22:00:13.821026 sysextd no related kext found for sysex `app.balabala.com.mockbalabala` 22:00:13.821027 sysextd no extension policy -- activation decision is UserOption nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.313576 sysextd [0x9a2178280] invalidated because the client process (pid 1886) either cancelled the connection or exited 22:00:14.542154 sysextd connection to com.apple.nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.542319 sysextd [0x9a2178000] Re-initialization successful; calling out to event handler with XPC_ERROR_CONNECTION_INTERRUPTED 22:00:14.542351 sysextd connection to com.apple.nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.589375 nesessionmanager [0x6c80e4500] activating connection: mach=true listener=false peer=false name=com.apple.sysextd And when i debug the System Extension code i notice the request Error catch by didFailWithError public func request(_: OSSystemExtensionRequest, didFailWithError error: Error) { self.error = error semaphore.signal() } error is OSSystemExtensionErrorDomain code 1 This problem has been bothering me for a long time, I would appreciate any help, if need more info, comment, thank you.
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322
May ’25
Network Framework
I've just watched Scott Herschel's WWDC 25 session "Use structured concurrency with Network framework" and I am more than overjoyed to see said framework offer these new features. However, the documentation has not yet been updated (or it's not where I expect to find it) .. Is there more that I can read about the enhancements to the framework? One specific question is whether the structured concurrency portion of the framework's enhancement is backward compatible to before "26"?
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163
Jun ’25
What is the command to list all socket filters/extensions in use?
I am in the middle of investigating an issue arising in the call to setsockopt syscall where it returns an undocumented and unexpected errno. As part of that, I'm looking for a way to list any socket content filters or any such extensions are in play on the system where this happens. To do that, I ran: systemextensionsctl list That retuns the following output: 0 extension(s) which seems to indicate there's no filters or extensions in play. However, when I do: netstat -s among other things, it shows: net_api: 2 interface filters currently attached 2 interface filters currently attached by OS 2 interface filters attached since boot 2 interface filters attached since boot by OS ... 4 socket filters currently attached 4 socket filters currently attached by OS 4 socket filters attached since boot 4 socket filters attached since boot by OS What would be the right command/tool/options that I could use to list all the socket filters/extensions (and their details) that are in use and applicable when a call to setsockopt is made from an application on that system? Edit: This is on a macosx-aarch64 with various different OS versions - 13.6.7, 14.3.1 and even 14.4.1.
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969
Aug ’25
Packet Tunnel Provider with Per App VPN debugging
We have a vpn app which uses PacketTunnelProvider. We also support per-app vpn for iOS, I need help with debugging steps for an issue I am facing recently. In the per app vpn, we have split tunneling: some urls should be tunneled while others should be direct, for tunneled urls/ips everything is working as expected. But for "direct" resources, I am facing an issue where sometimes I don't get an ACK back from the browser. Leading to a series of retransmissions and eventually the direct website not loading. Some more points of data: we do get true for the writePackets call, which seems to mean that the vpn app did write the packets to the TUN interface, but we don't get an ACK from the browser. I want some way of debugging this further so I can check if the browser actually got the packets. I also suspect that there might be a loop with packets (we are reading the packets we just wrote onto TUN), but can't say for sure since the issue is intermittent, in case of a loop, I would expect it to always help. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
3
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217
May ’25
Wi-Fi Aware Sample APP crashes on iOS 26 beta 6
This is a major issue. After my iPhone 12 Pro was upgraded to iOS 26 beta 6, Apple's official Wi-Fi Aware Sample APP crashed immediately and couldn't be opened. It just force closes. Has any developer encountered this problem?
Replies
4
Boosts
0
Views
216
Activity
Sep ’25
"Create NAT64 Network" is missing in the Sharing options
Hi,I am trying to create an NAT64 Network with Sharing options to test my Apps.I did follow the guide provided here https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/14213But even with the option key pressed the "Create NAT64 Network" check box is still missing.I am using a OS X 10.11Any ideas?!
Replies
3
Boosts
1
Views
2.7k
Activity
Oct ’25
Local Hotspot
Hello, we are developing hardware that needs to connect to an iPhone via Wi-Fi to send requests to a server. On Android, we have managed to create a programmatic local hotspot within the app to facilitate connection and improve the user experience. On iOS, however, Personal Hotspot must be manually enabled from the system settings, and the user must manually enter the SSID and password, which significantly degrades the UX. My questions are: Is there a workaround, unofficial method, or private API to generate a local hotspot from an app on iOS, similar to what can be done on Android? Is there an alternative within the MFi program or through specific frameworks to facilitate a quick and automatic connection between the hardware and the iPhone without relying on the manual Personal Hotspot? Are there any best practices for improving the local Wi-Fi connection experience between an accessory and an iPhone in the absence of hotspot controls? I would appreciate any guidance, experience, or resources that would help me better understand the feasible options in iOS for scenarios where fast and direct communication between hardware and mobile devices via Wi-Fi is required.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
111
Activity
Sep ’25
macOS 15.6 network failure with VPNs?
I filed FB19631435 about this just now. Basically: starting with 15.6, we've had reports (internally and outternally) that after some period of time, networking fails so badly that it can't even acquire a DHCP lease, and the system needs to be rebooted to fix this. The systems in question all have at least 2 VPN applications installed; ours is a transparent proxy provider, and the affected system also had Crowdstrike's Falcon installed. A customer system reported seemingly identical failures on their systems; they don't have Crowdstrike, but they do have Cyberhaven's. Has anyone else seen somethng like this? Since it seems to involve three different networking extensions, I'm assuming it's due to an interaction between them, not a bug in any individual one. But what do I know? 😄
Replies
8
Boosts
0
Views
529
Activity
Jan ’26
Prevent SSL Handshake with User Installed Certificates
how can I prevent handshake when certificate is user installed for example if user is using Proxyman or Charles proxy and they install their own certificates now system is trusting those certificates I wanna prevent that, and exclude those certificates that are installed by user, and accept the handshake if CA certificate is in a real valid certificate defined in OS I know this can be done in android by setting something like <network-security-config> <base-config> <trust-anchors> <certificates src="system" /> </trust-anchors> </base-config> </network-security-config>
Replies
4
Boosts
1
Views
214
Activity
Aug ’25
Disable Local Network Access permission check
I'm using a Mac Studio in a homelab context and use Homebrew to manage the installed services. The services include things that access the local network, for example Prometheus which monitors some other servers, a reverse proxy which fronts other web services on the network, and a DNS server which can use another as upstream. Local Network Access permissions make it impossible to reliably perform unattended updates of services because an updated binary requires a GUI login to grant local network permissions (again). I use brew services to manage the services as launchd agents, i.e. they run in a non-root GUI context. I know that I can also use sudo brew services which instead installs the services as launchd daemons, but running services as root has negative security implication and generally doesn't look like a good idea to me. If only there was a way to disable local network access checks altogether…
Replies
11
Boosts
0
Views
428
Activity
Feb ’26
No route to host
I upgraded my Mac to Sequoia 15.4.1 an i hat to upgrade XCode to Version 16.3. I access a MQTT Broker by an sending an mosquitto_sub request to the Broker. Now its no longer possible the request fails i granted Network permission to my App
Replies
8
Boosts
0
Views
210
Activity
May ’25
get Wi-Fi controller info
Hello, I'm trying to get a list of all network devices (device audit for DLP system). CFMutableDictionaryRef matchingDictionary = IOServiceMatching(kIONetworkControllerClass); if (matchingDictionary == nullptr) { std::cerr << "IOServiceMatching() returned empty matching dictionary" << std::endl; return 1; } io_iterator_t iter; if (kern_return_t kr = IOServiceGetMatchingServices(kIOMasterPortDefault, matchingDictionary, &iter); kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { std::cerr << "IOServiceGetMatchingServices() failed" << std::endl; return 1; } io_service_t networkController; while ((networkController = IOIteratorNext(iter)) != IO_OBJECT_NULL) { std::cout << "network device: "; if (CFDataRef cfIOMACAddress = (CFDataRef) IORegistryEntryCreateCFProperty(networkController, CFSTR(kIOMACAddress), kCFAllocatorDefault, kNilOptions); cfIOMACAddress != nullptr) { std::vector<uint8_t> data(CFDataGetLength(cfIOMACAddress)); CFDataGetBytes(cfIOMACAddress, CFRangeMake(0, data.size()), data.data()); std::cout << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short)data[0] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[1] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[2] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[3] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[4] << ":" << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2) << (short) data[5]; CFRelease(cfIOMACAddress); } std::cout << std::endl; IOObjectRelease(networkController); } IOObjectRelease(iter); The Wi-Fi controller shows up in I/O Registry Explorer, but IOServiceGetMatchingServices() does not return any information about it. Any way to retrieve Wi-Fi controller info in daemon code? Thank you in advance!
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3
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178
Activity
Jun ’25
URLSession not working on iOS26/Xcode26
Hi, I’m trying out my app with Xcode 26, running on an iOS 26 simulator. I'm having issues with URLSessions, it crashes when I set the URLSessionConfiguration to default, and if I don’t use the URLSessionConfiguration, it crashes if I use URLSession.shared. When running in a real device, it doesn't crash, but any network request will hang and time out after a while. Is it a known issue in the latest beta versions?
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1
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0
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288
Activity
Jun ’25
Cellular only VPN app
I have a requirement to create a VPN app which only works on Cellular. But I'm facing an issue like when wifi is ON, OS is using wifi interface to route the traffic instead of cellular. I tried some ways like let cellularParams = NWParameters.udp cellularParams.requiredInterfaceType = .cellular But this is not working properly as expected. How can I manually bind to cellular interface in iOS?
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1
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0
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115
Activity
Jul ’25
Network is not working when upload smb using NEFilterDataProvider in macOS
Network is not working when over 50MB size file upload smb using NEFilterDataProvider in macOS The event received through NEFilterDataProvider is returned immediately without doing any other work. override func handleNewFlow(_ flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterNewFlowVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .filterDataVerdict(withFilterInbound: true, peekInboundBytes: Int.max, filterOutbound: true, peekOutboundBytes: Int.max) } override func handleInboundData(from flow: NEFilterFlow, readBytesStartOffset offset: Int, readBytes: Data) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return NEFilterDataVerdict(passBytes: readBytes.count, peekBytes: Int.max) } override func handleOutboundData(from flow: NEFilterFlow, readBytesStartOffset offset: Int, readBytes: Data) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return NEFilterDataVerdict(passBytes: readBytes.count, peekBytes: Int.max) } override func handleInboundDataComplete(for flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .allow() } override func handleOutboundDataComplete(for flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .allow() } how can i fix it?
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3
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600
Activity
Feb ’26
Network connectivity issue observed on OS 15.4.1
Recently, we have observed that after upgrading to OS 15.4.1, some devices are experiencing network issues. We are using a Network Extension with a transparent app proxy in our product. The user encounters this issue while using our client, but the issue persists even after stopping the client app. This appears to be an OS issue. Below is the sytem logs. In the system logs, it says [C669.1 Hostname#546597df:443 failed transform (unsatisfied (No network route), flow divert agg: 2)] event: transform:children_failed @0.001s In scutil --dns, it says not reachble. DNS configuration resolver #1 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) resolver #2 domain : local options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300000 resolver #3 domain : 254.169.in-addr.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300200 resolver #4 domain : 8.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300400 resolver #5 domain : 9.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300600 resolver #6 domain : a.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300800 resolver #7 domain : b.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 301000 We need to restart the system to recover from the issue.
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10
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355
Activity
Jun ’25
NEAppPushProvider ios 18.4+ Push Connectivity
Did iOS 18.4 ( and 18.5) with iPhone 14 or 15 introduce new network connectivity or battery optimization policies that would break Local Push Connectivity? (suspend PushProvider in a new way that prevents it from listening and reponding to incoming messages from private network server)? We have a private app using local push connectivity for real time local alerts on a local private network & server. The current application version works on prev devices including iPhone 12, iOS 14-18.1 that we know of. A new(er) installation with iPhone 14s & 15s on iOS 18.4 is having new connectivity problems that seem to occur along with sleep. Previously NEAppPushProvider could listen and reply to incoming messages from server for local notifications, incoming sip invites, and connection health messages. We'll be performing addtional testing to narrow the issue in the meantime, but it would be VERY helpful to have clarification regarding any iOS minor patches since 18.1 that are now breaking existing Local Push Connectivity applications. If so what are the recommendations or remedies. Are known issues with Network Extensions patched in 18.5? Are existing applications expected to redesign their networking solutions for 18.3 & 18.4? Did iOS18 versions later than 18.1 begin requiring new entitlements or exceptions for private apps in app store?
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2
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0
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98
Activity
Jun ’25
Background Download Support for Large Video Files in visionOS App
Hi everyone, I'm developing a visionOS app that allows users to download large video files (similar to a movie download experience, with each file being around 10 GB). I've successfully implemented the core video download functionality using URLSession, and everything works as expected while the app is active. Now, I’m looking to support background downloading. Specifically, I want users to be able to start a download and then leave the app (e.g., switch apps or return to the home screen) while the download continues in the background. Additionally, I’d like to confirm a specific scenario: If the user starts a download, then removes the headset (keeping the device turned on and connected to power), will the download continue in the background? Or does visionOS suspend the app or downloads in this case? I’m considering using a background URLSessionConfiguration (as done in iOS/macOS) to enable this behavior, but I’m not sure if it behaves the same way on visionOS or if there are special limitations or best practices when handling large downloads on this platform. Any insights or official guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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1
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157
Activity
May ’25
NEAppPushProvider blocked from local network access even when container app has permission
Hi everyone, I’m encountering what appears to be a system-level issue with NEAppPushProvider extensions being unable to communicate with other devices on the local network, even when the main app has already been granted Local Network permission by the user. Context The following problem occurs in an iPad app running iOS 18.5. The main app successfully requests and is granted Local Network access via NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription in its Info.plist configuration. It can connect to a WebSocket server hosted on the local network without any issues, resolving its address by name. The extension (NEAppPushProvider) uses the same networking code as the app, extended via target membership of a controller class. It attempts to connect to the same hostname and port but consistently fails to establish a connection. The system log shows it properly resolving DNS but being stopped due to "local network prohibited". An extract of the logs from the Unified Logging System: 12:34:10.086064+0200 PushProvider [C526 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 initial parent-flow ((null))] event: path:start @0.000s 12:34:10.087363+0200 PushProvider [C526 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 waiting parent-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: path:satisfied @0.005s 12:34:10.090074+0200 PushProvider [C526 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 in_progress parent-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: flow:start_connect @0.006s 12:34:10.093190+0200 PushProvider [C526.1 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 in_progress resolver (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: resolver:start_dns @0.009s 12:34:10.094403+0200 PushProvider [C526.1.1 IPv4#f261a0dc:8443 waiting path (unsatisfied (Local network prohibited), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, uses wifi)] event: path:unsatisfied @0.010s 12:34:10.098370+0200 PushProvider [C526.1.1.1 IPv4#f261a0dc:8443 failed path (unsatisfied (Local network prohibited), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, uses wifi)] event: null:null @0.014s 12:34:10.098716+0200 PushProvider [C526.1 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 failed resolver (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: resolver:children_failed @0.015s 12:34:10.099297+0200 PushProvider [C526 Hostname#fd7b1452:8443 waiting parent-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] event: flow:child_failed @0.016s What I’ve Confirmed: The extension works perfectly if the DNS is changed to resolve the name to a public IP instead of a local one. The extension always connects by hostname. Devices on the local network can resolve each other’s IP addresses correctly and respond to pings. What I’ve Tried Adding NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription to the main app’s Info.plist, as recommended. Clean building the project again. Removing and reinstalling the app to ensure permission prompts are triggered fresh. Restarting the iPad. Ensuring main app cannot access the local network until the permission is granted. Ensuring the main app has connected to the same hostname and port before the extension attempts a connection Toggling the permission manually in Settings. Apple’s documentation states (TN3179): “In general, app extensions share the Local Network privilege state of their container app.” It also notes that some background-running extension types may be denied access if the privilege is undetermined. But in my case, the main app clearly has Local Network access, and the extension never receives it, even after repeated successful connections by the main app. Question Is this a known limitation with NEAppPushProvider? Is there a recommended way to ensure the extension is able to use the local network permission once the user has granted it on the app? Any feedback, suggestions, or confirmation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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6
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0
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167
Activity
Aug ’25
Need help on MDM Profile for Transparent Proxy
We have an application which is written in Swift, which activates Transparent Proxy network extension. We want to use MDM deployment for this network system 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 don’t have any remote server setup to forward the traffic, instead we open a connection with a certain localhost:port (127.0.0.1:3128) to redirect the traffic which is received in our transparent proxy. We have another module that listens to the particular localhost:port to process the traffic further. As per https://developer.apple.com/documentation/devicemanagement/vpn/transparentproxy documentation, we noticed that we can use the VPN payload with app-proxy as Provider Type for Transparent Proxy. By referring this document, we created the profile. If we provide "127.0.0.1" as RemoteAddress field, we were able to install the profile and also while installing our product, the Transparent Proxy gets mapped with the one which is installed via profile. However after that the network is broken and hence unable to browse anything. We are suspecting the remote server(RemoteAddress) filed is causing this. What value should be provided in the RemoteAddress field?
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2
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0
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160
Activity
Jul ’25
NE System Extension stuck on Validation By Category
Hello, I'm having some problems when install my Packet Tunnel network extension as system extension on my mac(macos 15.0). It stuck on Validation By Category. (it works well as NE app extension on ios) systemextensionsctl list --- com.apple.system_extension.network_extension enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state] <...> com.myteam.balabalabla.ne (1.0/1) - [validating by category] This is my install System Extension Code sample public class SystemExtension: NSObject, OSSystemExtensionRequestDelegate { private let forceUpdate: Bool private let inBackground: Bool private let semaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 0) private var result: OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? private var properties: [OSSystemExtensionProperties]? private var error: Error? private init(_ forceUpdate: Bool = false, _ inBackground: Bool = false) { } // some request function i overwrite public func activation() throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { let request = OSSystemExtensionRequest.activationRequest(forExtensionWithIdentifier: FilePath.packageName + ".myNeName", queue: .main) request.delegate = self OSSystemExtensionManager.shared.submitRequest(request) semaphore.wait() if let error { throw error } return result } public func getProperties() throws -> [OSSystemExtensionProperties] { let request = OSSystemExtensionRequest.propertiesRequest(forExtensionWithIdentifier: FilePath.packageName + ".myNeName", queue: .main) request.delegate = self OSSystemExtensionManager.shared.submitRequest(request) semaphore.wait() if let error { throw error } return properties! } public nonisolated static func install(forceUpdate: Bool = false, inBackground: Bool = false) async throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { try await Task.detached { try SystemExtension(forceUpdate, inBackground).activation() }.result.get() } public nonisolated static func uninstall() async throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { try await Task.detached { try SystemExtension().deactivation() }.result.get() } } // And other methods I follow this post Your Friend the System Log and use this command line to collect log. After I initiated the system extension request sudo log collect --last 5m Here is my log (),I only pasted some code snippets that caught me, full version see attachments.(only include com.apple.sysextd), if need more, plz ask me. 1. Some policy missing ```log 22:00:13.818257 `sysextd` extension mockTeamID app.balabala.com.mockbalabala (1.0/1) advancing state from staging to validating 22:00:13.818263 sysextd returning cdhash for local arch arm64 of extension app.balabala.com.mockbalabala info 2025-05-01 22:00:13.818336 sysextd Extension with identifier <private> reached state <private> 22:00:13.819185 sysextd [0x9a2034b00] activating connection: mach=false listener=false peer=false name=com.apple.CodeSigningHelper 22:00:13.819911 sysextd [0x9a2034b00] invalidated after the last release of the connection object 22:00:13.821024 sysextd making activation decision for extension with teamID teamID("mockTeamID ), identifier app.balabala.com.mockbalabala 22:00:13.821026 sysextd no related kext found for sysex `app.balabala.com.mockbalabala` 22:00:13.821027 sysextd no extension policy -- activation decision is UserOption nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.313576 sysextd [0x9a2178280] invalidated because the client process (pid 1886) either cancelled the connection or exited 22:00:14.542154 sysextd connection to com.apple.nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.542319 sysextd [0x9a2178000] Re-initialization successful; calling out to event handler with XPC_ERROR_CONNECTION_INTERRUPTED 22:00:14.542351 sysextd connection to com.apple.nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.589375 nesessionmanager [0x6c80e4500] activating connection: mach=true listener=false peer=false name=com.apple.sysextd And when i debug the System Extension code i notice the request Error catch by didFailWithError public func request(_: OSSystemExtensionRequest, didFailWithError error: Error) { self.error = error semaphore.signal() } error is OSSystemExtensionErrorDomain code 1 This problem has been bothering me for a long time, I would appreciate any help, if need more info, comment, thank you.
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3
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322
Activity
May ’25
Network Framework
I've just watched Scott Herschel's WWDC 25 session "Use structured concurrency with Network framework" and I am more than overjoyed to see said framework offer these new features. However, the documentation has not yet been updated (or it's not where I expect to find it) .. Is there more that I can read about the enhancements to the framework? One specific question is whether the structured concurrency portion of the framework's enhancement is backward compatible to before "26"?
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3
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163
Activity
Jun ’25
What is the command to list all socket filters/extensions in use?
I am in the middle of investigating an issue arising in the call to setsockopt syscall where it returns an undocumented and unexpected errno. As part of that, I'm looking for a way to list any socket content filters or any such extensions are in play on the system where this happens. To do that, I ran: systemextensionsctl list That retuns the following output: 0 extension(s) which seems to indicate there's no filters or extensions in play. However, when I do: netstat -s among other things, it shows: net_api: 2 interface filters currently attached 2 interface filters currently attached by OS 2 interface filters attached since boot 2 interface filters attached since boot by OS ... 4 socket filters currently attached 4 socket filters currently attached by OS 4 socket filters attached since boot 4 socket filters attached since boot by OS What would be the right command/tool/options that I could use to list all the socket filters/extensions (and their details) that are in use and applicable when a call to setsockopt is made from an application on that system? Edit: This is on a macosx-aarch64 with various different OS versions - 13.6.7, 14.3.1 and even 14.4.1.
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8
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969
Activity
Aug ’25
Packet Tunnel Provider with Per App VPN debugging
We have a vpn app which uses PacketTunnelProvider. We also support per-app vpn for iOS, I need help with debugging steps for an issue I am facing recently. In the per app vpn, we have split tunneling: some urls should be tunneled while others should be direct, for tunneled urls/ips everything is working as expected. But for "direct" resources, I am facing an issue where sometimes I don't get an ACK back from the browser. Leading to a series of retransmissions and eventually the direct website not loading. Some more points of data: we do get true for the writePackets call, which seems to mean that the vpn app did write the packets to the TUN interface, but we don't get an ACK from the browser. I want some way of debugging this further so I can check if the browser actually got the packets. I also suspect that there might be a loop with packets (we are reading the packets we just wrote onto TUN), but can't say for sure since the issue is intermittent, in case of a loop, I would expect it to always help. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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3
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217
Activity
May ’25