Notifications

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Learn about the technical aspects of notification delivery on device, including notification types, priorities, and notification center management.

Notifications Documentation

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AWS SNS False Success Delivery
We operate a social network application, SportsYou with over 3 million monthly active users and are experiencing significant issues with push notification delivery through APNs. We have a large number of users reporting they are not receiving push notifications. Our infrastructure uses AWS SNS integrated with APNs to deliver notifications. However, AWS CloudWatch consistently reports successful delivery (Success response), even though users confirm they never received the notifications. Because we receive success responses from AWS SNS, our system does not attempt to recreate or refresh the device endpoints. This leaves us unable to detect or recover from these delivery failures automatically. This issue is widespread and inconsistent. It affects users across multiple variables including different iOS versions, different device models, and different versions of our application. We cannot identify a clear pattern that would help us isolate the root cause. With millions of active users, even a small percentage of delivery failures represents thousands of users experiencing a degraded service. This is significantly impacting user engagement and satisfaction. We need guidance on how to properly diagnose this issue and ensure reliable notification delivery to our users. Specifically, we'd like to understand why we're receiving success responses when notifications aren't being delivered, and what steps we can take to detect and prevent these failures.
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Oct ’25
Notifications False Sucecss Delivery
We operate a social network application, SportsYou with over 3 million monthly active users and are experiencing significant issues with push notification delivery through APNs. We have a large number of users reporting they are not receiving push notifications. Our infrastructure uses AWS SNS integrated with APNs to deliver notifications. However, AWS CloudWatch consistently reports successful delivery (Success response), even though users confirm they never received the notifications. Because we receive success responses from AWS SNS, our system does not attempt to recreate or refresh the device endpoints. This leaves us unable to detect or recover from these delivery failures automatically. This issue is widespread and inconsistent. It affects users across multiple variables including different iOS versions, different device models, and different versions of our application. We cannot identify a clear pattern that would help us isolate the root cause. With millions of active users, even a small percentage of delivery failures represents thousands of users experiencing a degraded service. This is significantly impacting user engagement and satisfaction. We need guidance on how to properly diagnose this issue and ensure reliable notification delivery to our users. Specifically, we'd like to understand why we're receiving success responses when notifications aren't being delivered, and what steps we can take to detect and prevent these failures.
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128
Oct ’25
AlarmKit alarm UI strings are lost after updating OS
I have a working AlarmKit app, but I've noticed that after any iOS update (e.g. the 26.0.1 update from a few days ago), my scheduled alarms seem to lose their UI strings, so instead of the Stop button saying "Stop", it says "alarm_ui_stop_button" (which is my localization key for the button text). If I delete the alarm and re-add it, then it works again... until the next software update. It seems like OS updates are interfering with the link between scheduled alarms and app localization strings, which I believe are dynamically looked up at alarm time (not at configuration time). I am settings the strings in the standard way like this: AlarmManager.AlarmConfiguration( schedule: .fixed(date), attributes: AlarmAttributes<SDAlarmMetadata>( presentation: AlarmPresentation( alert: AlarmPresentation.Alert( title: "alarm_ui_title", stopButton: .init(text: "alarm_ui_stop_button", textColor: .yellow, systemImageName: "xmark") ) ), metadata: SDAlarmMetadata(title: title, subtitle: subtitle), tintColor: .yellow ), sound: .default ) Has anyone else noticed this or found a workaround? I guess I could use localization keys that are identical to the desired text, but this would only work for one language.
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Oct ’25
AlarmKit plays system error tone instead of custom sound files (iOS 26.0)
AlarmKit custom sounds are universally broken in iOS 26.0 stable - instead of playing your custom sound, it plays a system error/timeout beep. I've spent days investigating why custom sounds result in what sounds like an error beep (like when you cancel an operation or hit a timeout) instead of the actual audio file. I can now prove this is an Apple bug, not implementation error. Evidence: Test 1: My Implementation Followed Apple's documentation exactly Tried both bundle and Library/Sounds (as documented) Result: System error beep (not my audio) Test 2: Professional Apps Tested ADHDAlarms (popular AlarmKit example by jacobsapps) https://github.com/jacobsapps/ADHDAlarms Their airhorn.mp3 custom sound: same error beep (not an airhorn) Their default sound: works perfectly Test 3: Device Testing Physical iPhone (iOS 26.0 - 23A341): broken iOS Simulator: broken Not device-specific Files are found correctly, but the actual audio file is never played. Instead, you hear what sounds like a system error/cancellation tone. What I've Eliminated Not a Library/Sounds vs Bundle issue (both broken) Not a file format issue (.mp3, .caf, .m4a all broken) Not an implementation issue (professional apps broken too) Not a device issue (simulator and device both broken) Not a file size issue (5KB to 2MB all broken) The Documentation Lie: Apple's docs for AlertConfiguration.AlertSound.named(_:) state: "Choose a file that's in your app's main bundle or the Library/Sounds folder" https://developer.apple.com/documentation/activitykit/alertconfiguration/alertsound/named(_:) Both locations are broken. Tested on: iOS 26.0 (23A341), Xcode 26.0.1, Swift 6.2 Impact: This affects any app trying to: Provide personalized wake-up sounds Use custom alarm tones Create meditation/sleep apps Differentiate from default iOS alarms Current Status: Multiple bug reports filed: FB19900024, FB18237648, FB19779004 Apple engineer claimed "fixed in latest beta" in August Still broken in iOS 26.0 stable (September) Workaround: None that I know of. You must use .default sound. For apps needing custom audio, play it with AVAudioPlayer after the alarm fires and user opens the app. Question: Has ANYONE gotten custom AlarmKit sounds working in iOS 26.0 stable? If so, plzzz help I'd be so grateful.
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Sep ’25
APNS Notifications not received on macOS Device
Hello Team, We are currently experiencing an issue where some of our devices are not receiving push notifications. We are sending notifications via the Apple Push Notification portal (https://developer.apple.com/notifications/push-notifications-console/) using the following two requests. However, in both cases, the notifications are not being delivered to the devices. Scenario 1 : When we send a request with apns-push-type set to alert, we receive the following error. Request : curl -v --header "authorization: bearer ${AUTHENTICATION_TOKEN}" --header "apns-topic: com.testcompany.sampletest" --header "apns-push-type: alert" --header "apns-priority: 10" --header "apns-expiration: 0" --data '{"aps":{"alert":{"title":"Test Notification Title","subtitle":"Test Notification Sub Title","body":"Test Notification Body"}}}' --http2 https://api.push.apple.com:443/3/device/*devicetoken* Response: { "code": 400, "message": "bad-request", "reason": "The device token is inactive for the specified topic. There is no need to send further pushes to the same device token, unless your application retrieves the same device token.", "requestUuid": "c4ae39b4-87e1-4269-a1e9-163f60ec0385" } Scenario 2 : However, if we send the request with apns-push-type set to background, the request is processed successfully by APNs, but no notification is received on the device. Request : curl -v --header "authorization: bearer ${AUTHENTICATION_TOKEN}" --header "apns-topic: com.testcompany.sampletest" --header "apns-push-type: background" --header "apns-priority: 10" --header "apns-expiration: 0" --data '{"aps":{"alert":{"title":"Test Notification Title","subtitle":"Test Notification Sub Title","body":"Test Notification Body"}}}' --http2 https://api.push.apple.com:443/3/device/*devicetoken* Response: Getting a message that The notification sent successfully but no notification is received on the device. In both cases (with alert and background push types), the push notification does not reach the device. Additionally, when we validated the device token using the APNs Device Token Validator, it appears to be valid and returns the following message. "Device Token is valid for sending Alert & Background push-type notifications in the Production environment" Affected Device: macOS version : MacOS 15.3.1 Processor : Apple M1 Could you please assist me in resolving this issue? Thanks
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Sep ’25
Limit on consecutive push notifications (normal and critical alerts)
Hi, We have a use case where our app needs to send repeated push notifications (both normal and critical alerts) to inform the user about a critical device state and grab their attention. Since iOS doesn’t allow us to schedule local notifications beyond 30 seconds, I need to send multiple pushes from the server side. My questions are: Is there any documented limit on how many push notifications can be sent back-to-back before Apple starts throttling or restricting them? Are critical alerts treated differently from normal notifications in terms of delivery restrictions or frequency limits? Is there a recommended approach for handling scenarios where repeated urgent notifications are necessary to keep the user informed? I want to make sure I’m following Apple’s guidelines and not risking rejection during review.
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Sep ’25
Live Caller ID Lookup — What’s the automatic refresh cadence for config/PIR parameters? Best way to prompt updates?
Hi Apple team, We’re shipping a Live Caller ID Lookup extension on iOS 18 and have a question about the automatic refresh of configuration/PIR parameters. Questions 1. Is there any documented interval/TTL (min/max) for the system’s automatic refresh of /config and PIR parameters, or is it entirely opportunistic (battery/network/usage)? I can’t find a cadence in the IdentityLookup docs. 2. Does iOS honor server cache headers (e.g., Cache-Control/Expires) to influence when it re-fetches? 3. Which events also trigger a refresh (enable/disable in Settings, OS/app update, device reboot, token/epoch change)? 4. Are there rate limits or best-practice limits for calling refreshExtensionContext and refreshPIRParameters?
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Sep ’25
Push notifications don't deliver when device is idle on iOS 18.7 and 26.0
There's a list of bug reports: FB19778882 FB19813796 FB19852724 FB19767262 FB20378888 FB20379383 FB20394663 Me and many other users have issue with push notifications. To reproduce this you should do this steps: Lock iPhone and make it idle for 10+ minutes; Send any message from other device via third-party app that uses push notifications (WhatsApp, Telegram and etc.); After few attempts you can see, that messages don't deliver. They delivers immediately when I unlock iPhone or go to the app. This bug reproduces on iOS 18.7 and 27. As I think iPhone goes to deep sleep after 10+ minutes after it locked and don't get push notifications. I've tried everything: many of settings, DFU without backup, but nothing helps to resolve this issue. Pay attention, please, cause this bug is very annoying and present on iOS 18.7 (that is the last for many devices) and latest iOS 26. Thanks!
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Sep ’25
After uninstalling the app, ManagedSettingsStore.shield is still active — seems to be an Apple system behavior
I’m using the shielding API, my code: let store = ManagedSettingsStore() let whitelist = SharedDefaults.whitelistApplications store.shield.applicationCategories = .all(except: whitelist) And to clear the shield, my code is: store.shield.applications = nil store.shield.applicationCategories = nil The issue: Some users report that after uninstalling my app, the shield is still active, and the UI changes to the default iOS system interface. Even after restarting the device, the apps on the phone remains locked, so the user has no way to remove the shield. Recently I’ve received several complaints on social media and App Store comments, accusing my app of being malicious software. This is not a 100% reproducible bug, but it happens frequently enough. I was also able to reproduce it myself by uninstalling the app during an active lock session. Could Apple engineers please look into this issue and advise how to ensure that once the user uninstalls the app, the device is no longer locked?
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Sep ’25
Notification coordination between iOS and watchOS is not working properly
Notification coordination between iOS and watchOS is not working properly watchOS and iOS try to coordinate between phone and watch notifications. The concept here is that if there is a main app and a companion app, they could both be sending a notification, then the notification would alert on both, which is a deviation from how notification mirroring is handled if there is an iOS app but no watch app. The watch waits for the iOS notification to fire so they can determine if this is the same notification that needs to be deduped, displayed on one device but not the other, or separate notifications to be displayed both. If there is no notification on the phone, the watch will timeout after 13 seconds and alert anyway. If you have an iOS companion app, the best solution to this is to send the same notification on both devices simultaneously, and ensuring the UNNotificationRequest.identifier matches on both notifications. This will let the systems determine how to handle the notification correctly and quickly, and the notification will alert right away. https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/765669 According to the above article, "when a notification arrives on watchOS alone first, it coordinates with iOS," but in reality, it doesn't work properly. Detailed process of this phenomenon watchOS receives a notification. On watchOS, the notification is not immediately shown to the user. iOS receives a notification with the same UNNotificationRequest.identifier as in (1). The notification in (3) does not appear on either iOS or watchOS. However, the notification from (3) does appear in iOS Notification Center. Thirteen seconds after watchOS received the notification, the notification from (1) is shown to the user on watchOS. In the end, the iOS and watchOS notifications are not consolidated and each remains in its respective notification center. Up to (3) there are no issues. Starting with (4), both iOS and watchOS exhibit a lot of odd behavior. This phenomenon occurs with both local notifications and push notifications. When iOS receives the notification first, there is no problem. The notification for watch received later is processed appropriately, and the watchOS notification is not additionally displayed to the user. Expected proper process Same as above. Same as above. Same as above. The notification in (1) is integrated into the notification in (3). The notification in (3) is alerted to the user immediately. 2 sample projects to reproduce Only the main code is attached. Sample project1: local notifications Swift code for local notification app (iOS, watchOS) - App.swift.txt Sample project2: push notifications This sample project is implemented using Firebase Functions and Firebase Cloud Messaging. Swift code push notification app (iOS, watchOS) - App.swift.txt Server side JavaScript code for FirebaseFunction - index.js.txt Tested devices and OS This phenomenon occurred in both of the following patterns. Pattern 1 Xcode 26.0 iPhone 16 (iOS 26.0) Apple Watch series 10 (watchOS 26.0) Pattern 2 Xcode 16.4 iPhone 11 (iOS 18.6) Apple Watch SE 2nd gen (watchOS 11.6) Question Is this phenomenon a bug? Or is my understanding or implementation incorrect? Feedback Assistant number FB20339772
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Sep ’25
CloudKit Subscriptions Not Triggering Push Notifications - No NotificationSend Events
ISSUE: CloudKit subscriptions are not triggering push notifications despite correct configuration. CloudKit logs show RecordSave events but NO NotificationSend events, indicating CloudKit is not attempting to send to APNS. CONTAINER: iCloud.Wunderkind.StrikeForceApp ENVIRONMENT: Tested in both Development and Production iOS 18.6.x Xcode 15.x (update with your version) Device: iPhone (not simulator) EVIDENCE: Subscriptions exist and are visible in CloudKit Dashboard Records are being created successfully (verified in logs) Device token is registered: 60eb962ff189dc5c2c0ef3e9d6643d72b4442a831bae224d2a553588b2e29139 Local notifications work correctly CloudKit logs show RecordSave but NO NotificationSend events STEPS TAKEN: Regenerated push certificates Disabled and re-enabled Push Notifications capability Deleted and recreated subscriptions Tested in both Development and Production environments Verified aps-environment entitlement matches environment Confirmed notification permissions granted SPECIFIC TEST: Creating a Challenge record with recipientRef matching my user triggers: ✅ RecordSave event in CloudKit logs ❌ No NotificationSend event ❌ No push notification received EXPECTED: CloudKit should send NotificationSend events and deliver push notifications when subscriptions match. ACTUAL: No NotificationSend events appear in CloudKit logs, no notifications delivered.
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Sep ’25
Why iOS App Upgrades Fail to Apply Background Mode Settings
We have a question regarding iOS app configuration and the Remote notifications background mode. During our testing, we observed: *When enabling or disabling Signing & Capabilities > Background Modes > Remote notifications, the change does not take effect on devices that already have the app installed. *The app continues to behave according to the old configuration. *Only after uninstalling the app and reinstalling it from the App Store do the new settings take effect (for example, whether the app can be woken up by silent push). *We also tested updating the app with a new version number (App Store upgrade flow), but the new settings still did not apply. Our questions are: 1.Is there any way to make iOS re-read the updated Signing & Capabilities (Background Modes) settings without requiring a full uninstall/reinstall? 2.Is it expected behavior that even an App Store upgrade with a new version number will not apply these changes? thanks!
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Sep ’25
Why are non-critical notifications quieter than critical alerts at max volume?
When I turn the Ringtone and Alerts volume all the way up, I expect standard notifications to play at the loudest level the device allows. In theory, this should match the volume of a critical alert with its sound.volume set to 1.0 in payload. However, I’ve noticed that non-critical notifications still play quieter than critical alerts under these conditions. Critical alerts with volume: 1.0 sound noticeably louder than standard notifications, even though the Ringtone and Alerts slider is already set to maximum. And I couldn't find a documentation for this behavior anywhere. Is this expected behavior on iOS? And is there any way to make non-critical notifications play at the same maximum loudness as critical alerts? Thanks in advance for any clarification.
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Sep ’25
CarPlay Driving Task notification press handling
We're trying to add simple notifications to our CarPlay integration that should open certain template when pressed, but the issue is that when pressing this notification on CarPlay screen nothing is invoked in the code (presumably didReceive should be invoked). All works fine with the same notification but pressed on the iPhone screen - didReceive is invoked properly. How should I handle the action when push notification is pressed on CarPlay screen?
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Sep ’25
My app suddenly cannot receive push notifications
My app(The Smart Life app) is unable to receive push notifications. Please confirm whether APNs has received push notifications from Alibaba Cloud and whether APNs has successfully pushed notifications to the Smart Life app.The Smart Life app uses Alibaba Cloud's push notification service. The message ID pushed by Alibaba Cloud is: f7a02288-a995-47ed-b417-837461028f03 Current Symptom: Alibaba Cloud has reported that this message has been successfully pushed to APNs, but the smart life app has not received any push notifications. The feedback log from Alibaba Cloud shows that the APNs push was successful, but the smart life app did not receive any push. Because APNs do not have message receipts and Alibaba Cloud cannot obtain notification delivery status, it is recommended that I use the APNs channel message ID to submit a work order to Apple technical support for investigation. Note: All push notification permissions for the Smart Life app are enabled, and the Smart Life app is in the foreground when push notifications are sent.
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Sep ’25
Discrepancy between App Store Server API `expiresDate` and iOS Settings subscription expiration date
I am developing an iOS app that uses App Store Server API (v2) for auto-renewable subscriptions. I noticed a discrepancy between the expiration date returned by the API and the date displayed in iPhone Settings > Subscriptions: App Store Server API expiresDate: 2025-09-12T12:10:25 (KST) iOS Settings > Subscriptions: 2025-09-11 (one day earlier) My understanding: The API’s expiresDate is the precise UTC timestamp. The Settings UI might display the "last full calendar day" for UX purposes. Questions: Is this behavior (UI showing one day earlier) an intentional Apple policy? If so, is there any official documentation or guideline explaining this behavior? Should developers always rely on the API’s expiresDate for subscription state management? This discrepancy is confusing for both developers and end users, so any clarification or official reference would be greatly appreciated.
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Sep ’25