Hi everyone, I’m currently reviewing the app transfer criteria in Apple’s official documentation and came across the following statement: “Mac apps that have used the sandbox environment and share the Application Group Container Directory with other Mac apps can't be transferred.” We are planning to add Widget support to our iOS app before initiating an app transfer. As part of this, the app would likely: Enable App Sandbox Use App Groups to share data between the main app and the Widget Given this, I have a couple of questions: Although the documentation explicitly mentions Mac apps, would the same restriction for app transfer apply to iOS apps that use App Groups (e.g., for Widgets)? If iOS apps are not subject to this restriction, will the Widget extension and its associated App Group data transfer correctly along with the main app during the transfer process? We want to make sure we don’t introduce any blockers before proceeding with the transfer. Any clarification or related experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I haven't been able to find the exact name for this. In iOS 26, there's a widget called "New Reminder" in Reminders app among the Control Center widgets(Action Button also). In the Shortcuts app, name is “Show quick reminder.” It doesn't seem to be either the input window that appears when requesting parameters or the snippet view. Is it possible to implement the sheet that appears after tap this widget button? I've looked through the relevant documentation and WWDC videos but haven't found anything.

Hi everyone, I’m currently implementing Live Activities in my music app to display real-time lyrics on the Lock Screen. The app works fully offline, so I’m not using push updates or push tokens. Instead, I’m updating the Live Activity locally as each new line of lyrics is played (essentially near real-time updates synced with the song). However, I’m running into an issue where the Live Activity UI is not updating reliably or frequently enough. Even though I’m calling the update method for each lyric line, the changes are either delayed or not reflected at all. Here’s some additional context: • The app runs fine in the background (verified via battery usage and playback behavior) • Live Activity is successfully created and initially displayed • Updates are triggered locally (no push notifications involved) • Updates are happening quite frequently (per lyric line) • No crashes or errors are observed My questions: 1. Is there a system-imposed throttling limit on how frequently Live Activities can be updated locally? 2. Are there recommended update intervals for smooth UI updates (e.g., for use cases like lyrics or timers)? 3. Does Live Activity deprioritize updates for offline apps or background execution? 4. Are there any additional configurations or capabilities required to ensure consistent updates? 5. Is using something like AsyncStream or other concurrency patterns helpful in this case? 6. Are there any undocumented limitations or best practices for high-frequency updates? 7. Is there any private or internal API used by Apple apps (like Music) that allows smoother real-time updates? My goal is to achieve smooth, near real-time lyric updates similar to Apple Music’s Now Playing experience. Any guidance, best practices, or clarification would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hi, I need your opinion about an issue we faced while trying to implement an iOS widget in our Flutter app. Here is what we did and the problems we encountered: We created a Widget Extension (SwiftUI + WidgetKit) inside the existing Flutter iOS project. The widget files were generated correctly (Widget.swift, WidgetBundle.swift, Info.plist, etc.). However, during the integration, we faced multiple issues: Build Cycle Error We repeatedly got: “Cycle inside Runner; building could produce unreliable results” This was related to embedding the widget extension into the Runner target. Embed Problems Sometimes Xcode did not automatically create the “Embed App Extensions” phase. When we added it manually → build cycle errors appeared. When we removed it → the widget was not embedded at all (no PlugIns folder in Runner.app). Duplicate / Conflicting Embed The extension appeared both in: “Embed Foundation Extensions” “Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content” Removing one often broke the build or removed the other as well. Widget Not Appearing Even when build succeeded: Widget did not appear on device PlugIns/Widget.appex was missing from build output Flutter Linking Errors In another test project, we got: Undefined symbol: _FlutterMethodChannel Undefined symbol: _FlutterBasicMessageChannel etc. This happened because the widget extension tried to link Flutter dependencies, which should not happen. App Group Confusion We also tried adding App Group (group.com.xxx), but behavior didn’t change. Conclusion: We suspect the root issue is: The Flutter template we are using was not designed for WidgetKit integration Xcode embedding phases and Flutter build scripts conflict with extension targets Question: In your opinion: Is this a known limitation with Flutter-based iOS projects? Is there a clean way to integrate WidgetKit without breaking the Runner target? Or is it better to create a separate native iOS module for the widget? Any guidance would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hello everyone, I am currently developing a suite of widgets for my iOS app using SwiftUI and WidgetKit. While the initial widgets (let's call them Widget A, B, and C) render perfectly, I am encountering a strange layout issue with a new widget (Widget D). The Issue: On the Home Screen, Widget D appears to have an unwanted internal padding or "squeezed" content inset, even though it shares a similar structural implementation with the other functional widgets. Technical Details: I am using .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, maxHeight: .infinity) on the main container to ensure the content fills the available space.

Environment: Xcode 26.4 (17E192) iOS 26.4.1 iPhone 15 Pro Project uses PBXFileSystemSynchronizedRootGroup (Xcode 26 format) Setup: Widget Extension target named ModusWidgetExtension Bundle ID: com.calvin.Modus.ModusWidget NSSupportsLiveActivities = YES in both main app and widget extension Info.plist Live Activities enabled in Settings → Modus Live Activities enabled in Settings → Face ID & Passcode → Allow Access When Locked Background App Refresh enabled Push Notifications capability on both targets ActivityAttributes struct added to both targets via file target membership Behaviour: ActivityAuthorizationInfo().areActivitiesEnabled returns true Activity.request() succeeds and returns a valid activity ID No error is thrown Nothing appears on lock screen or Dynamic Island in foreground or background Widget preview in Xcode renders correctly for all presentations (compact, minimal, expanded, lock screen) Console output from liveactivitiesd filtered logs: "Foreground process is permitted to update activity" "XPCInputParticipant has no activity for update" (ERROR — repeated) "Received state update for [app<com.calvin.Modus>], running-active-NotVisible" The activity is being created and the system is receiving state updates, but the widget extension is not rendering it. The XPCInputParticipant error suggests the widget extension process cannot find the activity created by the main app.

Hi I developed a music app that plays offline audio and displays lyrics using Live Activities. According to ActivityKit documentation, Live Activities can be updated from the background. However, in my case, updates stop after ~30 seconds when the app goes to the background or the device is locked. Important points: The app continues running in the background (audio playback works fine using AVAudioSession with .playback) Background code execution is working as expected Only the Live Activity stops updating I am not using push updates since this is an offline app. Is there any limitation or requirement for updating Live Activities continuously in the background during audio playback? Audio Session Configuration let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() try session.setCategory( .playback, mode: .default, options: [.mixWithOthers] // ✅ DO NOT interrupt other audio ) try session.setActive(true) print("✅ [AudioSession] Activated with mixWithOthers") } catch { print("❌ [AudioSession] Error: \(error)") } Live Activity Update Methods guard let activity = getLiveActivity(for: recordID) else{ print("⚠️ No Live Activity found for recordID: \(recordID)") return } guard activity.activityState == .active else { print("⚠️ Activity is not active") return } Task { let content = ActivityContent( state: state, staleDate: Date().addingTimeInterval(60 * 60 * 12), relevanceScore: 1.0 ) await activity.update(content) print("✅ Live Activity updated with ActivityContent") } }

Hi, I have a problem with watchOS widget configuration intents. It turns out that watchOS is unable to load text for localization keys. This is how I set configuration parameter in WidgetConfigurationIntent: @Parameter( title: LocalizedStringResource( "watchWidgetConfig.showSymbols", defaultValue: "Symbole", table: "WidgetLocalizable", bundle: widgetBundle ), default: true ) var showSymbols: Bool Unfortunately, on a device always the defaultValue is used. I tried everything and nothing works. What's weird, it correctly works on watchOS simulator and if you configure widgets in iOS "Watch" app. On real Apple Watch, the "defaultValue" is displayed. I'm not sure if it's important but both: the Swift file with WidgetConfigurationIntent and WidgetLocalizable.xcstring are included in two targets: Watch Widget Extension and Watch App. I tried so far: All variants of LocalizableStringResource init. With/without "table", with/without "bundle". Previously I had texts in Localizable.strings, I migrated it to WidgetLocalizable.xcstrings and it didn't work either. Setting only one target for WidgetLocalizable.xcstring and WidgetConfigurationIntent. I checked inside xcarchive to see if WidgetLocalizable.xcstring is copied correctly. Seems like watchOS bug, but I would be happy to know if someone figured out any workaround. Xcode: Version 26.4 (17E192) iOS 26.4.1 watchOS 26.4 I already created a ticket: FB22509406

Context I'm building a study-timer feature for an iOS app (Flutter + native ActivityKit) that displays a Live Activity on the Lock Screen / Dynamic Island while a session is running. When the user force-quits the app by swiping it up from the App Switcher, I want the Live Activity to disappear as quickly as possible. I have already confirmed (from on-device testing and Apple Developer Forums thread 732418) that: applicationWillTerminate is not called on swipe-up force-kill, only on OS-initiated termination or crash. So synchronous Activity.end(...) from the app itself is not a solution for the force-kill path. Shortening staleDate does not visually dismiss the Live Activity once the app process is gone — the Widget Extension keeps rendering the last fresh snapshot and there is no body-reevaluation trigger on the stale transition post-app-death. (I implemented and verified this, then rolled it back.) The only Apple-official reliable mechanism is APNs push-to-end (Activity.request(pushType: .token) + server sends event: end via APNs). Current architecture I have APNs push-to-end working end-to-end. Structure: Client: Activity.request(pushType: .token), subscribe to Activity.pushTokenUpdates, forward each new token to the backend. Backend: On every client heartbeat, upsert (user_id, la_apns_token, la_activity_id, last_heartbeat) into Postgres. A separate scheduler polls for rows whose last_heartbeat < now() - grace_ttl and sends APNs event: end to the stored token. Parameters I am currently running with: Parameter Value Client heartbeat interval 60 s Orphan grace TTL (server) 135 s (heartbeat × 2.25, to absorb network jitter) Scheduler poll interval 30 s The observation End-to-end latency from "user force-kills the app" to "Live Activity disappears from Lock Screen" is: Worst case: 60 + 135 + 30 = ~225 s (~3.75 min) Typical: ~3 min (as consistently measured on iOS 26.4.1, iPhone 17 Pro Max) Theoretical minimum (if the kill happens exactly at a heartbeat boundary): ~135 s Users perceive 3 minutes as broken — the timer clearly stopped (no ticking), but the Live Activity "ghost" is still visible on the Lock Screen. My question Is there any Apple-supported mechanism to reliably tear down a Live Activity faster than ~2 minutes after the owning app's process is gone, given that applicationWillTerminate does not fire on swipe-kill? Specifically: Is there any practical lower bound below ~60 s for this scenario using the current ActivityKit + APNs model, assuming we are not willing to spam heartbeats every few seconds? I can push heartbeat to 20–30 s, but the server cost grows linearly with active sessions. Does BGAppRefreshTask / BGProcessingTask have any documented lifecycle hook that fires on user-initiated swipe-kill specifically, so that I could do a "last-heartbeat flush" just before the process dies? My understanding is that background tasks are scheduled for later and do not fire synchronously at termination. Is there any signal from APNs/ActivityKit to my server (e.g. a feedback-service-like mechanism) that indicates "this Live Activity's owning app was force-killed", which would let the server short-circuit the heartbeat-based orphan detection? Are there any new APIs in iOS 18.x or the upcoming release that address this specific force-kill → LA-dismissal latency? I could not find anything in the 18.x release notes, but I may have missed it. What I am NOT asking I am not asking how to implement APNs push-to-end (that works). I am not asking about applicationWillTerminate (I already confirmed it does not fire on swipe-kill). I am not asking about shortening staleDate as a visual workaround (I already verified it does not trigger body reevaluation post-kill). Environment iOS 26.4.1 (also reproducible on 18.x devices I have on hand) iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Xcode 26.x Activity.request(pushType: .token) with ActivityContent + custom stalenessInterval = 120s APNs HTTP/2 via token auth (.p8), targeting api.push.apple.com in production apns-push-type: liveactivity, apns-priority: 10, payload includes event: end What I have tried (for the record, to avoid "did you try" responses) applicationWillTerminate with DispatchSemaphore 3.5 s sync wait + dismissalPolicy: .immediate — works only for OS-terminate, not swipe-kill. stalenessInterval = 30s + 15 s refresh cadence + override to 5 s on AppLifecycleState.paused — verified not to dismiss the LA after app death. Cold-start reconciliation via Activity<...>.activities on next app launch — works, but that only helps if the user relaunches. Current APNs push-to-end with 60 s / 135 s / 30 s configuration — works, but latency is the complaint. Any guidance, even "no, ~2 minutes is the floor by design" with a pointer to the relevant doc, would be very helpful. Thank you.

Hello everyone, my app A now supports iOS Widget C under the same Xcode project. Now I have another app B under this project, and I hope it can also support this Widget C. What should be done? How should the app group be configured? I have found some solutions: for example, add this key under the info.plist corresponding to app B: NSExtension NSExtensionPointIdentifier com.apple.widgetkit-extension NSExtensionPrincipalClass $(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).WidgetEntryView However, when I configured it and started running, not only could I not see the support Widget C, but the screen also went black. Thank you all.

Our app runs offline-first focus sessions using FamilyControls / ManagedSettings shielding and DeviceActivity monitoring. The in-app session timer is protected against wall-clock manipulation by using monotonic elapsed time, and the shield remains active correctly when the user manually changes the iPhone clock. However, the Live Activity and Dynamic Island countdown appear to use the device's wall clock for their timer rendering. If the user changes the device time from Settings during an active session, the Live Activity / Dynamic Island countdown immediately jumps forward or backwards, even though the underlying session has not changed. Is there a recommended ActivityKit approach for rendering a Live Activity / Dynamic Island countdown that is resistant to manual device clock changes? If not, is this an expected limitation of Live Activity timer rendering? And is there any supported way for the host app or widget extension to detect wall-clock manipulation so the Live Activity can be corrected, dismissed, or replaced with a safer non-countdown state?

Hi, I am looking for help. I submitted my request for Family Conotrols Distribution using the form. I have been waiting for days and didn't get any reply or confirmation email. Thanks.

iPhone 16.0 16.0.2 系统上运行小组件出现问题， 其他系统没有问题 SendProcessControlEvent:toPid: encountered an error: Error Domain=com.apple.dt.deviceprocesscontrolservice Code=8 "Failed to show Widget 'com.jiduauto.iphone.jdcomiphoneWidget' error: Error Domain=FBSOpenApplicationServiceErrorDomain Code=5 "The request to open "com.apple.springboard" failed." UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=The request to open "com.apple.springboard" failed., NSLocalizedFailureReason=Unexpected error type., NSUnderlyingError=0x600002bbd7a0 {Error Domain=BSServiceConnectionErrorDomain Code=3 "XPC error received on message reply handler" UserInfo={BSErrorCodeDescription=OperationFailed, NSLocalizedFailureReason=XPC error received on message reply handler}}, BSErrorCodeDescription=InvalidResponse}." UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Failed to show Widget 'com.jiduauto.iphone.jdcomiphoneWidget' error: Error Domain=FBSOpenApplicationServiceErrorDomain Code=5 "The request to open "com.apple.springboard" failed." UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=The request to open "com.apple.springboard" failed., NSLocalizedFailureReason=Unexpected error type., NSUnderlyingError=0x600002bbd7a0 {Error Domain=BSServiceConnectionErrorDomain Code=3 "XPC error received on message reply handler" UserInfo={BSErrorCodeDescription=OperationFailed, NSLocalizedFailureReason=XPC error received on message reply handler}}, BSErrorCodeDescription=InvalidResponse}., NSUnderlyingError=0x600002bbd5f0 {Error Domain=FBSOpenApplicationServiceErrorDomain Code=5 "The request to open "com.apple.springboard" failed." UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=The request to open "com.apple.springboard" failed., NSLocalizedFailureReason=Unexpected error type., NSUnderlyingError=0x600002bbd7a0 {Error Domain=BSServiceConnectionErrorDomain Code=3 "XPC error received on message reply handler" UserInfo={BSErrorCodeDescription=OperationFailed, NSLocalizedFailureReason=XPC error received on message reply handler}}, BSErrorCodeDescription=InvalidResponse}}} Domain: DTXMessage Code: 1 User Info: { DVTErrorCreationDateKey = "2024-02-19 08:02:14 +0000"; } System Information macOS Version 13.5.2 (Build 22G91) Xcode 15.0 (22265) (Build 15A240d) Timestamp: 2024-02-19T16:02:14+08:00

Please note that the widgets sub forum is a 404: https://developer.apple.com/forums/post/question?community=1394020 I have a widget that works on iOS but doesn't work on Catalyst. The widget does not appear in the list of available widgets to install. It's related to the Bundle ID for the widget. If I use a fresh bundle ID the widget loads, but if I use the one I'm currently using for iOS it doesn't appear as available to install. To confirm it's related to the bundle ID I created a fresh project in xcode and recreated the behaviour. Any help greatly appreciated.

I am seeing a really weird behavior with Live Activities. The Live Activity is always appearing on the simulator. However the Live Activity is only appearing on my physical device when there is no other widget in the widget bundle shown below. @main struct HoerspielWidgetsBundle: WidgetBundle { var body: some Widget { // Uncomment the line below and the Live Activity will no longer appear // UpNextWidget() PlaybackLiveActivity() } } Annotating that var with @WidgetBundle has no effect. There are no logs indicating an error, the function to request a Live Activity does not throw and the status of the activity is active. Both the widget and the Live Activity are working fine otherwise. NSSupportsLiveActivities is set to true in the correct Info.plist file. I am not running any beta software and the physical iPhone is on the newest version (iOS 18.5). Using the template when adding a new target in Xcode, I was able to set up a similar app where the Live Activity works as expected. I am really at a loss here which additional information I should provide or how this issue can be resolved. Thank you for your help.

Hello forum, I want to keep my app running in the background after user swaps up, for the purpose of workout tracking. start up the task and continuously receipt GPS updates process the location data show the data on a live activity Two examples Strava paddlelogger Question: Does this mean, these two apps would just pause when the .backgroundTimeRemaining becomes 0? How does a workout app "work" in background mode, do I need to handle budget running out?

I have a Health & Fitness widget that runs on iPhone and Apple Watch. As Health data access requires the device to be unlocked, the iPhone widget is already slightly limited in capability because of updates. With widgets further expanding to places like CarPlay, I know I can use the .disfavouredLocations{} API to try and prevent it being offered there. This is crucial as the widget functionality would be basically non-existent as your device is locked during CarPlay use. My problem is, on the Mac despite using the .disfavouredLocations{.iPhoneWidgetsOnMac} etc...., the widget can still be added in the "other unsupported section". And yet, in that section the Apple Fitness app widget is no where to be seen. Is there an API I am missing to completely remove a widget from the Mac widget gallery and hopefully CarPlay, Standby etc.... (all places where the device running the widget is usually locked -> No Health data)? Or does the Apple Fitness app have a private API to block it from these places where its function is not wanted and this isn't available to other apps?

Hello, I'm currently developing for visionOS using Xcode's latest beta version. I have a question regarding Widget Previews for visionOS 26: When I create a new Widget Extension target directly from a visionOS project, the generated code does not include the #Preview macro. Following the documentation, I manually added the #Preview macro to a Widget created within a visionOS project, but Xcode then displays an error stating that "This platform does not support previewing widgets." My interpretation is that Widget Previews are currently not supported for Widgets created specifically for visionOS in this beta version. Is this understanding correct? Or am I missing a specific way to implement previews for visionOS Widgets, or is there a particular project setting I might have overlooked? Any clarification or guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I'm trying to update data displayed in my Watch Complications (WidgetKit). I have an iOS app that sends data to the Apple Watch using WCSession.default.transferUserInfo. However, the data only updates on the complications or widgets after I open the watchOS app manually. Ideally, I'd like the Watch widget/complication to reflect the updated data as soon as it's sent from the iPhone, without requiring the user to open the Watch app.

i will go and play games on certian apps like geometry dash and flappy dunk and they are very sluggish at times. is this because of the beta software and has anyone had problems with this?