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Apple watch Xcode pairing & connection issues
I’m blocked debugging a watchOS app on a physical Apple Watch. The iPhone connects to Xcode normally (wired), but the Watch either fails to connect with a tunnel timeout or disappears entirely from Xcode after I unpaired it inside Devices & Simulators. Environment Mac: macOS 26.x (Apple Silicon Mac) Xcode: 26.2 iPhone: iOS 26.1 Apple Watch Ultra: watchOS 26.2 (build 23S303) Connection: iPhone connected to Mac via USB (trusted). Watch paired to iPhone and working normally in the Watch app. Issue A (when Watch is visible in Xcode) In Xcode → Window → Devices and Simulators, the Watch shows up but is not usable and fails to connect. Error: “Previous preparation error: A connection to this device could not be established.” “Timed out while attempting to establish tunnel using negotiated network parameters.” In some attempts the Watch shows “Capacity: Unknown” / limited details, and then fails during preparation. Issue B (after unpairing Watch in Xcode only) I unpaired/removed the Watch in Xcode (Devices & Simulators). I did not unpair the Watch from the iPhone. Now: iPhone appears in Xcode and works normally for builds. Watch is still paired to the iPhone and works normally. Watch no longer appears anywhere in Xcode Devices & Simulators (no paired watch section, no watch run destination). What I’ve tried Reboots of Mac, iPhone, Watch (multiple times) Watch unlocked, awake; iPhone unlocked and close to Watch Verified Watch is paired and connected in iPhone Watch app Developer Mode enabled on iPhone and Watch Wi-Fi and Bluetooth ON (Mac/iPhone/Watch), tried toggling both Tried on home Wi-Fi and also with iPhone hotspot (same result) Resetting trust prompts / reconnecting iPhone via USB, re-trusting Mac Apple Watch: “Clear Trusted Computers” Xcode: removing/re-adding devices; clearing derived data; restarting Xcode Watch Developer networking test: Responsiveness = Medium (430 RPM) Questions 1. Is this a known issue/regression with Xcode 26.2 + watchOS 26.2 tunneling (CoreDevice / devicectl)? 2. Is there an Apple-supported way to force Xcode to re-discover a paired Watch after it was removed from Xcode Devices & Simulators (without unpairing the Watch from the iPhone)? 3. Any recommended logs or diagnostic steps I should collect (Console logs, sysdiagnose, specific Xcode/CoreDevice logs) to include in a Feedback report? If helpful, I can provide the full error text from Xcode’s Devices window and any logs you recommend. Thank you in advance,
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Quinn’s Top Ten DevForums Tips
I spend a lot of time here on DevForums. Over the years I’ve read many posts, both good and bad. This page is my attempt at writing down what makes a good one. Hopefully some of you will find it useful. Before you read this, read the official Apple Developer > Support > Developer Forums page. If you have questions or feedback about any of the points raised here, start a new thread in the Developer Tools & Services > Developer Forums subtopic. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" Quinn’s Top Ten DevForums Tips Here are my top ten DevForums tips: Is DevForums right for you? Search before you ask Keep your expectations realistic Topic, subtopic, and tags Craft a quality post Prefer text over images Include details with your questions Crash reports Cross posting courtesy Resize screenshots Include a Spinal Tap reference Close your threads Think about your title Post URLs in the clear Many of these boil down to one word: Empathy. Think about the person who’s reading your post. Can they read it? Will they understand it? Will it help them? 1. Is DevForums right for you? To quote Apple Developer > Support > Developer Forums, the Apple Developer Forums (aka DevForums) are: a great place to post questions, exchange knowledge, and connect with fellow developers and Apple engineers on a variety of development topics. DevForums is focused on developer issues. That includes the APIs in Apple’s platform SDKs, Apple tools, developer-oriented Apple services like App Store Connect, and accessory development. If you have a user-level question, you’ll have more luck over in Apple Support Communities, run by Apple Support. DevForums is focused on Apple technologies. If you’re using a third-party tool or library, feel free to ask questions about it here, but you’re more likely to find folks with relevant expertise in that technology’s dedicated support channel. If you want to file a bug report, do that using Feedback Assistant. If you want to discuss a bug you’ve already filed, DevForums is a great place for that. Make sure to include your bug number in your post. For more hints and tips on the bug reporting process, see Bug Reporting: How and Why?. 2. Search before you ask DevForums has a history stretching back to 2015. Many questions have been asked and answered here. Before you start a thread, search the forums for similar threads. For details about the search syntax, see Apple Developer > Support > Developer Forums. For a quick summary, click in the search field. Remember that DevForums is world readable and thus indexed by Internet search engines. 3. Keep your expectations realistic DevForums is a support community, including both third-party developers and various folks from Apple. No one is being paid to answer DevForums questions full time. Keep that in mind when you post. Apple provides a number of other support channels. To request such support, go to the Apple Developer > Contact Us page. One of those support channels is the code-level support provided by Apple Developer Technical Support (DTS). For more information about DTS, see Apple Developer > Support > Requesting Technical Support. DTS strives to conduct most of its business here in the forums, so that our answers are available to the entire developer community. Asking about Apple’s unannounced plans is unlikely to yield useful results. Apple folks can’t discuss The Future™, and non-Apple folks can only speculate. Apple folks can’t discuss Apple’s internal business practices. For example, we can’t answer why question — “Why did Apple do this?” or “Why hasn’t Apple done that?” — unless there’s existing documentation that offers an explanation. If you think Apple should do something differently, file a bug that explains what you’d like to see change and the rationale for that. Not everyone works the same hours as you do. DevForums is a worldwide community, so there are time zones to consider, but there’s also just individual preferences. This is especially relevant around weekends, where your reply on Friday may not be seen by other folks until Monday. Different folks use DevForums in different ways. Some folks lean in to the notification system, whereas others allocate certain times of the day, or the week, to help out. 4. Topic, subtopic, and tags DevForums organises threads by two attributes: A high-level topic and subtopic A fine-grained set of tags Folks willing to offer help often monitor a specific set of subtopics or tags, and only see threads with those attributes. To increase the odds of getting a response, choose your subtopic and tags carefully. The list of subtopics is immediately visible on the top-level page. For a list of tags and their descriptions, go to Developer > Support > Forums Tags. That’s a lot of tags! When choosing a subtopic, choose the most specific one. For example, if you have a question about SwiftUI, choose UI Frameworks > SwiftUI rather than Programming Languages > Swift. The latter is primarily focused on the Swift language itself. When choosing a tag, read the description of that tag. With so many tags there are inevitably cases where a tag doesn’t mean what you think it means. For example, the Exception Handling tag is about the rarely used Exception Handling framework, not about exception handling in general, and the description makes that clear. 5. Craft a quality post When replying, use a reply rather than a comment. Comments are best reserved for short messages, like “Thanks!” or “See this other thread.” IMPORTANT If you reply in the comments, other folks on the thread may not be notified of your reply. DevForums supports Markdown formatting, similar to that used on GitHub and by DocC. The editor UI has buttons for the most common things, like Bold and Italic, but don’t feel the need to limit yourself to that. Correct formatting is particularly important for preformatted text: Use the Inline Code button, which inserts single backquote delimiters (`), for inline text in code style: identifiers and so on. Use the Code Block button, which inserts triple backquote delimiters (```), for blocks of text in code style: code snippets, logs, and so on. After submitting your post, look it over to make sure that it reads well. If not, you have a short window where you can edit the post to fix things. 6. Prefer text over images Don’t use screenshots for data that’s essentially textual, like code snippets and logs. For example, if you want to post a log message, include that as text rather than adding a screenshot. That makes it much easier for your readers to work with the text. Use the Code Block button, which inserts triple backquote delimiters (```), to format blocks of text in code style. Reserve screenshots for situations where the issue is visual, for example: When discussing view layout problems When posting instructions to achieve some task in a GUI app, like Xcode 7. Include details with your questions When starting a thread, try to include all the relevant details in your post. If you skimp on these details, folks will have to reply asking for them, and that slows things down. Specifically, anticipate the following questions: What platform are you targeting? And what version of that platform? What version of Xcode are you using? What version of the OS are you testing on? What specific API are you using? What are the exact steps you took? If something failed, what are the symptoms of that failure? If an API returned an error, what was that error? If nothing failed, what results did you see? And what were you expecting? If you filed a bug, what was the bug number? Have you tried reproducing the issue in a small test project? What else have you tried? For more thoughts on this, see Tips on writing forums posts. Oh, and if you’re having a build problem, consider attaching a full build log. 8. Crash reports If you’re trying to get help with a crash, include a crash report. For advice on how to do that, see Posting a Crash Report. 9. Cross posting courtesy Don’t start multiple threads for the same issue. That just wastes everyones time. Sometimes this happens by accident. If that’s the case, add a comment to one of the threads redirecting folks to the other one. If you find a bunch of old threads that might be related to your issue, don’t post full replies to all of them. Pick a lead thread and post your full reply there, then reply on the other threads with a link to the lead thread. Alternatively, start a new thread and reply on all the old threads with a link to that. That’ll help focus the discussion on your specific issue. If you post your question to another support channel, provide a link to that in your DevForums question, and vice versa. That avoids folks working on a question that’s already been answered elsewhere. 10. Resize screenshots If your post includes an image, make sure it renders well. Screenshots from Retina displays are often ridiculously large. Use Preview to crop the screenshot and, if necessary, downsample it by 50% (using Tools > Adjust Size). 11. Include a Spinal Tap reference To be clear, this is a joke. While the occasional Spinal Tap reference is allowed, please don’t add one to all your posts (-: 12. Close your threads If someone replies with the answer you need, mark that as accepted. That gives them some credit and helps other folks with similar questions find that answer. If you find the answer by yourself, please post a short summary of what you did. Feel free to mark that as accepted. There’s no way to change the accepted answer. See this thread for specific advice. You can’t delete your own threads. If you accidentally post two copies of the same question, choose one as the primary and, in the other one, add a reply that links to it. Beyond that, see this thread for more advice. 13. Think about your title When creating a thread, think carefully about your title. Your title is your thread’s ‘marketing statement’, a way to entice folks to read your post. Try to summarise your issue in 15 words or less. Adding tags to your title makes it harder to read. Instead, add your tags with the tagging UI. See tip 4 for more on tags. 14. Post URLs in the clear DevForums has a list of websites you can link to at will. For example, it places no restrictions on links to Swift Forums. To link to a site that’s not on the allowlist, skip the Markdown link syntax and post your link in the clear. So, this won’t work: Apple is based in [Cupertino](https://www.cupertino.org). but this will: Apple is based in Cupertino. https://www.cupertino.org Revision History 2026-01-29 Clarified the first few paragraphs in tip 3. Fixed a broken link. 2025-12-02 Tidied up and expanded tip 12. 2025-06-19 Made minor editorial changes. 2024-08-29 Added a link to Creating a test project. 2024-08-07 Add more hints to tip 7. 2024-05-27 Reworked tip 4 to account for the new topic and subtopic model. Made other minor editorial changes. 2023-11-16 Added a link to Public and Private Tags (although the gotcha it describes no longer applies). 2023-02-22 Expanded tip 3. 2023-02-10 Added a note about why questions to tip 3 (another great suggestion from Scott). Added a link to Bug Reporting: How and Why?. 2023-01-09 Added a note about tags to tip 13. 2022-12-09 Expanded tip 12. 2022-08-22 Expanded tip 5 to explain why you shouldn’t reply in the comments. 2022-08-11 Expanded tip 9. 2022-06-17 Added tip 14. Updated the preamble to include a link to the main DevForums page. 2022-06-04 Added a discussion of unannounced plans to tip 3 (thanks to Scott). 2022-06-03 Added tip 13. 2022-05-24 Added tips suggested by Claude31 and Scott. 2022-05-23 First posted.
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Public and Private Tags
IMPORTANT Improvements in the New Post form have eliminated the gotcha described below. DevForums has the concept of public and private tags: Public tags are available to everyone, per the rules outlined in Developer > Support > Developer Forums. Private tags are limited to a specific set of developers. The canonical example of a private tag is Universal App Quick Start, which is only available to folks who had an Apple silicon DTK. If you have access to any private tags, the New Post form has an extra field, Post Visibility. Its default value is Private but you can switch it to Public. The Tags field adjusts accordingly. So, if you select Private you only see a limited set of private tags. Use these if your post is about one of those private topics. OTOH, if your post is about a public topic, change Post Visibility to Public and apply the appropriate public tags. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
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Icon Composer showing werid images
Hey guys! I downloaded Apple’s Icon Composer to build my iOS 26 app icon. I exported my SVG from Illustrator (and verified it through Canva and the W3C validator). However, when I import it into Icon Composer, it looks really weird . There are these bubble-like artifacts appearing in the center. Here's my orignal svg icon file trace-logo.txt Any help will be appreciated! Best, Justin
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No service and no complaints procedure
Hi, I requested a callback for Developer support as I was trying to set up a new Apple Developer account for my employer. As this was a new business for Apple, looking to create an Apple Developer Premium account, I thought Apple might be even slightly interested in helping answer some key questions. I requested a callback. The page claimed they would be 'calling shortly'. No call came. So, I requested another callback... The page again claimed they would be 'calling shortly'. Yet again, no call came. Later, I requested yet another callback... The page again claimed they would be 'calling shortly'. As is the norm, no call came. I called Apple support main telephone number, and they explained that this was a failing of their system on their part, hurrah... that was correct. But they told me they could not deal with my issue as it was a developer support issue. I already have a developer account anyway, so really they should be supporting me, I already PAY them! So normal support could only help in so far as they were able to tell me what I already know, the Apple developer support system does not work. The thing is, nobody at Apple actually cares about this. They don't really care about anything, as is clear by the lack of means to escalate issues. So, I sent an email instead, through their website form. I received no response. The next day, I requested another callback, no call came. I sent another email, and got no response. It is totally exasperating that Apple have no functional complaints system at all, and is damning of the origination. It is perfectly clear that they regard users, and customers, with abject contempt. Now I am going to have to write a snail mail letter to their CEO in the USA in the hope that they given more of a damn than those they preside over.
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Xcode 26: `IDERunDestination: Supported platforms for the buildables in the current scheme is empty` repeatedly logged when running tests from `.xctestrun` file
We are seeing repeated occurrences of the following log line in test runs triggered via .xctestrun files on iOS 26: IDERunDestination: Supported platforms for the buildables in the current scheme is empty. This line is printed n number of times after a test fails, significantly increasing test execution duration (2–3 minutes extra in some cases). The issue does not occur when tests are built and run together from Xcode directly — it’s specific to .xctestrun-based executions using xcodebuild test-without-building. Steps to Reproduce: Use Xcode 26 to build a sample XCTest target (we used a simple UI test project). Locate the generated .xctestrun file under DerivedData/.../Build/Products/.... Run tests using: xcodebuild -xctestrun /path/to/sample.xctestrun \ -destination "id=<device_id>" \ test-without-building Observe the logs during test failure. Observed Behavior: The log line IDERunDestination: Supported platforms for the buildables in the current scheme is empty appears multiple times. The test cleanup and teardown phase takes significantly longer (2–3 minutes). Expected Behavior: The log should appear once or not at all. Test cleanup time should remain consistent. Additional Information: Affects only iOS 26 devices and .xctestrun-based runs. Not reproducible on iOS < 26. Xcode 26 and 26.x beta versions tried. Reproducible both locally and on CI systems using real devices. Same .xctestrun file, when used on older OS versions, does not cause delay.
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Apple Developer Enrollment Refuses to Take My Money (Payment Constantly Declined)
I'm trying to enroll in Apple Developer and I continuously getting a "Payment Declined" message despite trying 4 credit cards, a debit card and even my apple card. When I try this through the developer app the "Enroll Now" button is greyed out. It's not a bank issue I've already checked and they don't see any requests coming through. I’ve tried multiple times with no luck. Contacted Apple support and they are extremely slow with the responses with very little help. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to fix this?
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Payment pending for weeks to access the Developer Program
Hi, My payment has been pending since early January to join the developer program in spite of the mention that it should be processed in a couple business days. This is preventing me from moving forward with my app. I see several similar issues on the Forum but no answer to my issue. Any thoughts on how to speed up this process? Any help would be much appreciated!
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XCode26.2 ld: Assertion failed: ((ct == Atom::ContentType::objcConst) || (ct == Atom::ContentType::objcData) || (ct == Atom::ContentType::constData) || (ct == Atom::ContentType::constText)), function ObjCClassReadOnlyDataRef, file Atom.cpp, line 329
Dear Apple engineers: My previous project was successfully compiled using Xcode 16.2. Now, I need to adapt it to Xcode 26. I know that the linker in Xcode 26 has undergone significant changes. So, in the 'Other Linker Flags' configuration of the Build Settings in the project engineering of Xcode 26.2, I deleted '-ld64' and added '-Xlinker -dead_strip -Xlinker -dead_strip -allow_dead_duplicates' to adapt to the new linker of Xcode 26. After the modification, when I compiled my project engineering using Xcode 26.2 compiler, I encountered a new linker error. The error log is attached. Regarding this error, how should we solve it? Thank you. XCode26.2BuildErrorLog.txt
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XcodePreviews cleared actual app data
I've been developing an advanced gps tracking tool and had over 500 miles of data collected in the local storage of my test app. Recently, I used the XcodePreviews app to use my device to test UI updates as I was making them. To my surprise, doing this cleared all the data from my actual test app. Has this happened to anyone else before? Is there a way to recover my lost data? Why does this happen? I've verified that this is always clearing my app data. I tested by adding data to my actual test app then launching XcodePreviews - only to find that my app data has been cleared.
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Unable to Subscribe to Apple Developer Program
I have been attempting to complete my enrollment for the Apple Developer Program, but each time I try, I am shown the message: “Your enrollment could not be completed at this time.” The issue persists across multiple attempts and days, and I am unable to proceed further. I am signed in with my Apple ID, and the error appears immediately during the enrollment process. Could you please advise on: Whether this is a known issue affecting my region, or If there are any additional steps or verification required to complete enrollment from Cameroon? I would greatly appreciate any guidance or support you can provide, as I am eager to continue with development using Apple’s platforms. Thank you for your time and assistance.
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iMessages App Capability Issue with In-App Purchase
**The issue - ** I can't add "In-App Purchase" as a capability in xCode to my iMessage extension target. **What I have tried - ** I have a valid provisioning profile with In-App Purchases enabled. I have agreed to all agreements in the apple developer console. I have an apple developer membership. I have added an active bank account to my apple developer account. **How the issue came to be - ** I am trying to develop a "stand-alone" iMessage app (no underlying app) which as I understand it is different from a "iMessage extension app"(this has an underlying app that it syncs/interacts with). To do this, I updated my mac to latest OS (Tahoe 26.2) and xCode as well. I then began by using the "iMessage App" template in xCode. And BAM right off the bat, I could not get the "In-App Purchases" capability to show up when I select my iMessage extension target. To be clear, when you make the template, you get 2 targets, one is just a regular "app" target and the other is the iMessage extension target. Now I am not sure if I even need the "app" target if I'm trying for a standalone iMessage app, but I figured it wouldn't be causing this issue as I have tried deleting that target and nothing changed. **Replicating the issue - ** I have tried creating other "iMessage App"'s off of the template to see if maybe I just got it wrong or misconfigured something in my development, but it seems like when you start one of those templates, you immediately are not able to see the "In-App Purchase" capability. **Help! - ** I know this to be possible as there is another (very popular) iMessage extension out on the app store right now called "Game Pigeon" which is also provided by an individual just like I am trying to do, and he uses In App Purchases in his iMessage app. Any help on this would be GREATLY appreciated. Please reach out to me if you need/want additional info or could/want to schedule a meeting.
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Appkit without storyboards XCode 26.2
I’m running macOS 15.7 with Xcode 26.2, and I’m trying to learn the basics of AppKit. I’m fully aware that AppKit is considered a legacy / “old” technology and that Apple clearly does not promote it out of the box anymore. This is especially visible in recent versions of Xcode, where you can no longer create a macOS App template without Storyboards or SwiftUI. That said, AppKit is still widely used under the hood, so I think it’s reasonable to at least understand its fundamentals. Here’s the problem I’m facing. I create a standard macOS App project using the Xcode template (AppKit App Delegate). Then I: delete Main.storyboard remove all storyboard references from Info.plist try to create the window manually in applicationDidFinishLaunching At this point, the project builds, but the app either: does not show any window, or behaves as if it were not a proper GUI app While debugging, it looks like Xcode / Swift is treating my target more like a dylib / wrapper than a normal .app bundle (at least judging by runtime behavior and the lack of a proper AppKit lifecycle). While searching for answers, I found this article: https://ashidiqi.com/blog/how-to-setup-xcode-project-programmatically-with-appkit/ The author claims that in this scenario you must not use the @main attribute and instead need a main.swift file that manually calls NSApplicationMain. However, the article also mentions that Xcode shows the error: 'main' attribute cannot be used in a module that contains top-level code The confusing part is that I do not have any top-level code in my project when using @main. At the same time, when I ask an LLM for clarification, it tells me that: @main does not require a storyboard removing a storyboard does not force you to switch to main.swift @main should work fine for a fully programmatic AppKit app So I’m left with two concrete questions: What is the correct, modern answer here? When building a fully programmatic AppKit app (no storyboard, no SwiftUI), do you actually need main.swift, or is @main still fully supported and correct? Is there any supported or recommended way in modern Xcode to get a “clean” AppKit app template without a storyboard? Either via project settings, templates, or some documented workflow — without having to fight the build system or end up with a half-broken target. I’m not trying to fight Apple’s direction here — I just want to understand the correct way to work with AppKit in 2025, even if it’s not the preferred path anymore. Thanks in advance for any clarification.
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Unable to Verify Code Signature with Error 0xe8008018 Despite Troubleshooting Attempts
Hello everyone, I am encountering a persistent issue with Xcode where I’m unable to install my app on a testing device due to the following error message: Failed to verify code signature of /var/installd/Library/Caches/com.apple.mobile.installd.staging/temp.SznYNY/extracted/iForC.app : 0xe8008018 (The identity used to sign the executable is no longer valid.) Here’s what I have tried so far to resolve this issue: 1. Ensured that all my certificates and provisioning profiles are current and valid. 2. Removed all related certificates from my Keychain and reinstalled new ones. 3. Cleaned and rebuilt the project multiple times. 4. Unpaired the device and paired it again. 5. Reinstalled the latest version of Xcode. 6. Performed a complete restore of my Mac. Despite these troubleshooting steps, I am still facing the same issue. I would greatly appreciate any insights or experiences related to this error from anyone who has overcome similar challenges. Thank you in advance for your help!
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Xcode Cloud on Apple Silicon any time soon?
I'm currently using another provider for CI/CD. They've been offering Apple Silicon builds for over a year now. When we switched over, we saw our build times cut in half. I've seen similar results locally, back when I bought an M1 Mac. So, recently, I tried to use Xcode Cloud on my project. My build time is nearly 45 minutes, where my build time on my current system is about 15 minutes, max. Since I work on a team, and we make regular commits, having a 45 minute turnaround is not ideal. When I looked at the logs of my Xcode Cloud project, I saw a lot "x86_64" stuff in there, which led me to believe that Xcode Cloud is still building on Intel machines. Additionally, I run tests on my builds. The build time alone (before running tests) was almost 20 minutes. The 15-minute time I cited with my current CI/CD included build time & tests running. So, a whole cycle finishes on my current setup before tests are even run. I noticed that there was a bunch of x86_64 in the logs, which made me think that Xcode Cloud is still using Intel. Is this true? I've just gotten really used to faster build times, and I can't move onto a system like this, where the times are so drastically different. Like, I wouldn't mind build time that would add only a few more minutes to what I have now. But going from 15 -> 45 minutes is a real problem.
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Developer account payment issue
Im having trouble paying for my new developer account and it seems its been an ongoing issue for new enrollments. Has anyone else had this issue? If so how did you manage to resolve it? I keep getting "Your payment authorisation failed on card. Please verify your information and try again, or try another payment method." I tried different cards, called my bank, tried on safari, tried on the app and been back and forth with support for a couple of weeks no with no solution. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.
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