Hi everyone, I’m developing a screen-time and focus app that uses Apple’s Family Controls framework to block distracting apps and reward users through a gamified experience. Apple approved Family Controls (Distribution) for the main app identifier, but they did not approve the required extension target (which implements DeviceActivityMonitor, required for the framework to function). Because of this, I can’t archive or upload the app to TestFlight — and I’ve been stuck in limbo for over 2 months. This is severely delaying my launch. The app works perfectly, but I can’t release it because the extension wasn’t included in the entitlement approval. Has anyone else run into this with Family Controls? Is there any known way to escalate or fast-track approval for additional app IDs or targets? Would really appreciate any help, advice, or hacks. 🙏 Thanks, Enzer

Hi there, we are implementing the new ContactProviderExtension introduced in iOS 18 and we are able to activate the extension, add data and everything. But we want to add domains to seperate contacts and currently we are getting an error "ContactProvider.ContactProviderError.domainNotRegistered". That makes sense because in the API docu we are not finding a way to register our domains. We are using ContactProviderDomain to create domains but we are not able to find any function to register. Could you please give a hint? Thank you

I need to display a different app name based on the user's region/language. This setup works correctly for regions like the United Kingdom, Australia. However, for Singapore, the app always falls back to the UK version (en-GB) instead of picking the localized name defined under en-SG. Interestingly, system alerts like location permission and app deletion do use the en-SG localization correctly. Could you help identify why the app name isn't picking up the en-SG version and suggest how we can resolve this?

Using Apple SwiftUI Translate library: when calling: try await session.prepareTranslation() the first time, the API's Language Download sheet does not show (or shows briefly and dismisses immediately) Even when the sheet doesn't show, the keyboard is lowered, as though the sheet would be appearing, but then the keyboard raises as though the sheet was dismissed. The following Errors are printed in the console dozens of times; but on all subsequent executions, the API Language Download sheet shows as expected. The trigger code is in a function which is executed when a Translate button is tapped. Any ideas would be welcome! Console Error on first execution only LaunchServices: store (null) or url (null) was nil: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. Failed to initialize client context with error Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} LaunchServices: store (null) or url (null) was nil: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. Failed to initialize client context with error Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} LaunchServices: store (null) or url (null) was nil: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. Failed to initialize client context with error Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Error returned from iconservicesagent image request: <ISBundleIdentifierIcon: 0x300df3c30> BundleID: (null) digest: 7749FEEE-F663-39B4-AD68-A18CFF762CCC - <ISImageDescriptor: 0x3033b26c0> - (64.00, 64.00)@2x v:4 l:5 a:0:0:0:0 t:() b:0 s:2 ps:0 digest: DF83A970-D4C9-3D90-BB7D-0BC21FC22E03 error: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-609 "Client is disallowed from making such an icon request" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Client is disallowed from making such an icon request} Error returned from iconservicesagent image request: <ISTypeIcon: 0x300d0fb70>,Type: com.apple.appprotection.badge.faceid - <ISImageDescriptor: 0x3033ad0e0> - (32.00, 32.00)@2x v:0 l:5 a:0:0:0:0 t:() b:0 s:2 ps:0 digest: 648D7A72-90CB-3858-9409-5C554BB43B8E error: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-609 "Client is disallowed from making such an icon request" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Client is disallowed from making such an icon request} Connection interrupted, finishing translation with error Error Domain=TranslationErrorDomain Code=14 "(null)" Got response from extension with error: Error Domain=TranslationErrorDomain Code=14 "(null)" Reported that remote UI finished but didn't get finished configuration, reporting the error as: Error Domain=TranslationErrorDomain Code=20 "(null)" VS terminated with error: Error Domain=_UIViewServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "(null)" UserInfo={Terminated=disconnect method} Reported that remote UI finished but didn't get finished configuration, reporting the error as: Error Domain=TranslationErrorDomain Code=14 "(null)" VS terminated with error: Error Domain=_UIViewServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "(null)" UserInfo={Terminated=disconnect method} VS terminated with error: Error Domain=_UIViewServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "(null)" UserInfo={Terminated=disconnect method} VS terminated with error: Error Domain=_UIViewServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "(null)" UserInfo={Terminated=disconnect method} VS terminated with error: Error Domain=_UIViewServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "(null)" UserInfo={Terminated=disconnect method} Trigger the Translation: // check if we need to create a translation configuration if configuration == nil { configuration = TranslationSession.Configuration.init( source: Locale.Language(identifier: sourceLanguageCode), target: Locale.Language(identifier: targetLanguageCode) ) } else { // or just update the target code then invalidate the config to re-trigger the refresh of .translationTask() configuration?.source = Locale.Language(identifier: sourceLanguageCode) configuration?.target = Locale.Language(identifier: targetLanguageCode) configuration?.invalidate() } Prepare and check if Download sheet should be presented: .translationTask(configuration) { session in do { // prepare translation & present API download sheet if lanugage download needed. try await session.prepareTranslation() } catch { print("Translate failed: \(error)") } }

I'd like to set the recordingYear in my Spotlight File Importer extension but the property is missing from CSSearchableItemAttributeSet e.g. in the resulting in mdls I'd like to see: kMDItemRecordingYear = 2008; This would allow me to search in Finder by the recording year criteria. There is a recordingDate property and I tried setting it to Date that only has a year but it didn't work. It just resulted in this: kMDItemRecordingDate = "2008-01-01 00:00:00 +0000";

Hi Apple Dev community, I want to ask if CallKit and CXCallDirectoryProvider (with addBlockingEntryWithNextSequentialPhoneNumber) doesn't work for 3rd party Phone apps. Is this a known issue that CallKit doesn't work on 3rd party iOS Phone apps (like WhatsApp, etc)? Thank you.

Hi, I am developing a Screen Time App and I am having issues with the ShieldConfigurationExtension (ShieldConfigurationDataSource). I know this extensions is sandboxed but I should be able to read data from the main app. I am using SwiftData as my database, but I am unable to initialize it in the extensions with an error indicating insufficient file permissions. I have App Group set up and I am able to share data using UserDefaults but that is just inconvenient. Is there any way I could just open the SwiftData in read only mode so that I could display the user some info on the shield? SwiftData Init: private func setupContainer() throws { let schema = Schema([ DogEntity.self, HouseEntity.self ]) // Use app group container if available let config: ModelConfiguration if let containerURL = FileManager.default.containerURL( forSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier: "group.\(Bundle.app.bundleIdentifier ?? "")" ) { config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, url: containerURL.appendingPathComponent("default.sqlite")) } else { config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema) } self.container = try ModelContainer(for: schema, configurations: [config]) } Error in extension: fault: Attempt to add read-only file at path file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite read/write. Adding it read-only instead. This will be a hard error in the future; you must specify the NSReadOnlyPersistentStoreOption. error: (3) access permission denied error: Encountered exception error during prepareSQL for SQL string 'SELECT TBL_NAME FROM SQLITE_MASTER WHERE TBL_NAME = 'Z_METADATA'' : access permission denied with userInfo { NSFilePath = "/private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite"; NSSQLiteErrorDomain = 3; } while checking table name from store: <NSSQLiteConnection: 0x154100300> error: Store failed to load. <NSPersistentStoreDescription: 0x15402d590> (type: SQLite, url: file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite) with error = Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “default.sqlite” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite, NSSQLiteErrorDomain=3} with userInfo { NSFilePath = "/private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite"; NSSQLiteErrorDomain = 3; } Any help appreciated 🙂

An issue with the CallKit UI, specifically regarding the functionality of the speaker button. When a user initiates a video call with CallKit and then, using the existing CallKit session, initiates an audio call, there are no issues with CallKit or the audio. However, if the user terminates the video call from the CallKit UI, the active CallKit session ends. To resume the ongoing audio call, we report a new CallKit call upon the end call trigger. While there are no issues with this reporting, the CallKit UI does not provide an audio route for the built-in receiver, and the speaker button remains unresponsive. IPA was build on SDK 18 and running on iOS beta 26. Issue is NOT seen with SDK18 and running iOS 18.x or lower devices. Feedback - FB18855566

I want to create a brush similar to a fountain pen, with a three-dimensional feel to the strokes and a distinct tip. Alternatively, is it possible to achieve this by modifying the configuration parameters of a fountain pen brush?

My use case is a Repeat Timer app. The user can configure a repeating timer, say: 8 minutes with 3 sets So I would like to configure either 3 alarms (8mins, 16mins, 24mins) or a repeating alarm (8mins every 3 mins) BUT... I would like the first and second alarms to break through but only for 5 seconds for example, and then stop (so the user doesn't need to tap the screen to silence the alarm). I don't think this is possible after reading the API docs, but am asking the question anyway. Thanks for any advice or guidance here, and happy WWDC!

At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for watchOS (part 2). 7. For widget (complication) update budgets, is there an overall budget or are scheduled update separate from APNS updates? For context I have a complication that is updated on a fixed schedule (every 20 min), but there can be times of the day that are more "interesting" where pushes make sense. Like timeline updates, the system budgets WidgetKit push notifications and delivers them opportunistically. You can use WidgetKit push notification updates as an addition to timeline updates. For more information, see Updating widgets with WidgetKit push notifications. 8. It seems like the new Control Center widgets can be sourced from either the iPhone or directly on the Watch. Can we control whether a control appears in the watch list, or will it always be a combination of all controls from both sources? iPhone controls will be automatically available on the companion Apple Watch, even if they don’t have an associated watchOS app. When an iPhone control is tapped on the Apple Watch, the action is performed on the iPhone. Controls whose actions foreground the iOS app will not appear on Apple Watch. If a watchOS app has controls, no controls will appear on Apple Watch from the companion iOS app. 9. From UI/UX perspective, what are the current practices for Designing watchOS apps that feels native. The WWDC23 session Design and build apps for WatchOS 10 covers the details of watchOS design principles and how to apply them in your app using SwiftUI. A lot of SwiftUI APIs, such as NavigationSplitView, vertical tab view, list view, and etc, already implement the look and feel native to watchOS. 10. When adopting the new design system on watchOS, it seems like the main place we will use the glass effect is for our buttons in toolbar? Standard buttons in system apps seem to continue to use a flat appearance and full width. We leave the choice to you – You can use the new GlassButtonStyle API or .buttonStyle(.glass) to apply the liquid glass material to buttons. Learn when to use the Liquid Glass styles in Get to know the new design system. 11. Is there any way to gracefully migrate extensions when their bundleIDs have to change? e.g., converting a multi-target watch app to single-target, which drops the .watchkitextension from both the app and WidgetKit ext bundleIDs Updating a watchOS app to single-target is covered in TechNote TN3157: Updating your watchOS project for SwiftUI and WidgetKit. Xcode provides a tool that can do the update automatically, and the technote describes the details about how to use it and how to clean up the project after the automatic update. If there's something that technote doesn't address, please reach out to us on the Developer Forums. 12. What is the status of WatchConnectivity? Is that still the preferred way for iOS + watchOS communications? The Watch Connectivity framework is still supported, and is appropriate for the communication between an watchOS app and its companion iOS app. The systems also provide other APIs for the apps to exchange data. For example, watchOS supports Apple Push Notification service (APNs). If data for your widget changes on your server, your widget can receive a WidgetKit push notification, and update accordingly. That’s the preferred mechanism for widget updates.

Hi everyone, I'm working on an app for parents and kids where parents can define screen time goals or restrict usage of certain app categories (like social media or games). If the kid follows those rules—for example, by using their device less or avoiding restricted categories—they would earn points or rewards in the app. I’ve been exploring if the Apple Screen Time API allows developers to access this kind of data (like total screen time, app usage by category, etc.) so that I can track the kid’s behavior and reward them accordingly. Is it possible to programmatically access this data and implement such a reward system within my app? If so, what’s the best way to get started or which APIs should I look into? Thanks in advance for your help!

I'm pretty excited for the all new iOS 26 redesign, but what I'm most excited for is the call screening feature to avoid unwanted calls. I downloaded the developer's beta on my secondary device to report bugs, but call screening doesn't work on it even though it's turned on. I already sent a feedback report, but I'm not sure if it's just a beta bug or that my iPhone won't support it. I haven't found much info about it. It's a 2nd gen SE. Thanks.

We had a question that came up when we comparing data from WeatherKit to other sources - WeatherKit visibility was well beyond the boundaries we had historically, even from Darksky. That raises two questions: is visibility actually in meters like the docs say? is this visibility at ground level, 500ft, or some other height? We were seeing visibility numbers of up to 40 miles (after converting the number the API sent to miles), where all of our other sources are usually within 10 miles

When we compile our app using Xcode 26 and run it on iOS 26, we encounter a strange crash where the crashing thread shows no stack trace. After inspecting the registers, we have initially traced it to the Google Mobile Ads SDK. When we disable the initialization of the Google Mobile Ads SDK, the app no longer crashes. However, running the Google Mobile Ads SDK demo app on iOS 26 alone does not cause any issues; the crash only occurs once it is integrated into our app. We also tried enabling Address Sanitizer and Zombie Objects but found no valuable clues. Could you advise what other methods or tools we can use to further diagnose this issue? Additionally, when we compile the app with Xcode 15 and run it on iOS 26, everything works fine without crashes. app-2025-09-19-161044.ips.txt

I'm using FamilyActivityPicker to get consent for app/category management, which returns a FamilyActivitySelection object. I serialize this FamilyActivitySelection object (just applicationTokens and categoryTokens) and pass it to my DeviceActivityMonitor extension via App Group UserDefaults. I am using the JSON encoder/decoder over PropertyList (though both seem to exhibit the same behavior). After inspecting the FamilyActivitySelection object immediately after it's returned by FamilyActivityPicker in the main app, the application.bundleIdentifier property is consistently nil for every Application object within selection.applications. Similarly, category.localizedDisplayName is nil for ActivityCategory objects. This happens whether "Select All Apps" is used or if apps/categories are selected individually. I understand that this is the intended behavior due to Apple's user privacy policies. I read on another post that my app can be provided with bundle identifiers and app names within Shield Configuration extensions and Device Activity Report extensions - I'm not sure which ones or how exactly to do this. I am aware that I can use Label(applicationToken) SwiftUI view to display the app name/icon, but this doesn't give programmatic access to the bundleIdentifier string. My app will not log or export these bundleIdentifiers outside of its sandbox. My goal is to create mappings to the FamilyActivitySelection with the publicly accessible bundleIdentifiers. Any guidance, examples, or clarification on the intended workflow for this scenario would be greatly appreciated!

is there documentation where we can find details for historical parameters / limitations - so far i've found that the days limit on single API calls days limit is 7. Any other similar specs would be good to have

After a user has launched an App Clip Experience from Safari and is done with the activity that the App Clip provides – is there a way for the App Clip to programatically close itself so the user returns to Safari?

When fetching Apple Savings transactions via FinanceKit, the data is missing key context about where the deposit originated from. Here’s an example transaction I retrieved: Transaction( id: 77371A0C-7122-42C7-BEBC-85BDF654AD2B, accountID: 68D9FE9D-6DA6-4A27-BB9D-19209CD29A56, transactionAmount: 1.46 USD, creditDebitIndicator: .credit, transactionDescription: "Deposit", originalTransactionDescription: "", merchantCategoryCode: nil, merchantName: nil, transactionType: .deposit, status: .booked, transactionDate: 2025-08-20 13:44:26 +0000, postedDate: 2025-08-20 13:44:26 +0000 ) As shown: transactionDescription is just "Deposit" merchantName is nil No indication of the source account In contrast, the Wallet app clearly shows context for Apple Savings account deposits, such as: "Apple Card" (daily cash) "Bank of America" (external transfer) "Interest Paid" (we do see "Interest" come through correctly) Without this metadata, third-party apps cannot replicate Wallet’s clarity about where a deposit came from. Every deposit simply appears as "Deposit", which is ambiguous. Request: Please expose additional metadata for Apple Savings account transactions, for example: sourceAccountName (e.g. “Apple Card” or “Bank of America”) transactionOriginType (cashback, external bank transfer, interest) institutionIdentifier or similar for external banks This would allow developers to show clear, Wallet-quality transaction details and avoid confusing users. Impact: The lack of source info makes Savings deposits nearly indistinguishable from one another, even though Wallet provides this context. For apps leveraging FinanceKit, this results in a poorer experience compared to Apple’s own Wallet. Thanks!

I'm integrating Twilio Voice (v6.12.1) into my React Native app (using Swift bridging for iOS) and have implemented full VoIP, PushKit, and CallKit support for incoming calls. ✅ What works: Incoming calls trigger the VoIP push and display the full-screen CallKit interface (or fallback UI). Decline Call works as expected. Call logs and events print correctly. ❌ Problem: When I try to accept the call using the CallKit Accept button or React Native fallback UI, I consistently get: ❌ [TwilioVoiceModule] answerCall() callInvite is missing. I also noticed that the console logs for answerCall() are being printed three times in a row, even though the accept button is only pressed once. Additionally in the first time console, answerCall() CallInvite found, accepting... 🔍 Observations: The callInvite is properly received when the VoIP push arrives. But when answerCall() is triggered, callInvite becomes nil. This happens in CallKit accept, RN UI accept, and even notification banner accept. 📦 How it's set up (summarized): PushKit Registration – via PKPushRegistry in AppDelegate.swift VoIP push handling – forwards payload to TwilioVoiceModule.handleIncomingPush() CallKit integration – uses CXProviderDelegate to report and handle accept actions JS Bridge – emits acceptCallAction to JS React Native calls TwilioVoiceModule.answerCall(uuid, callSid) In answerCall() method: self.callInvite is nil – so call cannot be accepted. Attaching the link to view the relevant code: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15pNjKrfk954OaotpMIEh3xQUtst---1K45DBXoYctGM/edit?usp=sharing 💡 Call Accept Flow (iOS): VoIP Push → TwilioVoiceModule.handleIncomingPush() Twilio SDK creates callInvite reportNewIncomingCall() triggers CallKit UI On accept: CXAnswerCallAction → emits event to JS RN calls TwilioVoiceModule.answerCall(uuid, callSid) Problem: callInvite is already nil ❓ What I'm trying to understand: Why is callInvite becoming nil before answerCall() is called? Why are the logs showing the answerCall() call 3 times? Is there a race condition or multiple accept triggers? Should I ensure callInvite is accepted only once across all 3 accept paths? ** 💬 Any help would be appreciated.** 📱 Environment: React Native 0.78.x iOS 17+ Swift bridging with TwilioVoiceModule.swift Twilio Voice SDK 6.12.1 PushKit + CallKit + react-native-callkeep