Hello, I’m building an app that helps people spend less time on social media apps. For that, I make heavy use of Apple’s Screen Time APIs, such as ManagedSettings and FamilyControls. When an app is locked using a ShieldConfiguration, the user has to open my app in order to unlock it (e.g. enter a code). This is very cumbersome because no documented API exists to open the parent app (=my app) from the ShieldActionDelegate (also part of my app) when the user presses a button of the ShieldConfiguration. The ShieldActionDelegate callback just offers three options in its ShieldActionResponse: .none .defer .close .openParentApp is missing. We are working around this limitation by sending a local push notification that the user has to tap on. This has multiple drawbacks: It has to be ensured that notification permission has been granted. It has to be ensured that notifications can be delivered even while focus is enabled. Features such as Apple Intelligence notification summaries and notification prioritization can heavily delay delivering notifications and thus frustrate the user. Neither my users nor myself do understand why this is not possible in a smoother way, at least according to the documentation. There are 3rd party apps that have such functionality, they can directly open their own app from a button press in the Shield, see here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/applocker-passcode-lock-apps/id1132845904 It would be great if Apple could level the playfield for all developers and document how this is achievable, because technically it clearly is. Thanks a lot and have a great day!

I'm experiencing a contradictory validation issue with DeviceActivityReportExtension that creates an impossible situation: The Problem: Without NSExtensionPrincipalClass in Info.plist → App Store Connect rejects upload with: "Missing Info.plist values. No values for NSExtensionMainStoryboard or NSExtensionPrincipalClass found" With NSExtensionPrincipalClass → Local install fails with: "defines either an NSExtensionMainStoryboard or NSExtensionPrincipalClass key, which is not allowed for the extension point com.apple.deviceactivityui.report-extension" Setup: Extension point: com.apple.deviceactivityui.report-extension Using SwiftUI with @main attribute and DeviceActivityReportExtension protocol Xcode 16.2, iOS 17.6 deployment target Code structure: @main struct SpoolReport: DeviceActivityReportExtension { var body: some DeviceActivityReportScene { // Report scenes here } } The extension builds and runs perfectly without NSExtensionPrincipalClass, but cannot be uploaded to App Store Connect. Adding the key allows upload but breaks local installation. Is this a known issue? Is there a workaround or correct Info.plist configuration for DeviceActivityReportExtension? Thank you!

有一个用户反馈7月8日充值了3笔后一直无法发起新的购买，总是提示已经购买。我们查了是之前的交易无法结束，我们使用StoreKit2，已经调用await transaction.finish()成功结束交易了，但是每次发起新支付时，Transaction.unfinished还会返回之前已完成的交易信息。 是设备或AppleID的问题么？用户尝试了重启设备、重新登录AppleID都没用。有什么办法解决呢？ 用户无法结束的苹果交易id为：200002703899379、200002703900716、200002703902023。 A user reported that after making 3 purchases on July 8th, they have been unable to initiate new purchases, always receiving a prompt that the item has already been purchased. Upon investigation, we found that the previous transactions couldn't be finalized. We use StoreKit2 and have successfully called await transaction.finish() to end the transactions. However, every time a new payment is initiated, Transaction.unfinished still returns information about the previously completed transactions. Could this be an issue with the device or Apple ID? The user has tried restarting the device and re-logging into their Apple ID, but these attempts were unsuccessful. Is there any way to resolve this? The Apple transaction IDs that the user is unable to finalize are: 200002703899379, 200002703900716, 200002703902023.

I’m implementing App Store subscriptions using StoreKit 2 and testing in the Sandbox environment. Until about a week ago everything worked fine, but recently the Settings > Subscriptions screen shows this message for my test account: “Your current payment method is not available.” The behavior: • Using a Sandbox tester account (not a production Apple ID) • Purchase flow works successfully — the transaction completes, and I receive server notifications • However, the system Settings app still displays that message under the subscription entry • No code changes were made since it last worked Questions: 1. What exactly does this message mean in the Sandbox environment? 2. Could this be related to any Apple system issue or recent backend update? 3. Has anyone else seen the same behavior in recent days? Environment: • Xcode 15.4 • iOS 17.5 (physical device) • StoreKit 2 / Swift 5.10 • Sandbox tester (Japan region) Thanks in advance for any insights or confirmations from others who are testing subscriptions in Sandbox!

Hi, I have a released screentime app ScreenZen. The last few days I've seen a disturbing spike in bug reports coming from people with 17.4.1 and 17.5.1 phones with no update to the app itself. People reported they saw the issue immediately after updating their iOS version. Unfortunately it is not replicable on all phones with those versions, so we haven't been able to replicate it on our test phones. It appears the issue is the ApplicationToken passed into ShieldActionExtension and ShieldConfigurationExtension does not match any of the ApplicationTokens that the user selected to block through FamilyControls. (The selected ApplicationTokens are being loaded through a group UserDefaults and they are indeed being loaded in the ShieldActionExtension in the bug reports).This is preventing the app from loading the correct settings and handling the blocking accordingly. I am trying to isolate this better with a new release with better logging, but would appreciate any help on this issue.

We have a subscription WeatherKit app which has been on the App Store since December 2023. I am getting intermittent JWT auth failures on customer devices. In the great majority of cases, the request succeeds, but sometimes it fails, and sometimes it fails and never recovers. I’m working with a customer right now who is unable to get any weather data at all, and the logs he sends me show WeatherDaemon.WDSJWTAuthenticatorServiceListener.Errors error 2 The app uses the WeatherKit SDK (we are not using the REST API directly). We know we have the project setup as it has been working since launch, and I can verify weatherkit using security cms -D -i embedded.mobileprovision It it not a problem with the specific query, since I can get data for the dates and locations they are requesting. I can’t replicate the problem on my test devices. In case there is a rate limit issue: this app is a bit unusual and downloads an unusual amount of data at once using multiple queries in parallel using a TaskGroup. When the user creates a location, the app downloads a 10 day block of weather (7 days in the past + 3 day forecast) using WeatherService.shared.weather( for: location, including: WeatherQuery.daily( startDate: startDate, endDate: endDate ), WeatherQuery.hourly( startDate: startDate, endDate: endDate ) ) It also downloads about 2 months of daily precipitation data using multiple parallel calls to dailySummary in 10 day blocks: WeatherService.shared.dailySummary( for: location, forDaysIn: DateInterval(start: startDate, end: endDate), including: .precipitation ) In almost every case, including on my test devices, this works. But some users get WeatherDaemon.WDSJWTAuthenticatorServiceListener.Errors error 2 on every request. The two users yesterday that had this problem were both on iOS 18.5 for what that's worth, though the app supports 17.2+ Is anyone else seeing this? And can anyone suggest anything else to explore? It's obviously a terrible experience for customers who pay for the service and are unable to get any data. I did submit this info to Apple as FB18276275

is there any error in sandbox auto renewal when Im test a app subscription automatically cancelled

Hello, We're developing endpoint security software using the Endpoint Security framework, and we've encountered challenges with the behavior change in macOS 15 regarding provisioning UDIDs in cloned VMs. The Change Prior to macOS 15, cloning a VM preserved its UDID (format: 0000FE00-9C4ED9F68BBDC72D). Starting with macOS 15, cloned VMs receive a new UDID generated from the host's Secure Enclave (format: b043d27202c7ac37ca3c6b82673302225485cae9), making each clone effectively a new device. Our Workflow We maintain a clean base VM image and clone it for each test run. We add the base VM's UDID to our provisioning profile once, then create clones which (previously) retained that same UDID, allowing us to start new testing cycles without re-registering devices. This is essential because our product involves low-level system integration through the Endpoint Security framework, and if something goes wrong during development, it has the potential to affect system stability. To prevent any cascading issues between test runs or different product versions, we need each test to start from a known clean state rather than reusing the same VM. The Challenge With each VM clone generating a new UDID, we're hitting Apple's device registration limits quickly. This particularly impacts: New team members who spin up VMs for the first time and can't run signed builds Our CI/CD pipeline where multiple test environments need provisioning profiles Developers testing different branches who need separate clean environments Current Workaround We've found that VMs created on macOS 14 and upgraded to macOS 15+ retain their original UDID format. However, we're concerned this workaround may stop working in future macOS versions, which would leave us without a viable path forward. If the workaround stops working, our fallback would be signing each CI build with a Developer ID signature to allow running on any device. However, we'd prefer to avoid this as it would significantly increase load on Apple's signing infrastructure for what are essentially internal test builds. We completely understand the security reasoning behind tying UDIDs to the host's Secure Enclave for Apple Account support. However, for development workflows that don't require Apple Account features in VMs but do require clean, isolated test environments, the previous behavior was quite valuable. Question Is there a recommended approach for teams in our situation? We're happy to explore alternative workflows if there's a pattern we're missing, or we'd be glad to provide more context if this is a use case Apple is considering for future updates. Thanks for any guidance you can provide! Feedback case: FB21389730

Hello, We watched the WWDC25 presentation about Apple Wallet on the upgrade boarding pass features with Live Activities. We’re interested in integrating this into our app for iOS 26 beta testing. Could you please provide: Sample code or example projects API documentation Implementation guidelines Details on sharing functionality Thanks in advance!

Hi and help needed! I updated my iPhone 16 Pro max to iOs 26. When I go to the software update section, the beta developer tab is gone, and it says "Unable to check for update" I reset my network settings and restarted the device. No change. Any help would be appreciated.

I created a ShieldConfigurationExtension in Xcode 14.3 with File > New > Target > ShieldConfigurationExtension. This created the extension with all the necessary Info.plist values (correct NSExtensionPrincipalClass, etc.), with the extension included in embedded content in the host app target. No matter what I try, the extension is not getting invoked when I shield applications from my host app. The custom UI does not show as the shield, and looking at the debugger, an extension process is never invoked. I am shielding categories like this: let managedSettings = ManagedSettingsStore() ... managedSettings.shield.applicationCategories = .all() And my extension code overrides all the ShieldConfigurationDataSource functions. class ShieldConfigurationExtension: ShieldConfigurationDataSource { override func configuration(shielding application: Application) -> ShieldConfiguration { return ShieldConfiguration( backgroundBlurStyle: UIBlurEffect.Style.systemThickMaterial, backgroundColor: UIColor.white, icon: UIImage(systemName: "stopwatch"), title: ShieldConfiguration.Label(text: "You are in a Present Session", color: .yellow) ) } override func configuration(shielding application: Application, in category: ActivityCategory) -> ShieldConfiguration { return ShieldConfiguration( backgroundBlurStyle: UIBlurEffect.Style.systemThickMaterial, backgroundColor: UIColor.white, icon: UIImage(systemName: "stopwatch"), title: ShieldConfiguration.Label(text: "You are in a Present Session", color: .yellow) ) } override func configuration(shielding webDomain: WebDomain) -> ShieldConfiguration { return ShieldConfiguration( backgroundBlurStyle: UIBlurEffect.Style.systemThickMaterial, backgroundColor: UIColor.white, icon: UIImage(systemName: "stopwatch"), title: ShieldConfiguration.Label(text: "You are in a Present Session", color: .yellow) ) } override func configuration(shielding webDomain: WebDomain, in category: ActivityCategory) -> ShieldConfiguration { return ShieldConfiguration( backgroundBlurStyle: UIBlurEffect.Style.systemThickMaterial, backgroundColor: UIColor.white, icon: UIImage(systemName: "stopwatch"), title: ShieldConfiguration.Label(text: "You are in a Present Session", color: .yellow) ) } } What am I missing?

WorkoutKit WorkoutScheduler seems broken with the first beta of iOS 18.2. I have tested using my app from Xcode and the one that is on the App Store (and working properly on other devices), and it's not working with this new beta of iOS. They appears in WorkoutScheduler.shared.scheduledWorkouts, but not on the watch. I even tried with other apps that do the same with Manual add to Apple Watch with SwiftUI workoutPreview work. Xcode 16.0 iOS 18.2 Beta 1 WatchOS 11.1

I'm encountering a strange behavior with one of my home's on Home app while I'm off network. When I launch the app it indicates that the hub is not responding and all of my devices are unavailable. However, on the menu bar at the bottom if I switch to "Automation" and back to "Home" the pop-up goes away and my devices are accessible again (sometimes this take a few attempts). Siri is also able to consistently control my devices without an issue. The same behavior occurs with Home app on other devices (e.g. Mac) and with other members that have access to the household. 3rd party HomeKit app like "Controller" does not have an issue. This issue began with iOS 26 and I haven't had much luck resolving the issue. I already tried rebooting everything, including removing and re-adding an Apple TV (home hub). I have other homes shared with me in Home App with similar network/environment that are still working. The home I'm having issues has the most number of devices though (over 100+).

Could someone please explain how to use a custom sound when setting up an alarm using AlarmKit? It keeps playing a default sound. Also, I keep having an issue where the alarm sound plays but doesn’t show the alarm interface buttons unless the screen is locked.

Hello, I am working to integrate the new com.apple.developer.networking.carrier-constrained.app-optimized entitlement in my iOS 26 app so that my app can use a carrier-provided satellite network, and want to confirm my understanding of how to detect and optimize for satellite network conditions. (Ref: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/entitlements/com.apple.developer.networking.carrier-constrained.app-optimized ) My current approach: I plan to set the entitlement to true once my app is optimized for satellite networks. To detect if the device is connected to a satellite network, I intend to use the Network framework’s NWPath properties: isUltraConstrained — I understand this should be set to true when the device is connected to a satellite network. (Ref: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/network/nwpath/isultraconstrained ) linkQuality == .minimal — I believe this will also be set in satellite scenarios, though it may not be exclusive to satellite connections. (Ref: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/network/nwpath/linkquality-swift.enum/minimal ) Questions: Is it correct that isUltraConstrained will reliably indicate a satellite connection? Should I also check for linkQuality == .minimal, or is isUltraConstrained sufficient? Are there any additional APIs or best practices for detecting and optimizing for satellite connectivity that I should be aware of? Thank you for confirming whether my understanding and approach are correct, and for any additional guidance.

We have an app in Swift that uses push notifications. It has a deployment target of iOS 15.0 I originally audited our app for iOS 26 by building it with Xcode 26 beta 3. At that point, all was well. Our implementation of application:didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken was called. But when rebuilding the app with beta 4, 5 and now 6, that function is no longer being called. I created a simple test case by creating a default iOS app project, then performing these additional steps: Set bundle ID to our app's ID Add the Push Notifications capability Add in application:didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken: with a print("HERE") just to set a breakpoint. Added the following code inside application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: along with setting a breakpoint on the registerForRemoteNotifications line: UNUserNotificationCenter.current().requestAuthorization(options: [.badge, .alert, .sound]) { granted, _ in DispatchQueue.main.async { UIApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications() } } Building and running with Xcode 26 beta 6 (17A5305f) generates these two different outcomes based upon the OS running in the Simulator: iPhone 16 Pro simulator running iOS 18.4 - both breakpoints are reached iPhone 16 Pro simulator running iOS 26 - only the breakpoint on UIApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications is reached. Assuming this is a bug in iOS 26. Or, is there something additional we now need to do to get push notifications working?

We are integrating Apple’s DeclaredAgeRange SDK. To comply with relevant regulatory requirements, our understanding is as follows: The app is only required to obtain the declared age range for users located in Texas. For users outside of Texas, we should not proactively request age range information. Accordingly, we would like to confirm the following: Are we required to present the age range request prompt to all users in the United States? If yes, we are concerned that this may significantly impact the overall user experience. If it is permissible to request age range only for Texas users, how can we reliably determine whether a user is located in Texas on the client side? For example, does Apple provide an API or recommended method for accurately identifying a user’s region (specifically Texas)?

Hello! I am attempting to add Subscriptions to an App that Is already published on the App Store. I cannot get Xcode to actually sync what is in my App Store Connect. When adding the Storekit configuration file, I go through the automatic linking process and select the proper bundleID. The configuration file says 'Synced @ [CurrentTime]' however there are no subscriptions listed in there. I have attempted deleting the file several times, creating a new subscription group. With no success. Do I need to publish the subscriptions without the features first? Upon attempting to write the supporting code that will enable these features within the app, I cannot get Xcode to identify that I have these subscriptions. I have also tried pushing these to TestFlight, still with no success. Thank you.

I am facing a problem of payment using credit card. I tried several banks and cards without any result. I also used one of the card I have successfully paid another account. Heeeeelp

I regularly see questions, both here on the Apple Developer Forums and in my Day Job™ at DTS, that are caused by a fundamental misunderstanding of how background execution works on iOS. These come in many different variants, for example: How do I keep my app running continuously in the background? If I schedule a timer, how do I get it to fire when the screen is locked? How do I run code in the background every 15 minutes? How do I set up a network server that runs in the background? How can my app provide an IPC service to another one of my apps while it’s in the background? How can I resume my app in the background if it’s been ‘force quit’ by the user? The short answer to all of these is You can’t. iOS puts strict limits on background execution. Its default behaviour is to suspend your app shortly after the user has moved it to the background; this suspension prevents the process from running any code. There’s no general-purpose mechanism for: Running code continuously in the background Running code at some specific time in the background Running code periodically at a guaranteed interval Resuming in the background in response to a network or IPC request [1] However, iOS does provide a wide range of special-purpose mechanisms for accomplishing specific user goals. For example: If you’re building a music player, use the audio background mode to continue playing after the user has moved your app to the background. If you’re building a timer app, check out the AlarmKit framework. On older systems, use a local notification to notify the user when your timer has expired. If you’re building a video player app, use AVFoundation’s download support. Keep in mind that the above is just a short list of examples. There are many other special-purpose background execution mechanisms, so you should search the documentation for something appropriate to your needs. IMPORTANT Each of these mechanisms fulfils a specific purpose. Do not attempt to use them for some other purpose. Before using a background API, read clause 2.5.4 of the App Review Guidelines. Additionally, iOS provides some general-purpose mechanisms for background execution: To resume your app in the background in response to an event on your server, use a background notification (aka a ‘silent’ push). For more information, see Pushing background updates to your App. To request a small amount of background execution time to refresh your UI, use the BGAppRefreshTaskRequest class. To request extended background execution time, typically delivered overnight when the user is asleep, use the BGProcessingTaskRequest class. To continue user-visible work after the user has left your app, use the BGContinuedProcessingTask class. To prevent your app from being suspended for a short period of time so that you can complete some user task, use a UIApplication background task. For more information on this, see UIApplication Background Task Notes. To download or upload a large HTTP resource, use an URLSession background session. All of these mechanisms prevent you from abusing them to run arbitrary code in the background. As an example, consider the URLSession resume rate limiter. For more information about these limitations, and background execution in general, I strongly recommend that you watch WWDC 2020 Session 10063 Background execution demystified [2]. It’s an excellent resource. Specifically, this talk addresses a common misconception about the app refresh mechanism (BGAppRefreshTaskRequest and the older background fetch API). Folks assume that app refresh will provide regular background execution time. That’s not the case. The system applies a range of heuristics to decide which apps get app refresh time and when. This is a complex issue, one that I’m not going to try to summarise here, but the take-home message is that, if you expect that the app refresh mechanism will grant you background execution time, say, every 15 minutes, you’ll be disappointed. In fact, there are common scenarios where it won’t grant you any background execution time at all! Watch the talk for the details. [1] iOS 26 introduced support for general-purpose IPC, in the form of enhanced security helper extensions. However, these can only be invoked by the container app, and that means there’s no background execution benefit. [2] Sadly the video is currently not available from Apple. I’ve left the link in place just in case it comes back. When the user ‘force quits’ an app by swiping up in the multitasking UI, iOS interprets that to mean that the user doesn’t want the app running at all. So: If the app is running, iOS terminates it. iOS also sets a flag that prevents the app from being launched in the background. That flag gets cleared when the user next launches the app manually. This gesture is a clear statement of user intent; there’s no documented way for your app to override the user’s choice. Note In some circumstances iOS will not honour this flag. The exact cases where this happens are not documented and have changed over time. Finally, if you have questions about background execution that aren’t covered by the resources listed here, please open a new thread on the forums with the details. Put it in a reasonable subtopic and tag it appropriately for the technology you’re using; if nothing specific springs to mind, use Background Tasks. Also, make sure to include details about the specific problem you’re trying to solve because, when it comes to background execution, the devil really is in the details. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" Change history: 2026-01-09 Added a reference to AlarmKit. Added a reference to BGContinuedProcessingTask. Add a footnote about IPC and another one about WWDC 2020 Session 10063. Made other minor editorial changes. 2024-03-21 Added a discussion of ‘force quit’. 2023-05-11 Added a paragraph that explains a common misconception about the app refresh mechanism. Made other minor editorial changes. 2021-08-12 Added more entries to the common questions list, this time related to networking and IPC. Made minor editorial changes. 2021-07-26 Extended the statement about what’s not possible to include “running code periodically at a guaranteed interval”. 2021-07-22 First posted.