Delve into the world of built-in app and system services available to developers. Discuss leveraging these services to enhance your app's functionality and user experience.

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iOS 26 beta 8 – AlarmKit – Custom sounds in Library/Sounds do not play
I put a test.mp3 (30 sec) file into the App Bundle. I scheduled an AlarmKit alarm with the file name test.mp3. The custom sound plays ✅ I copied the file from the App Bundle to Library/Sounds/test2.mp3. I scheduled an AlarmKit alarm with the file name test2.mp3. Instead of playing the custom sound, it falls back to the default sound ❌ According to the documentation, sounds placed in Library/Sounds should be playable: I filed report FB19779004 on August 20, but haven’t received any response yet. This functionality is critical for our use case, so could you please let me know whether this is expected to be fixed soon, or if I’m misunderstanding the intended behavior?
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CallKit requestTransaction error code 2
Hello, In production, a large number of users experience outgoing call reporting fails with the following error: com.apple.CallKit.error.requesttransaction Code=2 The iOS version doesn't matter, errors are present in v15-26 Details My CXProvider held as a global singleton, so it’s unlikely to be deinited. There is no explicit call to CXProvider.invalidate() in the app. If I manually invalidate the CXProvider, I observe the expected failure when trying to create an outgoing call (com.apple.CallKit.error.requesttransaction error 2). However, If I recreate the CXProvider after the error, outgoing calls are reported correctly. Many users trigger the providerDidReset delegate method (CXProviderDelegate) before this error. According to the documentation, providerDidReset can be called by the system, and we are supposed to end all active calls, but the documentation doesn't suggest recreating the CXProvider. Question Should I recreate CXProvider after providerDidReset and forget about that, or could this error be caused by something else?
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Can FamilyControls ApplicationToken or CategoryToken expire? If yes, how to detect and handle it?
How to programmatically check if ApplicationToken or ActivityCategoryToken is expired in FamilyActivityPicker? I'm building a Screen Time-based parental control app using FamilyControls and ManagedSettings. We use FamilyActivityPicker to allow the user to select apps and categories to restrict, and we apply the shield using: store.shield.applications = .specific(selection.applicationTokens) store.shield.applicationCategories = .specific(selection.categoryTokens) Sometimes, we observe that the shield silently fails to apply — no error is thrown, but the restrictions aren't enforced. I suspect this may be due to expired or invalid tokens, possibly if the app was removed or the selection became stale. My Questions: Can ApplicationToken or ActivityCategoryToken expire or become invalid over time? If yes, is there a supported or recommended way to detect whether a token is still valid before applying it to the shield? Is comparing the current shield values (store.shield.applications and store.shield.applicationCategories) after applying them a reliable validation method? What's the best practice to handle expired tokens (e.g. re-prompt the FamilyActivityPicker, or show a fallback)? What Is the Expiration Duration of Tokens from FamilyActivityPicker? Any guidance or insight from the Screen Time/FamilyControls team would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
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Jun ’25
Scheduled events reach threshold almost immediately on iOS 26.2
Hi, we are developing a screen time management app. The app locks the device after it was used for specified amount of time. After updating to iOS 26.2, we noticed a huge issue: the events started to fire (reach the threshold) in the DeviceActivityMonitorExtension prematurely, almost immediately after scheduling. The only solution we've found is to delete the app and reboot the device, but the effect is not lasting long and this does not always help. Before updating to iOS 26, events also used to sometimes fire prematurely, but rescheduling the event often helped. Now the rescheduling happens almost every second and the events keep reaching the threshold prematurely. Can you suggest any workarounds for this issue?
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WeatherKit API inaccessible for some users
Hi All, I’m puzzled by this issue: my app uses WeatherKit to fetch hourly UV-index and temperature forecasts. The same build, running on the latest iOS, succeeds on most devices but consistently fails on a few. Strangely, the paired Apple Watch version retrieves the data without problems. Could WeatherKit be applying per-user throttling? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
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Jun ’25
Array of Bool require NSNumber.self in NSKeyedArchiver decoding list of types
I decode an object with NSKeyedArchiver (SecureCoding): typealias BoolArray = Array<Array<Bool>> let val = decoder.decodeObject(of: NSArray.self, forKey: someKey) as? BoolArray I get the following log: *** -[NSKeyedUnarchiver validateAllowedClass:forKey:] allowed unarchiving safe plist type ''NSNumber' (0x204cdbeb8) [/System/Library/Frameworks/Foundation.framework]' for key 'NS.objects', even though it was not explicitly included in the client allowed classes set: '{( "'NSArray' (0x204cd5598) [/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework]" )}'. This will be disallowed in the future. I changed by adding NSNumber.self in the list : let val = decoder.decodeObject(of: [NSArray.self, NSNumber.self], forKey: someKey) as? BoolArray No more warning in log. Is there a reason for this ?
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Jan ’26
Listing files of a background asset
Is there a way to enumerate all files within a folder of an asset pack or just all files in general? My application is using the Apple demo code to load a file from an Apple hosted asset pack: let descriptor = try AssetPackManager.shared.descriptor(for: "NAV/NavData.db3") defer { try descriptor.close() } if let path = path(for: descriptor) { self.database = try Database(path: path) } As my "Navigation Data" is updated each month with an updated asset pack I would like to have the name of the .db3 file reflect the current data cycle (e.g. NAV2601.db3, NAV2602.db3, ...) Ideally I would like to iterate over all files within the NAV folder of the current asset pack and pick the most recent one. Unfortunately, neither the AssetPackManager nor the AssetPack object seem to include an API for this. It would be cool to have something like: let files = try AssetPackManager.shared.files(for: "NAV/") for file in files { //Check and load }
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Jan ’26
App Logout / Termination Behavior When Changing Bluetooth Settings With and Without Multitasking
I would like to share an issue observed during app development. When changing Bluetooth settings from the system Settings app without using multitasking, the app does not terminate but instead logs the user out. However, when changing Bluetooth settings while using multitasking, the app terminates completely. In this context, I would like to understand: Whether there is any system behavior that causes the app to refresh or restart when Bluetooth settings are changed And why the app behavior differs in a multitasking environment, particularly in terms of app lifecycle handling Any insights into these behaviors would be greatly appreciated.
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Jan ’26
UserDefaults.didChangeNotification not firing
Hi, I'm currently working on an app made originally for iOS 15. On it, I add an observer on viewDidLoad function of my ViewController to listen for changes on the UserDefault values for connection settings. NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(settingsChanged), name: UserDefaults.didChangeNotification, object: nil) Said values can only be modified on the app's section from System Settings. Thing is, up to iOS 17, the notification fired as expected, but starting from iOS 18, the notification doesn't seem to be sent by the OS. Is there anything I should change in my observer, or any other technique to listen for the describe event? Thanks in advance.
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Mar ’25
Non-removable system extensions from UI attribute from MDM is not getting applied to the extension under Apps tab in new Mac OS 26 (Tahoe)
We have an application which is written in Swift, which activates Transparent Proxy network extension. We are using Jamf MDM profile for deployment. To avoid the user deleting / disabling the extension from General -&gt; LogIn Items &amp; Extension -&gt; Network Extensions screen, we are using "Non-removable system extensions from UI" attribute under Allowed System Extensions and Teams IDs section. In new Mac OS 26 (Tahoe), user can also enable/disable the extension from General -&gt; LogIn Items &amp; Extension -&gt; Apps tab. The "Non-removable system extensions from UI" attribute set in Jamf MDM profile does not apply to this tab. Same attribute is working for General -&gt; LogIn Items &amp; Extension -&gt; Extensions tab and there the slider is greyed out and Remove option is not available under more menu. Is there any new key/configuration defined to disable the slider from General -&gt; LogIn Items &amp; Extension -&gt; Apps tab? Created https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/feedback/18198031 - FB18198031 feedback assistant ticket as well.
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Jun ’25
Xcode 16.2 App Crashes Due to Missing NSMotionUsageDescription Key in Info.plist
There is a crash while running the project in Xcode 16.2. The project has been using CMPedometer and CoreMotion since 2020. I wonder: I did not have the NSMotionUsageDescription key added, why is it mandatory to add this key now? “This app has crashed because it attempted to access privacy-sensitive data without a usage description. The app's Info.plist must contain an NSMotionUsageDescription key with a string value explaining to the user how the app uses this data.”
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Apr ’25
SCREEN TIME API is reporting false positives to DeviceActivityMonitor extension in iOS 26.2 & 26.3
Since the iOS 26.2 update, we have been experiencing anomalous behavior with the DeviceActivityMonitor extension when utilizing the ScreenTime API. Specifically, we are receiving the eventDidReachThreshold event within a few minutes of initiating monitoring, despite configuring a high usage limit. The process of turning off Screen Time -> restarting the device -> turning on Screen Time does not work. Any ideas? Thanks Filed Feedback Assistant: FB21560904
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Jan ’26
The enterprise app crashes.
I created a new project, packaged it with my own enterprise certificate, installed and used it. There were no problems on most devices. However, on some devices with system versions of 18.3 and 18.4, the app crashes when opened after trusting the certificate. It seems that there is something wrong with the certificate, but I have confirmed that the certificate is fine. May I ask what the cause of this issue is?
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May ’25
Clarification Needed: histogrammedTimeToFirstDraw vs histogrammedOptimizedTimeToFirstDraw in MetricKit
Hi Apple Developer Community, I'm implementing MetricKit launch performance tracking in our iOS app and need clarification on two properties: histogrammedTimeToFirstDraw histogrammedOptimizedTimeToFirstDraw The Documentation Problem: The official MetricKit documentation provides minimal explanation of these properties beyond their names. Based on naming conventions, I initially assumed: histogrammedTimeToFirstDraw = cold launches histogrammedOptimizedTimeToFirstDraw = warm/optimized launches Based on our measurements: The “optimized” metric appears only in a small fraction of launches The "optimized" metric is actually slower The naming suggests the opposite behavior Questions: What specific launch conditions does each metric measure? Why would "optimized" launches be slower and less frequent? Is histogrammedOptimizedTimeToFirstDraw related to iOS app pre-warming or prediction features? If these metrics don’t correspond to cold vs. warm launch times, is there an alternative way to measure them accurately? Any clarification from Apple or insights from developers who've tracked these metrics would be greatly appreciated.
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Jan ’26
Reliable Shield enforcement for Parental Control App when child disables Notifications
We're building a parental control app using FamilyControls (.child authorization). Our architecture: Parent sends pause command → Firestore + FCM Child receives push → NotificationService Extension triggers main app Main app sets ManagedSettings Shields Problem: If child disables Notifications in Settings and force-quits the app, we cannot enforce Shields. What we've tried: Firestore Realtime Listener (works only when app is running) DeviceActivityMonitor (intervalDidStart/End only triggers at schedule boundaries, eventDidReachThreshold requires explicit app selection via FamilyActivityPicker) Question: Is there a recommended approach for parental control apps to reliably enforce Shields when the child has disabled notifications? Or is this a known limitation?
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Jan ’26
SensorKit keyboard sensor data collection range
Hello, Recently we got a question about the keyboard sensor data collection in our research project: "For the typing statistics, was any typing included or only messaging and notes? E.g., typing in the browser, phone search, calendar, etc?" While I believe it should be any typing included, I was not able to find a document explicitly stating that. Could you help to confirm it or guide me to any documentation explaining it? Thanks!
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Jan ’26
Confused by new Swift XPC API's xpc_listener_t and xpc_session_t types
Hey! I'm trying to create an XPC messaging feature between my daemon and main application. I'm trying to use the new Swift low-level API available from macOS 14.0. The documentation is extremely confusing when looking at it from Swift: The xpc_listener_t type Seems to be something I shouldn't use in the Swift API, and would rather have to use XPCListener. Also, it appears to have no public API other than the xpc_listener_set_peer_code_signing_requirement function. Which would make it impossible to create this type. However, when going into xpc.h, one can see that there is an API in fact: API_AVAILABLE(macos(14.0), macCatalyst(17.0)) API_UNAVAILABLE(ios, tvos, watchos) XPC_EXPORT XPC_SWIFT_NOEXPORT XPC_RETURNS_RETAINED XPC_WARN_RESULT xpc_listener_t _Nullable xpc_listener_create(const char * service, dispatch_queue_t _Nullable target_queue, xpc_listener_create_flags_t flags, xpc_listener_incoming_session_handler_t incoming_session_handler, xpc_rich_error_t _Nullable * _Nullable error_out); which is a very unusual declaration - the first parameter for example shows up as Int8 type in Swift. Not to mention I haven't been able to create the next parameter, xpc_listener_create_flags_t at all, even though it seems to be a UInt64-based flag based on the C declaration, but passing UInt64(0) throws a compiler error. It really seems like something I shouldn't use from Swift. But then again, the extremely important security-related API mentioned above, xpc_listener_set_peer_code_signing_requirement can only take an xpc_listener_t object as a parameter, not an XPCListener type. There seems to be no conversion available between the two. However the documentation in the XPC framework seems to be telling the story of these two types being very equal, because of the following: The xpc_session_t type seemingly again has only deprecated methods mostly, the important one staying behind is xpc_session_set_peer_code_signing_requirement. However, this would again require the creation of an xpc_session_t object, for which in the XPC framework one will find declarations like: @available(macOS, introduced: 13.0, deprecated: 14.0, renamed: "XPCSession") @available(macCatalyst, introduced: 16.0, deprecated: 17.0, renamed: "XPCSession") @available(iOS, unavailable) @available(tvOS, unavailable) @available(watchOS, unavailable) public typealias xpc_session_t = OS_xpc_object plus basically all API of XPCSession being originally declared as xpc_session_* APIs and all of them having deprecated: 14.0, renamed: * marks. This is telling me xpc_session_t and XPCSession are in fact the same/same-ish. But again, there is seemingly no conversion between these two types. Which brings me to again being unable to create a code signing requirement for the XPCSession object. I've read some older forum posts, and I saw Apple Engineers admitting the code signing requirement APIs are missing from the new Swift APIs, however they seem to have been added in macOS 14.4 - although it appears to have been mistakenly added to the C-family functions, which have not been exposed to Swift correctly, because they still use the deprecated xpc_listener_t and xpc_session_t types. So my question is: what is going on here? :) Making XPC connections without a code signing requirement in 2025 seems like a no-go, so do I have to still stick with C - even though this new API seems to be focused on Swift?
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Aug ’25
Add 'PDF Services' symlink in ~/Library directory in SwiftUI macOS Catalyst application
I am trying to port my sandboxed macOS app completely over to iOS using a Catalyst target. In my macOS app, I use 'SwiftySandboxFileAccess' package to add a symlink to '~/Library/PDF Services' so that the 'share to my app' menuItem shows up in the macOS Print Panel (in the PDF menu). It is critical for the function of my app to have this work on macOS. In the Catalyst target, I am having problems gaining access to '~/Library'. I have tried having the user select the folder, but the picker always returns 'canceled'. I have a test app that illustrates this. The test app tries to coax the user into selecting the library folder and then it is supposed to bookmark the location, but I am unable to get this far. As an aside, macOS should probably automatically add an entry to the Print Panel when the app includes PDF as a document type in XCode; it would save a lot of hassle and avoid having to go outside of the sandbox. However, I cannot wait for that. Hopefully someone can help. Download Test App from iCloud (If you have problems downloading the file, it might be because of some iCloud share setting that I am not aware of. Just tell me and I'll figure something out.)
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Jan ’26
SensorKit Speech data question
We are a research team conducting a study collecting subject's SensorKit speech data, and we've encountered some questions we couldn't resolve ourselves or by looking up the online SensorKit documentation: Microphone Activation: In general, how is the microphone being turned on to capture a speech session? And how was each session determined to be an independent session? Negative Values: In the speech classification data, there are entries where some of the start and end values are negative (see screenshot below). How should we interpret and handle these values? Is it safe to filter them out? Duplicated sessions: From the same screenshot you can see there are multiple session identifiers linked to the same subject with the same timestamp - what does this represent? Another Negative Values: The same question for speech recognition data's average pause duration, what does the -1 mean and should we remove them as well? (Note that these screenshot got rid of subject IDs for privacy purposes but each screenshot was from one subject.) We greatly appreciate your time and help.
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Aug ’25