Hi everyone, I’ve been working on an experimental prototype called FaceBridge that explores whether Secure Enclave–backed biometric authorization can be delegated between macOS and iPhone using only public Apple APIs. The goal of the project was to better understand the architectural boundaries of cross-device trust and approval flows that resemble Apple’s built-in Touch ID / Continuity authorization experiences. FaceBridge implements a local authorization pipeline where: macOS generates a signed authorization request the request is delivered to a trusted nearby iPhone over BLE / Network framework the iPhone verifies sender identity Face ID approval is requested using LocalAuthentication the iPhone signs the approval response using Secure Enclave–backed keys macOS validates the response and unlocks a protected action Security properties currently implemented: • Secure Enclave–backed signing identities per device • cryptographic device pairing and trust persistence • replay protection using nonce + timestamp binding • structured authorization request/response envelopes • signed responder identity verification • trusted-device registry model • local encrypted transport over BLE and local network This is intentionally not attempting to intercept or replace system-level Touch ID dialogs (App Store installs, Keychain prompts, loginwindow, etc.), but instead explores what is possible within application-level authorization boundaries using public APIs only. The project is open source: https://github.com/wesleysfavarin/facebridge Technical architecture write-up: https://medium.com/@wesleysfavarin/facebridge I’m particularly interested in feedback around: • recommended Secure Enclave identity lifecycle patterns • best practices for cross-device trust persistence • LocalAuthentication usage in delegated approval scenarios • whether similar authorization models are expected to become more formally supported across Apple platforms in the future Thanks in advance for any guidance or suggestions.

Hello, I understand that to discover and pair a device or accessory with Wi-Fi Aware, we can use either the DeviceDiscoveryUI or AccessorySetupKitUI frameworks. During the pairing process, both frameworks prompt the user to enter a pairing code. Is this step mandatory? What alternatives exist for devices or accessories that don't have a way to communicate a pairing code to the user (for example, devices or accessories without a display or voice capability)? Best regards, Gishan

I have some confusion around the usage of DeviceDiscoveryUI. The documentation suggests that it is available only on TVOS. But with the recent announcement of WifiAware, it has been used in iOS devices as well. Within DeviceDiscoveryUI, the DevicePicker or the DevicePairingView documentation seems to be available with iOS. Is this just a documentation mistake? Followup - Can I use DeviceDiscoveryUI's DevicePicker/ DevicePairingView to discover devices through Bonjour and then establish a connection through Network framework?

Eager to see the Wi-Fi Aware communication between iPhone (iOS 26) and an Android device, I tried iOS 26 beta on my iPhone16. and tried below code snippet from provided example at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/wifiaware/building-peer-to-peer-apps. Idea is to first verify discovery of Android WiFiAware service on iOS. extension WAPublishableService { public static var simulationService: WAPublishableService { allServices[simulationServiceName]! } } extension WASubscribableService { public static var simulationService: WASubscribableService { allServices[simulationServiceName]! } } struct ContentView: View { @State private var showingDevicePicker = false @State private var pairedDevices: [WAPairedDevice] = [] // To hold discovered/paired devices var body: some View { VStack { Button("Discover Devices") { showingDevicePicker = true // Trigger the device picker presentation } .sheet(isPresented: $showingDevicePicker) { DevicePicker(.wifiAware(.connecting(to: .selected([]), from: .simulationService))) { endpoint in print("Paired Endpoint: \(endpoint)") } label: { Image(systemName: "plus") Text("Add Device") } fallback: { Image(systemName: "xmark.circle") Text("Unavailable") } } List(pairedDevices) { device in Text(device.name ?? "Unknown Device") } } } } With suggested entitlement of WiFiAware and info.plist of service info. Then I had Android device with WIFiAware service publishing service (service name set '_sat-simulation._udp') from this app https://github.com/anagramrice/NAN. But above iOS app is unable to find the service published from android device. Am I missing something? Note: the above Android-NAN app seems to be working fine between Android to Another Android.

Hello everyone, Last year I built an application for tvOS and iPadOS that enables device-to-device communication. I based it on Apple’s sample code, available here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/Network/building-a-custom-peer-to-peer-protocol At that time, everything worked flawlessly. However, this year I had to revisit the project to add new features, and now it no longer works as expected. The first time the app runs it connects fine, but if we relaunch it (on either the iPad, the Apple TV, or both), the connection fails. Most importantly, this is not an issue with my own code — I tested it directly with the original Apple sample code, and the exact same problem occurs there too. Here’s what I see in the logs: nw_endpoint_flow_setup_channel [C1 TicTacToe,65E91B02-890E-4D30-88B8-CE2AB9677BF9 in_progress channel-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), viable, interface: utun0, scoped, ipv6)] nexus assignment error Connection refused nw_endpoint_flow_failed_with_error [C1 TicTacToe,65E91B02-890E-4D30-88B8-CE2AB9677BF9 in_progress channel-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), viable, interface: utun0, scoped, ipv6)] already failing, returning code-block This happens right after I select the iPad from the device list and try to connect. What’s strange is that the interface being used is utun0. I don’t have a VPN or iCloud Private Relay enabled. I also tried running the app through the iPad’s personal hotspot, but I get the same error. The only workaround I’ve found so far is to restart the Apple TV. Has anyone else run into this problem? Is there any known solution or workaround? Tested on tvOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.3.2 / 18.6.

iPhone 12 pro with iOS 26.0 (23A5276f) App: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/wifiaware/building-peer-to-peer-apps We aim to use Wi-Fi Aware to establish file transfer between Android and Apple devices. Apple will act as the Publisher, and Android will act as the Subscriber. According to the pairing process outlined in the Wi-Fi Aware protocol (Figure 49 in the Wi-Fi Aware 4.0 specification), the three PASN Authentication frames have been successfully exchanged. Subsequently, Android sends the encrypted Follow-up PMF to Apple, but the Apple log shows: Failed to parse event. Please refer to the attached complete log. We request Apple to provide a solution. apple Log-20250808a.txt

After Apple-to-Apple pairing is completed, the paired device will be recorded in “Settings → Privacy & Security → Paired Devices”. However, after Android-to-Apple pairing is completed, the device is not saved to this list. Android device can be normally displayed on the Apple official Wi-Fi Aware Sample. However, the indicator is not green. During pairing, the Apple log shows: state: authenticated, and the Android side triggers the callback onPairingSetupSucceeded. During pairing verification, the Apple log shows: state: authenticated, and the Android side triggers the callback onPairingVerificationSucceed. My iPhone is iPhone 13， iOS 26.0 （23A5287g）

Our goal is to establish a Wi‑Fi Aware data path (NDP) between Apple and Android devices. Apple will act as the Publisher, and Android will act as the Subscriber. Apple-to-Android pairing has already been completed. The Android device can be normally displayed on the Apple official Wi-Fi Aware Sample. However, the indicator is not green. During pairing, the Apple log shows: state: authenticated, and the Android side triggers the callback onPairingSetupSucceeded. During pairing verification, the Apple log shows: state: authenticated, and the Android side triggers the callback onPairingVerificationSucceed. The Android side sends an NDP request to Apple (as shown in the figure 1), but Apple does not reply. Note: Qualcomm’s NDI and NMI are different. In addition, after Apple-to-Apple pairing is completed, the paired device will be recorded in “Settings → Privacy & Security → Paired Devices”. However, after Android-to-Apple pairing is completed, the device is not saved to this list. My iPhone model: iPhone 13, iOS 26.0 (23A5287g).

Samsung's Quick Share uses Wi-Fi Aware to achieve one-to-many concurrent sharing. Can Apple's Wi-Fi Aware achieve one-to-many concurrent sharing? Apple's AirDrop does support one-to-many concurrent sharing.

This is the log on the publisher side. Publisher discovered the subscriber, but could not pair. Follow up is sent with response rejected

At WWDC 25, Dr. Swetank mentioned, “DeviceDiscoveryUI is for making connections between apps and from an app to another device. It supports pairing with both Apple and third-party devices.” I find the pairing process in DeviceDiscoveryUI via Wi-Fi Aware intriguing. I have two questions: Can we pair devices via Bluetooth first and then establish a Wi-Fi Aware connection? If I use DeviceDiscoveryUI, how should I write an Android program to correspond with it and achieve iPhone-Android pairing? The app is an official Apple app: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/wifiaware/building-peer-to-peer-apps.

The app is an official Apple app: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/wifiaware/building-peer-to-peer-apps. I have two phones, an iPhone 12 and an iPhone 13, both with Bluetooth turned on and connected to the same WiFi. The devices paired successfully the first time, but after I reset the Wi-Fi identifier in Settings - Privacy & Security - Paired Devices, the devices could no longer pair. Specifically, one device displays a PIN input pop-up, but the other device does not show the PIN. What could be the reason for this?

I have an iPad app that uses Network framework to allow iPads to wirelessly communicate via their built-in ad hoc network capability. However, our app is used in an enterprise environment and there's concern about them communicating wirelessly, so I've been tasked with looking into wired communication. Question: I've read that iOS can connect to a wifi network using an Ethernet adapter, but would this work for ad hoc networking? For ex, if I connect 2 iPads via Ethernet cables to each other (not to the wifi router), and have the NWListener start broadcasting itself, can the NWBrowser find it and establish an ad-hoc connection via the Ethernet cables (and not the wireless cards inside the iPads). The iPads don't have any wifi connections established so they wouldn't be able to communicate any other way. My guess is no...though if they did connect, how would I know it has happening via the cables and not via the wireless ad hoc capability, because I'm guessing there's no way to turn off just the wireless part of the ad hoc feature? If you disable the wifi on an iPad, you're also disabling ad hoc, right? I'm pretty sure there's no way to programmatically send data back and forth between iPads using a USB-C cable connection, so I'm trying to determine if Ethernet cables would work.

I'm using Network framework for communication between devices. The first time I instantiate an NWBrowser, it will prompt the user with a popup that says: Allow <app name> to find devices on local networks? The problem is, once I upgraded from Xcode 15.4 to Xcode 16.4, the popup doesn't appear; it says in the debug window: nw_browser_fail_on_dns_error_locked [B1] nw_browser_dns_service_browse_callback failed: PolicyDenied(18,446,744,073,709,486,046) I do have the info.plist keys Privacy-Local Network Usage Description (NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription) and Bonjour Services (NSBonjourServices) so it's not that. Also, It still works on a real device. I think something changed with Xcode 16 that tightened the security on a simulator, or maybe disabled Network framework entirely. It's not the firewall on my computer because that is turned off. I'm using an M1 MacBook Pro.

I have been polishing an app that connects and communicates between a tvOS app I created and a iPadOS app that I also created. Connection works fantastic! However, for some reason when the user selects the button to open the DevicePicker provided by this API and then selects a iPad device the notification that comes across the the iPad reads, "Connect your Apple TV to "AppName" on this iPhone. Is this a bug or am I missing some configuration in maybe Info.plist or a modifier I need to add the DevicePicker for it to communicate the proper device identification? I have everything setup in both app Info.plist files to connect and work fine, but the notification saying iPhone on an iPad is sadly a small detail I would love to change. So...not sure if I found a bug or if I am missing something.