I'm experiencing an issue where the App Group shared container appears to be recreated (with a new creation date) during an app update, resulting in complete loss of locally stored data. Background My app uses UserDefaults, Realm, Core Data, and CloudKit, with all local data stored in the App Group container (FileManager.containerURL(forSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier:)). The app has been available since 2016 and has a stable user base. Starting last year, I began receiving occasional reports from users saying all their data in the app had disappeared. To investigate, I added diagnostic logging that detects when an existing user's data appears to have been reset — specifically by checking the App Group container's file system creation date, and the existence and values of expected files. What the diagnostics revealed When the issue occurs, I observe the following: The App Group container has a recent creation date, far newer than the user's first launch date The Core Data store file's creation date is also immediately after the App Group container's recreation date I write the same values to both standard UserDefaults and the App Group version (UserDefaults(suiteName:)). Only the App Group version is reset — the standard side retains historical data The standard side still holds firstLaunchDate, initialVersion, and launchCount, confirming this is not a fresh install Here is a sample diagnostic log from an affected user: appGroupContainerCreationDate: 2026-03-30T18:44:10Z firstLaunchDate: 2025/01/05 4:00 initialVersion: 10.8.0 currentAppVersion: 10.14.14 previousVersion: 10.10.0 launchCount: 44 availableStorageMB: 46646 The container creation date (2026-03-30) is clearly inconsistent with the user's first launch date (2025-01-05) and launch count (44). The container creation date is obtained with the following code: let appGroupURL = FileManager.default.containerURL( forSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier: "group.xxx.xxx" )! let attributes = try? FileManager.default.attributesOfItem(atPath: appGroupURL.path) let containerCreationDate = attributes?[.creationDate] as? Date Scale and pattern Reports began increasing in late November last year Over 85% of affected cases are on iOS 26 Most affected devices have plenty of available storage (46GB+ in the example above) This is likely occurring during a normal app update (not a fresh install or device restore) Ruled-out hypotheses Not a fresh install — firstLaunchDate, initialVersion, and launchCount are preserved in standard UserDefaults Not a storage issue — affected users typically have tens of GBs of free space, making it unlikely that iOS purged the data due to low storage Not an app-side code change — the App Group identifier and entitlements have not been changed Not triggered by silent notifications, background tasks, or widget activity — these processes do write to the App Group container, but the recreation does not appear to occur immediately after any of these operations Questions Has anyone else observed App Group containers being recreated (new creation date, empty contents) during a standard app update? Is there a known iOS behavior or bug that could cause this, particularly on iOS 26? Are there any recommended mitigations? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. This is a data loss issue affecting real users, and I'd like to understand whether this is an iOS-level problem or something I should be handling differently on my end.

Hello, My app has been stuck in the App Store review process for approximately one month, with no progress or updates provided during this time. I have sent around 20 emails and also submitted an expedite request due to the critical nature of the issue. Unfortunately, I have not received any response to any of my inquiries. This situation has reached a critical point. Since my app is not functioning properly, I have lost all of my subscribed users, causing both financial loss and damage to my reputation. Based on my previous experience, review times are usually much shorter, so this delay appears highly unusual. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in clarifying the following: Why has my app not been reviewed yet? Why have my emails not received any response? Is there anything further I can do to expedite the review process? I kindly ask for this issue to be investigated and resolved as soon as possible. I am ready to provide any additional information if needed. App Apple ID: Apple ID：6758458093 I need a response now, please. Don't tell me to send an email because I'm not getting any replies. I just want a review to be conducted. Thank you in advance for your support. Best regards,

Hello, Because our app package size is relatively large, part of our resources needs to be delivered through Apple-hosted asset packs. If we use the Background Assets framework to download these Apple-hosted packs, our app would only be able to support devices running iOS 26 or later. To maintain compatibility with a broader range of iOS versions, we chose to use iOS On-Demand Resources instead. However, during actual use, we found that even when these packs are marked with the initial install tag, there is still a fairly high probability (around 40%) that they are not available on the first screen after the app is launched for the first time. When we try to access them through conditionallyBeginAccessingResourcesWithCompletionHandler, the resources are unavailable, which forces us to download them again. During testing, we added event tracking and found that out of 22 users who downloaded the app, 9 had to re-download these resource packs on first launch. Each of these packs marked with the initial install tag is about 300 MB in size. We have also made sure to follow the NSBundleResourceRequest limitation that no more than 2000 × 1000 × 1000 bytes of resources should be accessed at the same time. We would like to understand why these packs, even though they are marked as initial install, still have such a high probability (around 40%) of being unavailable on the first screen at first launch.

Hi team: I recently update to Xcode 26.4, and I encountered crash when running to < iOS 26.4 both for physical device and Simulator with this log: dyld[1257]: Symbol not found: _$s9MetricKit10mxSignpost_3dso3log4name10signpostID__ySo03os_H7_type_ta_SVSo03OS_j1_F0Cs12StaticStringV0J0010OSSignpostI0VALSays7CVarArg_pGtF Referenced from: <164CCEB0-E1F8-3CE2-A934-2096C19C0A9A> /private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/EA709A68-F76F-4D97-85C6-B71D61D68389/xxx.app/xxx.debug.dylib Expected in: <9E5EC9BB-5828-329C-A2BC-038B67060298> /System/Library/Frameworks/MetricKit.framework/MetricKit Symbol not found: _$s9MetricKit10mxSignpost_3dso3log4name10signpostID__ySo03os_H7_type_ta_SVSo03OS_j1_F0Cs12StaticStringV0J0010OSSignpostI0VALSays7CVarArg_pGtF Referenced from: <164CCEB0-E1F8-3CE2-A934-2096C19C0A9A>x /private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/EA709A68-F76F-4D97-85C6-B71D61D68389/xxx.app/xxx.debug.dylib Expected in: <9E5EC9BB-5828-329C-A2BC-038B67060298> /System/Library/Frameworks/MetricKit.framework/MetricKit dyld config: DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/system/introspection DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES=/usr/lib/libLogRedirect.dylib:/usr/lib/libBacktraceRecording.dylib:/usr/lib/libMainThreadChecker.dylib:/usr/lib/libRPAC.dylib:/usr/lib/libViewDebuggerSupport.dylib but iOS 26.4 works well. Env: Xcode: 26.4 Simulator/Physical Device: < 26.4 macOS: 26.3 Thanks for giving any help.

When using DateFormatter with the Atlantic/Azores timezone, calling date(from: formattedString) for the date 2026-03-29 returns nil unexpectedly. codes： let dateFormatter = DateFormatter() dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyyMMdd" // 年月日格式 dateFormatter.timeZone = TimeZone(identifier: "Atlantic/Azores") dateFormatter.locale = Locale(identifier: "en_US_POSIX") var now = Date() now -= 60 * 60 * 13 let formattedString = dateFormatter.string(from: now) let dateWithTimeZone = dateFormatter.date(from: formattedString) print(formattedString) //20260329 print(dateWithTimeZone) // nil

Hello, I am starting work on adding AlarmKit to an existing project. During testing, I ran into an issue that if I hit Deny during the authorization request, I can't find any way to turn the alarm back on in settings. The only way I can get an authorization request again is by uninstalling the app and installing it again. I would like to be able to prompt my users where they can turn the Alarm back on if they accidentally hit Deny. Am I just not seeing the settings to change this somewhere?

I’m building an iOS app that uses FamilyControls + ManagedSettings + DeviceActivity. Goal: temporarily “unlock” a shielded app for N minutes, then automatically re-apply the shield when the timer expires. What I do: In the main app, when user picks an expiry (e.g. 15 min, 30 min). I start a non-repeating DeviceActivity schedule and remove the app’s ApplicationToken from ManagedSettingsStore().shield.applications. I also store activeUnlockBundleID etc. in an App Group so the DeviceActivityMonitor extension can re-lock at the end. Expected: DeviceActivityMonitor.intervalDidEnd(for:) is invoked when the non-repeating interval ends, and I re-add the token to the shield set. Actual: The app does not re-lock when the interval expires. I added OS logs as well as “debug local notifications” from the DeviceActivityMonitor extension in: init() intervalDidStart intervalDidEnd eventDidReachThreshold None of these logs or notifications ever appear, which suggests the extension is never invoked (or cannot schedule local notifications or OS logs). Environment: Device: iPhone 17 Pro iOS 26.3.1 Xcode 26.4 Running on a physical device Notification permissions for the app: granted App + extensions are in the same App Group entitlement. Extension Info.plist has: NSExtensionPointIdentifier = com.apple.deviceactivity.monitor NSExtensionPrincipalClass = $(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).DeviceActivityMonitorExtension Questions: Are there known limitations/requirements for DeviceActivityMonitor callbacks where intervalDidEnd doesn't to fire? Is posting local notifications / OS Logs from a DeviceActivityMonitor extension supported/reliable? If not, what’s the recommended way to verify the extension is invoked? If this looks like a platform bug, should I file Feedback Assistant? If so, what logs/artifacts are most useful?

I’m running into a hardware reality. MEMS sensor thermal drift. If a user zeroes out the tilt indoors at 20°C and then takes the phone outside in the cold, the accelerometer baseline shifts just enough as the device cools to throw off the readings. I want to apply a simple thermal compensation curve to the CoreMotion data to keep the "zero" perfectly level regardless of the weather. However, ProcessInfo.thermalState only gives broad buckets (nominal, fair, etc.) which doesn't help me calculate a continuous offset for a phone cooling down degree by degree. Is there any public API, or even a proxy metric, that can give me a rough battery or internal temperature integer? I don’t need high resolution decimals. Just a general device temp to offset the hardware drift. Any undocumented tricks or proxy metrics anyone has used to handle this?

I'm building an app that integrates with Reminders using EventKit, but I can't find a way to access two important structures from EventKit: The groups that contain reminder lists The sections inside each reminder list (available since iOS 17) Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

The documentation for NSURL -URLByAppendingPathComponent: states: "Returns a new URL by appending a path component to the original URL." Path component is singular. But this "works" : NSURL *testURL = [applicationsDirectory URLByAppendingPathComponent:@"Evil/../../" isDirectory:YES]; So my questions are: One) Was it always this way? I can't recall if it was like this before the Foundation rewrite and I just never stumbled across? and Two) Is it intended behavior? The API seems to suggest that you append one path component on the url with this method. But I guess you can append as many as you want?

Hello, I submitted a request for the Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement, but haven't received status update regarding approval/rejection etc. I submitted a previous contact support ticket as well. I'm wondering the timeline and also if my request went through - currently it says 'submitted' but it's remained this way for a while... I've had other developers in communities saying they were approved earlier, so curious if it's an app issue. Thank you

Hello, I am the developer of an app called one sec which helps users to spend less time on social media: https://one-sec.app Therefore, we make heavy use of the Screen Time API, and thus ManagedSettings and ShieldActionDelegate. One feature of one sec is the so-called “Doom Scroll Emergency Brake”. This blocks a target app after a certain usage threshold (e.g. 5 minutes) and requires going through an intervention (e.g. breathing exercise) to unlock more time. That added friction makes it very effective in reducing time spent on apps. One thing that is confusing for our users is the way they are prompted to unlock more time, if they want to. They have to: Have Push Notifications enabled for one sec Exempt one sec’s notifications from being delayed by AI prioritization (otherwise they are delayed by ca. 10s) Ensure that push notifications can be delivered during foci. Understand that they have to tap on the notification, which is not very straight-forward because it does not make sense from the user’s UX perspective. This is an artificial limitation of Apple’s screen time framework which has no reason (no security / privacy implications here…). Screenshots of the current flow attached. If would be much more reasonable if there was a new ShieldActionResponse.openParentApp value that can be returned from the completion handler of the ShieldActionDelegate.handle(…) callback. We have seen different apps use private API to achieve this, but we are afraid to do the same to avoid getting banned from the App Store. It would be fair if Apple would level the playground for all apps and offer such an API officially. – Frederik PS: Tracked under FB22347946, FB18846650, FB15500681, FB15079668, FB10393561 (all without responses so far…)

We are developing an MDM agent app that uses FamilyControls with .individual authorization to enforce Screen Time restrictions (app blocking, domain blocking via ManagedSettingsStore and DeviceActivityCenter). The Problem We are actively subscribing to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus to detect authorization changes. However, when the user revokes the app's FamilyControls authorization through Settings (either via Settings > Screen Time > Apps With Screen Time Access, or Settings > Apps > [Our App]), the publisher does not emit any value. All ManagedSettingsStore restrictions are lifted immediately by the system, but our app receives no notification of this change. The only scenario where the publisher reliably emits is when a debugger is attached (i.e., running directly from Xcode). Without the debugger, the publisher is completely silent — even when the app returns to foreground. Code Example We tried subscribing directly to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus with no intermediary, exactly as shown in the documentation: AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus .sink { status in print("[DIRECT] authorizationStatus emitted: \(status)") } .store(in: &cancellables) This subscription is set up at app launch and stored in cancellables. The result is the same — the publisher does not emit when the user revokes authorization in Settings without a debugger attached. Documentation Reference The documentation for authorizationStatus states: "The status may change due to external events, such as a child graduating to an adult account, or a parent or guardian changing the status in Settings." And: "The system sets this property only after a call to requestAuthorization(for:) succeeds. It then updates the property until a call to revokeAuthorization(completionHandler:) succeeds or your app exits." This suggests the publisher should emit when the status is changed via Settings, but in our testing it does not — unless a debugger is attached. What We Verified We tested with a development-signed build (which includes the com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement), launched from Xcode, then disconnected the debugger, killed the app, and relaunched from the home screen. Scenario Publisher emits on revocation? Running from Xcode (debugger attached) Yes, immediately Development-signed build (no debugger) No — silent even on foreground return We also confirmed: MDM configuration profiles can disable Screen Time entirely, but cannot restrict the per-app authorization toggle — the user can always freely revoke the app's Screen Time access The Security Gap This creates a significant gap for parental controls use cases: User leaves the app (app goes to background) User goes to Settings and disables Screen Time access for the app All restrictions are immediately lifted User uses the device freely User re-enables Screen Time access and opens the app Everything syncs back to normal — administrator never knows Questions Is there any supported mechanism to receive a notification (background or foreground) when FamilyControls individual authorization is revoked? We are subscribing to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus but it does not emit. Is the $authorizationStatus publisher expected to work only when a debugger is attached? Is this a known limitation or a bug? Can DeviceActivityMonitor extension detect authorization revocation? Based on documentation it appears limited to schedule/threshold events, but we haven't confirmed this. Is there a planned API improvement to address this gap? Environment iOS 26.2 Xcode 26.3 Swift 6.2.4 FamilyControls .individual authorization Related Threads Screen time API can be disabled easily Changing Screen Time Passcode does not protect apps

Hi, Regarding the Brazil Digital ECA (DECA) requirements, which became effective on March 17, 2026. Following the guidance for regulated regions, we have been testing the eligibility check with the iOS 26.4 release. We previously confirmed that isEligibleForAgeFeatures was returning true for users in the Brazil region, which allowed us to verify our age-gating implementation. A few questions follow on this eligibility check: We have observed in manual testing that specific devices which returned true as recently as March 23rd are now returning false today, despite no changes to the OS build or account settings. Does this indicate a change in the server-side eligibility heuristics? Why would isEligibleForAgeFeatures stop returning true for a region where the law is now in force? Has the guidance on how to evaluate these properties for Brazil changed with the transition to the stable 26.4 release? Thank you!

Is there a way to trigger the start of my app (just for a short time) when the iPhone is connected to CarPlay (and/or to a car via bluetooth). I could not find anything. I don´t want to apply for CarPlay as I have no intention to show something on the cars screen. Any even small tipp is welcome

[FB22327481] We are observing a rare issue where alarms scheduled using AlarmKit occasionally fire exactly at 12:00 AM, even though the alarm was scheduled for a different time. This issue happens only for a very small number of users (for example, 1–2 users per several thousand per day), but multiple reports confirm that the alarm goes off exactly at midnight. We also found that other developers are experiencing the same issue: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/815714 Observed behavior For a small number of users: Alarm fires at exactly 00:00 (midnight) This happens even when the scheduled alarm time is something like 7:30 AM Happens rarely Hard to reproduce internally Appears to happen only on real devices in production Additional notes We are using AlarmKit fixed schedules (not relative) Dates passed to AlarmKit are correct at scheduling time We do not intentionally create midnight alarms Issue seems random Question Are there any known limitations or edge cases with AlarmKit fixed schedules that could cause alarms to fire at midnight? For example: Invalid date fallback? Schedule expiration fallback? Time zone changes? Background refresh timing? Maximum schedule window? Any guidance would be appreciated, as this is affecting real users but is difficult to reproduce.

Issue: after going through configuration steps for app clips, when I scan my QR code, my app clip does not appear, instead safari attempts to open the url as a web page. note: my aasa endpoint is never even getting called when scanning the QR code. Setup: App uninstalled in accordance with Apple Documentation "Users don’t install App Clips, and App Clips don’t appear on the Home Screen. Similarly, testers don’t install the beta version of your App Clip" testflight installed in accordance with Apple Documentation My app's Build 1.51.9 (1) uploaded and greenlit in testflight. My apple email is added as an internal tester is the same as my Apple ID for the device used. I have provided an aasa for the path: .well-known/apple-app-site-association. Here is my full url: https://akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association. { "appclips": { "apps": [ "8PJ28P9ZZ8.com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1.Clip" ] }, "applinks": { "details": [ { "components": [ { "/": "/appClips/referral/venueToUser" } ], "appIDs": [ "8PJ28P9ZZ8.com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1" ] } ] } } Here are my entitlements for my parent target: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>aps-environment</key> <string>development</string> <key>com.apple.developer.applesignin</key> <array> <string>Default</string> </array> <key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key> <array> <string>applinks:akin-server-side.onrender.com</string> <string>applinks:akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com</string> <string>appclips:akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com</string> <string>appclips:akin-server-side.onrender.com</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>group.com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1</string> </array> </dict> </plist> Here are the entitlements for my app clip target: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key> <array> <string>applinks:akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com</string> <string>applinks:akin-server-side.onrender.com</string> </array> <key>com.apple.developer.parent-application-identifiers</key> <array> <string>$(AppIdentifierPrefix)com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>group.com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1</string> </array> </dict> </plist> On App Store Connect in the Testflight section for this project and build: Build 1.51.9 (1), Test Information -> App Clip Invocations I have the following: copy pasted for convenience: "no variables":"https://akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com/appClips/referral/venueToUser", "Jeff referral":"https://akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com/appClips/referral/venueToUser?venueID=ChIJVaPxJnCej4ARyxiB9Tt2tG8&referrerName=Jeff" Here is the QR code I attempted to scan, https://akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com/appClips/referral/venueToUser?venueID=ChIJVaPxJnCej4ARyxiB9Tt2tG8&referrerName=Jeff

I'd like to create a small helper app for new students do read/write User default settings. Since it was not possible using the UserDefaults class I decided to use the "/usr/bin/defaults". Unfortuntely it seems not to return anything. Debug output shows "Got data: 0 bytes" Here is a sample code: import SwiftUI func readDefaults(domain : String, key :String) -> String { let cmdPath = "/usr/bin/defaults" //let cmdPath = "/bin/ls" let cmd = Process() let pipe = Pipe() cmd.standardOutput = pipe cmd.standardError = pipe cmd.executableURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: cmdPath, isDirectory: false, relativeTo: nil) cmd.arguments = ["read", domain, key] //cmd.arguments = ["/", "/Library"] print("Shell command: \(cmdPath) \(cmd.arguments?.joined(separator: " ") ?? "")") var d : Data? do { try cmd.run() d = pipe.fileHandleForReading.readDataToEndOfFile() cmd.waitUntilExit() } catch let e as NSError { return "ERROR \(e.code): \(e.localizedDescription)" } catch { return "ERROR: call failed!" } // get pipe output and write is to stdout guard let d else { return "ERROR: Can't get pipe output from command!" } print("Got data: \(d)") if let s = String(data: d, encoding: String.Encoding.utf8) { print("Got result: \(s)") return s } else { return "ERROR: No output from pipe." } } struct ContentView: View { let foo = readDefaults(domain: "com.apple.Finder", key: "ShowHardDrivesOnDesktop") var body: some View { VStack { Text("ShowHardDrivesOnDesktop: \(foo.description)") } .padding() } } #Preview { ContentView() } This code works well e.g. for "ls" when the comments are changed for cmdPath and cmd.arguments. What do I miss in order to get it working with defaults?

Hello, iOS 26.4 has new APIs which is great. This brings new capability and updated permissions "flow". However as soon as we add the "Family Controls App and Website Usage" capability, then anyone on iOS 26.4 and above can either only approve full access or no access at all. (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/familycontrols/authorizationstatus/approvedwithdataaccess) The previous permission is impossible to obtain. Am I missing something? Is this intended behavior? We can imagine a situation where the user doesn't want to give full access (perhaps because the permissions screen says the app is able to see usage - which is not correct) but they still want to approve Screen Time permissions so the app can apply shields and what not. Thanks.

We made an update of one of our games with the Declared Age Range framework, and one of the users contacted us, asking how could he confirm his age to access the app's features. Meaning that isEligibleForAgeFeatures returned true on his device. According to documentation: Use isEligibleForAgeFeatures to determine whether associated laws or regulations may apply to your app based on the person’s location and account settings. This property returns true when your app needs to support Age Assurance for the current user. As far as we know, the laws are not applied anywhere yet. So, why did isEligibleForAgeFeatures return true?