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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macOS app can be excluded from the ‘Screen Time’ statistics?
I am a macOS software developer using Xcode and Objective-C. I have a wallpaper app on the App Store, and recently, a few users have asked if the app can be excluded from the ‘Screen Time’ statistics. Is there a way to allow users to choose whether or not the app should appear in the ‘Screen Time’ tracking? I have already set LSUIElement to YES in the info.plist, but the app is still being tracked in ‘Screen Time.
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176
Feb ’25
Can not replicate the Apple Review error
Hello there! So Im trying to upload an app to the App Store for iphone and Ipad, but from the revision team the same message always appears, the app crash. So I know the "it works on my computer" sounds bad but....works on my computer and my test system. Dont know what to do since I dont know how to replicate the error. This is the rely they sent me: Issue Description The app exhibited one or more bugs that would negatively impact users. Bug description: at time of review the app’s interface went blank at launch. Review device details: Device type: iPad Air (5th generation) OS version: iPadOS 18.4.1 Anyone has any idea on how can I replicate the error and maybe check the logs? Im completely blind on this one.
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Apr ’25
Screen-time in Device Activity Report Extension vs In Phone Settings
Am showing daily screen-time of a user in my app in Device Activity Report Extension. The only way to get that is to sum up all the activityDuration of apps/categories/domains. But it differs a lot from phone's settings screen-time, why? I have debugged in details and counted manually the time spent on each app and it turned out that the calculation is appearing correctly in my app but Phone settings showing quite less time on top (Day).
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398
Jan ’25
How to uninstall/delete Voice Control on macOS?
How to uninstall/delete Voice Control on macOS so that I can test my app for the case when the initial use of Voice Control causes it to be downloaded from Apple? Is there a folder in the macOS System or Library to delete to force a re-download of Voice Control? My macOS app uses the older NSSpeechRecognizer to handle speech commands, but to use NSSpeechRecognizer required authorization via [SFSpeechRecognizer requestAuthorization...]. I do this and on a macOS system it can trigger a download of Voice Control, the macOS feature. An alert appears with: "A 390 MB download is required to use speech recognition features in MyApp. You may need to quit and open MyApp again after download completes."
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368
Jan ’25
How can I stop CPNavigationSession properly on CarPlay disconnect
Hi there, I'm facing an issue when disconnecting CarPlay that the navigation session seems to be in some weird state where it is not properly finished. So when I reconnect CarPlay the "Metadata in instrument cluster or HUD" does not update anymore until I start another navigation session and stop that one. You can see that the instruction to the left on this screen recording is not updating anymore after a reconnect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sncxyJULjQk I have a modified the CostalRoad sample app to add support for the HUD cluster and to auto start a navigation simulation when CarPlay connects. https://github.com/g4rb4g3/CoastalRoads Can anyone tell me what I have to do when CarPlay disconnect so I can start a new navigation session on reconnect that has a working HUD cluster? Fun fact is that Apple Maps handles this quite nice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpJEIyGcwdo), it somehow manages to finish the navigation session and brings up the HUD cluster just fine on reconnect. I wonder how I can achieve the same, anyone having an idea on that?
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268
Feb ’25
How is Security Delay still so broken?
I'm sitting at my house and trying to sign my test device out of my apple ID so I can sign into a Sandbox user, but now I have an hour to kill because of this terribly broken "security" feature that thinks it's in an unfamiliar location, despite being at the only location it's ever known. Looks like I'll just be disabling this feature all together. Especially as a device with Developer Mode enabled, which gets reset regularly, there should be additional options here. Come on!
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58
Apr ’25
On-Demand Resources Update
Hi, I have a question about On-Demand Resources, I tried to put some bundles into the Initial Install Tags and Download Only On Demand, and I uploaded the build to TestFlight, then I tried to make 2 builds, and the sample is like this: Build A: Initial Install Tags have 100 Tags. Download Only On Demand have 5 Tags. Build B: all contents of Initial Install Tags are the same as in Build A. Download Only On Demand are the same as Build A but I added 5 more tags, so the total is 10 tags, 5 tags that are the same as Build A and 5 new tags. Then I tried to download Build A for the first time which is in TestFlight, and it runs normally, Initial Install Tags are downloaded when the main app is downloaded and Download Only On Demand is downloaded when I request the tag. However, when I tried to update to Build B which is in TestFlight, why are the Initial Install Tags deleted? and why should it be downloaded via request? not when the main app is downloaded? has anyone ever experienced something like this? Thanks!
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250
Feb ’25
Crashes with Rosetta after Sonoma update (crash reports).
Hello. We have an app and a custom dylib hat seems to be crashing only when Rosetta is involved. I believe it's the custom DYLIB that crashes. Here are some observations. The issue happens on the older 2022 built DYLIB (Intel only) And the newer DYLIB built (Universal) The universal DYLIB works fine natively on both Intel and M1 machines. It's only when we access it through an Intel only .app and it's running with Rosetta that we see the crash. The older Intel only .DYLIB worked perfectly with the same testing .app in versions before Sonoma, now they crash with the same .app, same build. Crash reports have been all over the place, they vary but repeat themselves. It has been a little confusing as to how to approach this issue and would appreciate any input that can help us understand what is going wrong and how to move forward. Crash reports are attached Crash Report 1 Crash Report 2 Crash Report 3 The crash occurs as SIGSEGV Version: 2.0 (1) Code Type: X86-64 (Translated) Parent Process: launchd [1] User ID: 501 Date/Time: 2025-04-14 19:55:06.0103 +0200 OS Version: macOS 14.6 (23G5075b) Report Version: 12 Anonymous UUID: A08ECCFA-BF01-8636-7453-E4476586D3A8 Time Awake Since Boot: 3900 seconds System Integrity Protection: enabled Notes: PC register does not match crashing frame (0x0 vs 0x102920144) Crashed Thread: 10 Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x000000011d052840 Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000011d052840 Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 11 Segmentation fault: 11 Terminating Process: exc handler [3174] VM Region Info: 0x11d052840 is not in any region. Thank you so much for all the attention and effort.
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117
Apr ’25
Associated Domains and location of the AASA file when “service”=”Authsrv”
We are planning to use our internal IdP (PingFederate) for authentication of end users in their iOS apps using ASWebAuthenticationSession. Initial tests are successful, but the user is prompted for every login (and logouts) with a consent dialogue box: “AppName” wants to use “internal domain-name” to Sign In This allows the app and website to share information about you. Cancel Continue” Let’s say that our top-level domain is “company.no”, where our IdP is placed at “idp.company.com”. I have seen examples where the Associated domains entitlement points to the idp as a webserver for serving the JSON output AASA file. In this case that would be: authsrv: idp.company.com Anyone with experience implementing this structure with the IdP as webserver for serving the JSON output? Our problem is that trying to use the IdP as webserver for this purpose is that it is very complicated to modify the IdP’s webserver configuration. Also, this modification needs to be re-done every time we need to upgrade the IdP. My question is therefore also related to the options of which webserver to install the AASA file on. Has anyone installed the file on a generic webserver on the toplevel domain like “webserver.company.com” ?
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Apr ’25
Does Apple Screen Time API Allow Access to App Usage Data for Custom Rewards?
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!
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71
Apr ’25
Universal Links not working with subdomains without AASA on root domain
Hi all, I'm trying to set up universal links for my app but it's not working. What I want: cogover.com → Safari (website) - NOT my app *.cogover.com (any subdomain like abc.cogover.com) → My app What I did: Added applinks:*.cogover.com in Xcode Put AASA files on all subdomains They work fine (checked with curl) Problem: All links still open in Safari, not my app. I do not put AASA on my root domain cogover.com because I don't want open my app with root domain. I have checked TN3155: Debugging universal links | Apple Developer Documentation but it only say about universal link works with both root domain and subdomains. Weird thing I found: I checked how Salesforce does it - their *.force.com subdomains work perfectly. But when I tried to check their setup, (https://force.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association) doesn't seem to exist either! So how does theirs work? Even stranger - Apple's CDN has their file cached at (https://app-site-association.cdn-apple.com/a/v1/force.com) but the actual domain doesn't serve it. Can Apple's CDN have a file cached even if it's not on the website anymore? Thanks for any help!
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154
Jul ’25
Using Picture-in-Picture for Background Audio Calls on iOS
I’m developing an app with audio calling functionality, and I’d like to take advantage of Picture-in-Picture (PiP) so that when the user moves the app to the background, the ongoing call can remain minimized on the Home screen. Based on my research, it seems possible to display a view in PiP mode and have it play, and I haven’t found any documentation stating that this is prohibited. Could you please confirm if this is allowed?
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328
Jul ’25
identitylookup needed for ILMessageFilterQueryHandling?
My iOS app uses a Message Filter extension (via ILMessageFilterQueryHandling) and works only when run directly as the extension target. When installed normally (via TestFlight), the filter does not trigger at all — which I now believe is because iOS enforces the com.apple.developer.identitylookup entitlement at runtime. Anyone know anything about this? I put in a request for the entitlement last week but heard nothing back. Called Apple "technical" support and they had no idea what I was talking about. The documentation around this is EXTREMELY lacking in my opinion...
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Apr ’25
How to properly share code between launch in background and launch in foreground?
I've been reading this question: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/701945 and watching the videos on background tasks But can't arrive to a concrete solution. Q1: Are there any tips (or sample app) on how to handle a launch in background in a streamlined way? How to have a shared code that is ran for both 'launch in background' & 'launch in foreground'? Specifically the case I'm talking about is: You set up some observance of some OS callback at a Foo screen of your app. Example app should request and then send push-to-start live activity tokens to server. Or setup location tracking. App is then suspended and then later terminated but is eligible for relaunch App is then launched in background because it has requested a push-to-start live activity token or an update for location tracking. User DOES NOT go back to screen Foo. So at this point app is no longer tracking / listening to updates for token update or location changes. How should I architecture my code for this? I'm trying to see if there's a an approach where I can avoid having multiple places in code where I do the same thing. Currently what I'm doing is as such: Q2: Is it then correct to say that anytime you've launched your app, whether it's in foreground or background then you must immediately match 'all observations done by the previous app launch'? Like store items in UserDefaults and upon launch retrieve them and do: handleGeneralAppLaunchFlow() // ALSO if defaults.contains("didLastLaunchSetupLiveActivtiyTokenObservance") { for await ptsToken in Activity<EmojiRangers> .pushToStartTokenUpdates { ... } } if defaults.contains("didLastLaunchSetupLocationTracking") { locationManager = CLLocationManager() locationManager?.delegate = itsDelegate locationManager?.allowsBackgroundLocationUpdates = true locationManager?.showsBackgroundLocationIndicator = true locationManager?.startUpdatingLocation() } // Other checks for prior observance setup Q3: Actually I think even if app is launched in foreground then because you may not end up at screen Foo again, then you must setup things regardless of app state and just based on prior observations set. Right? Q4: And then later if the user ever made it again to screen Foo, then we just skip the re-do of the observance, or maybe to just keep things simple, we'd just redo without over-engineering things? I tried to mark my questions with Q1- Q4.
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209
Mar ’25
how can i get the LiveCommunicationKit events
i have codes looks like: import UIKit import LiveCommunicationKit @available(iOS 17.4, *) class LiveCallKit: NSObject, ConversationManagerDelegate { @available(iOS 17.4, *) func conversationManager(_ manager: ConversationManager, conversationChanged conversation: Conversation) { } @available(iOS 17.4, *) func conversationManagerDidBegin(_ manager: ConversationManager) { } @available(iOS 17.4, *) func conversationManagerDidReset(_ manager: ConversationManager) { } @available(iOS 17.4, *) func conversationManager(_ manager: ConversationManager, perform action: ConversationAction) { } @available(iOS 17.4, *) func conversationManager(_ manager: ConversationManager, timedOutPerforming action: ConversationAction) { } @available(iOS 17.4, *) func conversationManager(_ manager: ConversationManager, didActivate audioSession: AVAudioSession) { } @available(iOS 17.4, *) func conversationManager(_ manager: ConversationManager, didDeactivate audioSession: AVAudioSession) { } @objc public enum InterfaceKind : Int, Sendable, Codable, Hashable { /// 拒绝/挂断 case reject /// 接听. case answer } var sessoin: ConversationManager var callId: UUID var completionHandler: ((_ actionType: InterfaceKind,_ payload: [AnyHashable : Any]) -&gt; Void)? var payload: [AnyHashable : Any]? @objc init(icon: UIImage!) { let data:Data = icon.pngData()!; let cfg: ConversationManager.Configuration = ConversationManager.Configuration(ringtoneName: "ring.mp3", iconTemplateImageData: data, maximumConversationGroups: 1, maximumConversationsPerConversationGroup: 1, includesConversationInRecents: false, supportsVideo: false, supportedHandleTypes: Set([Handle.Kind.generic])) self.sessoin = ConversationManager(configuration: cfg) self.callId = UUID() super.init() self.sessoin.delegate = self } @objc func toIncoming(_ payload: [AnyHashable : Any], displayName: String,actBlock: @escaping(_ actionType: InterfaceKind,_ payload: [AnyHashable : Any])-&gt;Void) async { self.completionHandler = actBlock do { self.payload = payload self.callId = UUID() var update = Conversation.Update(members: [Handle(type: .generic, value: displayName, displayName: displayName)]) let actNumber = Handle(type: .generic, value: displayName, displayName: displayName) update.activeRemoteMembers = Set([actNumber]) update.localMember = Handle(type: .generic, value: displayName, displayName: displayName); update.capabilities = [ .playingTones ]; try await self.sessoin.reportNewIncomingConversation(uuid: self.callId, update: update) try await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 2000000000); } catch { } } } i want to listen the button event,but i can't find the solutions!please give me a code demo
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192
Mar ’25
WeatherKit - missing ForecastHourly field documentation
where can we find documentation on the following fields included in payloads? They're not listed alongside the other fields in the documentation linked below: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/weatherkitrestapi/hourweatherconditions precipitationIntensity snowfallAmount Or if we can get the data type, unit used, and description here that would be great
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261
Mar ’25
adding forecastNextHour to dataset significantly changes currentWeather
I have been struggling with getting accurate data from the weatherkit api. It tends to be just different enough from the weather app on the phone. While debugging this I randomly added forecastNextHour to my dataset string and it suddenly made everything match the app and the data looked good. For example there is at this moment a snow storm in Billings. This url: https://weatherkit.apple.com/api/v1/weather/en-US/45.79/-108.50?dataSets=currentWeather,forecastHourly,forecastNextHour&timezone=America/Denver&country=US says that there is heavy snow, and there is a 100% chance for the next few hours. This matches the iOS app. This url without forecastNextHour: https://weatherkit.apple.com/api/v1/weather/en-US/45.79/-108.50?dataSets=currentWeather,forecastHourly&timezone=America/Denver&country=US Says it is hazy and there is a small chance of snow of snow for the next few hours. Like 20-30 percent. This does not match any weather data I can find. I have even checked the forecastStart times and the current weather asOf time. They all match up and are accurate. Is there some unknown reason that without forecastNextHour the API becomes inaccurate? Thanks!
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298
Feb ’25