In the past I was always able to install every major macOS version on an external drive so that I can test my apps. But now I'm unable to install macOS Tahoe 26 on an external drive. Actually, as far as I'm aware, there are not even official links to macOS 26 installers, but only instructions on how to update to macOS 26 from an existing macOS installation. So I thought I'd install macOS 15 on a separate drive and then update to macOS 26, but whenever I run the macOS 15 installer, tell it to install on the external drive, and reboot after the setup process completes, my MacBook just boots into my main macOS partition as if nothing happened. 3 months ago I somehow managed to install macOS Tahoe beta 1 on an external drive, I don't remember how (but I don't think it was anything crazy); booting into that beta 1 partition and trying to update doesn't work either, as my MacBook again boots into my main macOS partition. I already asked help about the update problem one month ago here, but nobody replied. Could someone at Apple please provide instructions on how one is supposed to install macOS 26 on an external drive (if possible before it becomes available to the public)? Are we supposed to buy a separate Mac for every macOS version that we want to test our apps on?

I am using AlarmKit in my app. When I access: AlarmManager.shared.authorizationState It always returns notDetermined, even when I have previously granted the app permission to use alarms via: try await AlarmManager.shared.requestAuthorization() Calling this API again grants me the permission though, without showing the permission prompt to the user. This sounds like a bug - if the permission has been granted, accessing authorizationState should return .authorized. It shouldn't require me to call requestAuthorization() again to update the authorization status again? Environment: iOS 26 beta 3 Xcode 26 beta 3

Hello, my app is frequently loosing / forgetting the Screen Time Permission that had been granted previously on iOS 26. I have experienced it myself, sysdiagnose is in this radar: FB18997699 But also also my App Store users who have updated to iOS 26 already have reported this bug. It would be great if Apple could ensure that this bug is addressed before iOS 26 is released to the public.

I'm working with the Screen Time API (FamilyActivityPicker) in SwiftUI and need help with a specific scenario. I'm using the FamilyActivityPicker to let users select apps and categories to block. I save the previous selection (both applicationTokens and categoryTokens) locally. When the user updates their selection, I compare the new selection with the saved one to determine which apps or categories were removed. However, I’m trying to handle a specific case: when an individual app token is removed from the selection because its entire category was selected instead. In this situation, even though the app is no longer in applicationTokens, it's still blocked due to its category being included in categoryTokens. Since I need to show users which apps were actually removed, I want to avoid listing apps that are still indirectly blocked via a selected category. I’ve created a mapping between ApplicationToken and FamilyActivityCategoryToken to check whether a removed app is still covered by a selected category before displaying it. Is there any way to check this using the current Screen Time APIs, or does the system not give access to the relationship between apps and their categories? Any help or suggestions would mean a lot!

EKEventStore on Apple Watch is not giving me all calendars. I can see only calendars of the source 'Subscriptions', but non of the calendars of source CalDAV (iCloud). This problem exists over multiple apps. Code works fine on iPhone. Any ideas? Minimal example code: import SwiftUI import EventKit struct ContentView: View { let eventStore = EKEventStore() @State var success: Bool = false @State var calendarNames: [String] = [String]() func request() async { success = (try? await eventStore.requestFullAccessToEvents()) ?? false } func list() { calendarNames = eventStore.calendars(for: .event).map { $0.title } } var body: some View { VStack { Image(systemName: "globe") .imageScale(.large) .foregroundStyle(.tint) Text("Access: \(success.description)") ScrollView { ForEach(calendarNames, id: \.self) { name in Text(name) } } } .onAppear { Task { await request() list() } } .padding() } }

i thought it is impossible to have CallKit show system UI for outgoing calls. but then i saw this: "For incoming and outgoing calls, CallKit displays the same interfaces as the Phone app..." https://developer.apple.com/documentation/callkit how do i present it though? or is this a documentation error?

Hi all, I’m working on a Screen Time app using Managed Settings and ShieldConfiguration, and I’ve run into an issue where screen time is still being counted while the shield is shown — even when the user never interacts with the underlying app content. This happens both when I use the default shield and when I configure a custom ShieldConfiguration with a ShieldAction. As long as the shield is visible, the time appears to count toward the app’s usage. For example, if I leave the shield up for 20 minutes, Screen Time logs it as 20 minutes of app usage — even if no content is accessed behind the shield. Is this expected behavior? Is there a way to prevent Screen Time from counting time while the shield is shown? Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Connor

I have an iOS app that includes a local Swift package. This Swift package contains some .plist files added as resources. The package also depends on an XCFramework. I want to read these .plist files from within the XCFramework. What I’d like to know is: Is this a common or recommended approach—having resources in a Swift package and accessing them from an XCFramework? Previously, I had the .plist files added directly to the main app target, and accessing them from the XCFramework felt straightforward. With the new setup, I’m trying to determine whether this method (placing resources in a Swift package and accessing them from an XCFramework) is considered good practice. For context: I am currently able to read the .plist files from the XCFramework by passing Bundle.module through one of the APIs exposed by the XCFramework.

Hello! We're currently testing Live Caller ID implementation and noticed an issue with userIdentifier values in our database. Initially, we expected to have approximately 100 records (one per user), but the database grew to about 10,000 evaluationKey entries. Upon investigation, we discovered that the userIdentifier (extracted from "User-Identifier" header) for the same device remains constant throughout a day but changes after a few days. We store these evaluation keys using a composite key pattern "userIdentifier/configHash". All these entries have the same configHash but different userIdentifier values. This behavior leads to unnecessary database growth as new entries are created for the same users with different userIdentifier values. Could you please clarify: Is this the expected behavior for userIdentifier to change over time? If yes, is there a specific TTL (time-to-live) for userIdentifier? If this is not intended, could this be a potential iOS bug? This information would help us optimize our database storage and implement proper cleanup procedures. Thank you for your assistance!

I have been trying to use TipKit popovers in my App. They all behave as expected in the simulator but on a real device I am seeing some strange behaviors. I have a couple of instances of where the tip is displaying an entire sheet instead of just the popover. In another case I cannot dismiss the Tip. Has anyone seen these behaviors and are there known issues/workarounds for this? I am reluctant to use something that works perfectly in the simulator but gives unpredictable results on a device. Not a good user experience in my opinion.

I developed a shortcut feature for my app using the AppIntents framework, which can display a maximum of 10 shortcuts in the Shortcuts app. However, I've noticed that apps like Tesla and Porsche have a significantly larger number of shortcuts, far exceeding 10. After searching online, I found that they might be using Intent Extensions and the SiriKit framework. I customized an Intent through SiriKit, checked the option for "Intent is user-configurable in the Shortcuts app" and "Add to Siri." I can find this shortcut when I search for it, but it does not appear on the homepage or under the app category. Is there any way to resolve this?

After I upgraded to MacOS 26（beta）, my program caused the system to pop up a window as shown in the following picture. My application is a process with only a tray icon. I found that my tray icon is not displayed in the current version, even though I clicked the "Always Allow" button. Here are my questions: 1.Will this related feature remain consistent in the official release? 2.How can I create a cmd process that only displays a system tray icon (no main window) like Alfred?

I have an App Intent that returns a MyEntity value with the following properties: struct MyEntity: AppEntity { @Property(title: "Title") var title: String? @Property(title: "Image") var image: IntentFile? } I created a Shortcut that takes the output value of this intent and passes it as the input to the Send Message action. When I tap the MyEntity parameter in the message action, it shows to be of Type MyEntity. Below that, I can select 1 of 3 options: MyEntity, Title, or Image. When I run the shortcut, a new message compose window appears with the following behavior depending on the selected option: MyEntity - the message draft is empty Title - the message draft shows the title string Image - the message draft shows the image My expected and desired result when MyEntity is selected would be a message draft populated with the image and the title string as text. How would I achieve this? Is it possible? I've experimented with conforming MyEntity to Transferable. That's enabled use cases such as passing the MyEntity input as Type Image for example. Do I need to create a custom UTType to represent MyEntity, or is that unrelated to my issue? I haven't explored this yet but seems potentially related!

I am encountering an issue after transferring an app that uses the FamilyControls framework to a different app account. After releasing a new version of the app post-transfer, the following problems arose: ApplicationTokens obtained in the pre-transfer version no longer function when used with ManagedSettingsGroup.ShieldSettings in the post-transfer version. Using the same ApplicationTokens with Label(_ applicationToken: ApplicationToken) does not display the app name or icon. These issues did not occur in the pre-transfer version and everything worked as expected. We suspect that ApplicationTokens obtained prior to the transfer are no longer valid in the updated app released under the new app account. We are seeking guidance on the following: Is this expected behavior after transferring an app to another app account? What steps should we take to ensure that ApplicationTokens obtained before the transfer remain functional in the post-transfer environment? If these tokens are invalidated due to the transfer, what are the recommended procedures for regenerating or updating ApplicationTokens for existing app users? Maintaining a seamless user experience after transferring the app is critical. We would greatly appreciate any insights or guidance. Please let us know if additional information or logs would assist in investigating this issue. Thank you!

My app AirCompare has been in the app store and successfully using WeatherKit to fetch weather since it became available. Now some (not all) users are encountering the following errors: Failed to generate jwt token for: com.apple.weatherkit.authservice with error: Error Domain=WeatherDaemon.WDSJWTAuthenticatorServiceListener.Errors Code=2 "(null)" Encountered an error when fetching weather data subset; location=<+42.40865786,-88.96911526> +/- 0.00m (speed -1.00 mps / course -1.00) @ 6/23/25, 2:56:47 PM Central Daylight Time, error=WeatherDaemon.WDSJWTAuthenticatorServiceListener.Errors 2 Error Domain=WeatherDaemon.WDSJWTAuthenticatorServiceListener.Errors Code=2 "(null)" Others are reporting this same problem here in the forums. We need a solution!

With the Live Caller ID example server, the caller lookup dataset is defined in an input.txtpd and processed by running a ConstructDatabase command which creates a block.binpb and an identity.binpb file. In other words, a static input file is being processed into static block and identity files. However, in the real world, the data content for identified and blocked numbers is something which is in a constant state of flux and evolution, as new numbers becoming available, old ones become stale, numbers which were initially considered safe change into being considered malicious etc. etc. Is the example server just that, merely an example using fixed datasets, and an actual production server is able to use live every changing data to formulate its response back to the iPhone OS query? Here's a concrete use case - suppose it's a requirement to permit US nanp numbers but to block anything else. The total number of non US nanp numbers is so large and ever changing that it would be unfeasible to attempt to capture them in an input.txtpd file and then process that, and then to re-capture and re-process it endlessly. Instead what would be required is the ability for the Live Caller ID server to evaluate at query time, using a regular expressions for example, if a number is nanp or not. Is this possible?

We're having trouble with getting Siri to hand off specific trigger words to our app via shortcuts. I want to be able to say "Hey Siri Myappname Foobar" but in some cases if Foobar is the name of a specific business it may launch maps instead showing locations of those businesses. Is there any way to inform Siri, "no, *****, launch our app as the shortcut specifies!"

Hello, How do apps like App Lock implement app-opening from a shield? Is this supported for 3rd-party apps or limited to partners? https://apps.apple.com/us/app/app-lock/id6448239603

Hi, I'm implementing a Message Filter Extension and need clarification about the ILMessageFilterExtensionNetworkURL Info.plist key. Is it valid to include query parameters in the URL like: https://example.com/test?id=123 I want to make sure this approach will pass App Review before implementing it. The query parameter would be used to identify the client making the filtering request. Has anyone successfully used URLs with query parameters in their approved Message Filter Extensions? Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks!

Greetings, I have set up two tips in my app, and my app is configured with Tips.configure([.displayFrequency(.daily)]. Tip 1 is set up with no options. Tip 2 has the IgnoresDisplayFrequency(true) option set: var options: [Option] { MaxDisplayCount(3) // We want the user to see these because it's important. IgnoresDisplayFrequency(true) } This option works as expected, as far as I can tell, in terms of making sure that Tip 2 is shown even if I've already seen Tip 1 today. If I interact with my app such that Tip 1 is displayed, and I then interact with it such that Tip 2 should be displayed, Tip 2 shows immediately, even though a day hasn't passed. However, if I do this the other way around, so that Tip 2 is displayed first, and then I interact so that Tip 1 should be displayed, my expectation would be that Tip 1 is not displayed, because another tip has already been shown today. I expected that it would not be shown until the following day, since it is not configured to ignore the tip frequency. That's not what happens, though. Tip 1 is displayed right away, even though Tip 2 has just been shown. This makes me think that setting IgnoresDisplayFrequency on Tip 2 is causing it to also be ignored when considering whether other tips should be shown. I did try omitting IgnoresDisplayFrequency option, and then as expected, only one tip is shown on a day, no matter which one is shown first.