Hello, I am developing a macOS application that uses the Network Extension framework and I'm planning to distribute it outside the Mac App Store using a Developer ID certificate. I am running into a persistent provisioning error when I try to manually assign my profile in Xcode: "Provisioning profile "NetFilterCmd" doesn't match the entitlements file's value for the com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension entitlement." Here is the process I followed: 1.I added the "Network Extensions" capability in Xcode's "Signing & Capabilities" tab. This automatically created a new App ID in my Apple Developer account. 2.I went to the developer portal, confirmed the App ID had "Network Extensions" enabled, and then generated a "Developer ID" Provisioning Profile associated with this App ID. 3.I downloaded and installed this new profile ("NetFilterCmd.provisionprofile"). 4.Back in Xcode, I unchecked "Automatically manage signing" for my app target. 5.When I select the downloaded "NetFilterCmd" profile from the dropdown, the error message immediately appears. I suspect my issue might be related to the "System Extension" requirement for macOS Network Extensions, or perhaps a mismatch between the specific NE values (e.g., content-filter-provider) in the entitlements file and the App ID configuration. What is the correct, step-by-step sequence to configure a macOS app (main app + network system extension) for Developer ID distribution?

I am running a full-tunnel VPN using a Packet Tunnel Provider. During VPN setup, we configure DNS setting with specific DNS servers for all domains to be used by the tunnel. However, our project requires DNS resolution for every domain from both the VPN-provided DNS servers and the ISP’s DNS servers. When I attempt to use c-ares or other third-party libraries to resolve domains via the ISP DNS servers, these libraries only detect and use the VPN DNS servers instead. As a result, all queries fail. Is there a way on iOS to programmatically determine the ISP DNS servers while a full-tunnel VPN is active, or a system API that allows DNS queries to be explicitly resolved using the ISP’s DNS servers?

I'm looking for help with a network extension filtering issue. Specifically, we have a subclass of NEFilterDataProvider that is used to filter flows based upon a set of rules, including source IP and destination IP. We've run into an issue where the source IP is frequently 0.0.0.0 (or the IPv6 equivalent) on outgoing flows. This has made it so rules based upon source IP don't work. This is also an issue as we report these connections, but we're lacking critical data. We were able to work around the issue somewhat by keeping a list of flows that we allow that we periodically check to see if the source IP is available, and then report after it becomes available. We also considered doing a "peekBytes" to allow a bit of data to flow and then recheck the flow, but we don't want to allow data leakage on connections that should be blocked because of the source IP. Is there a way to force the operating system or network extension frameworks to determine the source IP for an outbound flow without allowing any bytes to flow to the network? STEPS TO REPRODUCE Create a network filtering extension for filtering flows using NEFilterDataProvider See that when handleNewFlow: is called, the outgoing flow lacks the source IP (is 0.0.0.0) in most cases There is this post that is discussing a similar question, though for a slightly different reason. I imagine the answer to this and the other post will be related, at least as far as NEFilterDataProvider:handleNewFlow not having source IP is considered. Thanks!

When filtering traffic to localhost (127.0.0.1), it causes Maven repository synchronization to fail in IntelliJ IDEA. However, Maven works correctly when local traffic is not filtered. I will provide a minimal code reproduction below. - (void)startFilterWithCompletionHandler:(void (^)(NSError *error))completionHandler { // Add code to initialize the filter NSMutableArray *rules = [NSMutableArray array]; NENetworkRule * rule = [[NENetworkRule alloc] initWithRemoteNetwork:nil remotePrefix:0 localNetwork:nil localPrefix:0 protocol:NENetworkRuleProtocolTCP direction:NETrafficDirectionAny]; [rules addObject:[[NEFilterRule alloc]initWithNetworkRule:rule action:NEFilterActionFilterData]]; rule = [[NENetworkRule alloc] initWithRemoteNetwork:nil remotePrefix:0 localNetwork:nil localPrefix:0 protocol:NENetworkRuleProtocolUDP direction:NETrafficDirectionAny]; [rules addObject:[[NEFilterRule alloc]initWithNetworkRule:rule action:NEFilterActionFilterData]]; NWHostEndpoint *hostEndpointIpv4 = [NWHostEndpoint endpointWithHostname:@"127.0.0.1" port:@"0"]; NENetworkRule *localHostRuleIpv4 = [[NENetworkRule alloc] initWithRemoteNetwork:hostEndpointIpv4 remotePrefix:32 localNetwork:hostEndpointIpv4 localPrefix:32 protocol:NENetworkRuleProtocolAny direction:NETrafficDirectionAny]; [rules addObject:[[NEFilterRule alloc]initWithNetworkRule:localHostRuleIpv4 action:NEFilterActionFilterData]]; NEFilterSettings *filterSetting = [[NEFilterSettings alloc] initWithRules:rules defaultAction:NEFilterActionAllow]; [self applySettings:filterSetting completionHandler:^(NSError * _Nullable error) { if (error) { NSLog(@"Failed to apply filter settring: %@", error.localizedDescription); } completionHandler(error); }]; } Maven Sync error: System Log: 默认 17:35:13.184509+0800 kernel cfil_inp_log:6179 <CFIL: outbound TCP data dropped for pre-existing un-filtered flow>: [41046 idea] <TCP out so 3bb6402f58a82e37 - flags 0x800840 0x80> lport 63166 fport 29735 laddr 127.0.0.1 faddr 127.0.0.1 默认 17:35:13.184510+0800 kernel cfil_inp_log:6179 <CFIL: outbound TCP data dropped for pre-existing un-filtered flow>: [41046 idea] <TCP out so d6dde374c8cb613b - flags 0x800840 0x80> lport 63165 fport 29735 laddr 127.0.0.1 faddr 127.0.0.1 默认 17:35:13.529546+0800 kernel cfil_inp_log:6179 <CFIL: outbound TCP data dropped for pre-existing un-filtered flow>: [41046 idea] <TCP out so cc915e74ba29f8cb - flags 0x800840 0x80> lport 63169 fport 39066 laddr 127.0.0.1 faddr 127.0.0.1 默认 17:35:13.529546+0800 kernel cfil_inp_log:6179 <CFIL: outbound TCP data dropped for pre-existing un-filtered flow>: [41046 idea] <TCP out so 2e15c3e54ebcc45 - flags 0x800840 0x80> lport 63168 fport 39066 laddr 127.0.0.1 faddr 127.0.0.1 默认 17:35:14.046094+0800 kernel cfil_inp_log:6179 <CFIL: outbound TCP data dropped for pre-existing un-filtered flow>: [41046 idea] <TCP out so 71f6d3a53472131f - flags 0x800840 0x80> lport 63172 fport 53241 laddr 127.0.0.1 faddr 127.0.0.1 默认 17:35:14.046145+0800 kernel cfil_inp_log:6179 <CFIL: outbound TCP data dropped for pre-existing un-filtered flow>: [41046 idea] <TCP out so c88a367c9717185b - flags 0x800840 0x80> lport 63171 fport 53241 laddr 127.0.0.1 faddr 127.0.0.1 Environment Details: Operating System: macOS 15.5 (Sequoia) IDE: IntelliJ IDEA 2025.1 Relevant Technology: NEFilterDataProvider (Network Extension) I have found reports of similar problems online： https://discussionschinese.apple.com/thread/255270330?sortBy=rank https://blog.csdn.net/weixin_42339552/article/details/137402307 They all seem to be caused by network extension。

Our app supports live streaming (RTSP, RTMP, WebRTC) functionality. After updating to the 18.5 Developer Beta version, we’ve encountered an issue where streaming over LTE is not working for customers using SKT (SK Telecom) as their carrier. Upon investigation, it seems that a similar issue might be occurring with a streaming service app called "SOOP." I would appreciate it if you could share any information regarding this bug. Thank you.

Apple's Wi-Fi Aware demo shows that pairing is required before establishing a connection. Is this pairing mandatory? Can Android devices pair with Apple devices? My Android device strictly supports Wi-Fi Aware 4.0 and I want to achieve interoperability with Apple devices.

I am trying to intercept localhost connections within NETransparentProxyProvider system extension. As per NENetworkRule documentation If the address is a wildcard address (0.0.0.0 or ::) then the rule will match all destinations except for loopback (127.0.0.1 or ::1). To match loopback traffic set the address to the loopback address. I tried to add NWHostEndpoint *localhostv4 = [NWHostEndpoint endpointWithHostname:@"127.0.0.1" port:@""]; NENetworkRule *localhostv4Rule = [[NENetworkRule alloc] initWithDestinationNetwork:localhostv4 prefix:32 protocol:NENetworkRuleProtocolAny]; in the include network rules. I tried several variations of this rule like port 0, prefix 0 and some others. But the provider disregards the rule and the never receives any traffic going to localhost on any port. Is there any other configuration required to receive localhost traffic in NETransparentProxyProvider?

Configure the App ID in the Apple Developer Portal. In the Network Extensions section, the Packet Tunnel section is not displayed How to proceed with the configuration of App ID. In the Network Extensions section: Display the Packet Tunnel section Our account is a China region account

I'm currently developing an iOS app with image upload functionality. To enhance upload speed, I'm considering implementing parallel uploads using Swift’s TaskGroup. However, I have concerns that in environments with limited bandwidth, parallelization might introduce overhead and contention, ultimately slowing down uploads instead of improving them. Specifically, I'm curious about: Is this concern valid? Does parallelizing uploads become counterproductive in low-bandwidth conditions due to overhead and network contention? If so, I'm considering dynamically adjusting the concurrency level based on network conditions. Does anyone have experience or best practices regarding such an approach? Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I was having a look through the documentation for NEPacketTunnelProvider, and wanted to know if it's possible for startTunnel(..) and stopTunnel(..) to run simultaneously, and thus require synchronization between resources they deal with? For example, if the VPN is toggled rapidly from system settings, could the setup that occurs in my startTunnel() definition (class instantiation and setTunnelNetworkSettings(value)) potentially occur after the tear-down logic (resource cleanup, setTunnelNetworkSettings(nil)), leaving the system in a state where the VPN is deactivated, but the configuration is in place?

My app attempts to upload events and logging data when the user backgrounds the app (i.e., when applicationDidEnterBackground is triggered) by creating an uploadTask using a URLSession with a URLSessionConfiguration.background. When uploading these events after being backgrounded, we call beginBackgroundTask on UIApplication, which gives us about 25-30 seconds before the expirationHandler gets triggered. I am noticing, however, that the expirationHandler is frequently called and no upload attempts have even started. This might be reasonable if, for example, I had other uploads in progress initiated prior to backgrounding, but this is not the case. Could someone confirm that, when initiating an uploadTask while the app is backgrounded using a backgroundSession, there's really no way to predict when that upload is going to begin? My observation is that about 10-20% of the time it does not begin within 20 seconds of backgrounding, and I have many events coming from clients in the field showing as much.

We are a Layer 3 VPN provider offering a comprehensive SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) solution that includes TLS inspection, threat protection, granular access control, and secure access to private resources. One of the key challenges we face involves TLS inspection. Many mobile applications, especially on iOS, implement certificate pinning, which causes them to fail when TLS inspection is applied. These apps expect connections to be secured with a specific certificate or trusted certificate authority, and inspection disrupts this trust model. On iOS, the current limitation is that the Packet Tunnel Provider extension does not provide visibility into the originating application (i.e., there is no API to obtain the app’s bundle ID or package name associated with a given network connection). Due to this, we are unable to dynamically determine whether TLS inspection should be bypassed for a particular app. While Apple’s Per-App VPN is one possible solution, it introduces a significant drawback: any applications that are excluded from the VPN configuration are entirely outside the VPN tunnel. This means they do not benefit from any of our SASE features — including secure access to internal resources, DNS/web content filtering, or threat detection. This limits the effectiveness of our solution in environments where both inspection and secure access are critical. We would like to understand whether iOS has any current or planned capabilities to associate a network flow (e.g., a 5-tuple: source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and protocol) with the originating app. Such a capability would allow us to programmatically identify certificate-pinned apps and selectively disable TLS inspection without excluding them entirely from the VPN, thereby preserving the full set of SASE protections. Is there any guidance or roadmap update from Apple that addresses this use case?

I would like to inquire about the feasibility of developing an iOS application with the following requirements: The app must support real-time audio communication based on UDP. It needs to maintain a TCP signaling connection, even when the device is locked. The app will run only on selected devices within a controlled (closed) environment, such as company-managed iPads or iPhones. Could you please clarify the following: Is it technically possible to maintain an active TCP connection when the device is locked? What are the current iOS restrictions or limitations for background execution, particularly related to networking and audio? Are there any recommended APIs or frameworks (such as VoIP, PushKit, or Background Modes) suitable for this type of application?

Configure the App ID in the Apple Developer Portal. In the Network Extensions section, the Packet Tunnel section is not displayed, as shown in the figure below How to proceed with the configuration of App ID. In the Network Extensions section: Display the Packet Tunnel section Our account is a China region account

I'm developing an iOS application in Swift that performs API calls using URLSession.shared. The requests work correctly when the app is in the foreground. However, when the app transitions to the background (for example, when the user switches to another app), the ongoing API calls are either paused or do not complete as expected. What I’ve tried: Using URLSession.shared.dataTask(with:) to initiate the API requests Observing application lifecycle events like applicationDidEnterBackground, but haven't found a reliable solution to allow requests to complete when backgrounded Goal: I want certain API requests to continue running or be allowed to complete even if the app enters the background. Question: What is the correct approach to allow API calls to continue running or complete when the app moves to the background? Should I be using a background URLSessionConfiguration instead of URLSession.shared? If so, how should it be properly configured and used in this scenario?

I cannot find in the documentation and samples how exactly the Bloom filter is generated. Is there any code sample for that?

Hi, I am trying to create an App which connects to a Device via Wifi and then has to do some HTTP Requests. Connecting to the Wifi is working properly but when I try to make an HTTP API Call I get the response that the Domain is unavailable (No Internet Connection). I created the App in Flutter on Android everything works perfectly. The packages are all iOS Compatible. But in Safari the URL works so it is probably a permission Issue. I have the Following permissions granted: NSAppTransportSecurity NSBonjourServices NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription I even have Multicast Networking When I test the App I get asked to grant the access to local Network which I am granting. I don´t know what I should do next can somebody help? Feel free to ask for more Information

We have a VPN application and we were required by the review team to change the text in the "Add VPN Configuration" dialog due to guideline 5.4.0 Legal: VPN Apps: make it clear to the user what data is being collected and how it will be used in the permission request. It appears that showing that information in the view preceding the VPN configuration adding attempt is no longer enough. However we haven't found any changes in the API allowing to change the text in the mentioned dialog. Is there a technical possibility to change the text in the add VPN configuration dialog? Thank you

Hello all, Does anyone know how long it will take Apple to approve multicast entitlement approval after the Apple form is submitted? Any input would be appreciated. Thank you Allyson

We're seeing an issue with bonjour services since macOS 15.4 onwards, specifically when running xcuitests on simulators that communicate with an app via bonjour services, the NWListener fails with -65555: NoAuth Interestingly it only fails on subsequent iterations of the test, first iteration always succeeds. The same code works fine on macOS 15.3.1 and earlier, but not 15.4 or 15.5. Is this related to, or the same issue as here? https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/780655 Also raised in feedback assistant: FB17804120