Hi, I built a system that can detect and block Short Form Videos like Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts. It works by connecting the iphone to a VPN and then do statistics on network packets (no decryption). I was wondering the feasibility of porting this to run on device. Functionality wise I would need: packet interception, packet drop, DNS query interception. I saw that Content filter providers could be something to look into, but then I read an article of how you would have to have a managed device which is not ideal for the end user. New to apple development, the lack of snippets and code examples is confusing.

For our outdoor power supply company that builds public WiFi networks at camping sites, we want to implement the following features in our app: Scan surrounding WiFi networks When detecting specific public WiFi SSIDs, provide users with corresponding passwords Automatically connect to those WiFi networks Regarding the NEHotspotHelper API permission application, when I clicked on https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/network-extension, it redirected me to https://developer.apple.com/unauthorized/. I'm not sure where to properly apply for this permission now.

Sometimes when adding a VPN configuration, it just redirects to the Settings app and doesn’t continue with the rest of the configuration process like prompting for passcode. But it proceeds as normal after the 2nd or 3rd try. This issue is occurring on iOS 18.5 build 22F5068a but it has been a problem over several versions now. Feedback ID: FB17458055

Hello, im currently developing proxy app with XrayCore trying to bypass APNs when tunnel us up and i found .excludeAPNs property in NETunnelProviderProtocol that works only when includeAllNetworks property is also TRUE. I wonder if there is a possible way to make APNs bypass tunnel in split tunnelling mode? because we use excludedRoutes and full tunnel is not an option

I did watch WWDC 2019 Session 716 and understand that an active audio session is key to unlocking low‑level networking on watchOS. I’m configuring my audio session and engine as follows: private func configureAudioSession(completion: @escaping (Bool) -> Void) { let audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() do { try audioSession.setCategory(.playAndRecord, mode: .voiceChat, options: []) try audioSession.setActive(true, options: .notifyOthersOnDeactivation) // Retrieve sample rate and configure the audio format. let sampleRate = audioSession.sampleRate print("Active hardware sample rate: \(sampleRate)") audioFormat = AVAudioFormat(standardFormatWithSampleRate: sampleRate, channels: 1) // Configure the audio engine. audioInputNode = audioEngine.inputNode audioEngine.attach(audioPlayerNode) audioEngine.connect(audioPlayerNode, to: audioEngine.mainMixerNode, format: audioFormat) try audioEngine.start() completion(true) } catch { print("Error configuring audio session: \(error.localizedDescription)") completion(false) } } private func setupUDPConnection() { let parameters = NWParameters.udp parameters.includePeerToPeer = true connection = NWConnection(host: "***.***.xxxxx.***", port: 0000, using: parameters) setupNWConnectionHandlers() } private func setupTCPConnection() { let parameters = NWParameters.tcp connection = NWConnection(host: "***.***.xxxxx.***", port: 0000, using: parameters) setupNWConnectionHandlers() } private func setupWebSocketConnection() { guard let url = URL(string: "ws://***.***.xxxxx.***:0000") else { print("Invalid WebSocket URL") return } let session = URLSession(configuration: .default) webSocketTask = session.webSocketTask(with: url) webSocketTask?.resume() print("WebSocket connection initiated") sendAudioToServer() receiveDataFromServer() sendWebSocketPing(after: 0.6) } private func setupNWConnectionHandlers() { connection?.stateUpdateHandler = { [weak self] state in DispatchQueue.main.async { switch state { case .ready: print("Connected (NWConnection)") self?.isConnected = true self?.failToConnect = false self?.receiveDataFromServer() self?.sendAudioToServer() case .waiting(let error), .failed(let error): print("Connection error: \(error.localizedDescription)") DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 2) { self?.setupNetwork() } case .cancelled: print("NWConnection cancelled") self?.isConnected = false default: break } } } connection?.start(queue: .main) } I am reaching out to seek further assistance regarding the challenges I've been experiencing with establishing a UDP, TCP & web socket connection on watchOS using NWConnection for duplex audio streaming. Despite implementing the recommendations provided earlier, I am still encountering difficulties. Or duplex audio streaming not possible on apple watch?

Dear apple: Our app uses the BSD socket interface for socket communication over the local area network. However, when using the socket's connect interface, some iPhone devices fail, and the socket has also bound the local Wi-Fi card's IP using the bind interface. The errno is 65, indicating "no route." We have checked that the app has already requested local network permissions and permissions to use the local area network. The TCP server on the other end is also listening normally. Please help us see if any additional permissions need to be requested. Thank you

In our project, we download H5 resources to the local device and then open the H5 pages through WKWebView(-loadFileURL:allowingReadAccessToURL:). When the H5 pages request server resources, cookies are required. Before opening the H5 page, we set the required cookies in the WKHTTPCookieStore using the setCookie method. Additionally, we set the allowFileAccessFromFileURLs and allowUniversalAccessFromFileURLs properties for the WebView. On other mobile phones, the cookies can be carried normally. However, on mobile phones running the iOS 18.0 system, the cookies cannot be carried. Moreover, this problem only emerged after we upgraded Xcode to version 16.2. We've also tried injecting cookies via JavaScript, but it didn't work(document.cookie = xx=${xx}; path=/; expires=weekday, xx jan xxxx xx:xx:xx GMT; Domain=example.com; Secure; SameSite=None ;). Can anyone help me on this? Thanks in advance.

We have an old iOS app and an old camera that connects using Wi-Fi either using an access point or Ad Hoc network, e.g., iPhone/iPad connects to the camera's Wi-Fi directly... How it works (old legacy app/system, which cannot be redesigned): Camera is configured to Ad Hoc Wi-Fi network (insecure TCP). iPhone connects to this insecure Wi-Fi. Camera uses Bonjour service to broadcast its IP address. App reads in IP address and begin to send messages to the camera using NSMutableURLRequest, etc. All this works fine for iOS 17. But in iOS 18 step 4 stopped working. App simply doesn't get any responses! We believe we have configured ATS properly (App Store version): In panic we have also tried this in Test Flight version: The latter actually seemed to make a difference when running the app on macOS Apple Silicon. But on iOS it didn't seem to make any difference. Occasionally, I was lucky to get connection on on iPhone 16 Pro with iOS 18. But for the 'many' iPads I have tried I couldn't. I also tried to install CFNetwork profile and look at the logs but I believe I just got timeout on the requests. Questions: Why it iOS 18 different? Bonjour works fine, but NSSURLRequests doesn't Do we configure ATS correctly for this scenario? What should I look for in the Console log when CFNetwork profile is installed? Should I file a TSI? Thanks! :)

We have a VPN app built using PacketTunnelProvider and support per-app VPN on iOS. We're currently investigating an issue specific to per-app VPN configurations that use split tunneling, where some URLs are routed through the VPN tunnel while others are intended to go directly. Tunneled traffic works as expected. However, for direct traffic, we observe intermittent failures where the browser does not receive an ACK, leading to repeated retransmissions and eventual page load failures. This issue appears only in per-app VPN scenarios, and we've reproduced it across multiple MDM solutions (Intune, CEM) and multiple managed browsers. It's intermittent but frequently reproducible with common public URLs routed directly. Key observations: writePackets returns true, confirming the VPN app writes packets to the TUN interface. Despite that, the browser often fails to acknowledge receipt (no ACK), suggesting it may not receive the packet at all. We suspect a possible packet loop, where packets written to TUN are immediately read back by the app. However, due to the intermittent nature of the issue, this is hard to confirm. A consistent loop would likely result in persistent failures, not sporadic ones. We are attaching: A Wireshark summary - highlighting the missing ACK and retransmission pattern. As we cannot attach the xlsx file or a zip file, we have took the screenshots of the files names as image1, image2, image3, image4 and image5 in sequence. Dails on the iOS device and MDM environment. NETunnelProviderProtocol configuration that reproduces the issue Any guidance on how to further debug this, particularly on confirming packet delivery to the browser and identifying potential loops would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. e t

We're encountering an issue with our Network Extension (utilizing NEPacketTunnelProvider and NETransparentProxy) on macOS 14.5 (23F79). On some systems, the VPN fails to automatically start after a reboot despite calling startVPNTunnel(). There are no error messages. Our code attempts to start the tunnel: ....... do { try manager.connection.startVPNTunnel() Logger.default("Started tunnel successfully") } catch { Logger.error("Failed to launch tunnel") } ...... System log analysis reveals the tunnel stopping due to userLogout (NEProviderStopReason(rawValue: 12)) during reboot. However, the Transparent Proxy stops due to userInitiated (NEProviderStopReason(rawValue: 1)) for the same reboot. We need to understand: Why the VPNTunnel isn't starting automatically. Why the userLogout reason is triggered during reboot. Additional Context: We have manually started the VPN from System Settings before reboot.

We are developing a desktop app for macOS, built with Electron + Angular + Node.js. The app has the ability to access devices on the local network. We are having some trouble with the behavior of the "Local Network" feature added in macOS 15. Procedure: MacBook Pro 14inch (M1Pro) 2021, 16GB memory - macOS Sequoia15.4.1 Network Environment: The PC and the access point are connected by wire, and the target device and the access point are also connected by wire. Not connected to an external network Install the target app Start the application and allow the "Local Network" dialog that appears Open the "Local Network" item in "Privacy and Security" and make sure the target app is allowed. Confirm that you can access the target device on the local network Restart the PC Open the "Local Network" item in "Privacy and Security" and make sure the target app is allowed. Start the app and access the target device on the local network Result: Access to the target device may fail (this does not occur 100% of the time) If you turn the target app in the "Local Network" section of "Privacy and Security" OFF and then ON, you will be able to connect However, it seems that the problem may occur again if you restart your PC. According to our research, the probability of this happening increases if the target app is the only app allowed on the "local network". This happens not only with our app, but also when you follow the above steps in "Google Chrome". Based on the above investigation results, I suspect that this is a problem with the OS. What do you think?

Hi, Our project is a MacOS SwiftUI GUI application that bundles a System Network Extension, signed with a Developer ID certificate for distribution outside of the app store. The system network extension is used to write a packet tunnel provider. The signing of the app & network extension is handled by XCode (v16.0.0), we do not run codesign ourselves. We have no issues with XPC or the system network extension during normal usage, nor when the application is installed on a user's device for the first time. The problem only arises when the user upgrades the application. I have experienced this issue myself, as have our users. It's been reported on Apple Silicon macbooks running at least macOS 15.3.2. Much like the SimpleFirewall example (which we used as a reference), we use XPC for basic communication of state between the app and NE. These XPC connections stop working when the user installs a new version of the app, with OS logs from the process indicating that the connection is immediately invalidated. Subsequent connection attempts are also immediately invalidated. Toggling the VPN in system settings (or via the app) does not resolve the problem, nor does restarting the app, nor does deleting and reinstalling the app, nor does restarting the device. The only reliable workaround is to delete the system extension in Login Items & Extensions, under Network Extensions. No device restart is necessary to garbage collect the old extension - once the extension is reapproved by the user, the XPC issue resolves itself. This would be an acceptable workaround were it possible to automate the deleting of the system extension, but that appears deliberately not possible, and requiring our users to do this each time they update is unreasonable. When the upgraded app is opened for the first time, the OSSystemExtensionRequest request is sent, and the outcome is that the previously installed system network extension is replaced, as both the CFBundleVersion and CFBundleShortVersionString differ. When this issue is encountered, the output of systemextensionsctl list shows the later version is installed and activated. I've been able to reproduce this bug on my personal laptop, with SIP on and systemextensionsctl developer off, but on my work laptop with SIP off and systemextensionsctl developer on (where the network extension is replaced on each activation request, instead of only when the version strings differ), I do not encounter this issue, which leads me to believe it has something to do with the notarization process. We notarize the pkg using xcrun notarytool, and then staple to the pkg. This is actually the same issue described in: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/711713 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/667597 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/742992 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/728063 but it's been a while since any of these threads were updated, and we've made attempts to address it off the suggestions in the threads to no avail. Those suggestions are: Switching to a .pkg installer from a .dmg As part of the .pkg preinstall, doing all of the following: Stopping the VPN (scutil --nc stop), shutting down the app (using osascript 'quit app id'), and deleting the app (which claims to delete the network extension, but not the approval in Login Items & Extensions remains??), by running rm -rf on the bundle in /Applications As part of the .pkg postinstall: Forcing macOS to ingest the App bundle's notarization ticket using spctl --assess. Ensuring NSXPCListener.resume() is called after autoreleasepool { NEProvider.startSystemExtensionMode() } (mentioned in a forum thread above as a fix, did not help.) One thing I'm particularly interested in is the outcome of this feedback assistant ticket, as I can't view it: FB11086599. It was shared on this forum in the first thread above, and supposedly describes the same issue. I almost find it hard to believe that this issue has been around for this many years without a workaround (there's system network extension apps out there that appear to work fine when updating, are they not using XPC?), so I wonder if there's a fix described in that FB ticket. Since I can't view that above feedback ticket, I've created my own: FB17032197

Title: Loss of Internet Connectivity on iOS Device When Packet Tunnel Crashes Feedback ticket: https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/feedback/14162605 Product: iPhone 12 Version: iOS - 17.5.1 Configuration: NETunnelProviderManager Configuration Description: We are developing an iOS VPN client and have configured our packet tunnel provider according to Apple's guidelines. The configuration is as follows: includeAllNetworks = YES excludeLocalNetworks = NO enforceRoutes = NO This setup works as expected when the VPN successfully connects. However, we encounter a blocker issue where the device loses internet connectivity if the packet tunnel crashes. Steps to Reproduce: Configure the NETunnelProviderManager with the above settings. Connect the VPN, which successfully establishes a connection. Verify that resources are accessible and internet connectivity is functional. Packet tunnel to crash unexpectedly.Observe that the NE process (Packet Tunnel) restarts automatically, as expected and attempts to reconnect the VPN; however, the device now lacks internet connectivity, preventing VPN reconnection. Try accessing resources using Safari or any other internet-dependent app, resulting in an error indicating the device is not connected to the internet. Actual Results: The device loses internet connectivity after the packet tunnel crashes and fails to regain it automatically, preventing the VPN from reconnecting. Expected Results: The device should maintain internet connectivity or recover connectivity to allow the VPN to reconnect successfully after the packet tunnel process restarts. Workaround - iPhone device needs a restart to regain internet connectivity .

While trying to use Bonjour, i am encountering an issue. I was following the setup of Bonjour as described here: (https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/735862) the response is this : nw_browser_fail_on_dns_error_locked [B2] nw_browser_dns_service_browse_callback failed: PolicyDenied(-65570) browser did change state, new: waiting(-65570: PolicyDenied) i tried modifying the info.plist to include NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription and NSBonjourServices but still getting the same a workout or solution is much appreciated !

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.

(related post: How to optimize my app for for a carrier-provided satellite network? ) I am trying to implement an app so that it works under a carrier-provided satellite network. The app uses (AS)WebAuthenticationSession for signing in. If the app is entitled to access a satellite network, will (AS)WebAuthenticationSession work as well? How about WKWebView and SFSafariViewController? Is there a way to test(simulate) a ultra-constrained network on a device or a simulator to see the expected behavior? Thanks,

when i set the flag false to the usesClassicLoadingMode, then the application is getting crashed Ex: let config = URLSessionConfiguration.default if #available(iOS 18.4, *) { config.usesClassicLoadingMode = false } Crash log : *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '-[__NSCFBoolean objectForKeyedSubscript:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x1f655c390' *** First throw call stack: (0x188ae52ec 0x185f69a7c 0x188b4f67c 0x1889fcb84 0x1889fc4f0 0x191393bc8 0x1889ec8a0 0x1889ec6e4 0x191393ad0 0x191344dac 0x191344b58 0x107cfa064 0x107ce36d0 0x191343fcc 0x1891b3b18 0x1892dae58 0x189235c60 0x18921e270 0x18921d77c 0x18921a8ac 0x107ce0584 0x107cfa064 0x107ce891c 0x107ce95d8 0x107ceabcc 0x107cf5894 0x107cf4eb0 0x212f51660 0x212f4e9f8) terminating due to uncaught exception of type NSException

Hello, We have a SwiftUI-based application that runs as a LaunchAgent and communicates with other internal components using Unix domain sockets (UDS). On Sequoia (macOS virtualized environment), when installing the app, we encounter the Local Network Privacy Alert, asking: "Allow [AppName] to find and connect to devices on the local network?" We are not using any actual network communication — only interprocess communication via UDS. Is there a way to prevent this system prompt, either through MDM configuration or by adjusting our socket-related implementation? Here's a brief look at our Swift/NIO usage: class ClientHandler: ChannelInboundHandler { ... public func channelRead(context: ChannelHandlerContext, data: NIOAny) { ... } ... } // init bootstrap. var bootstrap: ClientBootstrap { return ClientBootstrap(group: group) // Also tried to remove the .so_reuseaddr, the prompt was still there. .channelOption(ChannelOptions.socketOption(.so_reuseaddr), value: 1) .channelInitializer { channel in // Add ChannelInboundHandler reader. channel.pipeline.addHandler(ClientHandler()) } } // connect to the UDS. self.bootstrap.connect(unixDomainSocketPath: self.path).whenSuccess { (channel) in .. self.channel = channel } ... ... // Send some data. self.channel?.writeAndFlush(buffer).wait() Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I don't understand what permissions need to be given for this code to operate. I cannot seem to work out why I'm not able to see a BSSID. I think I've given sandbox the appropriate permissions AND I've added some to the Target Properties for good measure. Yet, cannot get BSSID. import SwiftUI import CoreWLAN import CoreLocation struct ContentView: View { @State private var currentBSSID: String = "Loading..." var body: some View { VStack { Image(systemName: "globe") .imageScale(.large) .foregroundStyle(.tint) Text("Current BSSID:") Text(currentBSSID) } .padding() .onAppear(perform: fetchBSSID) } func fetchBSSID() { if let iface2 = CWWiFiClient.shared().interface() { print("✅ Found Wi-Fi interface: \(iface2.interfaceName ?? "nil")") } else { print("❌ No Wi-Fi interface found") } if let iface = CWWiFiClient.shared().interface(), let bssid = iface.bssid() { currentBSSID = bssid } else { currentBSSID = "Not connected" print("✅ BSSID: \(currentBSSID)") } } } #Preview { ContentView() } Output - WifI interface is found but BSSID is not found.

Network is not working when over 50MB size file upload smb using NEFilterDataProvider in macOS The event received through NEFilterDataProvider is returned immediately without doing any other work. override func handleNewFlow(_ flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterNewFlowVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .filterDataVerdict(withFilterInbound: true, peekInboundBytes: Int.max, filterOutbound: true, peekOutboundBytes: Int.max) } override func handleInboundData(from flow: NEFilterFlow, readBytesStartOffset offset: Int, readBytes: Data) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return NEFilterDataVerdict(passBytes: readBytes.count, peekBytes: Int.max) } override func handleOutboundData(from flow: NEFilterFlow, readBytesStartOffset offset: Int, readBytes: Data) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return NEFilterDataVerdict(passBytes: readBytes.count, peekBytes: Int.max) } override func handleInboundDataComplete(for flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .allow() } override func handleOutboundDataComplete(for flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .allow() } how can i fix it?