Processes & Concurrency

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Discover how the operating system manages multiple applications and processes simultaneously, ensuring smooth multitasking performance.

Concurrency Documentation

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BSD Privilege Escalation on macOS
This week I’m handling a DTS incident from a developer who wants to escalate privileges in their app. This is a tricky problem. Over the years I’ve explained aspects of this both here on DevForums and in numerous DTS incidents. Rather than do that again, I figured I’d collect my thoughts into one place and share them here. If you have questions or comments, please start a new thread with an appropriate tag (Service Management or XPC are the most likely candidates here) in the App & System Services > Core OS topic area. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" BSD Privilege Escalation on macOS macOS has multiple privilege models. Some of these were inherited from its ancestor platforms. For example, Mach messages has a capability-based privilege model. Others were introduced by Apple to address specific user scenarios. For example, macOS 10.14 and later have mandatory access control (MAC), as discussed in On File System Permissions. One of the most important privilege models is the one inherited from BSD. This is the classic users and groups model. Many subsystems within macOS, especially those with a BSD heritage, use this model. For example, a packet tracing tool must open a BPF device, /dev/bpf*, and that requires root privileges. Specifically, the process that calls open must have an effective user ID of 0, that is, the root user. That process is said to be running as root, and escalating BSD privileges is the act of getting code to run as root. IMPORTANT Escalating privileges does not bypass all privilege restrictions. For example, MAC applies to all processes, including those running as root. Indeed, running as root can make things harder because TCC will not display UI when a launchd daemon trips over a MAC restriction. Escalating privileges on macOS is not straightforward. There are many different ways to do this, each with its own pros and cons. The best approach depends on your specific circumstances. Note If you find operations where a root privilege restriction doesn’t make sense, feel free to file a bug requesting that it be lifted. This is not without precedent. For example, in macOS 10.2 (yes, back in 2002!) we made it possible to implement ICMP (ping) without root privileges. And in macOS 10.14 we removed the restriction on binding to low-number ports (r. 17427890). Nice! Decide on One-Shot vs Ongoing Privileges To start, decide whether you want one-shot or ongoing privileges. For one-shot privileges, the user authorises the operation, you perform it, and that’s that. For example, if you’re creating an un-installer for your product, one-shot privileges make sense because, once it’s done, your code is no longer present on the user’s system. In contrast, for ongoing privileges the user authorises the installation of a launchd daemon. This code always runs as root and thus can perform privileged operations at any time. Folks often ask for one-shot privileges but really need ongoing privileges. A classic example of this is a custom installer. In many cases installation isn’t a one-shot operation. Rather, the installer includes a software update mechanism that needs ongoing privileges. If that’s the case, there’s no point dealing with one-shot privileges at all. Just get ongoing privileges and treat your initial operation as a special case within that. Keep in mind that you can convert one-shot privileges to ongoing privileges by installing a launchd daemon. Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should Ongoing privileges represent an obvious security risk. Your daemon can perform an operation, but how does it know whether it should perform that operation? There are two common ways to authorise operations: Authorise the user Authorise the client To authorise the user, use Authorization Services. For a specific example of this, look at the EvenBetterAuthorizationSample sample code. Note This sample hasn’t been updated in a while (sorry!) and it’s ironic that one of the things it demonstrates, opening a low-number port, no longer requires root privileges. However, the core concepts demonstrated by the sample are still valid. The packet trace example from above is a situation where authorising the user with Authorization Services makes perfect sense. By default you might want your privileged helper tool to allow any user to run a packet trace. However, your code might be running on a Mac in a managed environment, where the site admin wants to restrict this to just admin users, or just a specific group of users. A custom authorisation right gives the site admin the flexibility to configure authorisation exactly as they want. Authorising the client is a relatively new idea. It assumes that some process is using XPC to request that the daemon perform a privileged operation. In that case, the daemon can use XPC facilities to ensure that only certain processes can make such a request. Doing this securely is a challenge. For specific API advice, see this post. WARNING This authorisation is based on the code signature of the process’s main executable. If the process loads plug-ins [1], the daemon can’t tell the difference between a request coming from the main executable and a request coming from a plug-in. [1] I’m talking in-process plug-ins here. Plug-ins that run in their own process, such as those managed by ExtensionKit, aren’t a concern. Choose an Approach There are (at least) seven different ways to run with root privileges on macOS: A setuid-root executable The sudo command-line tool The authopen command-line tool AppleScript’s do shell script command, passing true to the administrator privileges parameter The osascript command-line tool to run an AppleScript The AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges routine, deprecated since macOS 10.7 The SMJobSubmit routine targeting the kSMDomainSystemLaunchd domain, deprecated since macOS 10.10 The SMJobBless routine, deprecated since macOS 13 An installer package (.pkg) The SMAppService class, a much-needed enhancement to the Service Management framework introduced in macOS 13 Note There’s one additional approach: The privileged file operation feature in NSWorkspace. I’ve not listed it here because it doesn’t let you run arbitrary code with root privileges. It does, however, have one critical benefit: It’s supported in sandboxed apps. See this post for a bunch of hints and tips. To choose between them: Do not use a setuid-root executable. Ever. It’s that simple! Doing that is creating a security vulnerability looking for an attacker to exploit it. If you’re working interactively on the command line, use sudo, authopen, and osascript as you see fit. IMPORTANT These are not appropriate to use as API. Specifically, while it may be possible to invoke sudo programmatically under some circumstances, by the time you’re done you’ll have code that’s way more complicated than the alternatives. If you’re building an ad hoc solution to distribute to a limited audience, and you need one-shot privileges, use either AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges or AppleScript. While AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges still works, it’s been deprecated for many years. Do not use it in a widely distributed product. The AppleScript approach works great from AppleScript, but you can also use it from a shell script, using osascript, and from native code, using NSAppleScript. See the code snippet later in this post. If you need one-shot privileges in a widely distributed product, consider using SMJobSubmit. While this is officially deprecated, it’s used by the very popular Sparkle update framework, and thus it’s unlikely to break without warning. If you only need escalated privileges to install your product, consider using an installer package. That’s by far the easiest solution to this problem. Keep in mind that an installer package can install a launchd daemon and thereby gain ongoing privileges. If you need ongoing privileges but don’t want to ship an installer package, use SMAppService. If you need to deploy to older systems, use SMJobBless. For instructions on using SMAppService, see Updating helper executables from earlier versions of macOS. For a comprehensive example of how to use SMJobBless, see the EvenBetterAuthorizationSample sample code. For the simplest possible example, see the SMJobBless sample code. That has a Python script to help you debug your setup. Unfortunately this hasn’t been updated in a while; see this thread for more. Hints and Tips I’m sure I’ll think of more of these as time goes by but, for the moment, let’s start with the big one… Do not run GUI code as root. In some cases you can make this work but it’s not supported. Moreover, it’s not safe. The GUI frameworks are huge, and thus have a huge attack surface. If you run GUI code as root, you are opening yourself up to security vulnerabilities. Appendix: Running an AppleScript from Native Code Below is an example of running a shell script with elevated privileges using NSAppleScript. WARNING This is not meant to be the final word in privilege escalation. Before using this, work through the steps above to see if it’s the right option for you. Hint It probably isn’t! let url: URL = … file URL for the script to execute … let script = NSAppleScript(source: """ on open (filePath) if class of filePath is not text then error "Expected a single file path argument." end if set shellScript to "exec " & quoted form of filePath do shell script shellScript with administrator privileges end open """)! // Create the Apple event. let event = NSAppleEventDescriptor( eventClass: AEEventClass(kCoreEventClass), eventID: AEEventID(kAEOpenDocuments), targetDescriptor: nil, returnID: AEReturnID(kAutoGenerateReturnID), transactionID: AETransactionID(kAnyTransactionID) ) // Set up the direct object parameter to be a single string holding the // path to our script. let parameters = NSAppleEventDescriptor(string: url.path) event.setDescriptor(parameters, forKeyword: AEKeyword(keyDirectObject)) // The `as NSAppleEventDescriptor?` is required due to a bug in the // nullability annotation on this method’s result (r. 38702068). var error: NSDictionary? = nil guard let result = script.executeAppleEvent(event, error: &error) as NSAppleEventDescriptor? else { let code = (error?[NSAppleScript.errorNumber] as? Int) ?? 1 let message = (error?[NSAppleScript.errorMessage] as? String) ?? "-" throw NSError(domain: "ShellScript", code: code, userInfo: nil) } let scriptResult = result.stringValue ?? "" Revision History 2025-03-24 Added info about authopen and osascript. 2024-11-15 Added info about SMJobSubmit. Made other minor editorial changes. 2024-07-29 Added a reference to the NSWorkspace privileged file operation feature. Made other minor editorial changes. 2022-06-22 First posted.
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4.1k
Mar ’25
How to get the full process name like Activity Monitor
I'm try to monitor all processes by ES client. But I found the process name is different from the Activity Monitor displayed. As shown in the picture below, there are ShareSheetUI(Pages) and ShareSheetUI(Finder) processes in Activity Monitor, but I can only get the same name ShareSheetUI, I thought of many ways to display the name in parentheses, but nothing worked, so there is a way to display the process name like Activity Monitor?
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468
Jan ’25
NSXPCListener only working while Debugging `listener failed to activate: xpc_error=[1: Operation not permitted]`
I am building a Mac app that launch a GUI helper app and use XPC to communicate between them. Main app start a XPC Listener using NSXPCListener(machServiceName: "group.com.mycompany.myapp.xpc") Launch the helper app Helper app connect to the XPC service and listen command from main app. What I observe is the app seems can start XPC listener while I run it via Xcode. If I run the app using TestFlight build, or via the compiled debug binary (same one that I use on Xcode), it cannot start the XPC service. Here is what I see in the Console: [0x600000ef7570] activating connection: mach=true listener=true peer=false name=group.com.mycompany.myapp.xpc [0x600000ef7570] listener failed to activate: xpc_error=[1: Operation not permitted] Both main app and helper app are sandboxed and in the same App Group - if they were not, I cannot connect the helper app to main app. I can confirm the entitlement profiles did contain the app group. If I start the main app via xcode, and then launch the helper app manually via Finder, the helper app can connect to the XPC and everything work. It is not related to Release configuration, as the same binary work while I am debugging, but not when I open the binary manually. For context, the main app is a Catalyst app, and helper app is an AppKit app. To start a XPC listener on Catalyst, I had do it in a AppKit bridge via bundle. Given the app worked on Xcode, I believe this approach can work. I just cannot figure out why it only work while I am debugging. Any pointer to debug this issue is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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120
May ’25
BGContinuedProcessingTask register block not called, submit does not throw an error
I implemented BGContinuedProcessingTask in my app and it seems to be working well for everyone except one user (so far) who has reached out to report nothing happens when they tap the Start Processing button. They have an iPhone 12 Pro Max running iOS 26.1. Restarting iPhone does not fix it. When they turn off the background processing feature in the app, it works. In that case my code directly calls the function to start processing instead of waiting for it to be invoked in the register block (or submit catch block). Is this a bug that's possible to occur, maybe device specific? Or have I done something wrong in the implementation? func startProcessingTapped(_ sender: UIButton) { if isBackgroundProcessingEnabled { startBackgroundContinuedProcessing() } else { startProcessing(backgroundTask: nil) } } func startBackgroundContinuedProcessing() { BGTaskScheduler.shared.register(forTaskWithIdentifier: taskIdentifier, using: .main) { @Sendable [weak self] task in guard self != nil else { return } startProcessing(backgroundTask: task as? BGContinuedProcessingTask) } let request = BGContinuedProcessingTaskRequest(identifier: taskIdentifier, title: title, subtitle: subtitle) request.strategy = .fail if BGTaskScheduler.supportedResources.contains(.gpu) { request.requiredResources = .gpu } do { try BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit(request) } catch { startProcessing(backgroundTask: nil) } } func startProcessing(backgroundTask: BGContinuedProcessingTask?) { // FIXME: Never called for this user when isBackgroundProcessingEnabled is true }
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2w
Background Task Execution for FDA Class B Medical App Using BLE
Hello Apple Developer Community, I am developing a medical app that is classified as Class B according to FDA regulations. The app connects to a medical device using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to collect critical medical data such as ECG readings. To ensure accurate data collection and maintain the quality of the medical readings, the app needs to wake up every five minutes in the background and perform tasks for approximately 30 seconds. I understand that iOS has strict limitations on background execution to preserve battery and system performance. However, due to the medical nature of the app and the need for periodic data collection, I am seeking guidance on the following: If I can provide documentation that the app is associated with an FDA-approved Class B medical device, would Apple allow more lenient background task execution policies? Are there specific APIs, such as BackgroundTasks, CoreBluetooth, or other recommended strategies, that could help me achieve this behavior reliably? Is there a process to apply for an exception or special consideration for medical apps that require periodic background activity? Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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341
Mar ’25
LaunchAgent (Mac) as peripheral doesn't show a pairing request.
The same code built in a regular Mac app (with UI) does get paired. The characteristic properties are [.read, .write, .notify, .notifyEncryptionRequired] The characteristic permissions are [.readEncryptionRequired, .writeEncryptionRequired] My service is primary. In the iOS app (central) I try to read the characteristic, but an error is reported: Error code: 5, Description: Authentication is insufficient.
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88
Dec ’25
Push-to-Start Live Activity Background Task Issue After App Termination
Desired Behavior I want the app to be able to handle multiple Push-to-Start notifications even when it is completely terminated. Each Live Activity should: Be successfully displayed upon receiving a Push-to-Start notification. Trigger background tasks to send its update token to the server, regardless of the time interval between notifications. Problem I am facing an issue with iOS Live Activities when using Push-to-Start notifications to trigger Live Activities in an app that has been completely terminated. Here’s the detailed scenario: When the app is completely terminated and I send the first Push-to-Start notification: The Live Activity is successfully displayed. didFinishLaunchingWithOptions` is triggered, and background tasks execute correctly, including sending the update token to the server. When I send consecutive Push-to-Start notifications in quick succession (e.g., within a few seconds or minutes): Both notifications successfully display their respective Live Activities. Background tasks are executed correctly for both notifications. However, when there is a longer interval (e.g., 10 minutes) between two Push-to-Start notifications: The first notification works perfectly—it displays the Live Activity, triggers didFinishLaunchingWithOptions, and executes background tasks. The second notification successfully displays the Live Activity but fails to execute any background tasks, such as sending the update token to the server. My HypothesisI suspect that iOS might impose a restriction where background runtime for Push-to-Start notifications can only be granted once within a certain time frame after the app has been terminated. Any insights into why this issue might be occurring or how to ensure consistent background task execution for multiple Push-to-Start notifications would be greatly appreciated!
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421
Mar ’25
MacOS 26 TestFlight SIGKILLs app when updating
We're developing an Electron app for MacOS App Store. When updating our app through TestFlight, TestFlight prompts "Close This App to Update", and when I click "Continue" our app would be "Terminated" for update. Now this is where things go wrong. On MacOS 15 our app seems to be gracefully terminating (We attached it with lldb and it shows that our app returns with 0 when we click "Continue") which is fine. However for MacOS 26 though, it seems that TestFlight just directly SIGKILLs our app (indicated by lldb), which means that all of our app's child processes are left orphaned. Even worse, our app is singleton, which means that when the app relaunches it fails, because the leftover child processes from the previously SIGKILLed session is still alive, and even if we want to kill those orphaned child processes we can't because our app is sandboxed thus cannot kill processes outside of the current sandbox. We captured output from log stream (app name redacted): 12-02 22:08:16.477036-0800 0x5452     Default     0x5a4a7              677    7    installcoordinationd: [com.apple.installcoordination:daemon] -[IXSCoordinatorProgress setTotalUnitsCompleted:]: Progress for coordinator: [com.our.app/Invalid/[user-defined//Applications/OurApp.app]], Phase: IXCoordinatorProgressPhaseLoading, Percentage: 99.454 123: Attempt to set units completed on finished progress: 214095161 2025-12-02 22:08:16.483056-0800 0x53ba     Default     0x5a5c9              167    0    runningboardd: (RunningBoard) [com.apple.runningboard:connection] Received termination request from [osservice<com.apple.installcoordinationd(274)>:677] on <RBSProcessPredicate <RBSProcessBundleIdentifierPredicate "com.our.app">> with context <RBSTerminateContext| explanation:installcoordinationd app:[com.our.app/Invalid/[user-defined//Applications/OurApp.app]] uuid:A3BC0629-124E-4165-ABB7-1324380FC354 isPlaceholder:N re portType:None maxTerminationResistance:Absolute attrs:[ 2025-12-02 22:08:16.488651-0800 0x53ba     Default     0x5a5c9              167    7    runningboardd: (RunningBoard) [com.apple.runningboard:ttl] Acquiring assertion targeting system from originator [osservice<com.apple.installcoordinationd(274)>:677] with description <RBSAssertionDescriptor| "installcoordinationd app:[com.our.app/Invalid/[user-defined//Applications/OurApp.app]] uuid:A3BC0629-124E-4165-ABB7-1324380FC354 isPlaceholder:N" ID:167-677-1463 target:system attributes:[ 2025-12-02 22:08:16.489353-0800 0x53ba     Default     0x5a5c9              167    0    runningboardd: (RunningBoard) [com.apple.runningboard:process] [app<application.com.our.app.485547.485561(501)>:2470] Terminating with context: <RBSTerminateContext| explanation:installcoordinationd app:[com.our.app/Invalid/[user-defined//Applications/OurApp.app]] uuid:A3BC0629-124E-4165-ABB7-1324380FC354 isPlaceholder:N reportType:None maxTerminationResistance:Absolute attrs:[ 2025-12-02 22:10:23.920869-0800 0x5a5a     Default     0x5a4c6              674    14   appstoreagent: [com.apple.appstored:Library] [A95D57D7] Completed with 1 result: <ASDApp: 0xc932a8780>: {bundleID = com.our.app; completedUnitCount = 600; path = /Applications/OurApp.app; installed = 0} 2025-12-02 22:10:32.027304-0800 0x5ae5     Default     0x5a4c7              674    14   appstoreagent: [com.apple.appstored:Library] [BEB5F2FD] Completed with 1 result: <ASDApp: 0xc932a8780>: {bundleID = com.our.app; completedUnitCount = 600; path = /Applications/OurApp.app; installed = 0} 2025-12-02 22:10:36.542321-0800 0x5b81     Default     0x5a4c8              674    14   appstoreagent: [com.apple.appstored:Library] [185B9DD6] Completed with 1 result: <ASDApp: 0xc932a8780>: {bundleID = com.our.app; completedUnitCount = 600; path = /Applications/OurApp.app; installed = 0} The line "Terminating with context" seems suspicious. This line is not seen on MacOS 15, only MacOS 26. Is this documented behavior? If so, how can we handle this?
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275
1w
Running processing task for data upload together with state restoration
Hi All, In continuation of this thread https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/804439 I want to perform data upload after getting it from the BLE device. As state restoration wake should not deal with data upload i though of using a processing task to perform the data upload. So the flow will be something like: Connect to device -> listen to notification -> go to background -> wake from notification -> handle data download from ble device -> register processing task for data upload -> hopefully get the data uploaded From reading about processing task i understand that the task execution is completely handled by the OS and depends on user behaviour and app usage. I even saw that if the user is not using the app for a while, the OS might not even perfoirm the task. So my quesiton is: does state restoration wakeup and perfroming data dowloads in the backgound considered app usage that will increase the likeluhood the task will get execution time? Can we rely on this for a scenario that the user opens the app for the first time, register, onboard for ble, connect to devie and then put it in the background for days or weeks and only relying on state restoration and processing tasks to do their thing? Sorry for the long read and appreciate your support! Shimon
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70
Dec ’25
How to check for cancellation of background task
When using the old withTaskCancellationHandler(operation:onCancel:isolation:) to run background tasks, you were notified that the background task gets cancelled via the handler being called. SwiftUI provides the backgroundTask(_:action:) modifier which looks quite handy. However how can I check if the background task will be cancelled to avoid being terminated by the system? I have tried to check that via Task.isCancelled but this always returns false no matter what. Is this not possible when using the modifier in which case I should file a bug report? Thanks for your help
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268
Mar ’25
Concurrency Resources
Swift Concurrency Resources: Forums tags: Concurrency The Swift Programming Language > Concurrency documentation Migrating to Swift 6 documentation WWDC 2022 Session 110351 Eliminate data races using Swift Concurrency — This ‘sailing on the sea of concurrency’ talk is a great introduction to the fundamentals. WWDC 2021 Session 10134 Explore structured concurrency in Swift — The table that starts rolling out at around 25:45 is really helpful. Swift Async Algorithms package Swift Concurrency Proposal Index DevForum post Why is flow control important? forums post Matt Massicotte’s blog Dispatch Resources: Forums tags: Dispatch Dispatch documentation — Note that the Swift API and C API, while generally aligned, are different in many details. Make sure you select the right language at the top of the page. Dispatch man pages — While the standard Dispatch documentation is good, you can still find some great tidbits in the man pages. See Reading UNIX Manual Pages. Start by reading dispatch in section 3. WWDC 2015 Session 718 Building Responsive and Efficient Apps with GCD [1] WWDC 2017 Session 706 Modernizing Grand Central Dispatch Usage [1] Avoid Dispatch Global Concurrent Queues forums post Waiting for an Async Result in a Synchronous Function forums post Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" [1] These videos may or may not be available from Apple. If not, the URL should help you locate other sources of this info.
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2.0k
Oct ’25
What is ImmersiveSpaceAppModel in BOT-anist?
I would like to implement an expression that pops out from the window to Immersive based on the following WWDC video. This video introduces the new features of visionOS 2.0 in the form of refurbishing Apple's sample app BOT-anist. https://developer.apple.com/jp/videos/play/wwdc2024/10153/?time=1252 In the video, it looks like ImmersiveSpaceAppModel is newly implemented. However, the key code is not mentioned anywhere. You pass appModel.robot as the from argument to the transform method of RealityViewContent. It seems that BOT-anist has been updated once and can be downloaded from the following URL, but there is no class such as ImmersiveSpaceAppModel implemented in this app either. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/visionos/bot-anist Has it been further updated again? Frankly, I'm not sure if it is possible to proceed as per the WWDC video. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
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461
Jan ’25
How to safely maximize concurrent UI rendering
I'm using Swift 6 and tasks to concurrently process multiple PDF files for rendering, and it's working well. But currently I'm manually limiting the number of simultaneous tasks to 2 out of fear that the system might run many tasks concurrently without having enough RAM to do the PDF processing. Testing on a variety of devices, I've tried increasing the task limit and haven't seen any crashes, but I'm quite concerned about the possibility. Any given device might be using a lot of RAM at any moment, and any given PDF might strain resources more than the average PDF. Is there a recommended technique for handling this kind of scenario? Should I not worry about it and just go ahead and start a high number of tasks, trusting that the system won't run too many concurrently and therefore won't run out of RAM?
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273
Mar ’25
About GCD (Grand Central Dispatch) in an extension.
We are currently developing a VoIP application that supports Local Push extention. I would like to ask for your advice on how the extension works when the iPhone goes into sleep mode. Our App are using GCD (Grand Central Dispatch) to perform periodic processing within the extension, creating a cycle by it. [sample of an our source] class LocalPushProvider: NEAppPushProvider { let activeQueue: DispatchQueue = DispatchQueue(label: "com.myapp.LocalPushProvider.ActiveQueue", autoreleaseFrequency: .workItem) var activeSchecule: Cancellable? override func start(completionHandler: @escaping (Error?) -&gt; Void) { : self.activeSchecule = self.activeQueue.schedule( after: .init(.now() + .seconds(10)), // start schedule after 10sec interval: .seconds(10) // interval 10sec ) { self.activeTimerProc() } completionHandler(nil) } } However In this App that we are confirming that when the iPhone goes into sleep mode, self.activeTimerProc() is not called at 10-second intervals, but is significantly delayed (approximately 30 to 180 seconds). What factors could be causing the timer processing using GCD not to be executed at the specified interval when the iPhone is in sleep mode? Also, please let us know if there are any implementation errors or points to note. I apologize for bothering you during your busy schedule, but I would appreciate your response.
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120
Jun ’25
Processes & Concurrency Resources
General: DevForums subtopic: App & System Services > Processes & Concurrency Processes & concurrency covers a number of different technologies: Background Tasks Resources Concurrency Resources — This includes Swift concurrency. Service Management Resources XPC Resources Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
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198
Jul ’25
HELP: Privileged Helper With SMAppService
Hi! I've been developing iOS and macOS apps for many years, but now I am looking to dive into smth i have never touched before, namely privileged helpers, and i am struggling hard trying to find my footing. Here’s my use case: I have a CLI tool that requires elevated privileges. I want to create a menu bar app that can interact with this tool, but I’m struggling to find solid documentation or examples of how to accomplish this using SMAppService. I might just be missing something obvious. If anyone could point me toward relevant documentation, examples, articles, tutorials, or even a WWDC session that covers running privileged helpers with SMAppService, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance!
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487
Feb ’25
Effect of App Nap on Timer
I'm developing a macOS application that tracks the duration of a user's session using a timer, which is displayed both in the main window and in an menu bar extra view. I have a couple of questions regarding the timer's behavior: What happens to the timer if the user closes the application's window (causing the app to become inactive) but does not fully quit it? Does the timer continue to run, pause, or behave in some other way? Will the app nap feature stop the timer when app is in-active state?
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122
Mar ’25
Background Tasks Resources
General: Forums subtopic: App & System Services > Processes & Concurrency Forums tag: Background Tasks Background Tasks framework documentation UIApplication background tasks documentation ProcessInfo expiring activity documentation Using background tasks documentation for watchOS Performing long-running tasks on iOS and iPadOS documentation WWDC 2020 Session 10063 Background execution demystified — This is critical resource. Watch it! [1] WWDC 2022 Session 10142 Efficiency awaits: Background tasks in SwiftUI WWDC 2025 Session 227 Finish tasks in the background — This contains an excellent summary of the expected use cases for each of the background task types. iOS Background Execution Limits forums post UIApplication Background Task Notes forums post Testing and Debugging Code Running in the Background forums post Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" [1] Sadly the video is currently not available from Apple. I’ve left the link in place just in case it comes back.
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4.0k
Nov ’25
Service Management Resources
Service Management framework supports installing and uninstalling services, including Service Management login items, launchd agents, and launchd daemons. General: Forums subtopic: App & System Services > Processes & Concurrency Forums tag: Service Management Service Management framework documentation Daemons and Services Programming Guide archived documentation Technote 2083 Daemons and Agents — It hasn’t been updated in… well… decades, but it’s still remarkably relevant. EvenBetterAuthorizationSample sample code — This has been obviated by SMAppService. SMJobBless sample code — This has been obviated by SMAppService. Sandboxing with NSXPCConnection sample code WWDC 2022 Session 10096 What’s new in privacy introduces the new SMAppService facility, starting at 07˸07 BSD Privilege Escalation on macOS forums post Getting Started with SMAppService forums post Background items showing up with the wrong name forums post Related forums tags include: XPC, Apple’s preferred inter-process communication (IPC) mechanism Inter-process communication, for other IPC mechanisms Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
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2.2k
Sep ’25