Anyone unable to configure their widgets on iOS 27? I can edit a widget’s configuration but that doesn’t have any effect on the widget. I’m seeing this in the simulator and I have some users seeing it on-device. Is this a known issue or are there workarounds?

Hi, do you have suggestions for implementing widgets that get populated with data from external sources at different times? Example: a few numbers are displayed that usually update once or twice a day but some days multiple times per hour for part of the day. We can't get this to work reliably on all of the devices we are testing with and because the throttling/budgeting behavior is opaque it is more of a challenge to pinpoint why. Here are some things we are starting to experiment with, it would be helpful to know if some or all of these approaches would be too demanding of resources to be useful when populating widgets with content: creating dynamic timelines that have different frequencies on different days in the main app downloading new schedules from a server for the timelines for future dates using a combination of silent push notifications and background tasks to download the data when notifications are missed And we're already aware of the basic guidelines (relaxed budget constraints when debugging from xcode, avoid force quitting apps, etc.), would be great to get additional insight beyond the documentation like how to tell when an app has already depleted its budgets. (The questions are primarily geared towards iPhone/iPad). Thanks again!

When I set an alarm using the AlarmKit Demo App provided by WWDC, wait for the alarm to go off while the device is unlocked, and the Dynamic Island pops up with a notification, instead of tapping the button to dismiss it, I collapsed the Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island displayed a black blank screen; when I long-pressed to expand it, it still showed a black blank screen. When I tapped it while collapsed, it redirected me to the Demo App, and this state persisted indefinitely. The issue was only resolved by turning off the device or setting a new alarm and waiting for it to go off, then explicitly tapping to dismiss it. Additionally, I’m currently developing my own AlarmKit-based alarm app, which is how I discovered this bug. Now that I’ve found the official demo has the same issue, I look forward to a fix. Xcode version 26.5 (17F42) macOS version 26.5 (25F71) Simulator version 26.4.1 Device version 26.5.1 Demo App link： https://docs-assets.developer.apple.com/published/c2045ce0bff8/SchedulingAnAlarmWithAlarmKit.zip

Hi everyone, I'm working on a Live Activity implementation for a ticketing app (written in Swift/SwiftUI with ActivityKit), and I've encountered an unexpected behavior on iOS 26.2.1 that contradicts my understanding of the documentation. What the docs say: The official ActivityKit documentation states: "The system uses the minimal presentation when more than one app has an active Live Activity." This implies the two minimal slots are intended for two different apps. There is no documented scenario where a single app occupies both minimal positions simultaneously. What I observed: On a device running iOS 26.2.1, with two active Live Activities from the same app running at the same time, both minimal views appeared on the Dynamic Island simultaneously — one attached to the island, one as a detached floating pill. Questions: Is this behavior intentional in iOS 26, or is it a regression / unintended side effect? Has the system policy changed in iOS 26 to allow a single app to occupy both minimal slots? If this is expected, is there any updated documentation or release notes that cover this change? Environment: Device: iPhone 14pro iOS: 26.2.1 Xcode: xcode26 Any insights from Apple engineers or developers who've seen this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Populating widgets with silent push notifications would be great for us if they were more predictable. Can you share tips for debugging / testing in Test Flight beyond the usual recommendations available online? When messages are not processed it is a major challenge to distinguish between code problems and device throttling.

Moved to WWDC26 iCloud & CloudKit Q&A: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/830698

I am looking into the new CarPlay support for systemSmall widgets introduced in iOS 26 (Apple documentation). I am trying to figure out if there is a way to programmatically detect whether the widget is currently being displayed on the iPhone/iPad home/lock screen or in CarPlay. So far, I haven’t found any information in the documentation or APIs that indicate how to distinguish between these environments. Is there an API, environment value, or best practice for handling this scenario? Thanks in advance for any insights!

I am developing an iOS app using ActivityKit Live Activities with interactive buttons based on LiveActivityIntent. The implementation works correctly: LiveActivityIntent.perform() executes correctly. The Live Activity updates visually. MediaPlayer actions are triggered successfully. The app does not open when tapping the buttons. Repeated taps correctly update the Live Activity state. However, I observed a behavior difference on the Lock Screen: Now Playing controls keep the Lock Screen awake while interacting repeatedly. Apple Stopwatch/Timer controls also keep the Lock Screen awake while interacting. My app’s Live Activity fades to black after around 5–7 seconds even while the user continues tapping the Live Activity buttons. I also tested a third-party timer app with Live Activity buttons and observed the same fade-to-black behavior. I additionally tested: repeated Activity.update(...) calls after each tap; visual state updates after every interaction; multiple consecutive interaction updates. None of these prevented the Lock Screen from dimming/fading to black. So my question is: Is this expected behavior for third-party Live Activities using LiveActivityIntent? Or is there any recommended way to keep the Lock Screen interaction session active while the user is continuously interacting with Live Activity buttons? I am especially interested from an accessibility perspective, because short interaction windows can make repeated Lock Screen interactions more difficult for users with motor impairments or slower interaction patterns.

Our application currently supports Live Activities. We’re working on adding a new Widget and are weighing some architectural decisions regarding whether we should add it to the same extension target that our Live Activity lives in or create a new extension that would expose it and other widgets we plan to create in the future. In the Add Support for Live Activities documentation, it suggests adding Live Activity code to the existing widget extension to facilitate code reuse. Beyond code sharing, we’re trying to determine if there are downsides to isolating new Widget(s) into their own extension. Specifically, we are concerned about process isolation and how a failure/crash in one might impact the other. Assuming they did live in the same extension, we’re hoping to better understand some of the finer details as presented by the following questions: If a Widget (e.g., via the TimelineProvider) causes the extension process to crash, what is the guaranteed behavior for a currently running Live Activity? Is the relaunch and restoration of a Live Activity after an extension crash guaranteed, or is it best-effort? Is there a distinction in crash isolation between a TimelineProvider failure and a View rendering crash? Are there any known scenarios where a Widget crash could cause a Live Activity to be permanently dropped? Does keeping them in the same extension affect the memory budget, or does each 'instance' receive its own allocation? In short: we're looking to ensure that an issue with a Widget doesn't inadvertently affect a Live Activity (or vice-versa) when they live in the same WidgetsBundle within the same extension and are seeking guidance on whether it makes sense to keep them together or continue down the path of separate extensions in the interest of process safety. Any pointers to other documentation or known behavior would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, I have a problem with watchOS widget configuration intents. It turns out that watchOS is unable to load text for localization keys. This is how I set configuration parameter in WidgetConfigurationIntent: @Parameter( title: LocalizedStringResource( "watchWidgetConfig.showSymbols", defaultValue: "Symbole", table: "WidgetLocalizable", bundle: widgetBundle ), default: true ) var showSymbols: Bool Unfortunately, on a device always the defaultValue is used. I tried everything and nothing works. What's weird, it correctly works on watchOS simulator and if you configure widgets in iOS "Watch" app. On real Apple Watch, the "defaultValue" is displayed. I'm not sure if it's important but both: the Swift file with WidgetConfigurationIntent and WidgetLocalizable.xcstring are included in two targets: Watch Widget Extension and Watch App. I tried so far: All variants of LocalizableStringResource init. With/without "table", with/without "bundle". Previously I had texts in Localizable.strings, I migrated it to WidgetLocalizable.xcstrings and it didn't work either. Setting only one target for WidgetLocalizable.xcstring and WidgetConfigurationIntent. I checked inside xcarchive to see if WidgetLocalizable.xcstring is copied correctly. Seems like watchOS bug, but I would be happy to know if someone figured out any workaround. Xcode: Version 26.4 (17E192) iOS 26.4.1 watchOS 26.4 I already created a ticket: FB22509406

On iOS 26, when using .activityBackgroundTint modifiers to change the background color in the Activity Kit, the changes do not appear to apply correctly in Smart Stack. While the color changes as expected, the background is rendered as simply transparent without a glass effect which reduces readability. The glass effect is applied only when activityBackgroundTint is not used.

Summary When a SwiftUI widget uses a Link containing an Image modified with .widgetAccentedRenderingMode (using any mode except .fullColor), tapping the image on the widget launches the app but does not pass the expected deep link URL to the SceneDelegate. Steps to Reproduce Create a SwiftUI Widget View with a Link: struct ImageView: View { var image: UIImage var body: some View { Link(URL(string: "myapp://image")!) { Image(uiImage: image) .resizable() .widgetAccentedRenderingMode(.accentedDesaturated) // or any mode other than .fullColor .scaledToFill() .clipped() } } } Add Custom URL Scheme in Info.plist: <dict> <key>CFBundleURLName</key> <string>com.company.myapp</string> <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key> <array> <string>myapp</string> </array> </dict> Implement Deep Link Handling in SceneDelegate: func scene(_ scene: UIScene, willConnectTo session: UISceneSession, options connectionOptions: UIScene.ConnectionOptions) { if let url = connectionOptions.urlContexts.first?.url { handle(url) } } func scene(_ scene: UIScene, openURLContexts urlContexts: Set<UIOpenURLContext>) { if let url = urlContexts.first?.url { handle(url) } } private func handle(_ url: URL) { // Process URL here } Run the application on a device or simulator. Add the widget to the Home Screen. Tap the image inside the widget. Expected Result The application launches and receives the URL in SceneDelegate, as expected. Actual Result The application launches, but the URL is not passed to SceneDelegate. Both connectionOptions.urlContexts and openURLContexts are empty.

If you use UISceneDelegate's scene(_ scene: UIScene, openURLContexts URLContexts: Set<UIOpenURLContext>) to handle deep links (such as tapping a widget) you might run into an issue where this callback is called twice in the majority of cases. If you push a view controller in response to this, you might end up with two pushed view controllers, if you do not mitigate this. This is exclusively an issue in iOS 26.0 and works as expected on iOS 18. func scene(_ scene: UIScene, openURLContexts URLContexts: Set<UIOpenURLContext>) { /// Add any widget to the home screen that uses the widgetURL modifier and tap them. Most of the time, openURLContexts() will get called twice. /// If you run this project on iOS 18, it's *always* called once as expected. print("openURLContexts \(URLContexts)") } Filed as FB20301454

Hello everyone, my app A now supports iOS Widget C under the same Xcode project. Now I have another app B under this project, and I hope it can also support this Widget C. What should be done? How should the app group be configured? I have found some solutions: for example, add this key under the info.plist corresponding to app B: NSExtension NSExtensionPointIdentifier com.apple.widgetkit-extension NSExtensionPrincipalClass $(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).WidgetEntryView However, when I configured it and started running, not only could I not see the support Widget C, but the screen also went black. Thank you all.

I have some simple circular complications, that use a ZStack with SFSymbols. On high contrast Watch Faces, I noted that the circle is slightly off to the top leading side. I tried to set the ZStack alignment to center, fiddled around with Spacers, but I could not get it centered. Is that a bug or am I missing something? struct CircularWidgetDashed: View { var entry: Provider.Entry var body: some View { ZStack { Image(systemName: "circle.dashed") .resizable() .scaledToFit() .foregroundColor(.green) Text("\(entry.online)/\(entry.total)") .foregroundStyle(.primary) .font(.caption) .fontWeight(.semibold) } .widgetAccentable() } }

Description When starting Live Activities via ActivityKit push notifications, the “start” notification is received correctly on iPhone 16 Pro Max, but subsequent update or end push notifications are not. The same implementation on iPhone 16 Pro behaves as expected (both start and update/end notifications are delivered and processed). Environment Property Value Device (failing) iPhone 16 Pro Max Device (working) iPhone 16 Pro iOS Version 18.5 Xcode / SDK 16.2/ActivityKit / Push Notifications Network Wi-Fi / Cellular (both tested) Data Collection Method Devices connected via USB. Logs captured using Console.app. Log filtering applied for the liveactivitiesd daemon to isolate Live Activity behavior. Initial Triage/Observations Payload format confirmed compatible; no incompatible fields. APNs token remains the same across messages (no refresh). Identical ActivityKit subscriptions/participants on both devices. Server-side delivery is confirmed: iPhone 16 Pro receives all messages (start, update, end). Only iPhone 16 Pro Max fails to receive update or end push notifications. Log Analysis iPhone 16 Pro (Working) Push-to-Start successfully received: 13:45:20 - APSXPCDeliverMessageEvent: Created APSIncomingMessage 13:45:20 - Received message: eventType: start(SessionPushNotifications.IncomingMessage.EventType.StartParameters(attributesType: "AchToLSUpgradeAttributes", attributesData: 125 bytes, inputs: [])) 13:45:20 - Created activity: 1C081AC5-01AE-4EC0-8B67-5F2A9FAE2D60 13:45:45 - APSXPCDeliverMessageEvent: Created APSIncomingMessage 13:45:45 - Received message: eventType: end(dismissDate: Optional(2025-07-21 21:00:44 +0000)) 13:45:20 - Activity updated: 1C081AC5-01AE-4EC0-8B67-5F2A9FAE2D60 13:45:20 - Local activity did update: 1C081AC5-01AE-4EC0-8B67-5F2A9FAE2D60 iPhone 16 Pro Max (Failing) 13:56:39 - APSXPCDeliverMessageEvent: Created APSIncomingMessage 13:56:39 - Received message: eventType: start(SessionPushNotifications.IncomingMessage.EventType.StartParameters(attributesType: "AchToLSUpgradeAttributes", attributesData: 125 bytes, inputs: [])) 13:56:39 - Created activity: E6BBF691-0C7A-4791-98D2-6F1440D9932E **No subsequent APNs push-to-update or push-to-end messages received.** 13:56:39 - No destinations for event E6BBF691... of type start 13:56:40 - No destinations for event E6BBF691... of type update Questions for Apple Engineering Are there known issues with ActivityKit push notifications specifically on iPhone 16 Pro Max devices? What additional diagnostic logs (system, APNs, liveactivitiesd) would be most helpful to collect? Could device-specific power management, notification settings, or OS-level changes on Pro Max models affect Live Activity updates? Are there differences in how Live Activity push subscriptions or routing are handled on iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Pro that could lead to this issue?

Hi I developed a music app that plays offline audio and displays lyrics using Live Activities. According to ActivityKit documentation, Live Activities can be updated from the background. However, in my case, updates stop after ~30 seconds when the app goes to the background or the device is locked. Important points: The app continues running in the background (audio playback works fine using AVAudioSession with .playback) Background code execution is working as expected Only the Live Activity stops updating I am not using push updates since this is an offline app. Is there any limitation or requirement for updating Live Activities continuously in the background during audio playback? Audio Session Configuration let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() try session.setCategory( .playback, mode: .default, options: [.mixWithOthers] // ✅ DO NOT interrupt other audio ) try session.setActive(true) print("✅ [AudioSession] Activated with mixWithOthers") } catch { print("❌ [AudioSession] Error: \(error)") } Live Activity Update Methods guard let activity = getLiveActivity(for: recordID) else{ print("⚠️ No Live Activity found for recordID: \(recordID)") return } guard activity.activityState == .active else { print("⚠️ Activity is not active") return } Task { let content = ActivityContent( state: state, staleDate: Date().addingTimeInterval(60 * 60 * 12), relevanceScore: 1.0 ) await activity.update(content) print("✅ Live Activity updated with ActivityContent") } }

Hi, I need your opinion about an issue we faced while trying to implement an iOS widget in our Flutter app. Here is what we did and the problems we encountered: We created a Widget Extension (SwiftUI + WidgetKit) inside the existing Flutter iOS project. The widget files were generated correctly (Widget.swift, WidgetBundle.swift, Info.plist, etc.). However, during the integration, we faced multiple issues: Build Cycle Error We repeatedly got: “Cycle inside Runner; building could produce unreliable results” This was related to embedding the widget extension into the Runner target. Embed Problems Sometimes Xcode did not automatically create the “Embed App Extensions” phase. When we added it manually → build cycle errors appeared. When we removed it → the widget was not embedded at all (no PlugIns folder in Runner.app). Duplicate / Conflicting Embed The extension appeared both in: “Embed Foundation Extensions” “Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content” Removing one often broke the build or removed the other as well. Widget Not Appearing Even when build succeeded: Widget did not appear on device PlugIns/Widget.appex was missing from build output Flutter Linking Errors In another test project, we got: Undefined symbol: _FlutterMethodChannel Undefined symbol: _FlutterBasicMessageChannel etc. This happened because the widget extension tried to link Flutter dependencies, which should not happen. App Group Confusion We also tried adding App Group (group.com.xxx), but behavior didn’t change. Conclusion: We suspect the root issue is: The Flutter template we are using was not designed for WidgetKit integration Xcode embedding phases and Flutter build scripts conflict with extension targets Question: In your opinion: Is this a known limitation with Flutter-based iOS projects? Is there a clean way to integrate WidgetKit without breaking the Runner target? Or is it better to create a separate native iOS module for the widget? Any guidance would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, I need your opinion about an issue we faced while trying to implement an iOS widget in our Flutter app. Here is what we did and the problems we encountered: We created a Widget Extension (SwiftUI + WidgetKit) inside the existing Flutter iOS project. The widget files were generated correctly (Widget.swift, WidgetBundle.swift, Info.plist, etc.). However, during the integration, we faced multiple issues: Build Cycle Error We repeatedly got: “Cycle inside Runner; building could produce unreliable results” This was related to embedding the widget extension into the Runner target. Embed Problems Sometimes Xcode did not automatically create the “Embed App Extensions” phase. When we added it manually → build cycle errors appeared. When we removed it → the widget was not embedded at all (no PlugIns folder in Runner.app). Duplicate / Conflicting Embed The extension appeared both in: “Embed Foundation Extensions” “Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content” Removing one often broke the build or removed the other as well. Widget Not Appearing Even when build succeeded: Widget did not appear on device PlugIns/Widget.appex was missing from build output Flutter Linking Errors In another test project, we got: Undefined symbol: _FlutterMethodChannel Undefined symbol: _FlutterBasicMessageChannel etc. This happened because the widget extension tried to link Flutter dependencies, which should not happen. App Group Confusion We also tried adding App Group (group.com.xxx), but behavior didn’t change. Conclusion: We suspect the root issue is: The Flutter template we are using was not designed for WidgetKit integration Xcode embedding phases and Flutter build scripts conflict with extension targets Question: In your opinion: Is this a known limitation with Flutter-based iOS projects? Is there a clean way to integrate WidgetKit without breaking the Runner target? Or is it better to create a separate native iOS module for the widget? Any guidance would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m currently implementing Live Activities in my music app to display real-time lyrics on the Lock Screen. The app works fully offline, so I’m not using push updates or push tokens. Instead, I’m updating the Live Activity locally as each new line of lyrics is played (essentially near real-time updates synced with the song). However, I’m running into an issue where the Live Activity UI is not updating reliably or frequently enough. Even though I’m calling the update method for each lyric line, the changes are either delayed or not reflected at all. Here’s some additional context: • The app runs fine in the background (verified via battery usage and playback behavior) • Live Activity is successfully created and initially displayed • Updates are triggered locally (no push notifications involved) • Updates are happening quite frequently (per lyric line) • No crashes or errors are observed My questions: 1. Is there a system-imposed throttling limit on how frequently Live Activities can be updated locally? 2. Are there recommended update intervals for smooth UI updates (e.g., for use cases like lyrics or timers)? 3. Does Live Activity deprioritize updates for offline apps or background execution? 4. Are there any additional configurations or capabilities required to ensure consistent updates? 5. Is using something like AsyncStream or other concurrency patterns helpful in this case? 6. Are there any undocumented limitations or best practices for high-frequency updates? 7. Is there any private or internal API used by Apple apps (like Music) that allows smoother real-time updates? My goal is to achieve smooth, near real-time lyric updates similar to Apple Music’s Now Playing experience. Any guidance, best practices, or clarification would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!