I’m building an iOS app that uses FamilyControls + ManagedSettings + DeviceActivity. Goal: temporarily “unlock” a shielded app for N minutes, then automatically re-apply the shield when the timer expires. What I do: In the main app, when user picks an expiry (e.g. 15 min, 30 min). I start a non-repeating DeviceActivity schedule and remove the app’s ApplicationToken from ManagedSettingsStore().shield.applications. I also store activeUnlockBundleID etc. in an App Group so the DeviceActivityMonitor extension can re-lock at the end. Expected: DeviceActivityMonitor.intervalDidEnd(for:) is invoked when the non-repeating interval ends, and I re-add the token to the shield set. Actual: The app does not re-lock when the interval expires. I added OS logs as well as “debug local notifications” from the DeviceActivityMonitor extension in: init() intervalDidStart intervalDidEnd eventDidReachThreshold None of these logs or notifications ever appear, which suggests the extension is never invoked (or cannot schedule local notifications or OS logs). Environment: Device: iPhone 17 Pro iOS 26.3.1 Xcode 26.4 Running on a physical device Notification permissions for the app: granted App + extensions are in the same App Group entitlement. Extension Info.plist has: NSExtensionPointIdentifier = com.apple.deviceactivity.monitor NSExtensionPrincipalClass = $(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).DeviceActivityMonitorExtension Questions: Are there known limitations/requirements for DeviceActivityMonitor callbacks where intervalDidEnd doesn't to fire? Is posting local notifications / OS Logs from a DeviceActivityMonitor extension supported/reliable? If not, what’s the recommended way to verify the extension is invoked? If this looks like a platform bug, should I file Feedback Assistant? If so, what logs/artifacts are most useful?

I’m running into a hardware reality. MEMS sensor thermal drift. If a user zeroes out the tilt indoors at 20°C and then takes the phone outside in the cold, the accelerometer baseline shifts just enough as the device cools to throw off the readings. I want to apply a simple thermal compensation curve to the CoreMotion data to keep the "zero" perfectly level regardless of the weather. However, ProcessInfo.thermalState only gives broad buckets (nominal, fair, etc.) which doesn't help me calculate a continuous offset for a phone cooling down degree by degree. Is there any public API, or even a proxy metric, that can give me a rough battery or internal temperature integer? I don’t need high resolution decimals. Just a general device temp to offset the hardware drift. Any undocumented tricks or proxy metrics anyone has used to handle this?

I'm building an app that integrates with Reminders using EventKit, but I can't find a way to access two important structures from EventKit: The groups that contain reminder lists The sections inside each reminder list (available since iOS 17) Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

The documentation for NSURL -URLByAppendingPathComponent: states: "Returns a new URL by appending a path component to the original URL." Path component is singular. But this "works" : NSURL *testURL = [applicationsDirectory URLByAppendingPathComponent:@"Evil/../../" isDirectory:YES]; So my questions are: One) Was it always this way? I can't recall if it was like this before the Foundation rewrite and I just never stumbled across? and Two) Is it intended behavior? The API seems to suggest that you append one path component on the url with this method. But I guess you can append as many as you want?

Hello, I submitted a request for the Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement, but haven't received status update regarding approval/rejection etc. I submitted a previous contact support ticket as well. I'm wondering the timeline and also if my request went through - currently it says 'submitted' but it's remained this way for a while... I've had other developers in communities saying they were approved earlier, so curious if it's an app issue. Thank you

Hello, I am the developer of an app called one sec which helps users to spend less time on social media: https://one-sec.app Therefore, we make heavy use of the Screen Time API, and thus ManagedSettings and ShieldActionDelegate. One feature of one sec is the so-called “Doom Scroll Emergency Brake”. This blocks a target app after a certain usage threshold (e.g. 5 minutes) and requires going through an intervention (e.g. breathing exercise) to unlock more time. That added friction makes it very effective in reducing time spent on apps. One thing that is confusing for our users is the way they are prompted to unlock more time, if they want to. They have to: Have Push Notifications enabled for one sec Exempt one sec’s notifications from being delayed by AI prioritization (otherwise they are delayed by ca. 10s) Ensure that push notifications can be delivered during foci. Understand that they have to tap on the notification, which is not very straight-forward because it does not make sense from the user’s UX perspective. This is an artificial limitation of Apple’s screen time framework which has no reason (no security / privacy implications here…). Screenshots of the current flow attached. If would be much more reasonable if there was a new ShieldActionResponse.openParentApp value that can be returned from the completion handler of the ShieldActionDelegate.handle(…) callback. We have seen different apps use private API to achieve this, but we are afraid to do the same to avoid getting banned from the App Store. It would be fair if Apple would level the playground for all apps and offer such an API officially. – Frederik PS: Tracked under FB22347946, FB18846650, FB15500681, FB15079668, FB10393561 (all without responses so far…)

We are developing an MDM agent app that uses FamilyControls with .individual authorization to enforce Screen Time restrictions (app blocking, domain blocking via ManagedSettingsStore and DeviceActivityCenter). The Problem We are actively subscribing to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus to detect authorization changes. However, when the user revokes the app's FamilyControls authorization through Settings (either via Settings > Screen Time > Apps With Screen Time Access, or Settings > Apps > [Our App]), the publisher does not emit any value. All ManagedSettingsStore restrictions are lifted immediately by the system, but our app receives no notification of this change. The only scenario where the publisher reliably emits is when a debugger is attached (i.e., running directly from Xcode). Without the debugger, the publisher is completely silent — even when the app returns to foreground. Code Example We tried subscribing directly to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus with no intermediary, exactly as shown in the documentation: AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus .sink { status in print("[DIRECT] authorizationStatus emitted: \(status)") } .store(in: &cancellables) This subscription is set up at app launch and stored in cancellables. The result is the same — the publisher does not emit when the user revokes authorization in Settings without a debugger attached. Documentation Reference The documentation for authorizationStatus states: "The status may change due to external events, such as a child graduating to an adult account, or a parent or guardian changing the status in Settings." And: "The system sets this property only after a call to requestAuthorization(for:) succeeds. It then updates the property until a call to revokeAuthorization(completionHandler:) succeeds or your app exits." This suggests the publisher should emit when the status is changed via Settings, but in our testing it does not — unless a debugger is attached. What We Verified We tested with a development-signed build (which includes the com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement), launched from Xcode, then disconnected the debugger, killed the app, and relaunched from the home screen. Scenario Publisher emits on revocation? Running from Xcode (debugger attached) Yes, immediately Development-signed build (no debugger) No — silent even on foreground return We also confirmed: MDM configuration profiles can disable Screen Time entirely, but cannot restrict the per-app authorization toggle — the user can always freely revoke the app's Screen Time access The Security Gap This creates a significant gap for parental controls use cases: User leaves the app (app goes to background) User goes to Settings and disables Screen Time access for the app All restrictions are immediately lifted User uses the device freely User re-enables Screen Time access and opens the app Everything syncs back to normal — administrator never knows Questions Is there any supported mechanism to receive a notification (background or foreground) when FamilyControls individual authorization is revoked? We are subscribing to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus but it does not emit. Is the $authorizationStatus publisher expected to work only when a debugger is attached? Is this a known limitation or a bug? Can DeviceActivityMonitor extension detect authorization revocation? Based on documentation it appears limited to schedule/threshold events, but we haven't confirmed this. Is there a planned API improvement to address this gap? Environment iOS 26.2 Xcode 26.3 Swift 6.2.4 FamilyControls .individual authorization Related Threads Screen time API can be disabled easily Changing Screen Time Passcode does not protect apps

Hi, Regarding the Brazil Digital ECA (DECA) requirements, which became effective on March 17, 2026. Following the guidance for regulated regions, we have been testing the eligibility check with the iOS 26.4 release. We previously confirmed that isEligibleForAgeFeatures was returning true for users in the Brazil region, which allowed us to verify our age-gating implementation. A few questions follow on this eligibility check: We have observed in manual testing that specific devices which returned true as recently as March 23rd are now returning false today, despite no changes to the OS build or account settings. Does this indicate a change in the server-side eligibility heuristics? Why would isEligibleForAgeFeatures stop returning true for a region where the law is now in force? Has the guidance on how to evaluate these properties for Brazil changed with the transition to the stable 26.4 release? Thank you!

Is there a way to trigger the start of my app (just for a short time) when the iPhone is connected to CarPlay (and/or to a car via bluetooth). I could not find anything. I don´t want to apply for CarPlay as I have no intention to show something on the cars screen. Any even small tipp is welcome

[FB22327481] We are observing a rare issue where alarms scheduled using AlarmKit occasionally fire exactly at 12:00 AM, even though the alarm was scheduled for a different time. This issue happens only for a very small number of users (for example, 1–2 users per several thousand per day), but multiple reports confirm that the alarm goes off exactly at midnight. We also found that other developers are experiencing the same issue: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/815714 Observed behavior For a small number of users: Alarm fires at exactly 00:00 (midnight) This happens even when the scheduled alarm time is something like 7:30 AM Happens rarely Hard to reproduce internally Appears to happen only on real devices in production Additional notes We are using AlarmKit fixed schedules (not relative) Dates passed to AlarmKit are correct at scheduling time We do not intentionally create midnight alarms Issue seems random Question Are there any known limitations or edge cases with AlarmKit fixed schedules that could cause alarms to fire at midnight? For example: Invalid date fallback? Schedule expiration fallback? Time zone changes? Background refresh timing? Maximum schedule window? Any guidance would be appreciated, as this is affecting real users but is difficult to reproduce.

Issue: after going through configuration steps for app clips, when I scan my QR code, my app clip does not appear, instead safari attempts to open the url as a web page. note: my aasa endpoint is never even getting called when scanning the QR code. Setup: App uninstalled in accordance with Apple Documentation "Users don’t install App Clips, and App Clips don’t appear on the Home Screen. Similarly, testers don’t install the beta version of your App Clip" testflight installed in accordance with Apple Documentation My app's Build 1.51.9 (1) uploaded and greenlit in testflight. My apple email is added as an internal tester is the same as my Apple ID for the device used. I have provided an aasa for the path: .well-known/apple-app-site-association. Here is my full url: https://akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association. { "appclips": { "apps": [ "8PJ28P9ZZ8.com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1.Clip" ] }, "applinks": { "details": [ { "components": [ { "/": "/appClips/referral/venueToUser" } ], "appIDs": [ "8PJ28P9ZZ8.com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1" ] } ] } } Here are my entitlements for my parent target: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>aps-environment</key> <string>development</string> <key>com.apple.developer.applesignin</key> <array> <string>Default</string> </array> <key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key> <array> <string>applinks:akin-server-side.onrender.com</string> <string>applinks:akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com</string> <string>appclips:akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com</string> <string>appclips:akin-server-side.onrender.com</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>group.com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1</string> </array> </dict> </plist> Here are the entitlements for my app clip target: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key> <array> <string>applinks:akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com</string> <string>applinks:akin-server-side.onrender.com</string> </array> <key>com.apple.developer.parent-application-identifiers</key> <array> <string>$(AppIdentifierPrefix)com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>group.com.ElevatedUnderdogs.akin1</string> </array> </dict> </plist> On App Store Connect in the Testflight section for this project and build: Build 1.51.9 (1), Test Information -> App Clip Invocations I have the following: copy pasted for convenience: "no variables":"https://akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com/appClips/referral/venueToUser", "Jeff referral":"https://akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com/appClips/referral/venueToUser?venueID=ChIJVaPxJnCej4ARyxiB9Tt2tG8&referrerName=Jeff" Here is the QR code I attempted to scan, https://akin-server-side-staging.onrender.com/appClips/referral/venueToUser?venueID=ChIJVaPxJnCej4ARyxiB9Tt2tG8&referrerName=Jeff

I'd like to create a small helper app for new students do read/write User default settings. Since it was not possible using the UserDefaults class I decided to use the "/usr/bin/defaults". Unfortuntely it seems not to return anything. Debug output shows "Got data: 0 bytes" Here is a sample code: import SwiftUI func readDefaults(domain : String, key :String) -> String { let cmdPath = "/usr/bin/defaults" //let cmdPath = "/bin/ls" let cmd = Process() let pipe = Pipe() cmd.standardOutput = pipe cmd.standardError = pipe cmd.executableURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: cmdPath, isDirectory: false, relativeTo: nil) cmd.arguments = ["read", domain, key] //cmd.arguments = ["/", "/Library"] print("Shell command: \(cmdPath) \(cmd.arguments?.joined(separator: " ") ?? "")") var d : Data? do { try cmd.run() d = pipe.fileHandleForReading.readDataToEndOfFile() cmd.waitUntilExit() } catch let e as NSError { return "ERROR \(e.code): \(e.localizedDescription)" } catch { return "ERROR: call failed!" } // get pipe output and write is to stdout guard let d else { return "ERROR: Can't get pipe output from command!" } print("Got data: \(d)") if let s = String(data: d, encoding: String.Encoding.utf8) { print("Got result: \(s)") return s } else { return "ERROR: No output from pipe." } } struct ContentView: View { let foo = readDefaults(domain: "com.apple.Finder", key: "ShowHardDrivesOnDesktop") var body: some View { VStack { Text("ShowHardDrivesOnDesktop: \(foo.description)") } .padding() } } #Preview { ContentView() } This code works well e.g. for "ls" when the comments are changed for cmdPath and cmd.arguments. What do I miss in order to get it working with defaults?

Hello, iOS 26.4 has new APIs which is great. This brings new capability and updated permissions "flow". However as soon as we add the "Family Controls App and Website Usage" capability, then anyone on iOS 26.4 and above can either only approve full access or no access at all. (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/familycontrols/authorizationstatus/approvedwithdataaccess) The previous permission is impossible to obtain. Am I missing something? Is this intended behavior? We can imagine a situation where the user doesn't want to give full access (perhaps because the permissions screen says the app is able to see usage - which is not correct) but they still want to approve Screen Time permissions so the app can apply shields and what not. Thanks.

We made an update of one of our games with the Declared Age Range framework, and one of the users contacted us, asking how could he confirm his age to access the app's features. Meaning that isEligibleForAgeFeatures returned true on his device. According to documentation: Use isEligibleForAgeFeatures to determine whether associated laws or regulations may apply to your app based on the person’s location and account settings. This property returns true when your app needs to support Age Assurance for the current user. As far as we know, the laws are not applied anywhere yet. So, why did isEligibleForAgeFeatures return true?

I am implementing an Unwanted Communication Reporting Extension (IdentityLookupUI) to allow users to report spam messages to our backend. The extension works perfectly in terms of data collection and network reporting (using ILClassificationExtensionNetworkReportDestination). However, I’ve encountered an issue with the message lifecycle: whenever the user taps "Done" and I return a response, the system automatically moves the reported message to the Recently Deleted folder. I want to report the data but keep the message in its current folder (especially when the user classifies it as "Safe"). I have tried varying the ILClassificationAction, but it seems the system ignores the action in favor of "cleaning up" the thread. Example of my current implementation: override func classificationResponse(for request: ILClassificationRequest) -> ILClassificationResponse { // Even when returning .none or .reportNotJunk let action: ILClassificationAction = (self.type == "spam") ? .reportJunk : .none let response = ILClassificationResponse(action: action) response.userInfo = ["type": self.taggedType, "sender": self.sender] return response } My Questions: Is there a specific ILClassificationAction or userInfo key that tells iOS not to move the message? Is this movement a mandatory "post-report cleanup" behavior of the IdentityLookup framework that cannot be overridden? Does anyone know a workaround to report the communication while maintaining its original location in the Messages app?

Hi everyone, I’m the developer of one sec, an app used by a large number of users globally to reduce time spent on social media and to build healthier digital habits. Because of this, we rely heavily on Apple’s Screen Time / DeviceActivity / FamilyControls, ManagedSettings APIs – and unfortunately, we’re seeing increasingly severe issues in production that directly impact hundreds of thousands of real iOS users. During the past years, we have been busy filing dozens of feedback requests for different Screen Time issues – and there has been no response from Apple at all. Developer Relations might be able to "confirm" that the bugs are present and that they ended up with the right team – but they are never addressed, neither are workarounds provided. Instead, the situation gets worse and worse. iOS 26 introduced a series of heavy regressions (which have been reported via Apple’s official bug report tool "Feedback Assistant" on iOS 26 beta 1 in June 2025 – and have not been addressed 10 Months later). This is very frustrating for us as developers, but also for our end-users who run into these issues every day. In the end this impacts our ability to build an amazing product and hurts revenue (which affects both us and Apple). 1. DeviceActivity thresholds are not firing at all This affects both: our app’s usage of the API and Apple’s own Screen Time limits Radars: FB22304617, FB20526837, FB15491936, FB12195437, FB15663329, FB18198691, FB18289475, FB19827144 2. Screen Time usage data is clearly corrupted Websites showing hundreds of hours per week Up to ~20 hours per day of usage reported for a single domain Radars: FB22304617, FB17777429, FB18464235 3. DeviceActivity thresholds reaching threshold immediately Newly introduced with iOS 26 Reported on iOS 26 beta 1 in June No response so far / no workaround DeviceActivity calls didReachThreshold immediately after creating the DeviceActivityEvent – instead of waiting till the defined threshold is actually reached. Radars: FB13696022, FB18351583, FB21320644, FB18927456, FB18061981 4. Randomly Randomizing ApplicationTokens From time to time, and without consistency, Screen Time suddenly provides new, random, unknown tokens to my app in the ShieldConfigurationDataSource and ShieldActionDelegate. This has been reported on many times before here on the dev forms, many many years back already: https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/756440 https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/758325 https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/758325?answerId=793267022#793267022 Radars: FB14082790 and FB18764644 5. Moving Tokens from one ManagedSettingsStore to Another Removing an ApplicationToken from one SettingsStore and then adding it to another while the target app remains in foreground leads to the re-use of the ShieldConfiguration. Which can be wrong in many scenarios. It is not possible to request a re-request of the ShieldConfiguration in that scenario. Radar: FB14237883 6. Unable to Open Parent App (one sec) from Shield Many times, when a target app is blocked by a shield, the user wants to perform some action (e.g. to unlock more time for the target app via an intervention). That means, that somehow I have to forward the user from a ShieldActionDelegate back into my target app. Unfortunately, there’s no API for that. Many apps on the App Store rely on private API to achieve that, but that’s too risky for a popular app like one sec. Radar: FB15079668 7. Unable to Open Target App from an ApplicationToken When a user has completed an intervention within one sec, and they indend to to continue to the target app, there is no way that one sec can open the target app just from the token alone. Sure, there are URL schemes, but that means the user has to manually assign URL schemes to each ApplicationToken. That is not a very user friendly process (and in many cases impossible, because not every app registers URL schemes). It would be better if there was a way that my app could open a target app directly from an ApplicationToken, e.g. via an AppIntent that can be run on a button press. This way, the selected apps would remain fully private while still offering advanced functionality: struct OpenTargetAppIntent: AppIntent, OpenAppFromApplicationTokenIntent { func perform() { return .result(openAppFromApplicationToken: applicationToken) } } Radar: FB15500695 Summary Thanks a lot for taking the time to read my feedback. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me any time. I’m always happy to provide more details, logs, and steps to reproduce in my radars / feedback requests or in-person in Cupertino. It would be extremely helpful if someone from the Screen Time / DeviceActivity engineering team could: Take a look at the listed radars. Work on bug fixes and be transparent about when fixes will be shipped. Provide workarounds in the meantime. We genuinely want to build great, reliable experiences on top of Screen Time – but in its current state, it’s becoming very difficult to depend on. – Frederik

Hi everyone, I'm building an iOS app that uses a DeviceActivityMonitor app extension as part of the Screen Time / Family Controls API. Every time I try to upload my IPA to App Store Connect, the validation fails with this error: "Invalid Info.plist value. The value of the NSExtensionPointIdentifier key, com.apple.deviceactivity.monitor, in the Info.plist of 'Alexandria.app/PlugIns/AlexandriaActivityMonitor.appex' is invalid." Error Domain=IrisAPI Code=-19241, iris-code=STATE_ERROR.VALIDATION_ERROR What I have verified (everything looks correct): NSExtensionPointIdentifier = com.apple.deviceactivity.monitor NSExtensionPrincipalClass = AlexandriaActivityMonitor.AlexandriaActivityMonitorExtension (correctly resolved in the compiled binary, verified with plutil -p) The Swift class correctly subclasses DeviceActivityMonitor CFBundleShortVersionString matches the main app Both the main app and extension provisioning profiles explicitly contain com.apple.developer.family-controls = true (verified by inspecting embedded.mobileprovision inside the IPA) The binary code signature itself contains com.apple.developer.family-controls = true (verified with codesign -d --entitlements :-) Family Controls entitlement was requested and approved in the Developer Portal for both App IDs Tested with both Xcode 26.2 (iOS 26 SDK) and Xcode 16.4 (iOS 18 SDK) — same error in both cases The IPA is structurally correct. The error comes purely from Apple's server-side IrisAPI validator and does not correspond to anything I can identify or fix in the code or configuration. Has anyone successfully submitted an app with a DeviceActivityMonitor extension to App Store Connect recently? Is there a backend approval requirement for com.apple.deviceactivity.monitor beyond the standard Family Controls entitlement approval? Could this be a known validator bug for this specific extension type? Any help appreciated.

When calling the verification interface for "whether the user belongs to a restricted region", the return value is always false; even if the Apple account is registered as an account belonging to a restricted region and the account is set to supervised mode, the interface return result remains unchanged, and it is impossible to verify a true result. The code for calling the interface is as follows: @available(iOS 26.2, *) @objc public func eligibleForAgeFeatures() async -> Bool { var isEligible = false do { isEligible = try await AgeRangeService.shared.isEligibleForAgeFeatures } catch { isEligible = false } return isEligible }

We now know the IsEligibleForAgeFeatures API is NOT returning True in Brazil at least 2 days past compliance date, and we don't know if that's the right API, or how it behaves. Folks here: Is there anyone here from Brazil who has tested out this 26.4 API? Has anyone tested out the regulatory feature API? Does it return something like declaredAgeRangeRequired? I don't know how to test it in Brazil without sandbox/physically in Brazil. Much appreciated!!

Hello, I’m honestly trying to understand what’s going on with the Family Controls API review process. I submitted my entitlement request on March 5, and as of today (March 19), there has been zero response. I also opened a support ticket on March 16, and that hasn’t received any response either. What’s confusing is that updates to another app on the same developer account were approved within days so clearly the account is in good standing and active. At this point, it feels like there’s no visibility into what’s happening: Is the request under review? Is it waiting for additional information? Or is it just sitting in a queue indefinitely? I understand that Family Controls is a sensitive API, but a two-week silence with no status or communication makes it very difficult to plan or ship features. For those who’ve gone through this: How long did your approval actually take? Did you receive any communication during the process? Is there any reliable way to get visibility or speed this up? Right now, this is blocking a feature we’ve invested significant time building, and the lack of feedback is the most frustrating part. Would really appreciate any insights.