Delve into the world of built-in app and system services available to developers. Discuss leveraging these services to enhance your app's functionality and user experience.

Posts under General subtopic

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

Permission error occurs when I use setDefaultApplication(at:toOpen:completion:)
I'd like to set my macOS app written in Swift as default app when opening .mp4 file. I think I can do it with setDefaultApplication(at:toOpen:completion:). https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsworkspace/3753002-setdefaultapplication However, permission error occurs when I use it. The error is: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file couldn’t be opened." UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x6000031d0150 {Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "permErr: permissions error (on file open)"}} I tried to give my app full-disk access, but it didn't work. I also tried to use setDefaultApplication(at:toOpenFileAt:completion:), then it works with no error, but it effects on only one file. What I want to do is to set my app as default app of all .mp4 files. How do I achieve this? My code is like below: let bundleUrl = Bundle.main.bundleURL NSWorkspace.shared.setDefaultApplication(at: bundleUrl, toOpen: .mpeg4Movie) { error in print(error) } Thank you.
3
2
605
Dec ’25
Direct to 'Call Blocking & Identification' on iOS
As far as I know, Apple doesn’t allow apps to directly navigate users to the Call Blocking & Identification settings screen. That’s why many apps just show instructions like: "Go to Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification" to enable the app. Apple only officially provides UIApplicationOpenSettingsURLString, which takes users to the app's own settings page. But here’s where I’m confused: some Korean apps like Whowho and Adot Phone seem to be able to direct users to the Call Blocking & Identification screen. Whowho: https://apps.apple.com/kr/app/whowho-spam-block-callerid/id1033450260?l=en-GB Adot Phone: I'm wondering how these apps are doing that. Are they using some kind of private API or workaround? Those app are developed from Internet Serivce Provider Company.
2
0
89
Apr ’25
Creating ApplicationToken with Decoder from string
I've been working a lot with the FamilyControls API and App Shield recently but have encountered a problem with no documentation. I used the FamilyActivitySelection to select the app store to shield(This is just for testing), and then printed out the application token: 1wfY¸êB ò S« öi #×(É?âðw ù/jQ ¿ J ïE¢? ·¿ º<Òd?ý r7¥Ãn N átJ¹ÿ85B_{VAF fC8. ,,¸¯3 T7F ±õü; ¹?v@¯ô Ä \-õ# Ò I know the application token is a Codable object so I was wondering, How do I create an application token using the Token<Application> initializer init(from: any Decoder) throws Creates a new instance by decoding from the given decoder. Using the above data? Do I have to encode first in order to decode it? For reference, the code I tried to use is: newValue.applicationTokens.encode(to: JSONEncoder) if let encoded = try? JSONEncoder().encode(newValue.applicationTokens) { data = encoded print(String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)!) } if let app = try? JSONDecoder().decode(Token<Application>.self, from: data) { let token = Application(token: app) print(token) } else { print("didn't work") } But it prints didn't work every time. What should I do differently?
2
0
888
Apr ’25
How to learn most recent best practices?
Hello. Background: Most learning resources are for leaning Swift/Objective-C. I'm pretty sure I need something different. I'm already an experienced software engineer, just new to iOS/MacOS development. My problem is not learning the language, but rather how to learn modern best practices. I cannot find examples for what I'm looking for. So much seems to be sparse on implementation details, out of date, or both. I'm trying to write an app that has a few distinct parts. The UI portion will be mostly a menu bar app, which I am not having a problem discovering resources for how to implement. The app will also have a daemon and utilize network extensions. This is where I am having trouble. What's the current best practices on how to write and launch a daemon? Should the daemon be its own library/package which is them imported into the main app? If so, which Xcode template do I use for this? Are there any Hello World! examples of this? What is the best way for a UI app to communicate with a daemon? Are there any Hello World! repositories on how to implement network extensions? Should this be done in the main UI app, or in a separate library/package? TIA
4
0
186
Apr ’25
UpdateApplicationContext Not Receiving updates
Hi community. It's my first time trying WatchConnectivity kit. When I attempt to send ApplicationContext from phone, my debug print indicates that updateApplicationContext is working correctly. However, I'm having trouble receiving it form the paired watch simulator as nothing is shown on that end. Here are the code for the Phone Extension:     func sendDataToWatch(data: String) {         state.append(data)         do {             NSLog("sent by phone")             try WCSession.default.updateApplicationContext(["currentstate": state])         }         catch {             print(error)         }     } Here are the code for watch: func session(_ session: WCSession, didReceiveApplicationContext applicationContext: [String: Any]) {         print("Hello")         if let getState = applicationContext["currentstate"] as? [String]{             print("\(getState)")             self.state = getState[0]         }     } Any suggestion would be appreciated!
13
4
5.4k
2w
How to set permanent environment variables?
I am looking to set environment variables for the use of some applications that are launched by icon or from the dock. I am aware of launchctl setenv for setting environment variables, but I am also aware that the effects of that last only until the next reboot. I find various people posting hacks that come down to configuring some .zsh* initialization files, but those fines are not used until an interactive login session is started, and so are not of value for the case where the user does not happen to launch terminal The particular environment variable of interest at the moment is JAVA_HOME for use by MATLAB . MATLAB is started by the shell script /Applications/MATLAB_R20xxx.app/bin/matlab and does not appear to have a .plist file associated with it . Editing the shell script would not be ideal.
1
0
58
Apr ’25
PDFKit PDFPage.characterBounds(at:) returns incorrect coordinates iOS 18 beta 4
PDFKit PDFPage.characterBounds(at: Int) is returning incorrect coordinates with iOS 18 beta 4 and later / Xcode 16 beta 4. It worked fine in iOS 17 and earlier (after showing the same issue during the early iOS 17 beta cycle) It breaks critical functionality that my app relies on. I have filed feedback (FB14843671). So far no changes in the latest betas. iOS release date is approaching fast! Anybody having the same issue? Any workaround available?
17
3
2.1k
May ’25
WeatherKit DayWeather::date Timezone Issue
I use WeatherKit with Swift to get multiple cities weather by longitude and latitude. But I use this API in WeatherService for daily forecast: final public func weather<T>(for location: CLLocation, including dataSet: WeatherQuery<T>) async throws -> T And I found there is something wired: The date of WeatherKit::DayWeather is based on my device's timezone settings. Tokyo's Day Weather is start at UTC+8, New York' Day Weather is start UTC+8. Is there any way to set timezone correctly?
0
1
149
Apr ’25
Does Apple Screen Time API Allow Access to App Usage Data for Custom Rewards?
Hi everyone, I'm working on an app for parents and kids where parents can define screen time goals or restrict usage of certain app categories (like social media or games). If the kid follows those rules—for example, by using their device less or avoiding restricted categories—they would earn points or rewards in the app. I’ve been exploring if the Apple Screen Time API allows developers to access this kind of data (like total screen time, app usage by category, etc.) so that I can track the kid’s behavior and reward them accordingly. Is it possible to programmatically access this data and implement such a reward system within my app? If so, what’s the best way to get started or which APIs should I look into? Thanks in advance for your help!
0
0
100
Apr ’25
Does "Locked and hidden apps" feature of iOS 18 support deep link?
Our app includes showing external web service with WebView or Safari and returning to the app with custom URL scheme or universal link. When we set "Hide and Require Face ID" feature which was available on iOS 18, neither custom URL scheme nor universal link activated the app. If we only set "Require Face ID", the deep link worked properly. Here is what we've tried: Define custom URL scheme or universal link in the app https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/defining-a-custom-url-scheme-for-your-app https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/supporting-universal-links-in-your-app Implement external web service with one of the following frameworks ASWebAuthenticationSession https://developer.apple.com/documentation/authenticationservices/aswebauthenticationsession/ SFSafariViewController https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/sfsafariviewcontroller Safari WKWebView https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/wkwebview On iOS 18 device, install the app and set "Hide and Require Face ID" Access external web page and tap the link which activates custom URL scheme or universal link We expected the deep link to work, but the results were: Custom URL scheme &amp;amp; ASWebAuthenticationSession/SFSafariViewController/Safari The system shows "Cannot open the page because the address is invalid" Custom URL scheme &amp;amp; WKWebView Nothing happens when tapping the link Universal link Directed to the server with associated domain file, but the system doesn't call the app which is defined in the associated domain file We tested the feature with the app built with Xcode16 beta 6, and the device with iOS 18 Seed 8(22A5350a). Does hide app feature support custom URL scheme and universal link?
3
4
1.9k
Jun ’25
DeviceActivityMonitor is overcounting screen time for users on iOS 17.6.1
Our app uses a 24-hour DeviceActivityMonitor repeating schedule to send users notifications for every hour of screen time they spend on their phone per day. Notifications are sent from eventDidReachThreshold callbacks at 1, 2, 3, etc, hour thresholds to keep them aware of their screen time. We have recently received an influx of emails from our users that after updating to iOS 17.6.1 their DeviceActivityMonitor notifications are saying their screen time was much higher than what is shown in DeviceActivityReport and their device's Screen Time settings. These users have disabled "Share Across Devices" - but I suspect the DeviceActivityMonitor is still getting screen time from their other devices even though that setting is turned off. Has anybody else noticed this, understands what is causing this, or could recommend a fix that we can tell our users to do?
10
9
2.2k
Oct ’25
When implementing a custom Mach exception handler, all recovery operations for SIGBUS/SIGSEGV except the first attempt will fail.
Recovery operations for signals SIGBUS/SIGSEGV fail when the process intercepts Mach exceptions. Only the first recovery attempt succeeds, and subsequent Signal notifications are no longer received within the process. I think this is a bug in XNU. The test code main.c is: If we comment out AddMachExceptionServer;, everything will return to normal. #include &lt;fcntl.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/arm/kern_return.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/kern_return.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/mach.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/message.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/port.h&gt; #include &lt;pthread.h&gt; #include &lt;setjmp.h&gt; #include &lt;signal.h&gt; #include &lt;stdbool.h&gt; #include &lt;stdio.h&gt; #include &lt;stdlib.h&gt; #include &lt;string.h&gt; #include &lt;sys/_types/_mach_port_t.h&gt; #include &lt;sys/mman.h&gt; #include &lt;sys/types.h&gt; #include &lt;unistd.h&gt; #pragma pack(4) typedef struct { mach_msg_header_t header; mach_msg_body_t body; mach_msg_port_descriptor_t thread; mach_msg_port_descriptor_t task; NDR_record_t NDR; exception_type_t exception; mach_msg_type_number_t codeCount; integer_t code[2]; /** Padding to avoid RCV_TOO_LARGE. */ char padding[512]; } MachExceptionMessage; typedef struct { mach_msg_header_t header; NDR_record_t NDR; kern_return_t returnCode; } MachReplyMessage; #pragma pack() static jmp_buf jump_buffer; static void sigbus_handler(int signo, siginfo_t *info, void *context) { printf("Caught SIGBUS at address: %p\n", info-&gt;si_addr); longjmp(jump_buffer, 1); } static void *RunExcServer(void *userdata) { kern_return_t kr = KERN_FAILURE; mach_port_t exception_port = MACH_PORT_NULL; kr = mach_port_allocate(mach_task_self_, MACH_PORT_RIGHT_RECEIVE, &amp;exception_port); if (kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { printf("mach_port_allocate: %s", mach_error_string(kr)); return NULL; } kr = mach_port_insert_right(mach_task_self_, exception_port, exception_port, MACH_MSG_TYPE_MAKE_SEND); if (kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { printf("mach_port_insert_right: %s", mach_error_string(kr)); return NULL; } kr = task_set_exception_ports( mach_task_self_, EXC_MASK_ALL &amp; ~(EXC_MASK_RPC_ALERT | EXC_MASK_GUARD), exception_port, EXCEPTION_DEFAULT | MACH_EXCEPTION_CODES,THREAD_STATE_NONE); if (kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { printf("task_set_exception_ports: %s", mach_error_string(kr)); return NULL; } MachExceptionMessage exceptionMessage = {{0}}; MachReplyMessage replyMessage = {{0}}; for (;;) { printf("Wating for message\n"); // Wait for a message. kern_return_t kr = mach_msg(&amp;exceptionMessage.header, MACH_RCV_MSG, 0, sizeof(exceptionMessage), exception_port, MACH_MSG_TIMEOUT_NONE, MACH_PORT_NULL); if (kr == KERN_SUCCESS) { // Send a reply saying "I didn't handle this exception". replyMessage.header = exceptionMessage.header; replyMessage.NDR = exceptionMessage.NDR; replyMessage.returnCode = KERN_FAILURE; printf("Catch exception: %d codecnt:%d code[0]: %d, code[1]: %d\n", exceptionMessage.exception, exceptionMessage.codeCount, exceptionMessage.code[0], exceptionMessage.code[1]); mach_msg(&amp;replyMessage.header, MACH_SEND_MSG, sizeof(replyMessage), 0, MACH_PORT_NULL, MACH_MSG_TIMEOUT_NONE, MACH_PORT_NULL); } else { printf("Mach error: %s\n", mach_error_string(kr)); } } return NULL; } static bool AddMachExceptionServer(void) { int error; pthread_attr_t attr; pthread_attr_init(&amp;attr); pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&amp;attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_DETACHED); pthread_t ptid = NULL; error = pthread_create(&amp;ptid, &amp;attr, &amp;RunExcServer, NULL); if (error != 0) { pthread_attr_destroy(&amp;attr); return false; } pthread_attr_destroy(&amp;attr); return true; } int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { AddMachExceptionServer(); struct sigaction sa; memset(&amp;sa, 0, sizeof(sa)); sa.sa_sigaction = sigbus_handler; sa.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO; // #if TARGET_OS_IPHONE // sigaction(SIGSEGV, &amp;sa, NULL); // #else sigaction(SIGBUS, &amp;sa, NULL); // #endif int i = 0; while (i++ &lt; 3) { printf("\nProgram start %d\n", i); bzero(&amp;jump_buffer, sizeof(jump_buffer)); if (setjmp(jump_buffer) == 0) { int fd = open("tempfile", O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0666); ftruncate(fd, 0); char *map = (char *)mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0); close(fd); unlink("tempfile"); printf("About to write to mmap of size 0 — should trigger SIGBUS...\n"); map[0] = 'X'; // ❌ triger a SIGBUS munmap(map, 4096); } else { printf("Recovered from SIGBUS via longjmp!\n"); } } printf("_exit(0)\n"); _exit(0); return 0; }
2
0
199
Apr ’25
FamilyActivityPicker Crashing / Freezing
Our users report frequent crashes with the FamilyActivityPicker. Since this is a screen controlled by Apple, I'm assuming that there's nothing I can do to prevent these crashes. I'm wondering, though, if there's any way to gracefully handle these crashes? When this happens, the following is printed to the console: [com.apple.FamilyControls.ActivityPickerExtension(1121)] Connection to plugin invalidated while in use. Does anyone know how to handle/catch this error?
4
2
1.3k
Aug ’25
How to get the bundleIdentifier or app name from FamilyActivitySelection's applicationTokens?
I'm working with the FamilyControls and DeviceActivity frameworks in iOS (Swift). In my app, I collect selected apps using a FamilyActivitySelection, and I access the selected apps via selection.applicationTokens, which gives me a Set. I would like to get either the bundle identifier or the display name of the selected apps from these ApplicationTokens. I tried creating an Application instance using: let app = Application(token: token) print(app.bundleIdentifier) print(app.localizedDisplayName) However, both bundleIdentifier and localizedDisplayName are always nil. My questions are: Outside the extension (in the main app), how can I get the bundleIdentifier or display name from an ApplicationToken? Is there an Apple-recommended way to resolve a Token into something human-readable or usable? If not, what is the best practice to store or identify user-selected apps for later use? Environment: iOS 17, Swift 5, Using FamilyControls and DeviceActivity APIs. Thank you for any help!
2
0
255
Apr ’25
How does font caching / resources for each app work?
I'm a font developer. In the development process, I will revise a font and overwrite the OTF file that is currently enabled (registered) with macOS. If I then launch an app, it will immediately use the revised version of the font; while apps that are already loaded will continue to use the old version. This suggests that each app is loading new and separate font data, rather than getting it from some existing cache in memory. Yet macOS does have a "font cache" of some sort. Some apps, like TextEdit, seem to only load the fonts that they need to use. However, other apps, like Pages, load every enabled (registered) font on the OS!! (According to the Open Files list in Activity Monitor.) Given that /System/Library/Fonts/ is 625 Mb, and we can't disable any of it, isn't that a lot of data to be repeating? How many fonts is too many fonts? I can't find much documentation about the process.
1
0
687
Jan ’26
Permission error occurs when I use setDefaultApplication(at:toOpen:completion:)
I'd like to set my macOS app written in Swift as default app when opening .mp4 file. I think I can do it with setDefaultApplication(at:toOpen:completion:). https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsworkspace/3753002-setdefaultapplication However, permission error occurs when I use it. The error is: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file couldn’t be opened." UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x6000031d0150 {Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "permErr: permissions error (on file open)"}} I tried to give my app full-disk access, but it didn't work. I also tried to use setDefaultApplication(at:toOpenFileAt:completion:), then it works with no error, but it effects on only one file. What I want to do is to set my app as default app of all .mp4 files. How do I achieve this? My code is like below: let bundleUrl = Bundle.main.bundleURL NSWorkspace.shared.setDefaultApplication(at: bundleUrl, toOpen: .mpeg4Movie) { error in print(error) } Thank you.
Replies
3
Boosts
2
Views
605
Activity
Dec ’25
Direct to 'Call Blocking & Identification' on iOS
As far as I know, Apple doesn’t allow apps to directly navigate users to the Call Blocking & Identification settings screen. That’s why many apps just show instructions like: "Go to Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification" to enable the app. Apple only officially provides UIApplicationOpenSettingsURLString, which takes users to the app's own settings page. But here’s where I’m confused: some Korean apps like Whowho and Adot Phone seem to be able to direct users to the Call Blocking & Identification screen. Whowho: https://apps.apple.com/kr/app/whowho-spam-block-callerid/id1033450260?l=en-GB Adot Phone: I'm wondering how these apps are doing that. Are they using some kind of private API or workaround? Those app are developed from Internet Serivce Provider Company.
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
89
Activity
Apr ’25
Creating ApplicationToken with Decoder from string
I've been working a lot with the FamilyControls API and App Shield recently but have encountered a problem with no documentation. I used the FamilyActivitySelection to select the app store to shield(This is just for testing), and then printed out the application token: 1wfY¸êB ò S« öi #×(É?âðw ù/jQ ¿ J ïE¢? ·¿ º<Òd?ý r7¥Ãn N átJ¹ÿ85B_{VAF fC8. ,,¸¯3 T7F ±õü; ¹?v@¯ô Ä \-õ# Ò I know the application token is a Codable object so I was wondering, How do I create an application token using the Token<Application> initializer init(from: any Decoder) throws Creates a new instance by decoding from the given decoder. Using the above data? Do I have to encode first in order to decode it? For reference, the code I tried to use is: newValue.applicationTokens.encode(to: JSONEncoder) if let encoded = try? JSONEncoder().encode(newValue.applicationTokens) { data = encoded print(String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)!) } if let app = try? JSONDecoder().decode(Token<Application>.self, from: data) { let token = Application(token: app) print(token) } else { print("didn't work") } But it prints didn't work every time. What should I do differently?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
888
Activity
Apr ’25
How to learn most recent best practices?
Hello. Background: Most learning resources are for leaning Swift/Objective-C. I'm pretty sure I need something different. I'm already an experienced software engineer, just new to iOS/MacOS development. My problem is not learning the language, but rather how to learn modern best practices. I cannot find examples for what I'm looking for. So much seems to be sparse on implementation details, out of date, or both. I'm trying to write an app that has a few distinct parts. The UI portion will be mostly a menu bar app, which I am not having a problem discovering resources for how to implement. The app will also have a daemon and utilize network extensions. This is where I am having trouble. What's the current best practices on how to write and launch a daemon? Should the daemon be its own library/package which is them imported into the main app? If so, which Xcode template do I use for this? Are there any Hello World! examples of this? What is the best way for a UI app to communicate with a daemon? Are there any Hello World! repositories on how to implement network extensions? Should this be done in the main UI app, or in a separate library/package? TIA
Replies
4
Boosts
0
Views
186
Activity
Apr ’25
UpdateApplicationContext Not Receiving updates
Hi community. It's my first time trying WatchConnectivity kit. When I attempt to send ApplicationContext from phone, my debug print indicates that updateApplicationContext is working correctly. However, I'm having trouble receiving it form the paired watch simulator as nothing is shown on that end. Here are the code for the Phone Extension:     func sendDataToWatch(data: String) {         state.append(data)         do {             NSLog("sent by phone")             try WCSession.default.updateApplicationContext(["currentstate": state])         }         catch {             print(error)         }     } Here are the code for watch: func session(_ session: WCSession, didReceiveApplicationContext applicationContext: [String: Any]) {         print("Hello")         if let getState = applicationContext["currentstate"] as? [String]{             print("\(getState)")             self.state = getState[0]         }     } Any suggestion would be appreciated!
Replies
13
Boosts
4
Views
5.4k
Activity
2w
How to set permanent environment variables?
I am looking to set environment variables for the use of some applications that are launched by icon or from the dock. I am aware of launchctl setenv for setting environment variables, but I am also aware that the effects of that last only until the next reboot. I find various people posting hacks that come down to configuring some .zsh* initialization files, but those fines are not used until an interactive login session is started, and so are not of value for the case where the user does not happen to launch terminal The particular environment variable of interest at the moment is JAVA_HOME for use by MATLAB . MATLAB is started by the shell script /Applications/MATLAB_R20xxx.app/bin/matlab and does not appear to have a .plist file associated with it . Editing the shell script would not be ideal.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
58
Activity
Apr ’25
PDFKit PDFPage.characterBounds(at:) returns incorrect coordinates iOS 18 beta 4
PDFKit PDFPage.characterBounds(at: Int) is returning incorrect coordinates with iOS 18 beta 4 and later / Xcode 16 beta 4. It worked fine in iOS 17 and earlier (after showing the same issue during the early iOS 17 beta cycle) It breaks critical functionality that my app relies on. I have filed feedback (FB14843671). So far no changes in the latest betas. iOS release date is approaching fast! Anybody having the same issue? Any workaround available?
Replies
17
Boosts
3
Views
2.1k
Activity
May ’25
WeatherKit DayWeather::date Timezone Issue
I use WeatherKit with Swift to get multiple cities weather by longitude and latitude. But I use this API in WeatherService for daily forecast: final public func weather<T>(for location: CLLocation, including dataSet: WeatherQuery<T>) async throws -> T And I found there is something wired: The date of WeatherKit::DayWeather is based on my device's timezone settings. Tokyo's Day Weather is start at UTC+8, New York' Day Weather is start UTC+8. Is there any way to set timezone correctly?
Replies
0
Boosts
1
Views
149
Activity
Apr ’25
What does this error mean: Error Domain=com.apple.MatterSupport Code=1 "(null)"
Hi, I have tried to add Eve energy plug but still pairing failed, it reported always same error. Error Domain=com.apple.MatterSupport Code=1 "(null)" Could anyone help? Regards
Replies
1
Boosts
1
Views
1.1k
Activity
May ’25
Does Apple Screen Time API Allow Access to App Usage Data for Custom Rewards?
Hi everyone, I'm working on an app for parents and kids where parents can define screen time goals or restrict usage of certain app categories (like social media or games). If the kid follows those rules—for example, by using their device less or avoiding restricted categories—they would earn points or rewards in the app. I’ve been exploring if the Apple Screen Time API allows developers to access this kind of data (like total screen time, app usage by category, etc.) so that I can track the kid’s behavior and reward them accordingly. Is it possible to programmatically access this data and implement such a reward system within my app? If so, what’s the best way to get started or which APIs should I look into? Thanks in advance for your help!
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
100
Activity
Apr ’25
Does "Locked and hidden apps" feature of iOS 18 support deep link?
Our app includes showing external web service with WebView or Safari and returning to the app with custom URL scheme or universal link. When we set "Hide and Require Face ID" feature which was available on iOS 18, neither custom URL scheme nor universal link activated the app. If we only set "Require Face ID", the deep link worked properly. Here is what we've tried: Define custom URL scheme or universal link in the app https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/defining-a-custom-url-scheme-for-your-app https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/supporting-universal-links-in-your-app Implement external web service with one of the following frameworks ASWebAuthenticationSession https://developer.apple.com/documentation/authenticationservices/aswebauthenticationsession/ SFSafariViewController https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/sfsafariviewcontroller Safari WKWebView https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/wkwebview On iOS 18 device, install the app and set "Hide and Require Face ID" Access external web page and tap the link which activates custom URL scheme or universal link We expected the deep link to work, but the results were: Custom URL scheme &amp;amp; ASWebAuthenticationSession/SFSafariViewController/Safari The system shows "Cannot open the page because the address is invalid" Custom URL scheme &amp;amp; WKWebView Nothing happens when tapping the link Universal link Directed to the server with associated domain file, but the system doesn't call the app which is defined in the associated domain file We tested the feature with the app built with Xcode16 beta 6, and the device with iOS 18 Seed 8(22A5350a). Does hide app feature support custom URL scheme and universal link?
Replies
3
Boosts
4
Views
1.9k
Activity
Jun ’25
EKEventStore save throws error "access denied" since iOS 18.4+, macOS 15.4+
Since iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 updating the calendar of an (ek)event (to another accounts calendar) or detaching an repeating event throws an error while saving: "Access denied" EKEventStore.save(event, span: .thisEvent, commit: true) catch { "Access denied" }
Replies
4
Boosts
4
Views
373
Activity
May ’25
Crashed on "[UITextField becomeFirstResponder]"
When the UITextField is touched, it crashes on "[UITextField becomeFirstResponder]" iOS 15.3.1 keyboard: Chinese keyboard of system
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
505
Activity
Sep ’25
EKEventStore save throws error "access denied" since iOS 18.4+, macOS 15.4+
Since iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 updating the calendar of an (ek)event (to another accounts calendar) or detaching an repeating event throws an error while saving: "Access denied" EKEventStore.save(event, span: .thisEvent, commit: true) catch { "Access denied" }
Replies
1
Boosts
1
Views
190
Activity
Apr ’25
DeviceActivityMonitor is overcounting screen time for users on iOS 17.6.1
Our app uses a 24-hour DeviceActivityMonitor repeating schedule to send users notifications for every hour of screen time they spend on their phone per day. Notifications are sent from eventDidReachThreshold callbacks at 1, 2, 3, etc, hour thresholds to keep them aware of their screen time. We have recently received an influx of emails from our users that after updating to iOS 17.6.1 their DeviceActivityMonitor notifications are saying their screen time was much higher than what is shown in DeviceActivityReport and their device's Screen Time settings. These users have disabled "Share Across Devices" - but I suspect the DeviceActivityMonitor is still getting screen time from their other devices even though that setting is turned off. Has anybody else noticed this, understands what is causing this, or could recommend a fix that we can tell our users to do?
Replies
10
Boosts
9
Views
2.2k
Activity
Oct ’25
When implementing a custom Mach exception handler, all recovery operations for SIGBUS/SIGSEGV except the first attempt will fail.
Recovery operations for signals SIGBUS/SIGSEGV fail when the process intercepts Mach exceptions. Only the first recovery attempt succeeds, and subsequent Signal notifications are no longer received within the process. I think this is a bug in XNU. The test code main.c is: If we comment out AddMachExceptionServer;, everything will return to normal. #include &lt;fcntl.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/arm/kern_return.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/kern_return.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/mach.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/message.h&gt; #include &lt;mach/port.h&gt; #include &lt;pthread.h&gt; #include &lt;setjmp.h&gt; #include &lt;signal.h&gt; #include &lt;stdbool.h&gt; #include &lt;stdio.h&gt; #include &lt;stdlib.h&gt; #include &lt;string.h&gt; #include &lt;sys/_types/_mach_port_t.h&gt; #include &lt;sys/mman.h&gt; #include &lt;sys/types.h&gt; #include &lt;unistd.h&gt; #pragma pack(4) typedef struct { mach_msg_header_t header; mach_msg_body_t body; mach_msg_port_descriptor_t thread; mach_msg_port_descriptor_t task; NDR_record_t NDR; exception_type_t exception; mach_msg_type_number_t codeCount; integer_t code[2]; /** Padding to avoid RCV_TOO_LARGE. */ char padding[512]; } MachExceptionMessage; typedef struct { mach_msg_header_t header; NDR_record_t NDR; kern_return_t returnCode; } MachReplyMessage; #pragma pack() static jmp_buf jump_buffer; static void sigbus_handler(int signo, siginfo_t *info, void *context) { printf("Caught SIGBUS at address: %p\n", info-&gt;si_addr); longjmp(jump_buffer, 1); } static void *RunExcServer(void *userdata) { kern_return_t kr = KERN_FAILURE; mach_port_t exception_port = MACH_PORT_NULL; kr = mach_port_allocate(mach_task_self_, MACH_PORT_RIGHT_RECEIVE, &amp;exception_port); if (kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { printf("mach_port_allocate: %s", mach_error_string(kr)); return NULL; } kr = mach_port_insert_right(mach_task_self_, exception_port, exception_port, MACH_MSG_TYPE_MAKE_SEND); if (kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { printf("mach_port_insert_right: %s", mach_error_string(kr)); return NULL; } kr = task_set_exception_ports( mach_task_self_, EXC_MASK_ALL &amp; ~(EXC_MASK_RPC_ALERT | EXC_MASK_GUARD), exception_port, EXCEPTION_DEFAULT | MACH_EXCEPTION_CODES,THREAD_STATE_NONE); if (kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { printf("task_set_exception_ports: %s", mach_error_string(kr)); return NULL; } MachExceptionMessage exceptionMessage = {{0}}; MachReplyMessage replyMessage = {{0}}; for (;;) { printf("Wating for message\n"); // Wait for a message. kern_return_t kr = mach_msg(&amp;exceptionMessage.header, MACH_RCV_MSG, 0, sizeof(exceptionMessage), exception_port, MACH_MSG_TIMEOUT_NONE, MACH_PORT_NULL); if (kr == KERN_SUCCESS) { // Send a reply saying "I didn't handle this exception". replyMessage.header = exceptionMessage.header; replyMessage.NDR = exceptionMessage.NDR; replyMessage.returnCode = KERN_FAILURE; printf("Catch exception: %d codecnt:%d code[0]: %d, code[1]: %d\n", exceptionMessage.exception, exceptionMessage.codeCount, exceptionMessage.code[0], exceptionMessage.code[1]); mach_msg(&amp;replyMessage.header, MACH_SEND_MSG, sizeof(replyMessage), 0, MACH_PORT_NULL, MACH_MSG_TIMEOUT_NONE, MACH_PORT_NULL); } else { printf("Mach error: %s\n", mach_error_string(kr)); } } return NULL; } static bool AddMachExceptionServer(void) { int error; pthread_attr_t attr; pthread_attr_init(&amp;attr); pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&amp;attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_DETACHED); pthread_t ptid = NULL; error = pthread_create(&amp;ptid, &amp;attr, &amp;RunExcServer, NULL); if (error != 0) { pthread_attr_destroy(&amp;attr); return false; } pthread_attr_destroy(&amp;attr); return true; } int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { AddMachExceptionServer(); struct sigaction sa; memset(&amp;sa, 0, sizeof(sa)); sa.sa_sigaction = sigbus_handler; sa.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO; // #if TARGET_OS_IPHONE // sigaction(SIGSEGV, &amp;sa, NULL); // #else sigaction(SIGBUS, &amp;sa, NULL); // #endif int i = 0; while (i++ &lt; 3) { printf("\nProgram start %d\n", i); bzero(&amp;jump_buffer, sizeof(jump_buffer)); if (setjmp(jump_buffer) == 0) { int fd = open("tempfile", O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0666); ftruncate(fd, 0); char *map = (char *)mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0); close(fd); unlink("tempfile"); printf("About to write to mmap of size 0 — should trigger SIGBUS...\n"); map[0] = 'X'; // ❌ triger a SIGBUS munmap(map, 4096); } else { printf("Recovered from SIGBUS via longjmp!\n"); } } printf("_exit(0)\n"); _exit(0); return 0; }
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
199
Activity
Apr ’25
FamilyActivityPicker Crashing / Freezing
Our users report frequent crashes with the FamilyActivityPicker. Since this is a screen controlled by Apple, I'm assuming that there's nothing I can do to prevent these crashes. I'm wondering, though, if there's any way to gracefully handle these crashes? When this happens, the following is printed to the console: [com.apple.FamilyControls.ActivityPickerExtension(1121)] Connection to plugin invalidated while in use. Does anyone know how to handle/catch this error?
Replies
4
Boosts
2
Views
1.3k
Activity
Aug ’25
How to get the bundleIdentifier or app name from FamilyActivitySelection's applicationTokens?
I'm working with the FamilyControls and DeviceActivity frameworks in iOS (Swift). In my app, I collect selected apps using a FamilyActivitySelection, and I access the selected apps via selection.applicationTokens, which gives me a Set. I would like to get either the bundle identifier or the display name of the selected apps from these ApplicationTokens. I tried creating an Application instance using: let app = Application(token: token) print(app.bundleIdentifier) print(app.localizedDisplayName) However, both bundleIdentifier and localizedDisplayName are always nil. My questions are: Outside the extension (in the main app), how can I get the bundleIdentifier or display name from an ApplicationToken? Is there an Apple-recommended way to resolve a Token into something human-readable or usable? If not, what is the best practice to store or identify user-selected apps for later use? Environment: iOS 17, Swift 5, Using FamilyControls and DeviceActivity APIs. Thank you for any help!
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
255
Activity
Apr ’25
How does font caching / resources for each app work?
I'm a font developer. In the development process, I will revise a font and overwrite the OTF file that is currently enabled (registered) with macOS. If I then launch an app, it will immediately use the revised version of the font; while apps that are already loaded will continue to use the old version. This suggests that each app is loading new and separate font data, rather than getting it from some existing cache in memory. Yet macOS does have a "font cache" of some sort. Some apps, like TextEdit, seem to only load the fonts that they need to use. However, other apps, like Pages, load every enabled (registered) font on the OS!! (According to the Open Files list in Activity Monitor.) Given that /System/Library/Fonts/ is 625 Mb, and we can't disable any of it, isn't that a lot of data to be repeating? How many fonts is too many fonts? I can't find much documentation about the process.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
687
Activity
Jan ’26
The frequency of uwb background ranging
Is there a way to increase the frequency of UWB background ranging?
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
109
Activity
Apr ’25