Hi, I’m building an iOS app called SocialLite using Apple’s Screen Time APIs, primarily FamilyControls and ManagedSettings. My goal is to block access to the Instagram app itself, while still allowing the user to receive and see Instagram notifications. Right now, when I apply the shield/block using the Screen Time API, the Instagram app is blocked as expected, but its notifications also appear to be blocked/suppressed at the same time. What I’m trying to achieve: Block the Instagram app from being opened Still allow Instagram notifications to come through normally Current behavior: The app is blocked Notifications are also blocked or no longer visible My question: Is there any supported way with Apple’s Screen Time API / ManagedSettings to shield or block an app while still allowing that app’s notifications? Or are app access and notifications tied together by design when a shield is applied? If this behavior is expected, I’d appreciate confirmation from Apple or guidance on whether there is another supported approach. Thanks.

The Numbers.app reopens the last edited document when the app launches. If the document was moved to another folder in the Files.app while the app was not running, Numbers.app correctly tracks the file and reopens it. However, if the document was deleted in the Files.app and moved to Recently Deleted, Numbers.app does not reopen the document when the app launches. Question : How does Numbers.app detect that a document has been moved to Recently Deleted? Can third-party apps implement the same behavior? What I tested : If a file is moved while the app is not running, resolving a bookmark successfully tracks the moved file. Files that are deleted via the Files.app appear in Recently Deleted, but those files are actually moved to the following directories: iCloud Drive /var/mobile/Library/Mobile Documents/.Trash/ On My iPad /var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/{UUID}/File Provider Storage/.Trash/ App sandbox Documents directory ([On My iPad]/[Any App]) /var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/{UUID}/Documents/.Trash/ When resolving the bookmark after deletion, the bookmark still resolves successfully and returns the new file URL inside the .Trash directory. I tried the following checks on the resolved URL: Checking file existence Checking read/write accessibility Inspecting bookmark resolution results Using APIs related to NSTrashDirectory See https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/813329#813329021 All of these behaved the same as when the file was moved to a normal directory. None of these checks allowed me to detect that the file had been deleted. Additional experiment: I suspected that the app might simply check whether the path contains ".Trash", so I performed the following experiment. If a .numbers file is moved to /var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/{UUID}/Documents/.Trash/ then The file appears in Recently Deleted in Files.app Numbers.app does not reopen the document when the app launches However, if the same file is moved to Documents/Trash Documents/.Trashed Documents/Any Folder/.Trash then The file does not appear in Recently Deleted in Files Numbers does reopen the document when launched This suggests that Numbers.app is not simply checking whether the path contains ".Trash".

We are building an AI-powered smart glasses companion app, similar to Meta Ray-Ban. We want to provide true hands-free calling support. Right now, whenever the app tries to dial a native cellular call, iOS shows a confirmation screen that requires the user to tap to start the call. If the user always has to confirm/tap on the phone screen, there is no real point in using smart glasses for making calls. How can we initiate a native outgoing call without any confirmation dialog or extra tap, exactly like Siri does it, or like the Meta Ray-Ban glasses do when the user says “Hey Meta, call [name]” Please guide us on the correct APIs, entitlements, or integration path to achieve this behavior. Thank you.

We’re seeing a change in Spotlight search behavior on iOS 17 and later: Observation: User‑visible keywords we index (e.g. via Core Spotlight / CSSearchableItemAttributeSet with keywords) only start appearing in Spotlight suggestions after the user has typed more than 3 characters. With 1–3 characters, our app’s content often doesn’t show up at all, even when it clearly matches. Before iOS 17: The same indexed content could appear with fewer characters (e.g. 1–3 characters). Environment: Reproduced on multiple devices running iOS 17.x / 18.x; behavior is consistent. We’d like to confirm: Is this a documented change in iOS 17 (e.g. minimum character threshold for third‑party Spotlight results)? If yes, where is it documented? If it’s not intentional, could this be treated as a bug and considered for a fix in a future release? We’re happy to provide a sample project or more detail if that would help. Thank you.

Hello, I submitted a Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement request on February 25, 2026 for my prayer/productivity app that uses the Screen Time API to block distracting apps. I also submitted requests for two extensions on March 6, 2026: com.prayfirst.prayFirst.ShieldAction com.prayfirst.prayFirst.ShieldConfiguration All three requests still show "Submitted" status in the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles portal with no progress. I contacted Apple Developer Support (Case #102839422791), and they mentioned I should have received a "follow-up number" after submission — but I never received one. This entitlement is the only blocker preventing me from building and distributing my app. Could a DTS engineer please assist or escalate this? Team ID: BH752TBX9L Thank you.

Hi everyone, I'm running into what appears to be a stuck Family Controls entitlement request and wanted to see if anyone has experienced something similar. Request ID: 9D7MU547QH The request is still showing a status of "Submitted". Context: • Our main app bundle ID was already approved for the Family Controls entitlement. • Two related extensions (ShieldConfiguration and DeviceActivityMonitor) were also approved within a few days. • The remaining request is for a ShieldAction extension, which handles button taps from the shield UI. This entitlement is currently blocking our business's beta testing, so we’re trying to understand whether this is just normal queue delay or if the request might be stuck. Has anyone seen a case where the main app and other extensions were approved but a ShieldAction request remained in "Submitted" for an extended period? If an Apple engineer happens to see this, I’d greatly appreciate any guidance on whether the request might be stuck in the review queue. Thank you!

Given that we can't use isEligibleForAgeFeatures property on macOS, the documentation states that In macOS, isEligibleForAgeFeatures returns false because the system doesn’t require Age Assurance for the person or device. However, you can still call requestAgeRange in macOS to get the declared age range. But in unsuitable region the requestAgeRange request always returns DeclaredAgeRange.AgeRangeService.Error.notAvailable which is vague, as it might stand for API being unavailable just as well as "You receive this error when the system prompts a person and they decide not to share their age range with your app. ", as per documentation. Unfortunately, this error fires immediately instead of showing any kind of prompt for user, so the description is definitely wrong (or incomplete) in here. Possible solutions: expand Error cases to separate not available API and not available response expand isEligibleForAgeFeatures to properly support macOS Moreover, unlike iOS, there is still no usable tool or algorithm to test given feature for macOS (mock region, mock age, mock source of approval, revoke declared range, etc). Now I get a review with rejection, stating that I don't have age verification mechanisms present in my app. Also I found out that after filling the App Information regarding Age Ratings it spreads to all fresh releases, so even though my newest macOS release doesn't contain age verification mechanisms yet, it should, as iOS release has got this functionality up and running already and I had to check this when filling Age Ratings questionnaire. Now I'm stuck between removing this capability from App Information, so the macOS release can pass and stalling macOS releases until there is a proper usable API to implement Declared Age Range verification properly (at least the same way as on iOS). How should I properly develop and test this feature for macOS before releasing it publicly?

Dear Apple, while implementing Declared Age Range API in my app, I've noticed a mistake in documentation: the isEligibleForAgeFeatures property is marked 26.0+ in documentation, but 26.2+ in Xcode, which ultimately leads to inability to use it with OS below 26.2. Moreover, I'm thoroughly confused by this quote from documentation: This flag returns true on iOS and iPadOS based on a person’s eligibility and always returns false on macOS. It leads me to two questions: Is it possible to use Declared Age Range API for macOS apps? Will it be possible to use it in future? Will there be any changes regarding this matter in a meantime (especially after Jan 1st)? If yes - when should we expect these changes? If no - why this API declares macOS 26+ support alongside iOS/iPadOS, if it simply doesn't work for macOS now? As of now, my iOS app works flawlessly with given API (on iOS 26.2) while macOS app returns isEligibleForAgeFeatures = false and requestAgeRange request always throws AgeRangeService.Error.notAvailable. Also, does it mean that one should not use isEligibleForAgeFeatures boolean while implementing Declared Age Range API for apps below iOS 26.2 (I mean 26.0+)? Or implementing given API for iOS 26.2+ is a sufficient way to go? So shouldn't the whole API be marked as 26.2+? The minimum iOS version in my app is 16.0 and minimum macOS version is 13.0 anyway, so the significant part of users is left out of these updates, but the main goal here is legal compliance.

We are experiencing an issue where Apple’s CDN is not fetching the updated apple-app-site-association (AASA) file correctly for our domain. Domain - app.myloft-stage.com AASA File Locations (Both Return Correct JSON): https://app.myloft-stage.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association https://app.myloft-stage.com/apple-app-site-association Both endpoints: Return HTTP 200 Return valid JSON Content-Type: application/json No redirects Valid SSL certificate JSON validated and correctly formatted Apple CDN URL - https://app-site-association.cdn-apple.com/a/v1/app.myloft-stage.com Error Returned by Apple CDN - {"cause":"invalid character '\u003c' looking for beginning of value"} This error indicates that Apple CDN is receiving HTML content (starting with <) instead of JSON, even though the origin server returns proper JSON. Observations : Direct access to AASA file returns correct JSON. Apple CDN appears to be caching an older or incorrect response. The CDN response does not match the current server response. Universal Links fail due to this incorrect AASA retrieval.

I'm experiencing a contradictory validation issue with DeviceActivityReportExtension that creates an impossible situation: The Problem: Without NSExtensionPrincipalClass in Info.plist → App Store Connect rejects upload with: "Missing Info.plist values. No values for NSExtensionMainStoryboard or NSExtensionPrincipalClass found" With NSExtensionPrincipalClass → Local install fails with: "defines either an NSExtensionMainStoryboard or NSExtensionPrincipalClass key, which is not allowed for the extension point com.apple.deviceactivityui.report-extension" Setup: Extension point: com.apple.deviceactivityui.report-extension Using SwiftUI with @main attribute and DeviceActivityReportExtension protocol Xcode 16.2, iOS 17.6 deployment target Code structure: @main struct SpoolReport: DeviceActivityReportExtension { var body: some DeviceActivityReportScene { // Report scenes here } } The extension builds and runs perfectly without NSExtensionPrincipalClass, but cannot be uploaded to App Store Connect. Adding the key allows upload but breaks local installation. Is this a known issue? Is there a workaround or correct Info.plist configuration for DeviceActivityReportExtension? Thank you!

Hello, I am wondering if an app that does the following is possible or is impossible due to ios limitations for apps? An app that access all sms messages, and or all phone calls logs? (goal is to save them and not have to filter them manually) An app that control OTHER apps permissions and or read permissions status of all other apps?

I want to localize the app name, user the String Catalog to set en, en-US, en-CA, however, when the phone language is set to English (United States), the app name is displayed in English, while when the phone language is set to French, the app name is displayed in English-United States. However, the base language of the app settings is English. How can I make it right?

Hello, I am hoping someone from Apple or the community can help escalate or advise on my situation. I submitted a Live Caller ID Lookup entitlement request for my app Zinfo (com.parastashvili.Mobile), Team ID: CNH4KYRW44. A support case was opened on February 17, 2026 (Case ID: 102823550184). Apple's documentation states entitlement review takes up to 2 weeks. It has now been over 3 weeks with no substantive response despite multiple follow-ups. Timeline: Feb 17: Case opened Feb 26: I provided all requested technical details in full — OHTTP endpoints, Privacy Pass token system, DNS TXT record, Apple test number (+1 408 555 1212 returning "Johnny Appleseed"), all fully deployed and ready for validation Feb 27: Apple replied with a generic "appropriate team will be in contact" message Feb 28, Mar 6, Mar 10: Follow-up emails sent — no meaningful response All technical requirements are fully implemented and operational. We are ready for Apple's validation at any time. Has anyone else experienced long delays with Live Caller ID Lookup entitlement reviews? Is there a better escalation path? I have also submitted a new escalation ticket (Case ID: 102840874265) under Development and Technical > Entitlements today. Any advice or visibility from Apple staff would be greatly appreciated. App: Zinfo (com.parastashvili.Mobile) Extension Bundle ID: com.parastashvili.Mobile.LiveCallerID Team ID: CNH4KYRW44

I am working on an e-commerce app (retail/marketplace) that allows users to place orders for both free and paid products. After receiving a DeclaredAgeRange API response — retrieved via the Family Controls / Screen Time framework — indicating that a user is a minor, I want to understand the recommended approach for handling payment flows. Specifically, is it necessary to block payments for users identified as minors via DeclaredAgeRange, even though our app uses server-side encrypted card processing rather than Apple In-App Purchases (StoreKit)? Any guidance on best practices or App Store policy requirements for this scenario would be greatly appreciated.

Our watchOS app is exploring adding audio VOIP calling capability using our in-home platform. We are using LiveCommunicationKit for this and have that all hooked up nicely in a proof of concept implementation. Our use case is primarily based around supporting end-users through various tasks with assistance from a remotely based expert. We would like for our platform to be able to display visual content on the watch's screen during the call – in other words, we would like to be able to treat this as a video call. LiveCommunicationKit fully supports all video-related flags on watchOS and doesn't appear to have any different symbol availability versus its iOS version. This high-quality thread (https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/798090) from a DTS engineer suggests that our use case should be valid (i.e. whiteboarding apps) and that the system's response to an accepted income video call is to dismiss the LCK's incoming call screen and bring the target app to the foreground, allowing it to render its custom content. Unfortunately, on watchOS the system doesn't seem to treat a video call any differently from an audio call, and won't dismiss the system UI once it's answered. We fully realize that Apple Watch doesn't have a camera for outbound video, doesn't support VideoToolbox or other low-level video convenience libraries for simplified rendering and decoding, etc. That's not what we're worried about (yet). The documentation is at best unclear about whether LCK (or CallKit, for that matter) can hand off calls flagged as video-compatible according to how we think they should, which is passing foreground UI over to the app once the call has been accepted by the user. Can any Apple people shed some light on this? I recognize we are probably trying to do something not many people have before.

Hello, I’m implementing VoIP calling in an iOS application using PushKit (VoIP pushes) together with CallKit. The standard call flow works correctly: Happy scenario User A initiates a call. Server sends a VoIP push to User B. User B’s device receives the push and reports the incoming call using CallKit. User B answers the call. However, I would like clarification about non-happy scenarios and when it is acceptable to use VoIP pushes to update or stop a CallKit ringing state. Apple documentation warns that VoIP pushes must be used only when they result in a call-related action, so I want to ensure the following cases are compliant. Scenario A — Caller Cancels Before Answer User A calls User B. Server sends a VoIP push to User B. User B’s device starts ringing via CallKit. Before User B answers, User A cancels the call. Question: Is it acceptable to send another VoIP push to User B indicating that the call has been cancelled so the device can: stop the CallKit ringing UI end the call optionally mark it as missed or cancelled Or should this state change be handled using a regular remote push or another signaling mechanism instead of VoIP push? Scenario B — Callee Rejects the Call User B rejects the call from CallKit. The server must inform User A that the call was rejected. Question: Is it acceptable to send a VoIP push to User A to update the CallKit state and terminate the outgoing call UI? Scenario C — Multiple Devices per User User B may be logged in on multiple devices. User A calls User B. VoIP push is sent to all devices of User B. One device answers. Question: Is it acceptable to send a VoIP push to the remaining devices instructing them to: stop ringing end the CallKit incoming call UI Or is there a recommended alternative pattern for this case? Main Question Aside from the initial incoming call VoIP push, in which situations is it considered acceptable to send additional VoIP pushes to terminate or update CallKit state (cancelled, rejected, answered on another device)? The goal is to remain compliant with PushKit policies, particularly the guidance that VoIP pushes should only be used when they result in a call-related user action. Any guidance on the recommended architecture for these cases would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hey everyone, I'm developing an iOS only app and want to make sure it can not be installed on iPads. Using Xcode 26, Targets/Appname/General/Supported Destination - I have iPhone only as destination and in the Info.plist I have this: UIDeviceFamily 1 UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities telephony Is there anything else need to do to make sure it can't be installed on iPads? Thanks in advance

I am working on an e-commerce app (retail/marketplace) that allows users to place orders for both free and paid products. After receiving a DeclaredAgeRange API response — retrieved via the Family Controls / Screen Time framework — indicating that a user is a minor, I want to understand the recommended approach for handling payment flows. Specifically, is it necessary to block payments for users identified as minors via DeclaredAgeRange, even though our app uses server-side encrypted card processing rather than Apple In-App Purchases (StoreKit)? Any guidance on best practices or App Store policy requirements for this scenario would be greatly appreciated.

I am building a simple iOS app that shows the total phone usage time for today using the Screen Time APIs. Architecture: Main app → requests authorization using AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .individual) → displays a DeviceActivityReport Report extension → DeviceActivityReportExtension → calculates total usage using DeviceActivityResults<DeviceActivityData> → shows the number in a SwiftUI view The report works correctly. The extension successfully calculates the total usage and displays it on screen. Example logic inside the report extension: for await activityData in data { for await segment in activityData.activitySegments { totalSeconds += segment.totalActivityDuration } } let totalMinutes = Int(totalSeconds / 60) The problem: I need the main app to access that number so I can store it daily in my own database. I tried to send the value from the extension to the main app using: App Group + UserDefaults(suiteName:) App Group + shared file (FileManager.containerURL) writing inside makeConfiguration(...) Example: if let defaults = UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.myapp") { defaults.set(value, forKey: "savedTotalActivity") } But the main app cannot read the value. The report extension displays the number correctly, but the data never appears in shared storage. Questions: Is DeviceActivityReportExtension intentionally sandboxed so Screen Time data cannot be exported to the containing app? Is there any supported way for the main app to access the total usage value calculated in the report extension? If exporting the value is restricted, what is the recommended architecture for apps that want to store daily Screen Time totals for later analysis? Goal: I want a simple app that records something like: 2026-03-08 → 244 minutes 2026-03-09 → 198 minutes and stores it inside the app database. Any guidance on the correct architecture would help.

I've run into what appears to be a bug in PDFKit's radio button serialization. When creating a radio button group with PDFAnnotation, only the first annotation added via page.addAnnotation() gets a correct /AS entry in the written PDF — all other annotations always get /AS /Off, regardless of buttonWidgetState. Minimal reproduction func makeRadioButton(optionId: String, isSelected: Bool) -> PDFAnnotation { let ann = PDFAnnotation(bounds: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 20, height: 20), forType: .widget, withProperties: nil) ann.widgetFieldType = .button ann.widgetControlType = .radioButtonControl ann.fieldName = "Choice" ann.buttonWidgetStateString = optionId ann.buttonWidgetState = isSelected ? .onState : .offState return ann } let pdf = PDFDocument() let page = PDFPage() pdf.insert(page, at: 0) // Intend to select B page.addAnnotation(makeRadioButton(optionId: "A", isSelected: false)) page.addAnnotation(makeRadioButton(optionId: "B", isSelected: true)) page.addAnnotation(makeRadioButton(optionId: "C", isSelected: false)) _ = pdf.dataRepresentation() // Result: /AS is /Off for all three — B is not selected in the PDF What I observed Selecting A (first annotation added): /AS /A written correctly works Selecting B or C: /AS /Off for all buttons Additionally, dataRepresentation() corrupts the in-memory state as a side effect: buttonWidgetState of the selected annotation is .onState before the call and .offState after. Root cause During serialization, dataRepresentation() internally calls setButtonWidgetState:.onState on each annotation in turn to generate appearance streams. This triggers PDFKit's radio-group exclusivity logic, which silently clears all other annotations — so by the time /AS is written, only the first annotation's selection survives. Workaround It took a while to track this down, so I'm documenting the workaround here in case it helps others. Add the annotation that should be selected first via page.addAnnotation(): // Add selected annotation first page.addAnnotation(makeRadioButton(optionId: "B", isSelected: true)) page.addAnnotation(makeRadioButton(optionId: "A", isSelected: false)) page.addAnnotation(makeRadioButton(optionId: "C", isSelected: false)) Tested on macOS 26.3 / Xcode 26.3. Filed as Feedback FB22167174. Full code including workaround is here: radio_bug_swift.txt Has anyone else hit this? Is there a cleaner method I'm missing?