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.

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Device Activity Privacy Restrictions
Hey there! So, I'm trying to see what I'm able to do with the Device Activity Report Extension, and I have a few questions about the following quote: To protect the user’s privacy, your extension runs in a sandbox. This sandbox prevents your extension from making network requests or moving sensitive content outside the extension’s address space. In particular, what constitutes the address space for this extension? Can I save data to a UserDefaults object that only the extension can access? (Apps like Opal allow the user to label apps as "distracting" and "non-distracting", and I'm wondering how they do that!) From what I've read, I believe it cannot write to a shared app group or model (and I just want to confirm this) It also seems that there's nothing preventing it from reading data from the main app, so I'm just wondering if it's able to read data from an app group or model with no problem. Thanks in advance!
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154
Aug ’25
Family Controls App Help
Hello! I am a relatively new Apple developer and am almost done with my first app. I am implementing the Screen Time API to my app because the app is designed to help the user digitally detox and I am trying to make it so the user can select which apps they would like to monitor from a list of their apps on their phone so I am using the family activity picker but I just can't extract the data needed to track the apps. I am wondering how to do this. Thank you!
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160
Jul ’25
Couple simple suggestions to make WKExtendedRuntimeSession a lot better
I just launched my watch app with alarms using WKExtendedRuntimeSession, as an api I wish it was possible to: set a small title/message on the alarm ui itself, right now all it displays is the "Alarm from < app name >" with the app icon, but it would be nice to be able to set a short 1~2 line message below it as well! be able to read the current scheduled date, right now it's only possible to know it's scheduled.
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Jul ’25
Weatherkit API Historical 404 Errors Starting 3/5/25
We've been using the WeatherKit API for a few years now. Everything has been pretty stable. We'll periodically get 404 errors, but they usually disappear within a couple days. Starting March 5th we've again been getting 404 errors that slowly ramped up to March 20th and continued. We have had no code changes on our end, so something seems to have changed / broken on the server side of things. Here are some example API calls that are giving us a 404 error now https://weatherkit.apple.com/api/v1/weather/en/35.9981205/-78.8920444?dataSets=forecastDaily&dailyStart=2025-03-21T05:00:00Z&timezone=America/New_York&countryCode=US https://weatherkit.apple.com/api/v1/weather/en/41.4789363/-81.7404134?dataSets=forecastDaily&dailyStart=2025-03-21T04:56:00Z&timezone=America/New_York&countryCode=US Does anyone have any insights or information on this? Also if Apple is listening, an error more meaningful than 404 would be much much appreciated.
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101
Apr ’25
Background Modes for Audio Playback
Summary: I'm developing an iOS audio app in Flutter that requires background audio playback for long-form content. Despite having a paid Apple Developer Program account, the "Background Modes" capability does not appear as an option when creating or editing App IDs in the Developer Portal, preventing me from enabling the required com.apple.developer.background-modes entitlement. Technical Details: In the app that I am developing, users expect uninterrupted playback when app is backgrounded or device is locked similar to Audible, Spotify, or other audio apps that continue playing in background The Problem: When building for device testing or App Store submission, Xcode shows: Provisioning profile "iOS Team Provisioning Profile: com.xxxxx-vxxx" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.background-modes entitlement. However, the "Background Modes" capability is completely missing from the Developer Portal when creating or editing any App ID. I cannot enable it because the option simply doesn't exist in the capabilities list. What I've Tried: Multiple browsers/devices: Safari, Chrome, Firefox, incognito mode, different computers Account verification: Confirmed paid Individual Developer Program membership is active New App IDs: Created multiple new App IDs - capability never appears for any of them Documentation review: Followed all Apple documentation for configuring background execution modes Different regions: Tried changing portal language to English (US) Cache clearing: Logged out, cleared cookies, tried different sessions Apple Support Response: Contacted Developer Support (Case #102633509713). Received generic documentation links and was directed to Developer Forums rather than technical escalation. Has anyone else experienced the "Background Modes" capability missing from their Developer Portal? Has anyone successfully used the App Store Connect API to add background-modes when the GUI doesn't show it? What's the proper escalation path when Developer Support provides generic responses instead of technical assistance? Things I have attempted to solve this: audio_service package: Implemented as potential workaround, but still requires the system-level entitlement Manual provisioning profiles: Cannot create profiles with required entitlement if capability isn't enabled on App ID Other perhaps important facts about the environment where I am building the app: macOS Sonoma Xcode 15.x Flutter 3.5.4+ Apple Developer Program (Individual, paid)
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120
Jul ’25
Date that is not linked to TimeZone
Hello, I'm creating an app that stores multiple Date objects: the users selects a date and a time and receives a notification at this time precisely. The problem that happens is after saving a Date, if the device's timezone changes, the Date also changes - and that is not what's I'm expecting (just want the original time as is without depending on timezone). I have inspected the TimeZone properties when I'm building the Date from DateComponents but nothing has worked. Thank you for your answer.
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348
Feb ’25
DeviceActivityReport disappears when app comes back from background
Hello, I am trying to display basic screen time data on my main screen. On the initial load of the screen, the DeviceActivityReport renders correctly and visible, but after being in the background and coming back to the app, the whole view is just blank. I don't think I'm doing anything special. Is this a known bug? @main struct MyActivityReportExtension: DeviceActivityReportExtension { var body: some DeviceActivityReportScene { // Create a report for each DeviceActivityReport.Context that your app supports. TotalActivityReport { totalActivity in TotalActivityView(totalActivity: totalActivity) } // Add more reports here... } } extension DeviceActivityReport.Context { // If your app initializes a DeviceActivityReport with this context, then the system will use // your extension's corresponding DeviceActivityReportScene to render the contents of the // report. static let totalActivity = Self("Total Activity") } struct TotalActivityReport: DeviceActivityReportScene { // Define which context your scene will represent. let context: DeviceActivityReport.Context = .totalActivity // Define the custom configuration and the resulting view for this report. let content: (String) -> TotalActivityView func makeConfiguration(representing data: DeviceActivityResults<DeviceActivityData>) async -> String { // Reformat the data into a configuration that can be used to create // the report's view. let formatter = DateComponentsFormatter() formatter.allowedUnits = [.day, .hour, .minute] formatter.unitsStyle = .abbreviated formatter.zeroFormattingBehavior = .dropAll let totalActivityDuration = await data.flatMap { $0.activitySegments }.reduce(0, { $0 + $1.totalActivityDuration }) return formatter.string(from: totalActivityDuration) ?? "No activity data" } } struct TotalActivityView: View { let totalActivity: String var body: some View { VStack(alignment: .center, spacing: 4) { Text("Screen Time") .font(.system(size: 14, weight: .regular)) .foregroundColor(.secondary) .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, // stretch to the full cell width alignment: .center) Text(totalActivity) .font(.system(size: 18, weight: .medium)) .foregroundColor(.primary) } } } And I am using it in my main view: private var analyticsSection: some View { HStack(spacing: 24) { // Some View DeviceActivityReport(DeviceActivityReport.Context(rawValue: "Total Activity"), filter: DeviceActivityFilter( segment: .weekly( during: Calendar.current.dateInterval( of: .weekOfYear, for: .now )! ), users: .all, devices: .init([.iPhone, .iPad]), )) .frame(maxWidth: .infinity) // another view } .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, maxHeight: showAnalytics ? 58 : 0) .padding(.horizontal, showAnalytics ? 24 : 0) .opacity(showAnalytics ? 1.0 : 0.0) .clipped() }
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Aug ’25
WeatherKit - visibility units and height
We had a question that came up when we comparing data from WeatherKit to other sources - WeatherKit visibility was well beyond the boundaries we had historically, even from Darksky. That raises two questions: is visibility actually in meters like the docs say? is this visibility at ground level, 500ft, or some other height? We were seeing visibility numbers of up to 40 miles (after converting the number the API sent to miles), where all of our other sources are usually within 10 miles
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218
Mar ’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!
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81
Apr ’25
Core Spotlight searching only for title
I just adding a way to donate my app's data to Core Spotlight using CSSearchableIndex, but I'm finding that spotlight is only searching for the title of the CSSearchableItem I create. I know the index is working, because it always finds the item through the title property, but nothing else. This is how I'm creating the CSSearchableItem: - (CSSearchableItem *) createSearchableItem { CSSearchableItemAttributeSet* attributeSet = [[CSSearchableItemAttributeSet alloc] initWithContentType: UTTypeText]; attributeSet.title = [self titleForIndex]; attributeSet.displayName = [self titleForIndex]; attributeSet.contentDescription = [self contentDescriptionForIndex]; attributeSet.thumbnailData = [self thumbnailDataForIndex]; attributeSet.textContent = [self contentDescriptionForIndex]; CSSearchableItem *item = [[CSSearchableItem alloc] initWithUniqueIdentifier: [self referenceURLString] domainIdentifier:@"com.cjournal.cjournal-Logs" attributeSet:attributeSet]; item.expirationDate = [NSDate distantFuture]; return item; } There's a lot of confusing tips around which say specifying the 'textContent' should work, and/or setting the displayName is essential, but none of these are working. Is there something I'm missing with my setup? Thanks.
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Jun ’25
How does an app like Jomo access Screen Time data on parent devices (not just child devices)?
Hi all, I'm working on a Screen Time-based app with gamification features for families, where both children and parents interact and compare usage stats. The endgoal of the app is to motivate for less screentime or more use of productive apps. I'm testing Apple's Family Controls API, which works great for getting data from child devices. However, this API doesn't support fetching screen time data on the parent device itself. Apps like Jomo appear to provide insights and even their own "calculations" on screen time usage directly on the parent device. I have tested a few apps that showed both the usage data for my children and myself and did some nice things with it like creating stats. I've gone through the documentation and APIs extensively, but I can’t figure out how they’re doing this. As far as I can tell the only solution would be a custom VPN or MDM. However as far as I can tell Jomo for example does not use either of those. My questions are: Am I missing some API Are apps like Jomo using private APIs which they have been granted access to from Apple? Is there any way to access similar data on a parent device without using MDM or VPN? Any guidance or clarification would be greatly appreciated!
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158
May ’25
Delays When Creating Advanced App Clip Experiences for Other Businesses
Hey there, I have an app where I create custom Advanced App Clip Experiences for other businesses which seems to be a valid thing. I do create them via API. Upon creation everything looks fine: when I go to App Store Connect -> App -> Advanced App Clip Experiences, I do see the new App Clip Experience I've just created. Their status is Received (as any other active experiences) and have a custom URL. The issue is weird timing when the Advanced App Clip Experience actually becomes available on the iPhone (can be triggered via App Clip Code, etc). Some experiences become available literally immediately but others take days (some take 1-2 days, some take ~5 days). I'm not sure why there's a bid difference for an Advanced App Clip to be actually active. Does anyone have any kind of experience with that? I don't change domain settings, app's settings, etc. I'm just creating a new experience (both via API or manually at App Store Connect) and I do have different "activation" times for different App Clips. Same when I delete an Advanced App Clip Experience, it will still be available for next couple days. I get there might be caching stuff, etc. But the difference is quite huge and makes no sense since as I've mentioned some clips become available immediately but some takes days to be available. Thank you!
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94
Jun ’25
Use VZVirtualMachineView with actor-isolated VZVirtualMachine
We are using VZVirtualMachine instances in a Swift actor. It works fine but we hit a major problem when we decided that we want to attach it to a VZVirtualMachineView to show it / allow user interactions. VZVirtualMachineView and its virtualMachine property is isolated to @MainActor, so if we directly assign our vm instance to it, we receive a concurrency error: @MainActor public func createView() -> VZVirtualMachineView { let view = VZVirtualMachineView() view.virtualMachine = vm // x: Actor-isolated property 'vm' can not be referenced from the main actor return view } Is there any way we can make this work?
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94
Jun ’25
SetFocusFilterIntent `perform()` method is not called on iOS 18 beta
I’ve set up a focus filter, but the perform() method in SetFocusFilterIntent isn't called when the focus mode is toggled on or off on my iPhone since I updated to iOS 18 beta (22A5326f). I can reproduce the issue for my app, but focus filters are also broken for any third-party apps installed on my phone, so I guess it's not specific to how I've implemented my filter intent. This used to work perfectly on iOS 17. I didn't change a single line of code, and it broke completely on the latest iOS 18 beta. I've filed a bug report including a sysdiagnose (FB14715113). To the developers out there, is this something you are also observing in your apps?
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Mar ’25