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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How to get a phone into a state where it's possible to test text filtering?
I'm currently finding it impossible to get a text filtering extension to be invoked when there's an incoming text message. There isn't a problem with the app/extension because this is the same app and code that is already developed, tested, and unchanged since I last observed it working. I know if there's any history of the incoming number being "known" then the extension won't get invoked, and I used to find this no hindrance to testing previously provided that: the incoming number isn't in contacts there's no outgoing messages to that number there's no outgoing phone calls to the number. This always used to work in the past, but not anymore. However, I've ensured the incoming text's number isn't in contacts, in fact I've deleted all the contacts. I've deleted the entire phone history, incoming and outgoing, and I've also searched in messages and made sure there's no interactions with that number. There's logging in the extension so I can see its being invoked when turned on from the settings app, but its not getting invoked when there's a message. The one difference between now and when I used to have no problem with this - the phone now has iOS 18.5 on it. Its as if in iOS 18.5 there ever was any past association with a text number, its not impossible to remove that association. Has there been some known change in 18.5 that would affect this call filtering behavior and not being able to rid of the incoming message caller as being "known" to the phone? Update I completely reset the phone and then I was able to see the the message filter extension being invoked. That's not an ideal situation though. What else needs to be done beyond what I mentioned above in order to get a phone to forget about a message's number and thus get an message filtering extension to be invoked when there's a message from that number?
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220
Jul ’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!
1
0
170
Jul ’25
Share Extension not working on macOS Tahoe and Photos App
When my Share Extension receives an image from the macOS Photos app on Tahoe, the NSItemProvider passes a URL to an image file in a temporary location. All attempts to read that file fail silently, such as with NSImage(contentsOfFile) I can see that the file does exist in Finder. This code did work in previous macOS versions. It seems like a permissions issue, but startAccessingSecurityScopedResource had no effect. Other platforms work, other apps work, such as shares from Finder, which shares via data instead of a url. I'm really stuck. Has anyone else run into this? // make sure provider has a conforming item if itemProvider.hasItemConformingToTypeIdentifier(imageType) { do { let data = try await itemProvider.loadItem(forTypeIdentifier: imageType, options: nil) // data may be image NativeImage, Data, or a URL to an image file. // figure out which by casting, then attempt to load uiImage if let image = data as? NativeImage { print("found NativeImage") self.images.append(image) } else if let data = data as? Data { print("found Data") if let image = NativeImage(data: data) { self.images.append(image) } } else if let url = data as? URL{ print("found URL") if let image = NativeImage(contentsOfFile: url.path) { print("loaded from URL") self.images.append(image) } } }catch{ print("⛔️ Share Extension Error: \(error.localizedDescription)") } }
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208
Nov ’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!
1
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170
May ’25
Weatherkit - visibility units and height
reposting this in case it got missed the first time around here https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/775900 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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70
Apr ’25
Clarification on ManagedSettings Shield Precedence (Application vs. Category)
I'm encountering what appears to be a specific precedence behavior with ManagedSettingsStore.shield and would appreciate some further clarification. My current understanding is that category-level shields take precedence over individual app allowances. My test involved... Using FamilyActivityPicker to select a single target application (e.g., "Calculator," which falls under the "Utilities" category). Using FamilyActivityPicker again to select the category of that target application. I applied shields using ManagedSettingsStore (named .individual): store.shield.applicationCategories = .specific(Set([utilitiesCategoryToken])) store.shield.applications = Set([calculatorApplicationToken]) Result: The calculator app remains shielded, suggesting that the category-level shield on Utilities overrides the attempt to allow the individual app. I also tried this using a single picker, but received only the category token instead of all application tokens in that category. Is this observed precedence (where store.shield.applicationCategories effectively overrides store.shield.applications for apps within the shielded category) the intended behavior? If so, are there any mechanisms available within the main app's capabilities (potentially using a Device Activity Report Extension or Shield Extension) to allow a specific ApplicationToken if its corresponding ActivityCategoryToken is part of the store.shield.applicationCategories set? Essentially, can store.shield.applications be used to create "allow exceptions" for individual apps that fall into an otherwise shielded category? Additionally, I mentioned that selecting an entire category in the picker only returns the opaque category token, not any application tokens. Is there any way in which I could return both the category and all application tokens by just selecting the category? Any insights or pointers would be greatly appreciated!
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148
May ’25
Eligibility for Default Dialer Capability in EU
Hello, I noticed the new entitlement in iOS 26 under LiveCommunicationKit: Preparing your app to be the default dialer app. My question is about eligibility: If a developer account is registered in the EU, can any app add the Default Dialer capability, or is it restricted only to apps that provide real calling/communication functionality (e.g., WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype)? If granted, does this capability allow the app to make/receive cellular calls and access call history, or is it limited only to VoIP-style scenarios through CallKit integration? What are the minimum functionalities required to support this feature (e.g., having a dial pad, call history screen, etc.)? Why must the developer account be registered in the EU to use this entitlement? Thanks in advance for the clarification!
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133
Aug ’25
Action Extensions: How do Amazon & Google open their apps?
Both follow the same pattern: show the image that is being shared along with a CTA button about doing something with it in their app. When you tap the button, their app opens. Is there some kind of magic conditions that tapping the button creates that makes extensionContext.open(_ URL: URL, completionHandler: ((Bool) -> Void)?) accept a URL for opening the app? Or are they just using the "walk the responder chain" hack and using the user's intent to do something in their app as sufficient justification for using it? I've tried opening a registered URL scheme for my app synchronously with the button tap, but it still is refusing to open (callback returns false).
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61
Nov ’25
How can I calculate distance and vertical velocity?
Can't I just add up all of the accelerations of the accelerometer and then use this physics equation to get distance? d = v(i) x t + (1/2) x a x t ^2 In this: v(i) would be 0 t = 1 second a = all accelerometer speeds added together for.1 second t = 1 second Can't I just use this equation to get vertical velocity? A lot of people have said it is impossible but It has been done with variometer apps. I can’t figure out the code. Can anyone guide me in the right direction? v(f) = v(i) + a x t v(i) = 0 a = y-axis acceleration for 1 second t = 1 second Please let me know if this is possible. Thank you so much for your help.
2
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204
Aug ’25
FamilyControls Framework Not Working for TestFlight Testers
Hello everyone, I’m developing an app using the FamilyControls framework, I distributed through TestFlight the other day using the “Family Controls” distribution (not Development). Everything works as expected in dev builds — but for external TestFlight testers, nothing in the FamilyControls framework seems to function. I'm using the correct Family Controls capability in Xcode (added via Signing & Capabilities). The com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement is present in my .entitlements file. All the users who reported the issue had correctly given screen time permissions to the app. Would really appreciate some help regarding where the issue could come from.
1
0
182
Jul ’25
CarKeyErrorCode in the CarKey framework
I have a question regarding CarKeyErrorCode in the CarKey framework. I plan to use the following methods in the CarKey framework: CarKeyRemoteControl.start CarKeyRemoteControlSession.vehicleReports CarKeyRemoteControlSession.perform RemoteKeylessEntryAction.ExecutionRequest.results Each of the above methods throws an Error. Are these different from CarKeyErrorCode? Is CarKeyErrorCode only used in CarKeyRemoteControlSessionDelegate.remoteControlSession(_:didInvalidateWithError:)? If methods 1-4 do not return CarKeyErrorCode, what kind of Error do they return? Thank you in advance.
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87
Oct ’25
iOS magnetometer data processing
Hello, I’m developing an app to detect movement past a strong magnet, targeting both Android and iOS. On Android, I’m using the Sensor API, which provides calibrated readings with temperature compensation, factory (or online) soft-iron calibration, and online hard-iron calibration. The equivalent on iOS appears to be the CMCalibratedMagneticField data from the CoreMotion framework. However, I’m encountering an issue with the iOS implementation. The magnetometer data on iOS behaves erratically compared to Android. While Android produces perfectly symmetric peaks, iOS shows visual peaks that report double the magnetic field strength. Additionally, there’s a "pendulum" effect: the field strength rises, drops rapidly, rises again to form a "double peak" structure, and takes a while to return to the local Earth magnetic field average. The peaks on iOS are also asymmetric. I’m wondering if this could be due to sensor fusion algorithms applied by iOS, which might affect the CMCalibratedMagneticField data. Are there other potential reasons for this behavior? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
0
0
109
Jun ’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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105
Apr ’25
Another Screen time API question
How can I use the Screen Time API to set a restriction for a child account from my app running on the parent’s account?
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
92
Activity
Jun ’25
How to get a phone into a state where it's possible to test text filtering?
I'm currently finding it impossible to get a text filtering extension to be invoked when there's an incoming text message. There isn't a problem with the app/extension because this is the same app and code that is already developed, tested, and unchanged since I last observed it working. I know if there's any history of the incoming number being "known" then the extension won't get invoked, and I used to find this no hindrance to testing previously provided that: the incoming number isn't in contacts there's no outgoing messages to that number there's no outgoing phone calls to the number. This always used to work in the past, but not anymore. However, I've ensured the incoming text's number isn't in contacts, in fact I've deleted all the contacts. I've deleted the entire phone history, incoming and outgoing, and I've also searched in messages and made sure there's no interactions with that number. There's logging in the extension so I can see its being invoked when turned on from the settings app, but its not getting invoked when there's a message. The one difference between now and when I used to have no problem with this - the phone now has iOS 18.5 on it. Its as if in iOS 18.5 there ever was any past association with a text number, its not impossible to remove that association. Has there been some known change in 18.5 that would affect this call filtering behavior and not being able to rid of the incoming message caller as being "known" to the phone? Update I completely reset the phone and then I was able to see the the message filter extension being invoked. That's not an ideal situation though. What else needs to be done beyond what I mentioned above in order to get a phone to forget about a message's number and thus get an message filtering extension to be invoked when there's a message from that number?
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
220
Activity
Jul ’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!
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
170
Activity
Jul ’25
Share Extension not working on macOS Tahoe and Photos App
When my Share Extension receives an image from the macOS Photos app on Tahoe, the NSItemProvider passes a URL to an image file in a temporary location. All attempts to read that file fail silently, such as with NSImage(contentsOfFile) I can see that the file does exist in Finder. This code did work in previous macOS versions. It seems like a permissions issue, but startAccessingSecurityScopedResource had no effect. Other platforms work, other apps work, such as shares from Finder, which shares via data instead of a url. I'm really stuck. Has anyone else run into this? // make sure provider has a conforming item if itemProvider.hasItemConformingToTypeIdentifier(imageType) { do { let data = try await itemProvider.loadItem(forTypeIdentifier: imageType, options: nil) // data may be image NativeImage, Data, or a URL to an image file. // figure out which by casting, then attempt to load uiImage if let image = data as? NativeImage { print("found NativeImage") self.images.append(image) } else if let data = data as? Data { print("found Data") if let image = NativeImage(data: data) { self.images.append(image) } } else if let url = data as? URL{ print("found URL") if let image = NativeImage(contentsOfFile: url.path) { print("loaded from URL") self.images.append(image) } } }catch{ print("⛔️ Share Extension Error: \(error.localizedDescription)") } }
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
208
Activity
Nov ’25
Callkit block number
can i block number on my app with callkit if the number already exists as a contact? Or i can only block number that are not on the contact list ?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
106
Activity
Aug ’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!
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
170
Activity
May ’25
Weatherkit - visibility units and height
reposting this in case it got missed the first time around here https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/775900 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
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
70
Activity
Apr ’25
CallKit: Call Blocking for 3rd party apps question
Hi Apple Dev community, I want to ask if CallKit and CXCallDirectoryProvider (with addBlockingEntryWithNextSequentialPhoneNumber) doesn't work for 3rd party Phone apps. Is this a known issue that CallKit doesn't work on 3rd party iOS Phone apps (like WhatsApp, etc)? Thank you.
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
92
Activity
Sep ’25
Clarification on ManagedSettings Shield Precedence (Application vs. Category)
I'm encountering what appears to be a specific precedence behavior with ManagedSettingsStore.shield and would appreciate some further clarification. My current understanding is that category-level shields take precedence over individual app allowances. My test involved... Using FamilyActivityPicker to select a single target application (e.g., "Calculator," which falls under the "Utilities" category). Using FamilyActivityPicker again to select the category of that target application. I applied shields using ManagedSettingsStore (named .individual): store.shield.applicationCategories = .specific(Set([utilitiesCategoryToken])) store.shield.applications = Set([calculatorApplicationToken]) Result: The calculator app remains shielded, suggesting that the category-level shield on Utilities overrides the attempt to allow the individual app. I also tried this using a single picker, but received only the category token instead of all application tokens in that category. Is this observed precedence (where store.shield.applicationCategories effectively overrides store.shield.applications for apps within the shielded category) the intended behavior? If so, are there any mechanisms available within the main app's capabilities (potentially using a Device Activity Report Extension or Shield Extension) to allow a specific ApplicationToken if its corresponding ActivityCategoryToken is part of the store.shield.applicationCategories set? Essentially, can store.shield.applications be used to create "allow exceptions" for individual apps that fall into an otherwise shielded category? Additionally, I mentioned that selecting an entire category in the picker only returns the opaque category token, not any application tokens. Is there any way in which I could return both the category and all application tokens by just selecting the category? Any insights or pointers would be greatly appreciated!
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
148
Activity
May ’25
Eligibility for Default Dialer Capability in EU
Hello, I noticed the new entitlement in iOS 26 under LiveCommunicationKit: Preparing your app to be the default dialer app. My question is about eligibility: If a developer account is registered in the EU, can any app add the Default Dialer capability, or is it restricted only to apps that provide real calling/communication functionality (e.g., WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype)? If granted, does this capability allow the app to make/receive cellular calls and access call history, or is it limited only to VoIP-style scenarios through CallKit integration? What are the minimum functionalities required to support this feature (e.g., having a dial pad, call history screen, etc.)? Why must the developer account be registered in the EU to use this entitlement? Thanks in advance for the clarification!
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
133
Activity
Aug ’25
Is CallKit still not available in certain countries?
Is CallKit still not available in certain countries? like China? If it is, is there a way to get a list of countries?
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
81
Activity
Mar ’25
Message filter extension does not run for postpaid numbers
If I run an app with a message filter extension, it's triggered for all the prepaid unknown numbers and its not triggered for all the unknown postpaid numbers. Any idea, how to trigger for postpaid unknown numbers?.
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
72
Activity
Mar ’25
Action Extensions: How do Amazon & Google open their apps?
Both follow the same pattern: show the image that is being shared along with a CTA button about doing something with it in their app. When you tap the button, their app opens. Is there some kind of magic conditions that tapping the button creates that makes extensionContext.open(_ URL: URL, completionHandler: ((Bool) -> Void)?) accept a URL for opening the app? Or are they just using the "walk the responder chain" hack and using the user's intent to do something in their app as sufficient justification for using it? I've tried opening a registered URL scheme for my app synchronously with the button tap, but it still is refusing to open (callback returns false).
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
61
Activity
Nov ’25
Apple watch 天气问题
在watchOS11.5下,Apple watch无法加载天气。无论是否连接自己的iPhone均无法加载
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
213
Activity
May ’25
How can I calculate distance and vertical velocity?
Can't I just add up all of the accelerations of the accelerometer and then use this physics equation to get distance? d = v(i) x t + (1/2) x a x t ^2 In this: v(i) would be 0 t = 1 second a = all accelerometer speeds added together for.1 second t = 1 second Can't I just use this equation to get vertical velocity? A lot of people have said it is impossible but It has been done with variometer apps. I can’t figure out the code. Can anyone guide me in the right direction? v(f) = v(i) + a x t v(i) = 0 a = y-axis acceleration for 1 second t = 1 second Please let me know if this is possible. Thank you so much for your help.
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
204
Activity
Aug ’25
FamilyControls Framework Not Working for TestFlight Testers
Hello everyone, I’m developing an app using the FamilyControls framework, I distributed through TestFlight the other day using the “Family Controls” distribution (not Development). Everything works as expected in dev builds — but for external TestFlight testers, nothing in the FamilyControls framework seems to function. I'm using the correct Family Controls capability in Xcode (added via Signing & Capabilities). The com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement is present in my .entitlements file. All the users who reported the issue had correctly given screen time permissions to the app. Would really appreciate some help regarding where the issue could come from.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
182
Activity
Jul ’25
CarKeyErrorCode in the CarKey framework
I have a question regarding CarKeyErrorCode in the CarKey framework. I plan to use the following methods in the CarKey framework: CarKeyRemoteControl.start CarKeyRemoteControlSession.vehicleReports CarKeyRemoteControlSession.perform RemoteKeylessEntryAction.ExecutionRequest.results Each of the above methods throws an Error. Are these different from CarKeyErrorCode? Is CarKeyErrorCode only used in CarKeyRemoteControlSessionDelegate.remoteControlSession(_:didInvalidateWithError:)? If methods 1-4 do not return CarKeyErrorCode, what kind of Error do they return? Thank you in advance.
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
87
Activity
Oct ’25
iOS magnetometer data processing
Hello, I’m developing an app to detect movement past a strong magnet, targeting both Android and iOS. On Android, I’m using the Sensor API, which provides calibrated readings with temperature compensation, factory (or online) soft-iron calibration, and online hard-iron calibration. The equivalent on iOS appears to be the CMCalibratedMagneticField data from the CoreMotion framework. However, I’m encountering an issue with the iOS implementation. The magnetometer data on iOS behaves erratically compared to Android. While Android produces perfectly symmetric peaks, iOS shows visual peaks that report double the magnetic field strength. Additionally, there’s a "pendulum" effect: the field strength rises, drops rapidly, rises again to form a "double peak" structure, and takes a while to return to the local Earth magnetic field average. The peaks on iOS are also asymmetric. I’m wondering if this could be due to sensor fusion algorithms applied by iOS, which might affect the CMCalibratedMagneticField data. Are there other potential reasons for this behavior? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
109
Activity
Jun ’25
Show appointment status
I would like the function in the calendar app to be able to assign a status to the set appointment, such as unconfirmed or pending.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
96
Activity
Oct ’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.
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
105
Activity
Apr ’25