I would like to inquire about the feasibility of developing an iOS application with the following requirements:
The app must support real-time audio communication based on UDP.
It needs to maintain a TCP signaling connection, even when the device is locked.
The app will run only on selected devices within a controlled (closed) environment, such as company-managed iPads or iPhones.
Could you please clarify the following:
Is it technically possible to maintain an active TCP connection when the device is locked?
What are the current iOS restrictions or limitations for background execution, particularly related to networking and audio?
Are there any recommended APIs or frameworks (such as VoIP, PushKit, or Background Modes) suitable for this type of application?
Networking
RSS for tagExplore the networking protocols and technologies used by the device to connect to Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices, and cellular data services.
Selecting any option will automatically load the page
Post
Replies
Boosts
Views
Activity
We are developing a custom vpn client using Packet Tunnel Provider extension. Our VPN use Client Certificate authentication.
Certificates need to be delivered to device using MDM. We plan to deliver certificates and other settings using configuration profiles with com.apple.vpn.managed and com.apple.security.pkcs12 payloads.
There are some things we do not understand:
What entitlements do we need? Do we need additional entitlements except com.apple.developer.networkingextension and com.apple.managed.vpn.shared?
What is the process to get com.apple.managed.vpn.shared entitlement?
Is ADP (not ADEP) enough for such application?
I have an NEPacketTunnelProvider that's configured using NEPacketTunnelNetworkSettings. I'm using NEDNSSettings to configure the DNS resolver of the packet tunnel, and would like to specify the exact domains that should use this resolver using the matchDomains member variable.
While it's not explicitly mentioned in the documentation [1], I've noticed that if a domain is present in matchDomains, then all subdomains of it will also be resolved using this resolver, as if a wildcard match rule is in place.
I wanted to ask if this the intended behavior, and if so, is there any way to disable it so that only exact domain matches will be resolved?
I.e., if "example.com" is in the matchDomains list, I would like requests for this domain be resolved using the configured DNS resolver, while ignoring requests to the subdomain"test.example.com".
[1] https://developer.apple.com/documentation/networkextension/nednssettings/matchdomains
I am running a full-tunnel VPN using a Packet Tunnel Provider. During VPN setup, we configure DNS setting with specific DNS servers for all domains to be used by the tunnel. However, our project requires DNS resolution for every domain from both the VPN-provided DNS servers and the ISP’s DNS servers.
When I attempt to use c-ares or other third-party libraries to resolve domains via the ISP DNS servers, these libraries only detect and use the VPN DNS servers instead. As a result, all queries fail.
Is there a way on iOS to programmatically determine the ISP DNS servers while a full-tunnel VPN is active, or a system API that allows DNS queries to be explicitly resolved using the ISP’s DNS servers?
Using NEHotspotConfigurationManager.joinAccessoryHotspot(_ accessory: ASAccessory, passphrase: String) to connect the WiFi, but this function implicitly sets joinOnce to YES.
Is there any api that can use ASAccessory to connect to WiFi while maintaining JoinOnce = false.
Is it possible to open up this feature?
I was wondering which is the preferred way to send a lot of data from sensors of the apple watch to server.
It is preferred to send small chucks to iphone and then to server or directly send bulk data to server from watch. How does it affect battery and resources from watch ?
Are there any triggers that I can use to ensure best data stream. I need to send at least once a day. Can I do it in background or do I need the user to have my app in the foreground ?
Thank you in advance
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Networking
Tags:
WatchKit
Health and Fitness
Network
Apple Watch
I’m developing a iOS VPN app, and I need to execute a task in the main app even when it’s in the background or killed state. I know the Network Extension continues running during those times. Is there a way for the extension to immediately notify the app or trigger a task on the app side?
i unfortunatly upgraded to Sequoia since then I see when:
i select
XCode ->Product->run
i see
Error: No route to host
i cannot grant access to local network for XCode
i can no longer debug my program as i did with Sonora
I'm building an app that helps manage my own wifi access points. Now, all my wifis emit SSIDs starting with the same prefix. Is it possible for me to list down all the SSIDs near me that start with that prefix, so that determine which of my wifis are near me? (Swift)
Can NEHotspotHelper or NEHotspotConfigurationManager help in this regard?
Good morning,
I have been playing with he new Networking framework released in beta, and i think its amazing how powerful and simple it is.
However i have been tackling some issues with it, it seems that the NetworkListener does not allow us to configure a specific endpoint for any of the protocols, UDP, TCP (QUIC, TLS)
Is this intended or just not missing features as of the Beta ?
I figured out how to use bonjour to get a port (as i am brand new to using Networking on macOS and Swift)
I get that the use of this is mainly as a client to connect to servers, but it would make more sense to have a high level abstraction of what already exist, wouldn't it be more intuitive to configure a NetworkEndpoint that contains either a Bonjour Service or an endpoint with configured port that we can then configure on the Listener, instead of doing .service(...) ?
We have an iPad application that utilizes Multipeer Connectivity to enable local communication between devices running a copy of our app. Until recently, we were able to test this functionality in the Xcode simulator without any issues. We could easily set up multiple simulators and have them all communicate with each other. However, recently, either due to an upgrade to Xcode or MacOS, this functionality ceased working in the simulator. Surprisingly, it still functions perfectly on physical devices.
If we reboot the development computer and launch the simulator immediately after the reboot (without building and sending from Xcode, but running the existing code on the device), the issue resolves. However, the moment we generate a new build and send it to the simulator from Xcode, the multipeer functionality stops working again in the simulator. The simulators won’t reconnect until a reboot of the physical Mac hardware hosting the simulator.
We’ve tried the usual troubleshooting steps, such as downgrading Xcode, deleting simulators and recreating them, cleaning the build folder, and deleting derived data, but unfortunately, none of these solutions have worked. The next step is to attempt to use a previous version of MacOS (15.3) and see if that helps, but I’d prefer to avoid this if possible.
Does anyone have any obvious suggestions or troubleshooting steps that might help us identify the cause of this issue?
While updating our test devices to iOS 26, we noticed that the connection between devices are flaky. Often when connecting to a Peer from a device running iOS 26 we can observe the invite coming through and when accepting said invite, both ends going to .connecting state and a while later going back to .notConnected within the peer(_ peerID: MCPeerID, didChange state: MCSessionState) function. This happens regularly and retrying the invitation process several times usually resolves it. Do anyone have any information or guidance on how to resolve this issue?
Hello,
I am in a very similar situation as described in the thread: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/655183
Context: I am working on an app that receives data from a hardware device through its Wifi network, and the hardware is not connected to the internet. Now, I would need to call some API while still connected to hardware so I would need to use the cellular data.
As mentioned on the thread, I can achieve this via Network framework, using the requiredInterfaceType property. But Is there any other way I can achieve this? I can also do some suggestion on the hardware if that's helpful.
Thank you!
Greetings
I'm trying to get on iPad the SSID from the wifi I'm connected to. For that, I added the wifi entitlement and I'm requesting permission to the user for Location.
Once I have it, I'm using the function CNCopySupportedInterfaces to get the interfaces, but I can only receive the en0, which using the method CNCopyCurrentNetworkInfo returns nil.
I also tried using the NEHotspotNetwork.fetchCurrent and the SSID keeps being nil. So right now I'm drawing a blank. Is there any way to make it work? Thanks.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Networking
Tags:
Swift
Network Extension
Network
Core Location
I am writing to seek clarification on two technical issues related to iOS frameworks (CoreBluetooth and NetworkExtension). These observations are critical for optimizing our app's performance, and I would appreciate any official guidance or documentation references.
CoreBluetooth Scanning Frequency and Cycle
Issue:
We noticed inconsistent BLE device discovery times (ranging from 0.5s to 1.5s) despite the peripheral advertising at 2Hz (500ms interval).
Questions:
Does iOS regulate the BLE scan interval or duty cycle internally? If yes, what factors affect this behavior (e.g., foreground/background state, connected devices)?
Are there recommended practices to reduce discovery latency for peripherals with fixed advertising intervals?
Is there a way to configure scan parameters (e.g., scan window/interval) programmatically, similar to Android's BluetoothLeScanner?
Test Context:
Device: iPhone 13 mini (iOS 17.6.1)
Code: CBCentralManager.scanForPeripherals(withServices: nil, options: [CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey: true])
NEHotspotConfigurationManager Workflow and Latency
Issue:
Using NEHotspotConfigurationManager.shared.apply(_:) to connect to Wi-Fi occasionally takes up to 8 seconds to complete.
Questions:
What is the internal workflow of the apply method? Does it include user permission checks, SSID scanning, authentication, or IP assignment steps?
Are there known scenarios where this method would block for extended periods (e.g., waiting for user interaction, network timeouts)?
Is the latency related to system-level retries or radio coexistence with other wireless activities (e.g., Bluetooth)?
Test Context:
Configuration: NEHotspotConfiguration(ssid: "TestSSID")
Behavior: Delay occurs even when the Wi-Fi network is in range and credentials are correct.
I have a question. I work for a mobile operator, and when you insert the SIM, the default APN is automatically configured. However, afterward, using the internal Device Manager platform, we send the corresponding APN of an MVNO to that MSISDN. However, the iPhone device (any model, recent iOS versions) receives the notification of the APN change, but it doesn't reflect the change in the APN settings menu. Do you know how we could make the iPhone device reflect the APN change?
plateform: iPadOS 16.3.1
xcode:15.2
code:
self.queue = Queue()
self.monitor = NWPathMonitor()
self.monitor.pathUpdateHandler = { [weak self] path in
queue.async {
}
}
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Networking
Hello,
I'm running into an issue while developing an iOS app that requires local network access. I’m using the latest MacBook Air M4 with macOS sequoia 15.5 and Xcode 16.1. In the iOS Simulator, my app fails to discover devices connected to the same local network.
I’ve already added the necessary key to the Info.plist:
NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription
This app needs access to local network devices.
When I run the app on a real device and M2 Chip Macbook's simulators, it works fine for local network permission as expected. However, in the M4 Chip Macbook's Simulator:
The app can’t find any devices on the local network
Bonjour/mDNS seems not to be working as well
I’ve tried the following without success:
Restarting Simulator and Mac
Resetting network settings in Simulator
Confirming app permissions under System Settings > Privacy & Security
Has anyone else encountered this issue with the new Xcode/macOS combo? Is local network access just broken in the Simulator for now, or is there a workaround?
Thanks in advance!
The Wi‑Fi Alliance’s Wi‑Fi Aware data communication uses IPv6.
However, in Chapter 53 “Wi‑Fi Aware” of the Accessory Design Guidelines for Apple Devices, Release R26, it is stated that “The Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) for IPv6 address resolution is not supported.”
This has caused confusion among developers: Does Apple’s Wi‑Fi Aware data communication actually use IPv6?
What is the impact of “The Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) for IPv6 address resolution is not supported” in Apple’s implementation?
Hi all!
I’m having trouble distributing an iOS app with a DNS Proxy NetworkExtension via AdHoc. The app and extension work perfectly with development profiles, but when I export and install the AdHoc IPA, I get a “permission denied” error when trying to install/enable the DNS Proxy extension.
What I’ve done:
Both the app and the DNS Proxy extension have their own App IDs in the Apple Developer portal.
Both App IDs have the same App Group enabled: group.com.irakai.SafeLinkApp2.
The extension App ID has the NetworkExtension capability with dns-proxy enabled.
I created two AdHoc provisioning profiles (one for the app, one for the extension), both including the same devices and the correct entitlements.
I assigned the correct AdHoc profiles to each target in Xcode and exported the IPA via Organizer.
I install the IPA on a registered device using Apple Configurator.
Entitlements (extracted from the signed binaries on device):
App:
<key>application-identifier</key><string>6PBG234246.com.irakai.SafeLinkApp2</string>
<key>com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension</key><array>
<string>packet-tunnel-provider</string>
<string>dns-proxy</string>
</array>
<key>com.apple.developer.team-identifier</key><string>6PBG234246</string>
<key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key><array>
<string>group.com.irakai.SafeLinkApp2</string>
</array>
<key>get-task-allow</key><false/>
DNSProxy Extension:
<key>application-identifier</key><string>6PBG234246.com.irakai.SafeLinkApp2.DNSProxy</string>
<key>com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension</key><array>
<string>dns-proxy</string>
</array>
<key>com.apple.developer.team-identifier</key><string>6PBG234246</string>
<key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key><array>
<string>group.com.irakai.SafeLinkApp2</string>
</array>
<key>get-task-allow</key><false/>
Error message (from my app’s logs):
Error instalando DNS Proxy: permission denied
Usuario: Roberto
AppGroup: group.com.irakai.SafeLinkApp2
AppGroupPath: /private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/D8AD2DED-AD96-4915-9B7A-648C9504679B
Entitlements:
BundleId: com.irakai.SafeLinkApp2
Debug info: Error Domain=NEDNSProxyErrorDomain Code=1 "permission denied" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=permission denied}
Other details:
The device is included in both AdHoc profiles.
The App Group is present and identical in both entitlements.
The extension’s bundle identifier matches the App ID in the portal.
The extension is signed with the correct AdHoc profile.
I have tried rebooting the device and reinstalling the IPA.
The error only occurs with AdHoc; development builds work fine.
Questions:
Is there anything else I should check regarding AdHoc provisioning for NetworkExtension DNS Proxy?
Are there any known issues with AdHoc and NetworkExtension on recent iOS versions?
Is there a way to get more detailed diagnostics from the system about why the permission is denied?
Could this be a bug in iOS, or am I missing a subtle configuration step?
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!