Apple Developer Forums

Apple Developer Forums are a great place to post questions, exchange knowledge, and connect with fellow developers and Apple engineers on a variety of development topics.

View forums

Signing in

Anyone can view the forums. To post, you’ll need to sign in with your Apple ID. If you have an Apple Developer account, sign in with the Apple ID associated with that account. The first time you sign in to the forums, you’ll be prompted to agree to the Apple Developer Forums Agreement and to create a username. Choose a username that's between 3 and 36 characters in length using numerals, upper or lower case Roman letters, dashes (-), and/or underscores (_). Usernames are visible to anyone viewing the forums and cannot be changed later.

Home page

Apple Developer Forums are organized by topic and subtopic, and supported by tags. The home page provides an overview of all topics and subtopics, showing most recent posts within each. To see all posts across every topic, simply select the Latest tab.

Profile

Your profile lists the number of posts you’ve created, your reputation points, and how many of your replies are marked as Apple Recommended or Accepted Answer. It also includes easy-to-navigate tabs that show:

• Posts you’ve authored.
• Replies you’ve authored.
• Threads you’re watching. (This list is private.)

In addition, you have the option of adding your location and a link to your product page or developer page on the App Store. You can also choose to display the last time you were online and how long you’ve been a forums user alongside your account membership status. Profiles are searchable and can be viewed by anyone.

Questions and replies

The forums are meant for code-level questions. For questions about program membership and other nontechnical developer topics, contact Apple Developer Support.

For questions about nondevelopment topics, visit Apple Support Community.

Before asking a question, search for similar questions on the forums to see if answers may already be available. If there are no similar questions, click the Post button on the top-right, enter your question, then tag it appropriately.

When replying to a question, read the question carefully and ensure that your reply addresses what’s being asked. Make sure your replies are as complete and helpful as possible. Try to mention any limitations, assumptions, or simplifications.

You can also add a comment to a question or reply to ask for more details or provide more context. If a reply resolves your question, mark the reply as Accepted by clicking the checkmark icon next to the reply to turn the icon green. When a reply is accepted, 15 reputation points are given to the author of the reply. Fifteen reputation points are also given to the reply, the question, and the tags associated with the question. Only the author of a question can mark a reply as Accepted and it can’t be unmarked.

An Apple Developer Forums admin can mark a reply as Apple Recommended. This causes the reply to appear at the top of the thread with a black Apple icon, and 25 reputation points are given to the reply, the author of the reply, the question, and the tags associated with the question.

Formatting

You can format your posts using a Markdown-like editor. The editor supports the following Markdown features:

• All headers, H1-H6
• Ordered lists, tasks, and unordered lists
• Bold and italic text
• Links
• Code and syntax highlighting
• Blockquotes, code, and text quotes

Attaching logs and images

You may need to attach log content or images when posting questions and replies. To include log content, click the attachment icon in the text editor. Add a title, paste your log content, and click Add Text. This text will be linked in the body of your post. To upload images, click the image icon and select images from your files.

Topics, subtopics, and tags

The Apple Developer Forums are organized by topics and subtopics. While every post is aligned with both a topic and a subtopic, tags can be attached to a post to offer more context beyond its core topic and subtopic designations. When creating a post, you’ll be asked to align it with the topic and subtopic which best fit your question. Review the tag descriptions that appear as you type to choose tags that are directly relevant so users can easily find questions, reply, and engage productively.

You can also subscribe to RSS feeds for topics, subtopics, and tags you’re interested in. Each topic, subtopic and tag’s landing page contains an RSS icon that launches an RSS reader if you have one installed.

View the list of tags

Search

The following search queries are supported on the Apple Developer Forums. When searching for a tag, include brackets.

• Topic or Subtopic. Use the format in:topic or in:subtopic.
• Keywords. This returns questions matching the keywords you entered.
• Tag keyword. Use the format keyword. This returns tags that contain the keyword. For example, if you search [watch], you will see all tags that include the word "watch."
• One tag. Use the format [tag]. This returns the tag’s landing page (if available), which contains a brief description of the tag and the list of questions tagged. If the tag doesn’t have a landing page, you’ll just see the list of questions tagged.
• All tags. Use the format [tag][tag]. This returns questions that match all of the tags (up to four tags per search).
• Any tag. Use the format [tag] or [tag]. This returns questions that match any of the tags (up to four tags per search).
• Keyword and tag. Use the format keyword [tag]. This returns questions that match both the keyword and tag.
• Keyword and two or more tags. Use the format keyword [tag][tag] to return questions that match the keyword and all of the tags.
• Tags list. Use the format all to return all tags available on the Apple Developer Forums.
• User. Use the format user:username. This returns the profile page if there’s an exact match. Otherwise, it returns a list of users whose names match the search.

Reputation points

You can earn reputation points when you constructively participate on the forums, for example, when your reply is marked as the solution or as “Apple Recommended.” Reputation points may be lost if you spam the site, author indecipherable or off-topic content, or post content that violates the Apple Developer Forums Agreement.

Earning reputation points lets other users know how much quality content you contribute to the forums. A certain number of reputation points are required to perform actions like reporting and downvoting content. Reputation points given to questions and tags elevate content on the homepage and the tag’s landing page.

Boosts

You must have an Apple Developer Forums account to boost, like or dislike posts and replies.

Boosts give you the option to quickly communicate a variety of sentiments, for example if:

• The post is a positive contribution to the site and community
• The post is something worth others in the community seeing
• You’re encountering a similar issue or problem

Likes and Dislikes

When a forums reply provides useful information or describes something of interest to you, you can like it to thank the author. When a question is liked, 5 reputation points are given to the question, and the author of the question. You can only like a reply once, and likes can be rescinded. When you rescind your like, all reputation points gained from the like are lost.

When a reply gives incorrect information, you can dislike it to provide feedback to the author. Only forums users with 100 or more reputation points can dislike questions and replies. When you dislike a question, 5 reputation points are deducted from the question and the author of the question. When you dislike a reply to a post, 5 reputation points are deducted from the reply and the author of the reply. You can only dislike a reply once, and dislikes can be rescinded. When you rescind your dislike, all reputation points deducted as a result of the dislike are restored.

Watching threads

To follow threads that interest you without having to check for new activity, be sure you’re signed in and click the bell icon in the upper-right corner of the thread. The icon will turn black. If you’ve opted in to email or web notifications, you’ll be notified when there’s activity. All threads that you’re actively watching are listed on your Apple Developer Forums profile page on the Watching tab. Watching is anonymous and only you can see the Watching tab on your profile. To stop watching a thread, delete it from the Watching tab or click the bell again at the top of the thread.

Notifications

You can manage email and web notifications on your forums profile page. Email and/or web notifications can be sent if:

• There’s a response to your post or reply.
• There’s a response on a thread you’re watching.
• Your reply is marked as Apple Recommended. (Email notification only)
• Your reply is marked as correct. (Email notification only)
• You’re mentioned in a thread.

Note: You must be running a minimum of Safari 16.4 on macOS 13 to receive push notifications on Safari.

Mentions

Mentions help you reengage people who have participated in a thread and opted in to receive forums notifications. When you mention someone, they receive push notification and/or email notification, so they won't miss out on important discussions.

Sharing

You can share questions and replies with anyone by clicking the Share icon at the bottom of a post. A menu will appear with share options.

Moderation

Questions may require moderator approval to ensure a safe and secure platform for you and other developers. Moderators try to approve questions as quickly as possible, but moderation times may vary due to the volume of posts.

If a question or reply violates the Apple Developer Forums Agreement, or is a duplicate, forums users with 50 or more reputation points can report it by clicking the flag under the post. Moderators will review the content and take appropriate action if needed. Please note that you’ll only see the flag if you have 50 or more points.

Guidelines

For more details, see the Apple Developer Forums Agreement. If necessary, Apple will edit and remove posts that violate these guidelines. Repeat violators may be removed from the forums.

Feedback

You can provide feedback on the forums by contacting Apple Developer Support or by creating a post in the the Apple Developer Forums subtopic area under Developer Tools and Services.

Apple Developer Forums personnel

Forums moderators are Apple employees who focus on ensuring a productive environment for technical discussions. Moderators have the authority to edit, delete, and retag posts, and may intervene if a discussion goes off topic, becomes counterproductive, or violates the Apple Developer Forums Agreement.

In addition, Apple employees across disciplines and specialty areas are present on the forums and may offer useful advice in their areas of expertise, but should not be considered spokespeople or enforcers of Apple Developer Forums policy. You can identify an Apple employee by the Apple logo emblazoned on their avatar and their official title.

Important: Employees of Apple Inc. ("Apple") may respond to issues within this forum. Apple is under no duty to provide a response to an issue, or to do so in a timely manner. If Apple responds to an issue, it is Apple’s intent that the information provided is accurate and reliable. Apple expressly disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, as to any information provided by it under the Apple Developer Forums, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or satisfactory quality and fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Apple may provide information that is relevant to an international issue, which may contain references or cross-references to Apple products, programs, and services that are not announced in your region. Such reference does not imply that Apple intends to announce such products, programs, or services in your region.