DeviceActivityMonitor

I have the Family Controls & Personal Device Usage entitlement approved for my main app target, but I'm unable to get it applied to my app extensions (DeviceActivityMonitor and ShieldConfiguration). The entitlement request form at developer.apple.com/contact shows Thank you for your submission when I submit requests for the extensions, but the requests never actually register. No follow-up email, no change in my account. Without the entitlement on these extensions, I can't use the core Screen Time API functionality (monitoring device activity and displaying shield UIs when apps are blocked). The main app target has the entitlement, but the extensions need it independently to function. Has anyone run into this? Is there a way to get the entitlement extended to app extensions, or is there a step I'm missing in the provisioning process?

There is a way to allow DeviceActivityMonitor to make UI changes? Currently I have some code in the intervalDidStart and intervalDidEnd that updates Core Data entities, and it works correctly. However, the changes are only reflected if the app is terminated and opened again. Thus, if the app is opened and one of the methods inside the DeviceActivityMonitor is being called, the UI won't be updated. PS: I am using @FetchRequest to retrieve the core data entities called BlockEntity, and I have a little circle in the UI which should indicate the status of the block: active/inactive, so it would be nice to update the color in real time when intervalDidStart or intervalDidEnd are called.

My app uses DeviceActivitySchedule to let users set schedules to block certain apps. I naturally want to understand how my users are using the feature, so I capture analytics events using Segment. Ever since the release of iOS 17.1, analytics events from DeviceActivityMonitor have stopped firing. I believe this is due to the fact that the app extension that DeviceActivityMonitor runs in does not support asynchronous network requests. (However, I'm not sure why the analytics were working correctly with iOS 16). What is the best way to capture analytics inside the DeviceActivityMonitor app extension in iOS 17?

I am currently debugging an issue with DeviceActivityMonitor where the threshold is reached even though the target app (e.g. Instagram) is not being used actively. I noticed that the device with the unexpected behavior had the instagram.com website opened in the Safari web browser (among hundreds of other tabs). That tab was not actively used either (not in foreground, Safari app neither used). However, I was wondering if it can happen that this website is contributing towards the threshold as well even though it is in background and not used? Otherwise I cannot explain myself this strange behavior.

Hi everyone, I’m developing a screen-time and focus app that uses Apple’s Family Controls framework to block distracting apps and reward users through a gamified experience. Apple approved Family Controls (Distribution) for the main app identifier, but they did not approve the required extension target (which implements DeviceActivityMonitor, required for the framework to function). Because of this, I can’t archive or upload the app to TestFlight — and I’ve been stuck in limbo for over 2 months. This is severely delaying my launch. The app works perfectly, but I can’t release it because the extension wasn’t included in the entitlement approval. Has anyone else run into this with Family Controls? Is there any known way to escalate or fast-track approval for additional app IDs or targets? Would really appreciate any help, advice, or hacks. 🙏 Thanks, Enzer

I started monitoring using the following code: deviceActivityCenter.startMonitoring( DeviceActivityName(name), during: makeDailySchedule(), events: events ) Where: DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents(hour: 0, minute: 0), intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour: 23, minute: 59), repeats: true, warningTime: nil ) In DeviceActivityMonitor, I read and write data using UserDefaults and keep the logic minimal to ensure the size does not exceed 6MB. However, after a period of time, monitoring continues to fail. Why is this happening? How can I resolve this issue?

Since the iOS 26.2 update, we have been experiencing anomalous behavior with the DeviceActivityMonitor extension when utilizing the ScreenTime API. Specifically, we are receiving the eventDidReachThreshold event within a few minutes of initiating monitoring, despite configuring a high usage limit. The process of turning off Screen Time -> restarting the device -> turning on Screen Time does not work. Any ideas? Thanks Filed Feedback Assistant: FB21560904