I am not very well versed in this area, so I would appreciate some guidance on what should be enabled or disabled. My app is an AppKit app. I have read the documentation and watched the video, but I find it hard to understand. When I added the Enhanced Security capability in Xcode, the following options were enabled automatically: Memory Safety Enable Enhanced Security Typed Allocator Runtime Protections Enable Additional Runtime Platform Restrictions Authenticate Pointers Enable Read-only Platform Memory The following options were disabled by default: Memory Safety Enable Hardware Memory Tagging Memory Tag Pure Data Prevent Receiving Tagged Memory Enable Soft Mode for Memory Tagging Should I enable these options? Is there anything I should consider disabling?

When building in Xcode on MacOS Tahoe, it seems it is no longer possible to dynamically specify a "small" size toolbar for NSToolbar/NSToolbarItem. It works in MacOS code compiled and linked on earlier systems. I don't want to use "SFSymbol", or "templates". I have over 60 custom-made .png toolbars, in individual Image Set files, at the previous requisite sizes of 24x24 / 48x48, and 32x32 / 64x64. Sure -- I can configure an NSToolbar with whatever size .png assets I want. I just can't dynamically switch between the two groups of sizes. According to the Apple Coding Assistant, the only solution is to change the image names of each of the NSToolbarItems at runtime. OK -- but even when attempting that, the NSToolbarItems refuse to take on their smaller size... ...unless: they are attached to a custom view NSToolbarItem with an NSButton of style "Bevel". I have about 10 of those, and YES -- I CAN change those to a "small" size. Is this REALLY what I'm forced to do?! The Apple Coding Assistant just runs me around in circles, making coding suggestions that include properties that don't exists. I've gone around and around on these issues for over a week -- it can't be this hard, right? Is there no way to make multiple NSToolbar objects, one for "large" and one for "small"?

NSWindow objects with custom styleMask configurations seem to behave erratically in macOS Tahoe 26.3 RC. For example an NSWindow is not resizable after issuing .styleMask.remove(.titled) or some NSWindow-s become totally unresponsive (the NSWindow becomes transparent to mouse events) with custom styleMask-s. This is a radical change compared to how all previous macOS versions or the 26.3 beta3 worked and seriously affects apps that might use custom NSWindows - this includes some system utilities, OSD/HUD apps etc, actually breaking some apps. Such fundamental compatibility altering changes should not be introduced in an RC stage (if this is intentional and not a bug) imho.

macOS 26 "Tahoe" is allocating much more memory for apps than former macOS versions: A customer contacted me with my app's Thumbnail extension allocating so much memory that her 48 GB RAM Mac Mini ran into "out of application memory" state. I couldn't identify any memory leak in my extension's code nor reproduce the issue, but found the main app allocating as much as 5 times the memory compared to running on macOS 15 or lower. This productive app is explicitly using "Liquid Glass" views as well as implicitly e.g. for an inspector pane. So I created a sample app, just based on Xcode's template of a document-based app, and the issue is still showing (although less dramatically): This sample app allocates 22 MB according to Tahoe's Activity Monitor, while Sequoia only requires 16 MB: macOS 15.6.1 macOS 26.2 Is anyone experiencing similar issues? I suspect some massive leak in Tahoe's memory management, and just filed a corresponding feedback (FB21967167).

Are there workarounds for the following bugs in Xcode 16.3? I'm looking for workarounds instead of trying newer versions of Xcode because, from what I read, the Xcode release notes do not mention these issues being fixed. First bug: Resizing a NSSplitView in the UI Editor is buggy. When you try to use the divider, it just does not work as expected. In the case of a vertical split, the bottom view gets shrunk whatever you try to do. Second bug: When you type: (IBAction) in the source editor, you get the following buggy template (extra ')' on the right): - (IBAction)<#selector#>:(id)sender)

This is a very basic macOS Finder-style test app using AppKit. I am experiencing a "jump" in the vertical scroll position of my NSTableView (inside an NSScrollView) specifically when the window is resized horizontally. This happens when columns are visually added or removed. Framework: AppKit (Cocoa) Xcode/macOS: 26.2 Code: https://github.com/MorusPatre/Binder/blob/main/ContentView%20-%20Scroll%20Jump%20during%20Resize.swift

Context: I am building a macOS file (currently image only) browser using SwiftUI. The core view is a ScrollView containing a LazyVGrid. The layout is dynamic: as the window resizes, I calculate the optimal number of columns and spacing using a GeometryReader. The Issue: While scrolling is pretty smooth (thanks to custom image caching and prefetching), window resizing is significantly laggy. After having scrolled the UI stutters and drops frames heavily while dragging the window edge. The Code: https://github.com/MorusPatre/Binder

Hello, I have a .app NSApplication which is ran as a LaunchDaemon, in it's lifecycle I never call any AppKit functions (I start it with CFRunLoopRun). (mentioned on this post as well). I intercept a couple of signals using signal(s) in order to trigger CFRunLoopStop(CFRunLoopGetCurrent()) to do some cleanup. This LaunchDaemon has the purpose of providing VPN connectivity, as such I call connect functions that trigger the "Add VPN configuration" dialog (I can't provide extra details about this, as I integrate another SDK so I'm not sure what happens under the hood) and I noticed that whenever it is displayed, after allowing it, during the lifecycle of the application when it's time to send the signal, the signal isn't received. I tried re-adding the NSApp callbacks in order to investigate, but it looks like those aren't called as well. I'm interested in knowing more about this scenario and what happens... I couldn't really find information about this dialog... Thanks!

That's a question for Mac app (Cocoa). I want to change the standard highlighting. I thought to use tableView.selectionHighlightStyle. But there are only 2 values: .none and .regular. Cannot find how to define a custom one. So I tried a workaround: set tableView.selectionHighlightStyle to .none func tableView(_ tableView: NSTableView, viewFor tableColumn: NSTableColumn?, row: Int) -> NSView? { tableView.selectionHighlightStyle = .none keep track of previousSelection Then, in tableViewSelectionDidChange reset for previousSelection func tableViewSelectionDidChange(_ notification: Notification) { } if previousSelection >= 0 { let cellView = theTableView.rowView(atRow: previousSelection, makeIfNecessary: false) cellView?.layer?.backgroundColor = .clear } set for the selection to a custom color let cellView = theTableView.rowView(atRow: row, makeIfNecessary: false) cellView?.layer?.backgroundColor = CGColor(red: 0, green: 0, blue: 1, alpha: 0.4) previousSelection = row Result is disappointing : Even though tableView.selectionHighlightStyle is set to .none, it does overlays the cellView?.layer Is there a way to directly change the color for selection ?

I’m running macOS 15.7 with Xcode 26.2, and I’m trying to learn the basics of AppKit. I’m fully aware that AppKit is considered a legacy / “old” technology and that Apple clearly does not promote it out of the box anymore. This is especially visible in recent versions of Xcode, where you can no longer create a macOS App template without Storyboards or SwiftUI. That said, AppKit is still widely used under the hood, so I think it’s reasonable to at least understand its fundamentals. Here’s the problem I’m facing. I create a standard macOS App project using the Xcode template (AppKit App Delegate). Then I: delete Main.storyboard remove all storyboard references from Info.plist try to create the window manually in applicationDidFinishLaunching At this point, the project builds, but the app either: does not show any window, or behaves as if it were not a proper GUI app While debugging, it looks like Xcode / Swift is treating my target more like a dylib / wrapper than a normal .app bundle (at least judging by runtime behavior and the lack of a proper AppKit lifecycle). While searching for answers, I found this article: https://ashidiqi.com/blog/how-to-setup-xcode-project-programmatically-with-appkit/ The author claims that in this scenario you must not use the @main attribute and instead need a main.swift file that manually calls NSApplicationMain. However, the article also mentions that Xcode shows the error: 'main' attribute cannot be used in a module that contains top-level code The confusing part is that I do not have any top-level code in my project when using @main. At the same time, when I ask an LLM for clarification, it tells me that: @main does not require a storyboard removing a storyboard does not force you to switch to main.swift @main should work fine for a fully programmatic AppKit app So I’m left with two concrete questions: What is the correct, modern answer here? When building a fully programmatic AppKit app (no storyboard, no SwiftUI), do you actually need main.swift, or is @main still fully supported and correct? Is there any supported or recommended way in modern Xcode to get a “clean” AppKit app template without a storyboard? Either via project settings, templates, or some documented workflow — without having to fight the build system or end up with a half-broken target. I’m not trying to fight Apple’s direction here — I just want to understand the correct way to work with AppKit in 2025, even if it’s not the preferred path anymore. Thanks in advance for any clarification.

The documentation says: The caching behavior of the NSURL and CFURL APIs differ. For NSURL, all cached values (not temporary values) are automatically removed after each pass through the run loop. You only need to call the removeCachedResourceValueForKey: method when you want to clear the cache within a single execution of the run loop. The CFURL functions, on the other hand, do not automatically clear cached resource values. The client has complete control over the cache lifetimes, and you must use CFURLClearResourcePropertyCacheForKey or CFURLClearResourcePropertyCache to clear cached resource values. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nsurl/removeallcachedresourcevalues()?language=objc Is this really true? In my experience I've had to explicitly remove cached resource values via -removeAllCachedResourceValues or removeCachedResourceValueForKey: otherwise the URL contains stale values. For example on a URL that no longer exists I attempted to read NSURLIsHiddenKey and the last value was already cached. Instead of getting a NSFileNoSuchFileError I get the old cache value unless explicitly call -removeCachedResourceValueForKey: first and I'm fairly certain the value was cached on a previous run loop churn.

I have a MacOS app which displays PDFs, and I want to create a New document from the Clipboard, if the clipboard contains valid graphical data. My problem is that even if it doesn't, I still get a blank new document window. AppKit always creates a new document. I've tried overriding the newDocument function; I've tried avoiding the built-in functions altogether. Are there any general recommendations for going about this?

My app has a menu called "Document". On Tahoe, this appears as a lightbulb icon. Is this deliberate? Is it possible to stop this? Or do I just have to use a different name if I want people to read words?

When I appendAttributedString to [textView textStorage] it does not appear on the scrollable TextView. However when I NSLog the [textView textStorage] the Attributed string is outputted, and is therefore stored in the textView, see below. Occurs every time I ask to see the AttributedString I send to the textView. [textView textStorage] attributedString I need to see the attributedString displayed on the ScrollableTextView, but I don't know why I cannot see it.

Running print operation on WKWebView I hit EXC_BREAKPOINT and there is all kinds of console spew that looks concerning: ERROR: The NSPrintOperation view's frame was not initialized properly before knowsPageRange: returned. (WKPrintingView) ** CGContextClipToRect: invalid context 0x0. If you want to see the backtrace, please set CG_CONTEXT_SHOW_BACKTRACE environmental variable.** WebContent[7743] networkd_settings_read_from_file Sandbox is preventing this process from reading networkd settings file at "/Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkd.plist", please add an exception. CRASHSTRING: XPC_ERROR_CONNECTION_INVALID from launchservicesd CRASHSTRING: rdar://problem/28724618 Process unable to create connection because the sandbox denied the right to lookup com.apple.coreservices.launchservicesd and so this process cannot talk to launchservicesd. WebContent[7921] The sandbox in this process does not allow access to RunningBoard. Safe to ignore all this?

Is there any way I can know that another app has gone full screen? Please note that this is not what NSWindowDidEnterFullScreenNotification does, that only works for my own windows. As for why I need to know: Say you're playing a YouTube video full screen. The video fills up the main display, and if there's a second display, it goes black. Well, mostly. I have a utility app with small status windows that remain on top. I'd like to be polite and hide them in this scenario.

I want to print the content of a WKWebView. I've done some searching, and many people have struggled with this over the years. Some claimed success, but their solutions don't work for me. One person created images for each pages and printed that, but then if you were to print to PDF, you'd get a PDF containing images rather than text. If I just call the printView(_:)) method of the view, I get blank pages. With the following more elaborate code, I get a partial printout, 11 out of what should be about 13 pages. let info = NSPrintInfo.shared info.topMargin = 72.0; info.bottomMargin = 72.0; info.leftMargin = 72.0; info.rightMargin = 72.0; info.isVerticallyCentered = false; info.isHorizontallyCentered = false; info.horizontalPagination = .fit; info.verticalPagination = .automatic; let printOp = webView!.printOperation( with: info ) printOp.canSpawnSeparateThread = true printOp.view?.frame = NSMakeRect( 0, 0, info.paperSize.width, info.paperSize.height ) printOp.runModal(for: webView.window!, delegate: self, didRun: nil, contextInfo: nil ) When I run the above under the debugger, I see console messages saying CGContextClipToRect: invalid context 0x0. Once the print dialog appears, if I touch (but not change) the selected printer, then the page count changes to the correct value.

I’m running into a problem with SwiftUI/AppKit event handling on macOS Tahoe 26.2. I have a layered view setup: Bottom: AppKit NSView (NSViewRepresentable) Middle: SwiftUI view in an NSHostingView with drag/tap gestures Top: Another SwiftUI view in an NSHostingView On macOS 26.2, the middle NSHostingView no longer receives mouse or drag events when the top NSHostingView is present. Events pass through to the AppKit view below. Removing the top layer immediately restores interaction. Everything works correctly on macOS Sequoia. I’ve posted a full reproducible example and detailed explanation on Stack Overflow, including a single-file demo: Stack Overflow post: https://stackoverflow.com/q/79862332 I also found a related older discussion here, but couldn’t get the suggested workaround to apply: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/759081 Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!

I created an application extension that uses IdentityLookup framework for SMS filtering. How can I deploy my product as a library? I tried wrapping it as a framework, but it was not successful.

Hello, I'm trying to make a white-Label sort of thing for my app, that is: a script runs before the app launches, sets a certain LaunchAgent command that sets and environment variable, and based on that variable's value tha main app's icon changes to a certain logo (change only happens in the dock because changing the icon on disk breaks the signature) When the app launches it takes a noticeable time until the dock icon changes to what I want, so I worked around that by setting the app's plist property to hide the dock icon and then when the app is launched I call an objc++ function to display the icon in the dock again (this time it displays as the new icon) The showing happens through [NSApp setActivationPolicy:NSApplicationActivationPolicyRegular]; The problem happens when I try to close the app, it returns back to the old logo before closing which is what I want to prevent. I tried hiding the app dock icon before closing but even the hiding itself changes the icon before hiding The hiding happens through [NSApp setActivationPolicy:NSApplicationActivationPolicyProhibited]; My goal is that the main app icon doesn't appear to the user through the dock, and that the icon that is only visible is the other one that changes during runtime The reason for this is that I have an app that should be visible differently depending on an environment variable that I set using an installer app. The app is the same for all users with very minor UI adjustments depending on that env variable's value. So instead of creating different versions of the app I'd like to have just 1 version that adjusts differently depending on the env variable's value. Somehow this is the only step left to have a smooth experience Feel free to ask more clarification questions I'd be happy to help Thank you