Hello, everyone! I'm seeking some guidance on the App Store review process and technical best practices for a watchOS app. My goal is to create an app that uses HealthKit to continuously monitor a user's heart rate in the background for sessions lasting between 30 minutes and 3 hours. This app would not be a fitness or workout tracker. My primary question is about the best way to achieve this reliably while staying within the App Store Review Guidelines. Is it advisable to use the WorkoutKit framework to start a custom, non-fitness "session" for the purpose of continuous background monitoring? Are there any other recommended APIs or frameworks for this kind of background data collection on watchOS that I should be aware of? What are the key review considerations I should be mindful of, particularly regarding Guideline 4.1 (Design) and the intended use of APIs? My app's core functionality would require this kind of data for a beneficial purpose. I want to ensure my approach is technically sound and has the best chance of a successful review. Any insights or advice from developers who have experience with similar use cases would be incredibly helpful! Thank you!

Hi everyone! My Apple Watch app has relied for years on the WKApplication.scheduleBackgroundRefresh(...) method to keep the app updated in the background. The system would reliably trigger WKApplicationDelegate.handle(_:), where I would then schedule the next refresh task (usually 15 minutes later). As stated in the documentation, as long as there is a complication on the watch face, these background tasks should run at a relatively stable frequency. However, this approach seems to have stopped working on watchOS 26. I no longer receive any WKApplicationRefreshBackgroundTask at all. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

I'm trying to update data displayed in my Watch Complications (WidgetKit). I have an iOS app that sends data to the Apple Watch using WCSession.default.transferUserInfo. However, the data only updates on the complications or widgets after I open the watchOS app manually. Ideally, I'd like the Watch widget/complication to reflect the updated data as soon as it's sent from the iPhone, without requiring the user to open the Watch app.

I am experiencing an issue with my watchOS app. My application updates a shared file, accessible by both the main app and the WidgetKit extension, during a WatchConnectivity background task. Following this update, I call reloadAllTimelines(). This functionality worked as expected on watchOS 10, even without Developer Mode enabled. However, after updating my device to watchOS 11.5, this API appears to be broken. My reasons for believing this API is broken are threefold: The functionality worked reliably on watchOS 10. On watchOS 11.5, enabling "WidgetKit Developer Mode" (found under Settings > Developer) resolves the issue, and my complications update correctly. When I enter watch face edit mode, the snapshot/preview displayed (which utilizes the same underlying logic as the timeline API) shows the correct data. This indicates that the data has been successfully received from the phone, and the widget is indeed reading the updated shared file. Despite this, the actual widget view during its resting phase never updates. It's worth noting that TimelineReloadPolicy functions as expected, but I cannot rely on this for my use case. My widget requires immediate updates upon receiving new data. Apple, please investigate this behavior.

When using my app's complications with either Siri Intents or App Intents after syncing .watchface files, the complications appear without names in the iOS Watch app's complication picker. This leads to complications showing as blank entries without previews in the native watch app selector. I'm using WidgetKit to create Watch complications with both approaches: AppIntents and Siri Intents. We've tried multiple approaches with our WidgetKit watch complications: Switching between IntentConfiguration and StaticConfiguration Using different naming conventions for kind strings Ensuring display names are properly set Testing across different watchOS versions But the result is always the same: after syncing .watchface files, our complications appear unnamed in the Watch app's complication picker. Is this a known limitation with .watchface syncing, a bug in the current implementation, or is there a specific requirement we're missing to maintain complication names during the sync process?

The mentioned way of setting up complications does not work. We can't create the identifier according to the guideline mentioned in the WWDC session. https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2020/10049/?time=1021 Timestamp: 17:04 Error: An attribute in the provided entity has invalid value An App ID with Identifier '.watchkitapp.complication' is not available. Please enter a different string. To clarify - the non masked identifier is not used on another property inside our dev program. Without creating the identifier our tests result in not working push notifications. Error message while testing: discarded as application was not registered. Is the way mentioned in the WWDC session still valid? BR

I just created watchOS app alone a few months ago but I wanted to make a complication extension for my Apple Watch face. Without the aid of existing iOS app

In my Watch app on watchOS 9 I was using .foregroundColor(myColour) to colour the text in a widgetLabel on a corner complication like this: let myColour: Color = functionThatReturnsAColorObjectConstructedLike Color.init(...) // green .widgetLabel { Text(myText) .foregroundColor(myColour) } It worked fine; the widget label was green. Now, in watchOS 10, I see that foregroundColor() is being deprecated in favour of foregroundStyle(), and I can use .foregroundStyle(.green), and - importantly - foregroundStyle() is only available on watchOS 10 and newer. myColour is calculated depending on some other info, so I can't just write .green, and when I use .foregroundStyle(myColour) the widget label comes out as white every time, even if I set myColour = .green. I think I have to use some sort of extension to pick the right combination, something like: extension View { func foregroundType(colour: Colour, style: any ShapeStyle) -> some THING? { if #available(watchOS 10.0, *) { return foregroundStyle(style) } else { return foregroundColor(colour) } } } // Usage let myStyle: any ShapeStyle = SOMETHING? ... .widgetLabel { Text(myText) .foregroundType(colour: myColour, style: myStyle) It doesn't work. I just can't figure out what should be returned, nor how to return it. Any ideas?

I am trying to add complication feature to my watchOS app. I need to add some keys to the Info.plist. Project Navigator - no Info.plist file (as expected) Target watchOS > Build Settings > Info.plist values. I am unable to add a value. Hovering over a row does NOT show small '+' or '-' icons. How do I edit the Info.plist?

After updating to watchOS 11.1, updates using WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines() in WKRefreshBackgroundTask stopped working. When the background task is triggered, it gets data from the phone and updates the WidgetKit complications. But now the refresh call WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines() does not update the complications.

Hello, since an update in September, the alarm widget on the watch face no longer counts down accurately like it used to. This is extremely frustrating for me because I used it for work so I have know exactly how much time I had in a particular circumstance. So for example, say I have an alarm set for 12:30. Before the update in September, I was able to look at my watch and know immediately that I had 24 minutes before the alarm, or look again and know it was the. 10 minutes before the alarm. Now, if I look at the watch face, it will say I have 24 minutes before the alarm, but it may actually only be 10 minutes before the alarm. I understand for some people this may be trivial, but it is really disappointing for me, and renders one of the most useful features of the Apple Watch useless to me now. I am hoping this is just an oversight during an update, so looking to see if this is something that is currently being worked on? I just installed beta 11.3 and still having the same issue. Now, if I press and hold on the watch face, like I’m going to change watch faces, then click out of it. It does update it. But it is not the same as it used to be. Thank you

Just triple-checking if it's only my Apple Watch Series 8 where the weather widget in the notification area is only showing 'WNW.' I think it's supposed to be showing the weekdays or the temperature.

Hi. I’m not sure where to post it, but after 1.5 years with the AWU2 the main Watch face is still bugged, missing seconds (two digit) in format. In the attached example it shows “06:30:5” for 10 seconds until it hits ”06:31:00”. I’m not sure if it’s only related to Danish AWU’s. But it is so annoying, and has forced me to change watch to Garmin in the past. PLEASE FIX IT, please please.

After updating to iOS 17.5 & WatchOS 10.5, the didFinish response from WCSessionDelegate does not come when transferring files from iPhone to Watch. It worked normally until 17.4 & 10.4. There is no problem with checking file completion even if a didFinish response is not received, but I think Apple needs to check this issue and update. File transfer is done using the transferFile function of WCSession. The file being transferred is a single file and its size does not exceed 30MB. When you try to transfer Pi, the message below appears in the Xcode log section. -[WCFileStorage persistOutgoingFileTransfer:] error serializing file transfer <WCSessionFileTransfer: 0x300155d60, session file: <WCSessionFile: 0x3001575c0, identifier: 0C8857EC-7D74-4E78-BA28-6C5526DE8949, file: /private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/DD797847-DED1-42C0-989F-34CD05825007/tmp/C042D096-F12B-4B50-8792-868475DBBF47.zip, hasMetadata: YES>, transferring: YES> due to Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4866 "Caught exception during archival: This object may only be encoded by an NSXPCCoder. ( 0 CoreFoundation 0x000000019b064f2c 00E76A98-210C-3CB5-930B-F236807FF24C + 540460 1 libobjc.A.dylib 0x0000000192ef6018 objc_exception_throw + 60 2 Foundation 0x0000000199fe7778 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 1419128 3 Foundation 0x0000000199ea0e14 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 81428 4 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d055f60 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 126816 5 Foundation 0x0000000199ea0e14 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 81428 6 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d0567f0 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 129008 7 Foundation 0x0000000199ea0e14 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 81428 8 Foundation 0x0000000199f30628 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 669224 9 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d0583ac 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 136108 10 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d04390c 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 51468 11 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d046640 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 63040 12 Foundation 0x0000000199ea9be0 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 117728 13 Foundation 0x0000000199ea9aa0 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 117408 14 Foundation 0x0000000199ea98a0 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 116896 15 Foundation 0x0000000199ea7b40 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 109376 16 Foundation 0x0000000199f2c558 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 652632 17 Foundation 0x0000000199f2c1a4 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 651684 18 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105ed7764 _dispatch_block_async_invoke2 + 148 19 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105ec67bc _dispatch_client_callout + 20 20 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105ec98e0 _dispatch_continuation_pop + 676 21 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105ec8bb8 _dispatch_async_redirect_invoke + 680 22 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105edaae4 _dispatch_root_queue_drain + 404 23 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105edb4d8 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 188 24 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00000001f7ebb8f8 _pthread_wqthread + 228 25 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00000001f7eb80cc start_wqthread + 8 )" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=Caught exception during archival: This object may only be encoded by an NSXPCCoder. ( 0 CoreFoundation 0x000000019b064f2c 00E76A98-210C-3CB5-930B-F236807FF24C + 540460 1 libobjc.A.dylib 0x0000000192ef6018 objc_exception_throw + 60 2 Foundation 0x0000000199fe7778 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 1419128 3 Foundation 0x0000000199ea0e14 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 81428 4 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d055f60 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 126816 5 Foundation 0x0000000199ea0e14 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 81428 6 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d0567f0 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 129008 7 Foundation 0x0000000199ea0e14 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 81428 8 Foundation 0x0000000199f30628 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 669224 9 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d0583ac 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 136108 10 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d04390c 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 51468 11 WatchConnectivity 0x000000021d046640 1AB4DDD6-9238-3965-B744-819F2916C8CC + 63040 12 Foundation 0x0000000199ea9be0 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 117728 13 Foundation 0x0000000199ea9aa0 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 117408 14 Foundation 0x0000000199ea98a0 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 116896 15 Foundation 0x0000000199ea7b40 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 109376 16 Foundation 0x0000000199f2c558 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 652632 17 Foundation 0x0000000199f2c1a4 3D3A12E3-F5E9-361F-B00A-4A5E8861AA55 + 651684 18 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105ed7764 _dispatch_block_async_invoke2 + 148 19 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105ec67bc _dispatch_client_callout + 20 20 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105ec98e0 _dispatch_continuation_pop + 676 21 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105ec8bb8 _dispatch_async_redirect_invoke + 680 22 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105edaae4 _dispatch_root_queue_drain + 404 23 libdispatch.dylib 0x0000000105edb4d8 _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 188 24 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00000001f7ebb8f8 _pthread_wqthread + 228 25 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00000001f7eb80cc start_wqthread + 8 )}

I've encountered a major issue with the iOS 18.1 RC and watchOS 11.1 RC. It appears that complications running on WidgetKit cannot be synced as .watchface to these new release candidates. The error message indicates that "the Watch Faces app and complication are not available," which is affecting all apps utilizing WidgetKit. This issue renders all WidgetKit-based complications unusable on watchOS 11.1 RC. It’s a serious problem for those of us who rely on these complications for our apps and for users expecting consistent functionality. APPLE, PLEASE FIX THIS ISSUE ASAP! This bug is a significant setback for developers and users alike, and any guidance or updates would be greatly appreciated.

I'm trying to migrate from Complication with CLKComplication to WidgetKit. I have implemented the required methods in https://developer.apple.com/documentation/widgetkit/converting-a-clockkit-app, but the migration is not working. There is no evidence that the method for migration is also called. It was the same with Xcode 14.0.1 and Xcode 14.1RC. class ComplicationController: NSObject, CLKComplicationDataSource, CLKComplicationWidgetMigrator { ...     @available(watchOS 9.0, *)     var widgetMigrator: CLKComplicationWidgetMigrator {         return self     }     @available(watchOS 9.0, *)     func widgetConfiguration(from complicationDescriptor: CLKComplicationDescriptor) async -> CLKComplicationWidgetMigrationConfiguration? {         return CLKComplicationStaticWidgetMigrationConfiguration(kind: "MyWidget", extensionBundleIdentifier: "com.example.myapp.mywatchkitapp.mywidget")     } } What's wrong? Has anyone been able to migrate?

I want to get which button in AccessoryWidgetGroup was pressed in the Watch App, but I can't. When I use Button(_:intent:), it works in Smart Stack, but it doesn't work in Complication Widget. Using widgetURL(_:) always gets the URL of the first button. Below is a snippet of the code I tried. All codes can be found here. struct MyWatchWidgetEntryView : View { var entry: Provider.Entry var body: some View { AccessoryWidgetGroup("Widget Group") { MyWatchWidgetEntryButton(intent: .init(id: "001", imageName: "star.fill")) MyWatchWidgetEntryButton(intent: .init(id: "002", imageName: "heart.fill")) MyWatchWidgetEntryButton(intent: .init(id: "003", imageName: "leaf.fill")) } } } //Button View private struct MyWatchWidgetEntryButton: View { @Environment(\.showsWidgetContainerBackground) var showsWidgetContainerBackground let intent: MyAppIntent var body: some View { Button(intent: intent) { ZStack { if showsWidgetContainerBackground { Color.black } else { AccessoryWidgetBackground() } VStack { Image(systemName: intent.imageName) .font(.headline) Text(intent.id) .font(.system(size: 10, weight: .bold)) } } } .buttonStyle(.plain) .widgetURL(URL(string: "widget://" + intent.id)) } } Does anyone know how to do this? Thank you.

Anyone who has successfully migrated to using WidgetKit for their Apple Watch complications, your help would be greatly appreciated! I've migrated to WidgetKit for my Watch app. On the Apple Watch Face Editor, the new Widget names and options appear correctly. However, on the iPhone Apple Watch app, it offers both WidgetKit and old ClockKit complications... this should not be. I also have found rendering issues where Watch Faces on the main My Watch tab have blank gaps for WidgetKit complications, when selecting the Watch Face they then render (see photos) I've put in a feedback FB12460375 Have tried a full clear and reinstall of my app on both devices, no change. This issue occurs on WatchOS 9.5.2 / iOS 16.5.1 and WatchOS 10 Beta 2 / iOS 17 Beta 2 Any other ideas?