Device Activity

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Monitor web and app usage through custom time windows and events.

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Device activity extension not being called.
I am new to swift. This is my first app. What an i doing wrong. Device activity monitor extension is never being called. When i launch the app, I am able to pick the discouraged and encouraged apps. It immediately restrict the discouraged app which is expected. But the extension is never called. import SwiftUI import FamilyControls import ManagedSettings @main struct GetALifeApp: App { @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) private var appDelegate @StateObject var model = MyModel.shared @StateObject var store = ManagedSettingsStore() var body: some Scene { WindowGroup { ContentView() .environmentObject(model) .environmentObject(store) } } } class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate { func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? = nil) -> Bool { initiateAsyncSetup() return true } private func initiateAsyncSetup() { Task { do { try await AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .individual) MySchedule.setSchedule() } catch { print("Error during asynchronous setup: \(error)") } } } } import Foundation import FamilyControls import ManagedSettings private let _MyModel = MyModel() class MyModel: ObservableObject { let store = ManagedSettingsStore() @Published var selectionToDiscourage: FamilyActivitySelection @Published var selectionToEncourage: FamilyActivitySelection init() { selectionToDiscourage = FamilyActivitySelection() selectionToEncourage = FamilyActivitySelection() } class var shared: MyModel { return _MyModel } func setShieldRestrictions() { let applications = MyModel.shared.selectionToDiscourage store.shield.applications = applications.applicationTokens.isEmpty ? nil : applications.applicationTokens store.shield.applicationCategories = applications.categoryTokens.isEmpty ? nil : ShieldSettings.ActivityCategoryPolicy.specific(applications.categoryTokens) } } import Foundation import DeviceActivity extension DeviceActivityName { static let daily = Self("daily") } extension DeviceActivityEvent.Name { static let encouraged = Self("encouraged") } let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents(hour: 0, minute: 0), intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour: 23, minute: 59), repeats: true ) class MySchedule { static public func setSchedule() { print("Setting schedule...") print("Hour is: ", Calendar.current.dateComponents([.hour, .minute], from: Date()).hour!) let events: [DeviceActivityEvent.Name: DeviceActivityEvent] = [ .encouraged: DeviceActivityEvent( applications: MyModel.shared.selectionToEncourage.applicationTokens, threshold: DateComponents(second: 2) ) ] let center = DeviceActivityCenter() do { print("Try to start monitoring...") try center.startMonitoring(.daily, during: schedule, events: events) } catch { print("Error monitoring schedule: ", error) } } } import SwiftUI struct ContentView: View { @State private var isDiscouragedPresented = false @State private var isEncouragedPresented = false @EnvironmentObject var model: MyModel var body: some View { VStack { Button("Select Apps to Discourage") { isDiscouragedPresented = true } .familyActivityPicker(isPresented: $isDiscouragedPresented, selection: $model.selectionToDiscourage) Button("Select Apps to Encourage") { isEncouragedPresented = true } .familyActivityPicker(isPresented: $isEncouragedPresented, selection: $model.selectionToEncourage) } .onChange(of: model.selectionToDiscourage) { newSelection in MyModel.shared.setShieldRestrictions() } } } struct ContentView_Previews: PreviewProvider { static var previews: some View { ContentView() .environmentObject(MyModel()) } } import Foundation import DeviceActivity import ManagedSettings class MyDeviceActivityMonitor: DeviceActivityMonitor { let store = ManagedSettingsStore() override func intervalDidStart(for activity: DeviceActivityName) { print("intervalDidStart") super.intervalDidStart(for: activity) store.shield.applications = nil print("intervalDidStart") } override func intervalDidEnd(for activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.intervalDidEnd(for: activity) } override func eventDidReachThreshold(_ event: DeviceActivityEvent.Name, activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.eventDidReachThreshold(event, activity: activity) print("used encouraged") store.shield.applications = nil } override func intervalWillStartWarning(for activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.intervalWillStartWarning(for: activity) // Handle the warning before the interval starts. } override func intervalWillEndWarning(for activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.intervalWillEndWarning(for: activity) // Handle the warning before the interval ends. } override func eventWillReachThresholdWarning(_ event: DeviceActivityEvent.Name, activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.eventWillReachThresholdWarning(event, activity: activity) // Handle the warning before the event reaches its threshold. } }
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760
May ’24
Multiple Days Schedules • Screen Time API
Hello, I wasn't able to figure out how to handle multiple days with DeviceActivitySchedule. For instance, let's say the user wants to block certain apps from 9:00 AM to 12:00 AM, every day except Saturday and Sunday, how my schedule should look like? I've tried different things... This schedule works for each day of the week, but that's not my goal: let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents(hour: 9, minute: 00), intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour: 12, minute: 00), repeats: true) And if I specify the weekDay inside the DateComponents, like this: // Gregorian calendar // 2 -> Monday // 6 -> Friday let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents(..., weekday: 2), intervalEnd: DateComponents(..., weekday: 6), repeats: true) the schedule will block the apps from Monday at 9:00 AM to Friday at 12:00 AM, which is also not my goal. The only workaround that came to my mind was to create a different schedule for each day of the week: enum WeekDays: String, CaseIterable { case sun, mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat var sortOrder: Int { switch self { case .sun: return 1 case .mon: return 2 case .tue: return 3 case .wed: return 4 case .thu: return 5 case .fri: return 6 case .sat: return 7 } } } func startMonitoring(weekDays: [WeekDays]) { for weekDay in weekDays { let day = weekDay.sortOrder let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents( hour: 9, minute: 00, weekday: day), intervalEnd: DateComponents( hour: 12, minute: 00, weekday: day), repeats: true) let activityName = DeviceActivityName(weekDay.rawValue) do { try center.startMonitoring(activityName, during: schedule) } catch { print("DEBUG: Error: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } } This way I kinda get what I want, for example: I can specify 3 days of the week, let's say Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the time interval, let's keep 9:00 AM - 12:00 AM, and this function will block apps on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at that time interval, fine. However... What if I also want another schedule that blocks at a different time interval but same day? For example, I want to block certain apps Monday and Tuesday from 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Following the example above the activityName would be overwritten, so the user ( for Monday and Tuesday ) would now have only the schedules that starts from 2:00 PM. Basically, I want the user to be able to select multiple days for a schedule and to let them create as many schedules as they want. Does anybody know the correct way to handle multiple days schedules?
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2.2k
May ’24
Screen Time API is completely UNRELIABLE!
I've been working with the Screen Time API for almost 6 months now. I found out it's completely unreliable, testing on iOS 17.4, the DeviceActivityReport is not showing, the DeviceActivityMonitor more often than not does not fire intervalDidStart. It's very frustrating. Has anyone found out a workaround? We all know there has to be something we're doing wrong, since apps like Opal and Jono does not present those types of issues. Let's please unite our forces and find a solution. How to use this API should not be a secret!
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2.2k
Apr ’24
How long is DeviceActivityData accessible in DeviceActivityReport?
Using the DeviceActivity framework we are able to display data based on a user's screentime and device usage. With the DeviceActivityFilter property, you can specify the date interval to collect data between. In testing, it seems that data only becomes accessible once the extension has been installed (so the extension isn't reading the screentime data already collected on device). However, once installed, I'm curious how far back you can query data from in the data interval? Opal which uses the Screentime API appears to have a lifetime Screentime metric, so hypothetically it should possible to query data as far back as collection starts. Unless they are getting around the sandbox environment and storing the data somehow. Side note on Opal -- They seem to have a community average of Screentime among people in the same age group. Does anyone know how they are collecting the data for this average? Is it actually using live Screentime data or just aggregating data from other studies?
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1.1k
Apr ’24
Please help make DeviceActivityReport reliably show up
Our app uses DeviceActivityReport to display the user’s screen time. The performance of DeviceActivityReport is often very poor. These issue occur commonly: Screen time is reported as 0 minutes DeviceActivityReport View appears completely blank The host app loses connection with the DeviceActivityReport altogether I have implemented several workarounds which only slightly improve the performance, to varying degrees depending on the device iOS: Inside the DeviceActivityReport code - retry fetching screen time data until it returns a non-zero result Implement a “refresh” button which reloads the DeviceActivityReport view from the host app However, due to the sandboxed nature of DeviceActivityReport, there is no way for the host application to tell if the DeviceActivityReport extension is experiencing these performance issues. It results in a really bad user experience. I am building the app with Xcode 14 due to another issue where DeviceActivityReport fails to load for all iOS 16 devices when built with Xcode 15 (this is a know issue, here’s a link to a discussion on the developer forums: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/735915). However, when testing on iOS 17 devices with Xcode 15 builds, the above issues still occur. I have received no crash reports from DeviceActivityReport. These issues are known bugs and have been discussed on the developer forums, but I haven't yet seen a solution. Other screen time apps exist that use the DeviceActivityReport seemingly flawlessly, so I know that there is a way to improve the performance of DeviceActivityReport in my app. Please help! I have been dealing with this poor performance for a long time now with almost no improvement!
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2.0k
Apr ’24
Loading indicator until DeviceActivityReport renders?
There is frequently a delay of a few seconds before a DeviceActivityReport renders its view generated from the DeviceActivityReportExtension. It will also sometimes flash with zero data before hydrating with the real activity data (tested with extension code taken directly from XCode boilerplate) Is there a way to be notified when the DeviceActivityReport renders successfully or is still processing, i.e. so a loading indicator can be presented while the extension runs? Thanks!
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2.3k
Apr ’24
DeviceActivityReport Lag
There have been several posts (i.e. here, here) about the lagginess of the DeviceActivityReport extension. Often it takes a few seconds for the view to load, or sometimes doesn't show up at all. I've confirmed this is not a case of excessive memory usage in the extension (exceeding 100MB), because I've profiled the extension and it consistently maxes out at 10MB. I've placed a loading screen behind the DeviceActivityReport inside a ZStack in the host app in order to see if the lag is because it takes some time for the extension to spin up - but the loading screen does not appear, indicating that the extension is running right away, but receiving the view from the extension in the host app is where the lag happens. It's been extremely difficult to debug because the lag only occurs a fraction of the time, and DeviceActivityReport is pretty much a black box. There's no documentation about how the host app and extension actually communicate. I've also combed through the logs using the Console app on Mac with no indication of any issues, (but I do see the message "Connection to view service was invalidated" coming from the extension even when there is no lag). I'm pretty convinced that the problem lies in the host app, because when I strip everything away from the host app, DeviceActivityReport never lags. I suspect that there are processes running (network requests, async tasks, or state updates) that block the report view from being received in the host app. Could you please help me understand why this could be happening, with as many details as you could provide? Any details on how the host and extension communicate, what processes could block the view from appearing, or anything else. Seems like this is a common issue but plenty of apps also don't experience it. Any guidance you can provide would be extremely helpful, as I've been trying to fix this bug every since I've been working with this API with no luck. Thanks in advance!
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2k
Apr ’24
Device activity/screen time api
I have a request from a client that would like to create a solution where a central component is the ability to retrieve the users app usage. I can see that there are various api's todo that - one example is the Device Activity API. Another hope from the client is that this should be a web solution and not an app. I haven't quite been able to figure out if this is possible or not. I have three questions: Is it possible to retrieve app usage information through a REST api (or similar) outside an iOS app? Is it possible to use the appleId as a kind of auth solution for a web application Are there any similar APIs for older versions than iOS 15?
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613
Apr ’24
Device Activity Report for multiple children
How can I differentiate between multiple children in order to display screentime data to the user separately for a parent with multiple children? As far as I can see, the options are .children, and .all? I understand I can retrieve some info from within the extension so I can group data separately, but is there any way to reliably filter between different children from within my app, say using a DeviceActivityFilter? Many thanks!
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673
Apr ’24
Background Safari Tab contributing to DeviceActivityMonitor usage threshold?
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.
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708
Apr ’24
I would like to create several schedules for an activity can I do that
currently when I try to set several schedules to the same activity the latest schedule I set is the only one I understand I can have only 1 schedule for activity. ? I thought about setting a new schedule on the intervalDidEnd but, I get no interval did start if the current time is in the middle of the interval I set For example, now it is 15:00, and my previous interval started at 14:00 and ends at 16:00 but the user sets a new interval from 14:30 - 16:40 I call the deviceActivityCenter.stopMonitoring([someActivityName]) and get noIntervalDidEnd event Then I set the new interval successfully with deviceActivityCenter.startMonitoring(someActivityName, during: deviceActivitySchedule) and get no intervalDidStartEvent So how can I achieve several intervals? If I had gotten the events of the start and end it would be possible Thanks for the help
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1.6k
Apr ’24
eventDidReachThreshold is working as expected only when the app is in debug mode
As per our code, we have the apps to be shielded whenever the threshold is reached. According to this use-case, our code in DeviceActivityExtension looks something like: override func eventDidReachThreshold(_ event: DeviceActivityEvent.Name, activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.eventDidReachThreshold(event, activity: activity) defaults?.setValue(event.rawValue, forKey: "appLimitEventName") defaults?.setValue(true, forKey: "appLimitReached") defaults?.synchronize() // using darwinNotificationCenter to trigger callback in the application let darwinNotificationCenter = DarwinNotificationsManager.sharedInstance() darwinNotificationCenter.postNotification(withName: "nextAppLimitInitiated") // using Notifications to debug since print doesn't work scheduleNotification(with: "interval threshold reached") } And in our application, we have the shielding logic in place, init() { let darwinNotificationCenter = DarwinNotificationsManager.sharedInstance() darwinNotificationCenter.register(forNotificationName: "nextAppLimitInitiated"){ print("callback received") let appLimitReached = self.defaults?.bool(forKey: "appLimitReached") let appLimitEventName = self.defaults?.string(forKey: "appLimitEventName") if appLimitReached ?? false, appLimitEventName != "" { // this sends the notification when callback is received self.scheduleNotification(with: "init start") self.defaults?.setValue(false, forKey: "appLimitReached") guard var dataArray = self.defaults?.array(forKey: "appLimitdataArray"), !dataArray.isEmpty else { return } let appLimitData = dataArray.first as! NSDictionary let appLimitKey = appLimitData["appLimitId"] as! String let data = self.getSchedule(key: appLimitEventName ?? "") if let appTokens = data?.applicationTokens { for token in appTokens { if !self.applicationTokens.contains(appTokens) { self.applicationTokens.insert(token) } } } self.store.shield.applications = self.applicationTokens self.store.shield.applicationCategories = ShieldSettings.ActivityCategoryPolicy.specific(self.categoryTokens, except: Set()) dataArray.removeFirst() //dataArray.append(appLimitData) self.defaults?.set(dataArray, forKey: "appLimitdataArray") self.initiateMonitoring(initiateAgain: true) self.scheduleNotification(with: "init end") } } } This works as expected for multiple App Limits but only when the device is connected to the Xcode. If we disconnect the device from Xcode/ stop application from Xcode/ try in release mode, the callback is not received from extension to the app/init block. When the device is connected to Xcode, if the apps hit the threshold, they are shielded automatically. But if the device is disconnected/ app is in release mode, the apps are not shielded automatically even after the threshold is reached. It is shielded later only after opening our app once. Please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong in receiving callback or in my shielding logic. If I need to place the shielding logic in the extension, please tell me how I can handle multiple appTokens.
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1.4k
Mar ’24
DeviceActivityMonitor Schedule Pause
I am trying to understand how to approach 'x minute' pauses for a DeviceActivitySchedule. For instance, I would like to let the user pause for 5 minutes from an active schedule (meaning un-shielding the apps and re-applying the shield after the 5 min has passed). The only way that came to my mind was calling the following: Calling .startMonitoring to start monitoring a new event with the same apps starting .now and ending .now + 5 minutes; Calling in the intervalDidStart, store.shield.applications.subtract(apps) so that the apps are removed from the shield. Calling in the intervalDidEnd, store.shield.applications = apps so that the apps are now shielded again. The problem is that, from the Apple Developer Documentation: The minimum interval length for monitoring device activity is fifteen minutes. So the minimum pause I could offer to the user would be 15 minutes. And that tells me this approach is most likely wrong, because all other Screen Time apps, like Opal, Jomo, AppBlock offer also 5 min pause. Does anyone know / can think of a different and better approach?
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1.5k
Mar ’24
all my DeviceActivitySchedules are killed when granting unrelated 4th party app access to screen time API permission
I have two repeating DeviceActivitySchedules running in my app and noticed a super strange behavior: whenever I modify Screen Time API permission settings (granting an additional app permission, or removing permission for a different app (completely different unrelated screen time apps from App Store)) all my DeviceActivitySchedules are cancelled and the intervalDidEnd callbacks are called my permission is not modified in this scenario this is a super strange and unexpected behavior is anyone able to reproduce this? for me this happens 100% of the times I do this any known workarounds?
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798
Mar ’24
In DeviceActivityReportScene count numberOfPickups for given Application
How can I count the number of pickups for a certain application? The docs say that there is a struct ApplicationActivity within the DeviceActivityData: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/deviceactivity/deviceactivitydata Using this code I receive a warning in XCode: Value of type 'DeviceActivityData' has no member 'applicationActivity' struct ApplicationPickupCountReport: DeviceActivityReportScene { // Define which context your scene will represent. let context: DeviceActivityReport.Context = .applicationPickupCount // Define the custom configuration and the resulting view for this report. let content: (String) -> ApplicationPickupCountView func makeConfiguration(representing data: DeviceActivityResults<DeviceActivityData>) async -> String { var totalPickups = 0 let totalPickups = await data.flatMap { $0.applicationActivity }.reduce(0, { $0 + $1.numberOfPickups }) return "\(totalPickups)" } }
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733
Mar ’24
DeviceActivityEvent with threshold spanning over midnight → threshold not working
Hello, I am using a DeviceActivityEvent to limit access to an app after the user has spent x minutes on it. Sometimes it can happen that a DeviceActivitySchedule spans from 11:55pm - 12:25am (just an example). In these cases, I have noticed, the DeviceActivityMonitorExtension’s eventDidReachThreshold is not called after the user has reached the threshold time interval in the observed app. I assume this is because we have transitioned over midnight and something weird happens to the DeviceActivitySchedule. I’ve tried adding the day components to the DeviceActivitySchedule as well, but then it fails completely. Any advice how to handle this? I could, of course, create two separate DeviceActivitySchedules: one for before midnight, and one for after. But depending on the user’s real app usage that could lead to slightly different (and unexpected) behavior.
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791
Mar ’24
eventDidReachThreshold triggered while target app is in background
Hello! I am using the eventDidReachThreshold callback in the DeviceActivityMonitor in order to shield a target app after the user has spend x amount of time on it (e.g. x = 5 minutes). Many times this works fine, and I can trigger my shield after the specified threshold has been met. However sometimes, when they leave the target app before the threshold has been reached, the eventDidReachThreshold callback gets called randomly while they are doing something else on their phone (e.g. using a different app, on the Home Screen, phone locked…). From my perspective this does not make sense, since they are not actively spending time on the target app, and that time should not be counted towards the target app’s threshold. And it is also very confusing for the users because they will then find a blocked target app even though they haven’t used their time budget completely. This is not related to the intervalDidStart / intervalDidEnd callbacks, because they are not correlating with the timing of when the eventDidReachThreshold callback is called unexpectedly. Any ideas what this could be related to?
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700
Mar ’24
DeviceActivityCenter - couldn’t communicate with a helper application.
Hi there, In rare cases (about 0.2% of the time?), I'm seeing calls to startMonitoring on an instance of DeviceActivityCenter throw an error with localizedDescription "couldn’t communicate with a helper application." I am certain I am passing valid parameters to the startMonitoring call because sometimes a naive retry after a few seconds succeeds. Similarly, I am certain that FamilyControls permissions have been granted by the user. Was hoping to get more color from the systems team on what some causes of this error are and if it is avoidable by the programmer.
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1.9k
Mar ’24
[iOS 17.4] Default value for DeviceActivityEvent's includesPastActivity should be set to true
Starting with iOS 17.4, the DeviceActivityEvent initializer includes a new parameter named includesPastActivity.

The default value for this parameter is set to false, whereas device activity events have behaved as though this parameter were set to true up until now. This breaking change is a MAJOR ISSUE for developers who used device activity events in their apps before iOS 17.4 because their apps might not work the way they intended after the update. They'll have to release new app versions that specifically set includesPastActivityto true. In my opinion, the default value for includesPastActivity should be true to avoid disrupting events scheduled on older versions of iOS. I have filed an enhancement report (FB13573556) about this. I really hope this is changed before the official iOS 17.4 release.
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1.8k
Mar ’24
Device activity extension not being called.
I am new to swift. This is my first app. What an i doing wrong. Device activity monitor extension is never being called. When i launch the app, I am able to pick the discouraged and encouraged apps. It immediately restrict the discouraged app which is expected. But the extension is never called. import SwiftUI import FamilyControls import ManagedSettings @main struct GetALifeApp: App { @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) private var appDelegate @StateObject var model = MyModel.shared @StateObject var store = ManagedSettingsStore() var body: some Scene { WindowGroup { ContentView() .environmentObject(model) .environmentObject(store) } } } class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate { func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? = nil) -> Bool { initiateAsyncSetup() return true } private func initiateAsyncSetup() { Task { do { try await AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .individual) MySchedule.setSchedule() } catch { print("Error during asynchronous setup: \(error)") } } } } import Foundation import FamilyControls import ManagedSettings private let _MyModel = MyModel() class MyModel: ObservableObject { let store = ManagedSettingsStore() @Published var selectionToDiscourage: FamilyActivitySelection @Published var selectionToEncourage: FamilyActivitySelection init() { selectionToDiscourage = FamilyActivitySelection() selectionToEncourage = FamilyActivitySelection() } class var shared: MyModel { return _MyModel } func setShieldRestrictions() { let applications = MyModel.shared.selectionToDiscourage store.shield.applications = applications.applicationTokens.isEmpty ? nil : applications.applicationTokens store.shield.applicationCategories = applications.categoryTokens.isEmpty ? nil : ShieldSettings.ActivityCategoryPolicy.specific(applications.categoryTokens) } } import Foundation import DeviceActivity extension DeviceActivityName { static let daily = Self("daily") } extension DeviceActivityEvent.Name { static let encouraged = Self("encouraged") } let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents(hour: 0, minute: 0), intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour: 23, minute: 59), repeats: true ) class MySchedule { static public func setSchedule() { print("Setting schedule...") print("Hour is: ", Calendar.current.dateComponents([.hour, .minute], from: Date()).hour!) let events: [DeviceActivityEvent.Name: DeviceActivityEvent] = [ .encouraged: DeviceActivityEvent( applications: MyModel.shared.selectionToEncourage.applicationTokens, threshold: DateComponents(second: 2) ) ] let center = DeviceActivityCenter() do { print("Try to start monitoring...") try center.startMonitoring(.daily, during: schedule, events: events) } catch { print("Error monitoring schedule: ", error) } } } import SwiftUI struct ContentView: View { @State private var isDiscouragedPresented = false @State private var isEncouragedPresented = false @EnvironmentObject var model: MyModel var body: some View { VStack { Button("Select Apps to Discourage") { isDiscouragedPresented = true } .familyActivityPicker(isPresented: $isDiscouragedPresented, selection: $model.selectionToDiscourage) Button("Select Apps to Encourage") { isEncouragedPresented = true } .familyActivityPicker(isPresented: $isEncouragedPresented, selection: $model.selectionToEncourage) } .onChange(of: model.selectionToDiscourage) { newSelection in MyModel.shared.setShieldRestrictions() } } } struct ContentView_Previews: PreviewProvider { static var previews: some View { ContentView() .environmentObject(MyModel()) } } import Foundation import DeviceActivity import ManagedSettings class MyDeviceActivityMonitor: DeviceActivityMonitor { let store = ManagedSettingsStore() override func intervalDidStart(for activity: DeviceActivityName) { print("intervalDidStart") super.intervalDidStart(for: activity) store.shield.applications = nil print("intervalDidStart") } override func intervalDidEnd(for activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.intervalDidEnd(for: activity) } override func eventDidReachThreshold(_ event: DeviceActivityEvent.Name, activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.eventDidReachThreshold(event, activity: activity) print("used encouraged") store.shield.applications = nil } override func intervalWillStartWarning(for activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.intervalWillStartWarning(for: activity) // Handle the warning before the interval starts. } override func intervalWillEndWarning(for activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.intervalWillEndWarning(for: activity) // Handle the warning before the interval ends. } override func eventWillReachThresholdWarning(_ event: DeviceActivityEvent.Name, activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.eventWillReachThresholdWarning(event, activity: activity) // Handle the warning before the event reaches its threshold. } }
Replies
0
Boosts
1
Views
760
Activity
May ’24
Multiple Days Schedules • Screen Time API
Hello, I wasn't able to figure out how to handle multiple days with DeviceActivitySchedule. For instance, let's say the user wants to block certain apps from 9:00 AM to 12:00 AM, every day except Saturday and Sunday, how my schedule should look like? I've tried different things... This schedule works for each day of the week, but that's not my goal: let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents(hour: 9, minute: 00), intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour: 12, minute: 00), repeats: true) And if I specify the weekDay inside the DateComponents, like this: // Gregorian calendar // 2 -> Monday // 6 -> Friday let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents(..., weekday: 2), intervalEnd: DateComponents(..., weekday: 6), repeats: true) the schedule will block the apps from Monday at 9:00 AM to Friday at 12:00 AM, which is also not my goal. The only workaround that came to my mind was to create a different schedule for each day of the week: enum WeekDays: String, CaseIterable { case sun, mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat var sortOrder: Int { switch self { case .sun: return 1 case .mon: return 2 case .tue: return 3 case .wed: return 4 case .thu: return 5 case .fri: return 6 case .sat: return 7 } } } func startMonitoring(weekDays: [WeekDays]) { for weekDay in weekDays { let day = weekDay.sortOrder let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents( hour: 9, minute: 00, weekday: day), intervalEnd: DateComponents( hour: 12, minute: 00, weekday: day), repeats: true) let activityName = DeviceActivityName(weekDay.rawValue) do { try center.startMonitoring(activityName, during: schedule) } catch { print("DEBUG: Error: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } } This way I kinda get what I want, for example: I can specify 3 days of the week, let's say Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the time interval, let's keep 9:00 AM - 12:00 AM, and this function will block apps on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at that time interval, fine. However... What if I also want another schedule that blocks at a different time interval but same day? For example, I want to block certain apps Monday and Tuesday from 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Following the example above the activityName would be overwritten, so the user ( for Monday and Tuesday ) would now have only the schedules that starts from 2:00 PM. Basically, I want the user to be able to select multiple days for a schedule and to let them create as many schedules as they want. Does anybody know the correct way to handle multiple days schedules?
Replies
5
Boosts
1
Views
2.2k
Activity
May ’24
DeviceActivityMonitor very unreliable on iOS 17.5 beta
I am using the DeviceActivityMonitor eventDidReachThreshold functionality, but it became very unreliable on the iOS 17.5 beta. Anyone experiencing similar problems? Any known workarounds?
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
877
Activity
May ’24
Screen Time API is completely UNRELIABLE!
I've been working with the Screen Time API for almost 6 months now. I found out it's completely unreliable, testing on iOS 17.4, the DeviceActivityReport is not showing, the DeviceActivityMonitor more often than not does not fire intervalDidStart. It's very frustrating. Has anyone found out a workaround? We all know there has to be something we're doing wrong, since apps like Opal and Jono does not present those types of issues. Let's please unite our forces and find a solution. How to use this API should not be a secret!
Replies
5
Boosts
5
Views
2.2k
Activity
Apr ’24
How long is DeviceActivityData accessible in DeviceActivityReport?
Using the DeviceActivity framework we are able to display data based on a user's screentime and device usage. With the DeviceActivityFilter property, you can specify the date interval to collect data between. In testing, it seems that data only becomes accessible once the extension has been installed (so the extension isn't reading the screentime data already collected on device). However, once installed, I'm curious how far back you can query data from in the data interval? Opal which uses the Screentime API appears to have a lifetime Screentime metric, so hypothetically it should possible to query data as far back as collection starts. Unless they are getting around the sandbox environment and storing the data somehow. Side note on Opal -- They seem to have a community average of Screentime among people in the same age group. Does anyone know how they are collecting the data for this average? Is it actually using live Screentime data or just aggregating data from other studies?
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1.1k
Activity
Apr ’24
Please help make DeviceActivityReport reliably show up
Our app uses DeviceActivityReport to display the user’s screen time. The performance of DeviceActivityReport is often very poor. These issue occur commonly: Screen time is reported as 0 minutes DeviceActivityReport View appears completely blank The host app loses connection with the DeviceActivityReport altogether I have implemented several workarounds which only slightly improve the performance, to varying degrees depending on the device iOS: Inside the DeviceActivityReport code - retry fetching screen time data until it returns a non-zero result Implement a “refresh” button which reloads the DeviceActivityReport view from the host app However, due to the sandboxed nature of DeviceActivityReport, there is no way for the host application to tell if the DeviceActivityReport extension is experiencing these performance issues. It results in a really bad user experience. I am building the app with Xcode 14 due to another issue where DeviceActivityReport fails to load for all iOS 16 devices when built with Xcode 15 (this is a know issue, here’s a link to a discussion on the developer forums: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/735915). However, when testing on iOS 17 devices with Xcode 15 builds, the above issues still occur. I have received no crash reports from DeviceActivityReport. These issues are known bugs and have been discussed on the developer forums, but I haven't yet seen a solution. Other screen time apps exist that use the DeviceActivityReport seemingly flawlessly, so I know that there is a way to improve the performance of DeviceActivityReport in my app. Please help! I have been dealing with this poor performance for a long time now with almost no improvement!
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2.0k
Activity
Apr ’24
Loading indicator until DeviceActivityReport renders?
There is frequently a delay of a few seconds before a DeviceActivityReport renders its view generated from the DeviceActivityReportExtension. It will also sometimes flash with zero data before hydrating with the real activity data (tested with extension code taken directly from XCode boilerplate) Is there a way to be notified when the DeviceActivityReport renders successfully or is still processing, i.e. so a loading indicator can be presented while the extension runs? Thanks!
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2.3k
Activity
Apr ’24
DeviceActivityReport Lag
There have been several posts (i.e. here, here) about the lagginess of the DeviceActivityReport extension. Often it takes a few seconds for the view to load, or sometimes doesn't show up at all. I've confirmed this is not a case of excessive memory usage in the extension (exceeding 100MB), because I've profiled the extension and it consistently maxes out at 10MB. I've placed a loading screen behind the DeviceActivityReport inside a ZStack in the host app in order to see if the lag is because it takes some time for the extension to spin up - but the loading screen does not appear, indicating that the extension is running right away, but receiving the view from the extension in the host app is where the lag happens. It's been extremely difficult to debug because the lag only occurs a fraction of the time, and DeviceActivityReport is pretty much a black box. There's no documentation about how the host app and extension actually communicate. I've also combed through the logs using the Console app on Mac with no indication of any issues, (but I do see the message "Connection to view service was invalidated" coming from the extension even when there is no lag). I'm pretty convinced that the problem lies in the host app, because when I strip everything away from the host app, DeviceActivityReport never lags. I suspect that there are processes running (network requests, async tasks, or state updates) that block the report view from being received in the host app. Could you please help me understand why this could be happening, with as many details as you could provide? Any details on how the host and extension communicate, what processes could block the view from appearing, or anything else. Seems like this is a common issue but plenty of apps also don't experience it. Any guidance you can provide would be extremely helpful, as I've been trying to fix this bug every since I've been working with this API with no luck. Thanks in advance!
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2k
Activity
Apr ’24
Device activity/screen time api
I have a request from a client that would like to create a solution where a central component is the ability to retrieve the users app usage. I can see that there are various api's todo that - one example is the Device Activity API. Another hope from the client is that this should be a web solution and not an app. I haven't quite been able to figure out if this is possible or not. I have three questions: Is it possible to retrieve app usage information through a REST api (or similar) outside an iOS app? Is it possible to use the appleId as a kind of auth solution for a web application Are there any similar APIs for older versions than iOS 15?
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0
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613
Activity
Apr ’24
Device Activity Report for multiple children
How can I differentiate between multiple children in order to display screentime data to the user separately for a parent with multiple children? As far as I can see, the options are .children, and .all? I understand I can retrieve some info from within the extension so I can group data separately, but is there any way to reliably filter between different children from within my app, say using a DeviceActivityFilter? Many thanks!
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0
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673
Activity
Apr ’24
Background Safari Tab contributing to DeviceActivityMonitor usage threshold?
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.
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708
Activity
Apr ’24
I would like to create several schedules for an activity can I do that
currently when I try to set several schedules to the same activity the latest schedule I set is the only one I understand I can have only 1 schedule for activity. ? I thought about setting a new schedule on the intervalDidEnd but, I get no interval did start if the current time is in the middle of the interval I set For example, now it is 15:00, and my previous interval started at 14:00 and ends at 16:00 but the user sets a new interval from 14:30 - 16:40 I call the deviceActivityCenter.stopMonitoring([someActivityName]) and get noIntervalDidEnd event Then I set the new interval successfully with deviceActivityCenter.startMonitoring(someActivityName, during: deviceActivitySchedule) and get no intervalDidStartEvent So how can I achieve several intervals? If I had gotten the events of the start and end it would be possible Thanks for the help
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1.6k
Activity
Apr ’24
eventDidReachThreshold is working as expected only when the app is in debug mode
As per our code, we have the apps to be shielded whenever the threshold is reached. According to this use-case, our code in DeviceActivityExtension looks something like: override func eventDidReachThreshold(_ event: DeviceActivityEvent.Name, activity: DeviceActivityName) { super.eventDidReachThreshold(event, activity: activity) defaults?.setValue(event.rawValue, forKey: "appLimitEventName") defaults?.setValue(true, forKey: "appLimitReached") defaults?.synchronize() // using darwinNotificationCenter to trigger callback in the application let darwinNotificationCenter = DarwinNotificationsManager.sharedInstance() darwinNotificationCenter.postNotification(withName: "nextAppLimitInitiated") // using Notifications to debug since print doesn't work scheduleNotification(with: "interval threshold reached") } And in our application, we have the shielding logic in place, init() { let darwinNotificationCenter = DarwinNotificationsManager.sharedInstance() darwinNotificationCenter.register(forNotificationName: "nextAppLimitInitiated"){ print("callback received") let appLimitReached = self.defaults?.bool(forKey: "appLimitReached") let appLimitEventName = self.defaults?.string(forKey: "appLimitEventName") if appLimitReached ?? false, appLimitEventName != "" { // this sends the notification when callback is received self.scheduleNotification(with: "init start") self.defaults?.setValue(false, forKey: "appLimitReached") guard var dataArray = self.defaults?.array(forKey: "appLimitdataArray"), !dataArray.isEmpty else { return } let appLimitData = dataArray.first as! NSDictionary let appLimitKey = appLimitData["appLimitId"] as! String let data = self.getSchedule(key: appLimitEventName ?? "") if let appTokens = data?.applicationTokens { for token in appTokens { if !self.applicationTokens.contains(appTokens) { self.applicationTokens.insert(token) } } } self.store.shield.applications = self.applicationTokens self.store.shield.applicationCategories = ShieldSettings.ActivityCategoryPolicy.specific(self.categoryTokens, except: Set()) dataArray.removeFirst() //dataArray.append(appLimitData) self.defaults?.set(dataArray, forKey: "appLimitdataArray") self.initiateMonitoring(initiateAgain: true) self.scheduleNotification(with: "init end") } } } This works as expected for multiple App Limits but only when the device is connected to the Xcode. If we disconnect the device from Xcode/ stop application from Xcode/ try in release mode, the callback is not received from extension to the app/init block. When the device is connected to Xcode, if the apps hit the threshold, they are shielded automatically. But if the device is disconnected/ app is in release mode, the apps are not shielded automatically even after the threshold is reached. It is shielded later only after opening our app once. Please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong in receiving callback or in my shielding logic. If I need to place the shielding logic in the extension, please tell me how I can handle multiple appTokens.
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1.4k
Activity
Mar ’24
DeviceActivityMonitor Schedule Pause
I am trying to understand how to approach 'x minute' pauses for a DeviceActivitySchedule. For instance, I would like to let the user pause for 5 minutes from an active schedule (meaning un-shielding the apps and re-applying the shield after the 5 min has passed). The only way that came to my mind was calling the following: Calling .startMonitoring to start monitoring a new event with the same apps starting .now and ending .now + 5 minutes; Calling in the intervalDidStart, store.shield.applications.subtract(apps) so that the apps are removed from the shield. Calling in the intervalDidEnd, store.shield.applications = apps so that the apps are now shielded again. The problem is that, from the Apple Developer Documentation: The minimum interval length for monitoring device activity is fifteen minutes. So the minimum pause I could offer to the user would be 15 minutes. And that tells me this approach is most likely wrong, because all other Screen Time apps, like Opal, Jomo, AppBlock offer also 5 min pause. Does anyone know / can think of a different and better approach?
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1.5k
Activity
Mar ’24
all my DeviceActivitySchedules are killed when granting unrelated 4th party app access to screen time API permission
I have two repeating DeviceActivitySchedules running in my app and noticed a super strange behavior: whenever I modify Screen Time API permission settings (granting an additional app permission, or removing permission for a different app (completely different unrelated screen time apps from App Store)) all my DeviceActivitySchedules are cancelled and the intervalDidEnd callbacks are called my permission is not modified in this scenario this is a super strange and unexpected behavior is anyone able to reproduce this? for me this happens 100% of the times I do this any known workarounds?
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798
Activity
Mar ’24
In DeviceActivityReportScene count numberOfPickups for given Application
How can I count the number of pickups for a certain application? The docs say that there is a struct ApplicationActivity within the DeviceActivityData: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/deviceactivity/deviceactivitydata Using this code I receive a warning in XCode: Value of type 'DeviceActivityData' has no member 'applicationActivity' struct ApplicationPickupCountReport: DeviceActivityReportScene { // Define which context your scene will represent. let context: DeviceActivityReport.Context = .applicationPickupCount // Define the custom configuration and the resulting view for this report. let content: (String) -> ApplicationPickupCountView func makeConfiguration(representing data: DeviceActivityResults<DeviceActivityData>) async -> String { var totalPickups = 0 let totalPickups = await data.flatMap { $0.applicationActivity }.reduce(0, { $0 + $1.numberOfPickups }) return "\(totalPickups)" } }
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733
Activity
Mar ’24
DeviceActivityEvent with threshold spanning over midnight → threshold not working
Hello, I am using a DeviceActivityEvent to limit access to an app after the user has spent x minutes on it. Sometimes it can happen that a DeviceActivitySchedule spans from 11:55pm - 12:25am (just an example). In these cases, I have noticed, the DeviceActivityMonitorExtension’s eventDidReachThreshold is not called after the user has reached the threshold time interval in the observed app. I assume this is because we have transitioned over midnight and something weird happens to the DeviceActivitySchedule. I’ve tried adding the day components to the DeviceActivitySchedule as well, but then it fails completely. Any advice how to handle this? I could, of course, create two separate DeviceActivitySchedules: one for before midnight, and one for after. But depending on the user’s real app usage that could lead to slightly different (and unexpected) behavior.
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791
Activity
Mar ’24
eventDidReachThreshold triggered while target app is in background
Hello! I am using the eventDidReachThreshold callback in the DeviceActivityMonitor in order to shield a target app after the user has spend x amount of time on it (e.g. x = 5 minutes). Many times this works fine, and I can trigger my shield after the specified threshold has been met. However sometimes, when they leave the target app before the threshold has been reached, the eventDidReachThreshold callback gets called randomly while they are doing something else on their phone (e.g. using a different app, on the Home Screen, phone locked…). From my perspective this does not make sense, since they are not actively spending time on the target app, and that time should not be counted towards the target app’s threshold. And it is also very confusing for the users because they will then find a blocked target app even though they haven’t used their time budget completely. This is not related to the intervalDidStart / intervalDidEnd callbacks, because they are not correlating with the timing of when the eventDidReachThreshold callback is called unexpectedly. Any ideas what this could be related to?
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700
Activity
Mar ’24
DeviceActivityCenter - couldn’t communicate with a helper application.
Hi there, In rare cases (about 0.2% of the time?), I'm seeing calls to startMonitoring on an instance of DeviceActivityCenter throw an error with localizedDescription "couldn’t communicate with a helper application." I am certain I am passing valid parameters to the startMonitoring call because sometimes a naive retry after a few seconds succeeds. Similarly, I am certain that FamilyControls permissions have been granted by the user. Was hoping to get more color from the systems team on what some causes of this error are and if it is avoidable by the programmer.
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1.9k
Activity
Mar ’24
[iOS 17.4] Default value for DeviceActivityEvent's includesPastActivity should be set to true
Starting with iOS 17.4, the DeviceActivityEvent initializer includes a new parameter named includesPastActivity.

The default value for this parameter is set to false, whereas device activity events have behaved as though this parameter were set to true up until now. This breaking change is a MAJOR ISSUE for developers who used device activity events in their apps before iOS 17.4 because their apps might not work the way they intended after the update. They'll have to release new app versions that specifically set includesPastActivityto true. In my opinion, the default value for includesPastActivity should be true to avoid disrupting events scheduled on older versions of iOS. I have filed an enhancement report (FB13573556) about this. I really hope this is changed before the official iOS 17.4 release.
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1.8k
Activity
Mar ’24