Hi, Is it possible to create an App in USB portable flash drive, which can automatically call iPhone file app, to allow iPhone file app access the content of flash drive, when USB portable flash plug into iPhone?

I am writing an NSFileProviderReplicatedExtension for my app. Every once in a while it will get to a point where NSFileProviderManager.getDomainsWithCompletionHandler { domains, error in DispatchQueue.main.async { if let error = error { completion(.failure(.domainQueryFailed(error))) } else { completion(.success(domains)) } } } this always fails, once this happens then regardless of what I do - clean build, restart machine, uninstall plugin nothing works. The only way to get back to a wokring state is a full reinstall of the OS. It seems like when this happens Finder gets to a weird irrecoverable state that only a restart can fix. When it fails the error is always : The application cannot be used right now. the only way out is reisntall the OS. When this happened last time, I was advised to the use the debugging profile: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/797053 I now have that and have the log which is 300MB file, where do I upload it to? My machine is in that state, is there anything else I can run or diagnose to address this?

I am writing an NSFileProviderExtension for my app. Every once in a while it will get to a point where NSFileProviderManager.getDomainsWithCompletionHandler { domains, error in DispatchQueue.main.async { if let error = error { completion(.failure(.domainQueryFailed(error))) } else { completion(.success(domains)) } } } this always fails, once this happens then regardless of what I do - clean build, restart machine, uninstall plugin nothing works. The only way to get back to a wokring state is a full reinstall of the OS. It seems like when this happens Finder gets to a weird irrecoverable state that only a restart can fix. Is there anything I can do to address this? I have a laptop which is in this state. Finder has this image attached

We are creating a Replicated FileProvider based application, where we want to handle different types of errors. As per doc: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/fileprovider/synchronizing-files-using-file-provider-extensions?language=objc#Handle-errors-elegantly NSFileProviderErrorNotAuthenticated is a resolvable error, and once we report it, the system throttles the sync operation until something (most likely the app or extension) calls signalErrorResolved(:completionHandler:) to signal that the user or the server resolves the error. But this is not happening in our app, see below the sample code snippet (showing just error related code to keep it concise): NSProgress* MacFileProvider::modifyItem(....) { NSProgress *nsProgress = [[NSProgress alloc] init]; nsProgress.totalUnitCount = NSURLSessionTransferSizeUnknown; NSError *error = [NSError errorWithDomain:NSFileProviderErrorDomain code:NSFileProviderErrorNotAuthenticated userInfo:nil]; completionHandler(nil, 0, false, error); return nsProgress; } Observed behaviour: On making local edits to a file, though this function returns resolvable error, this function is being called multiple times with retry back-off interval. Also, this function is called when we edit other files as well. Expected behaviour: As we are returning resolvable error, system should have throttled the operation until we resolve the error. So, all sync operation should have stopped for any item. Can someone please help understand this behaviour difference, and how to achieve the expected behaviour.

I am building a Vision OS app that includes a File Provider and File Provider UI extension. Both work great in simulator. When uploading to TestFlight, this message is shown: Unsupported Platform. The extension bundle [...]/PlugIns/File ProviderUI.appex is not supported for this platform. If I exclude the File Provider UI extension from the build, it is accepted. If I even include a hello-world File Provider UI extension, the error shown above is returned by ASC. There is contradicting documentation on this subject: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/technologyoverviews/app-extensions states that File Provider UI extension is not supported on Vision OS, so that explains ASC behavior https://developer.apple.com/documentation/FileProviderUI (and all other framework docs) states that File Provider UI extension is supported on Vision OS, so that explains why it works on simulator. Now, which of these two is correct? My best guess at this point is that ASC's logic follows the first document linked above, while the OS and framework actually follow the second. The same discrepancy seems to hold for macOS, but I'm currently focusing on Vision OS. Ideas? Anybody using a File Provider UI extension on Vision OS?

I'm using UIDocumentPickerViewController to open a url. Works fine in debug mode but version on the App Store is failing. Code to create the document picker is like: NSArray *theTypes = [UTType typesWithTag:@"docxtensionhere" tagClass:UTTagClassFilenameExtension conformingToType:nil]; UIDocumentPickerViewController *documentPicker = [[UIDocumentPickerViewController alloc]initForOpeningContentTypes:theTypes]; documentPicker.delegate = self;   [self presentViewController:documentPicker animated:YES completion:nil]; So in debug mode this is all gravy. -documentPicker:didPickDocumentsAtURLs: passes back a URL and I can read the file. In release mode I get a URL but my app is denied access to read the file. After inspecting some logging it appears the sandbox is not granting my app permission. error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=257 "The file “Filename.fileextensionhere” couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/private/var/mobile/Library/Mobile Documents/comappleCloudDocs/Filename.fileextensionhere, NSUnderlyingError=0x2834c9da0 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"}} -- If I'm doing something wrong with UIDocumentPickerViewController it is a real shame that permission is not being denied in Debug mode, as devs are more likely to catch in prior to release. Anyone know where I'm going wrong and if not have a workaround? Thanks in advance.

This concerns file provider framework on macOS. Some users of our application (Egnyte.app) report that they have problems downloading dataless files. When a file reaches invalid state, trying to open or download it through Finder results in "Invalid argument" alert (see example-recording.mp4). At the same time our FileProvider extension receives no fetchContents or fetchPartialContents calls. A step-by-step set of instructions to reproduce the problem (if possible) So far we don't have clear reproduction steps. The issue is easily reproducible, for multiple files, for some of our customers. See attached sysdiagnose and recording. What results you expected Our extension receives a request to download the file. File downloads and opens successfully. What results you actually saw No download request made to our File Provider extension. File doesn't open, Finder alert instead. PLEASE NOTE: Before recording and collecting sysdiagnose we installed FileProvider.mobileconfig, slightly modified official profile that we attach. Example reproduction happens 8:33 into full-recording.mp4, around 17:01:18 / 17:01:19 machine’s time. Shared sysdiagnose and recordings come from one of our customers, they permitted us to share the data. In the recording they try to open files with multiple 3rd party applications (Vectorworx, Office PowerPoint) and those opens fail with alerts from those applications. We have similar reports from customers using Adobe apps. More info in FB19462434

Hi, The app that I'm developing requires data transfer between iOS device and external device through usb-c cable connection. So I'm trying to copy and paste the file between iOS and external storage device automactically. I've tried using UIDocuementPickerController with bookmark, which gives the url path of connected external storage after user selection for the first selection, but it could not be used directly without user interaction afterwards. Is it possible to use the storage url path automatically after user selection for the first time? How do I achieve that? Thanks in advance

This concerns file provider framework on macOS. Some users of our application (Egnyte.app) report that they have problems downloading dataless files. When a file reaches invalid state, trying to open or download it through Finder results in "Invalid argument" alert (see example-recording.mp4). At the same time our FileProvider extension receives no fetchContents or fetchPartialContents calls. A step-by-step set of instructions to reproduce the problem (if possible) So far we don't have clear reproduction steps. The issue is easily reproducible, for multiple files, for some of our customers. See attached sysdiagnose and recording. What results you expected Our extension receives a request to download the file. File downloads and opens successfully. What results you actually saw No download request made to our File Provider extension. File doesn't open, Finder alert instead. PLEASE NOTE: Before recording and collecting sysdiagnose we installed FileProvider.mobileconfig, slightly modified official profile that we attach. Example reproduction happens 8:33 into full-recording.mp4, around 17:01:18 / 17:01:19 machine’s time. Shared sysdiagnose and recordings come from one of our customers, they permitted us to share the data. In the recording they try to open files with multiple 3rd party applications (Vectorworx, Office PowerPoint) and those opens fail with alerts from those applications. We have similar reports from customers using Adobe apps.

(Using macOS 26 Beta 9 and Xcode 26 Beta 7) I am trying to support basic onDrop from a source app to my app. I am trying to get the closest "source" representation of a drag-and-drop, e.g. a JPEG file being dropped into my app shouldn't be converted, but stored as a JPEG in Data. Otherwise, everything gets converted into TIFFs and modern iPhone photos get huge. I also try to be a good app, and provide asynchronous support. Alas, I've been running around for days now, where I can now support Drag-and-Drop from the Finder, from uncached iCloud files with Progress bar, but so far, drag and dropping from Safari eludes me. My code is as follows for the onDrop support: Image(nsImage: data.image).onDrop(of: Self.supportedDropItemUTIs, delegate: self) The UTIs are as follows: public static let supportedDropItemUTIs: [UTType] = [ .image, .heif, .rawImage, .png, .tiff, .svg, .heic, .jpegxl, .bmp, .gif, .jpeg, .webP, ] Finally, the code is as follows: public func performDrop(info: DropInfo) -> Bool { let itemProviders = info.itemProviders(for: Self.supportedDropItemUTIs) guard let itemProvider = itemProviders.first else { return false } let registeredContentTypes = itemProvider.registeredContentTypes guard let contentType = registeredContentTypes.first else { return false } var suggestedName = itemProvider.suggestedName if suggestedName == nil { switch contentType { case UTType.bmp: suggestedName = "image.bmp" case UTType.gif: suggestedName = "image.gif" case UTType.heic: suggestedName = "image.heic" case UTType.jpeg: suggestedName = "image.jpeg" case UTType.jpegxl: suggestedName = "image.jxl" case UTType.png: suggestedName = "image.png" case UTType.rawImage: suggestedName = "image.raw" case UTType.svg: suggestedName = "image.svg" case UTType.tiff: suggestedName = "image.tiff" case UTType.webP: suggestedName = "image.webp" default: break } } let progress = itemProvider.loadInPlaceFileRepresentation(forTypeIdentifier: contentType.identifier) { url, _, error in if let error { print("Failed to get URL from dropped file: \(error)") return } guard let url else { print("Failed to get URL from dropped file!") return } let queue = OperationQueue() queue.underlyingQueue = .global(qos: .utility) let intent = NSFileAccessIntent.readingIntent(with: url, options: .withoutChanges) let coordinator = NSFileCoordinator() coordinator.coordinate(with: [intent], queue: queue) { error in if let error { print("Failed to coordinate data from dropped file: \(error)") return } do { // Load file contents into Data object let data = try Data(contentsOf: intent.url) Dispatch.DispatchQueue.main.async { self.data.data = data self.data.fileName = suggestedName } } catch { print("Failed to load coordinated data from dropped file: \(error)") } } } DispatchQueue.main.async { self.progress = progress } return true } For your information, this code is at the state where I gave up and sent it here, because I cannot find a solution to my issue. Now, this code works everywhere, except for dragging and dropping from Safari. Let's pretend I go to this web site: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tulip_Tulipa_clusiana_%27Lady_Jane%27_Rock_Ledge_Flower_Edit_2000px.jpg and I try to drag-and-drop the image, it will fail with the following error: URL https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Tulip_Tulipa_clusiana_%27Lady_Jane%27_Rock_Ledge_Flower_Edit_2000px.jpg is not a file:// URL. And then, fail with the dreaded Failed to get URL from dropped file: Error Domain=NSItemProviderErrorDomain Code=-1000 As far as I can tell, the problem lies in the opaque NSItemProvider receiving a web site URL from Safari. I tried most solutions, I couldn't retrieve that URL. The error happens in the callback of loadInPlaceFileRepresentation, but also fails in loadFileRepresentation. I tried hard-requesting a loadObject of type URL, but there's only one representation for the JPEG file. I tried only putting .url in the requests, but it would not transfer it. Anyone solved this mystery?

In FileProvider framework based app, is it mandatory to make the host-app sandboxed? I think, no, as Google Drive app is non-sandboxed. But when removing sandboxing from my hostApp, even though mount is visible in Finder but extesnion is not being launched and Finder shows a error message saying "MyApp encountered an error. Items may be out of date." And when I add app-sanboxing, then things work fine. Can someone please help how can we remove sandboxing of hostApp and still make it work. Is there any specific entitlement we need to add, or any whitelisting needed for our Developer Team Id?

Hello, I am currently investigating if we can disable usage of QUIC on application level. I know we can set enable_quic from /Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkd.plist to false but it will have a global impact since this is a system file, all the applications on machine will stop using QUIC. I don't want that. What i am looking for is to disable QUIC only for my application. Is there any way i can modify URLSession object in my application and disable QUIC? or modify URLSessionConfiguration so system will not use QUIC?

I've already searched extensively on Apple Developer Forums and Stack Overflow, and didn't really find what I need or I missed it. I'm developing a macOS music player app that uses cuesheet files paired with audio files. The core functionality is working, opening and playing files works without issues, but I'm struggling with implementing proper file handling features due to my limited experience with UI frameworks. The current state of my app is intentionally simple: Single window interface representing a music player with track list Opening cuesheet files changes the “disc” and updates the window Built with SwiftUI (not AppKit) Not created as a Document-Based app since the user doesn't need to edit, save, or work with multiple documents simultaneously What I Need to Implement: Open Recent menu that actually works Recent files accessible from Dock menu Opening cuesheet files from Finder Drag-and-drop cuesheet files onto app window (lower priority) Problems I've Encountered: I've tried multiple approaches but never achieved full functionality. The closest I got was an “Open Recent” menu that: Only updated after app relaunch Its drop-down kept closing while music was playing My Questions Is it possible purely in SwiftUI? Is there documentation I'm missing? I feel like I might be overcomplicating this. I'm open to alternative approaches if my current direction isn't ideal: Should I redesign as Document-Based? Since I apparently need NSDocumentController, would it be better to start with a Document-Based app template and disable unwanted features, and how? Should I mix AppKit with SwiftUI? While SwiftUI has been wonderful for my main window, it's becoming frustrating for other UI parts, especially menus. Would using AppKit for menus and keeping SwiftUI for the main interface be a reasonable approach? I thought this would be straightforward: Customize the .fileImporter with the proper logic of what to do with the files Call NSDocumentController.shared.noteNewRecentDocumentURL(url) so the Open Recent menu is created a populated with opened files. Maybe it really is that simple and I've gotten lost down a rabbit hole? UI programming is quite new to me, so I might be missing something obvious. Any guidance, code examples, or pointing me toward the right documentation would be greatly appreciated!

Here's the problem I'm trying to solve: Create an iOS app which can scan the Downloads folder (where airdropped audio files arrive), identify audio media files, and play them, retaining some of its own metadata about them (basically, create textual notes mapped to timestamps and store that information in the apps own storage). I am not able to access that folder. I am able to get a path from NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(FileManager.SearchPathDirectory.downloadsDirectory, FileManager.SearchPathDomainMask(arrayLiteral: FileManager.SearchPathDomainMask.userDomainMask), true) or a URL from NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(FileManager.SearchPathDirectory.downloadsDirectory, FileManager.SearchPathDomainMask(arrayLiteral: FileManager.SearchPathDomainMask.userDomainMask), true) but let fileUrls = try fileManager.contentsOfDirectory(at:downloads, includingPropertiesForKeys: []) fails with an error that the folder does not actually exist, with or without a call to downloadsUrl.startAccessingSecurityScopedResource(). Determining whether this is a permissions issue, or if I'm getting a URL to an application-container local folder that has nothing to do with the one I am looking for is compounded by the fact that if I set the build setting Enable App Sandbox, then deployment to my phone fails with Failed to verify code signature. I have spent hours trying every possible combination of certificates and deployment profiles, and ensured that every possibly relevant certificate is trusted on my phone. Disable app-sandbox and it deploys fine, either with automatic signing or an explicit cert and profile. I have an entitlements file with the following - though, without the ability to enable app sandbox and run it on a phone with actual contents in the downloads folder, it is probably not affecting anything: <key>com.apple.security.files.downloads.read-only</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-only</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> <true/> So, questions: Should the URL returned by the above call be the Downloads/ folder airdropped to in the first place? Or is it a URL to some app-local folder that does not exist? Does the entitlement com.apple.security.files.downloads.read-only even allow an app to list all files in the downloads directory (presumably asking the user's permission the first time), or does the permission only get requested when using a picker dialog? (the point here is to find any new audio files without making the user jump through hoops) If I could get it deployed with app-sandbox enabled, would the above code work? Backstory: I'm a software engineer, audio plugin author, Logic Pro user and musician. My workflow (and probably many other Logic user's) for work-in-progress music is to airdrop a mix to my phone, listen to it in a variety of places, make notes about what to change, edit - rinse and repeat. For years I used VLC for iOS to keep and play these in-progress mixes - you could airdrop and select VLC as the destination (yes, Logic can add to your Apple Music library, but trust me, you do not want 20 revisions of the same song cluttering your music library and sync'd to all your devices). Last year, the behavior of Airdrop changed so that the target app for audio is always Files, period, wrecking that workflow. While I eventually discovered that, with an elaborate and non-obvious dance of steps, it is possible to copy files into VLC's folders, and make them available that way, it is inconvenient, to say the least - and VLC is less than fabulous anyway - it would be nice to have an app that could associate to-do notes with specific timestamps in a tune, A/B compare sections between old and new versions and things like that. So, figuring sooner or later I was going to get into a car accident futzing with the Files app to listen to mixes while driving, perhaps I should write that app. But the ability to do that at all relies on the ability of an app to list and access the Downloads folder airdropped audio files land in (assuming the user has given permission to access it, but that should be needed once).

I am writing a file provider extension for Finder. I have things working to some extent and I want to add context menu which will 1/ Open an HTTP URL based on the item selected. However, this is not allowed in the code as there is no context for it to open the URL 2/ Documentation (sparse) online talks about the FileProvider UI Extension but that does not seem to be a target 3/ If I use the FinderSyncExtension, it seems it is not fully reliable with the NSReplicatedFileProviderExtenion, as that extension takes precedence and the FinderSyncExtension is not enabled. My question, what is the best way for the FileProviderExtension to do some UI work? like open a URL, show alert messages etc?

I have FileProvider based MacOS application, where user is trying to copy the folder having mix of small and large files. Large files are having size ~ 1.5 GB from FileProvider based drive to locally on Desktop. Since the folder was on cloud and not downloaded the copy action triggered the download. Small files were downloaded successfully however during large file download the URLSession timed out. We are using default timeout for URLSession which is 1 min. I tried to capture logs Console.app where i found FileProvider daemon errors. PFA Solutions tried so far: Increased timeout for URLSession from 5 to 10 mins - configuration.timeoutIntervalForRequest Set timeout for resource - configuration.timeoutIntervalForResource It happens when we have low network bandwidth. Network connectivity is there but the bandwidth is low. Any clue by looking at these errors?

We have applications RME and RMEUI, which are added under FileProviders section. Looking for MDM profile that can lock these entries so that users cannot disable them. Currently we are using JAMF Pro MDM to control our applications. In Sequoia OS -> Open System Preferences -> General -> Login Items & Extensions -> Under Extensions section -> File Providers In Tahoe OS -> Open System Preferences -> General -> Login Items & Extensions -> Under By Category/App section -> File Providers (In the screen shot you can find RME entry)

I'm unable to API such as NSFileProviderManager on MacOS catalyst although the developer site says this extension is supported. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/fileprovider I've attempted to build a iOS framework to import into the catalyst target with no luck (I thought Catalyst was against the iOS API — maybe not?). Also attempted building a MacOS framework to import (maybe it's the other way around) but no luck. Has anyone found a workaround? Building for "MacOS for iPad" does work but isn't ideal for the UI.

Currently, I use NSFileProviderItemCapabilitiesAllowsAddingSubitems on a folder to control the creation of sub-items (either folders or files) within a parent folder. However, this capability doesn't allow me to meet a requirement where I need to permit file creation but restrict folder creation. I am seeking input on different options to achieve this requirement. Note: One reactive approach would be to intercept folder creation within the createItem() event handler and reject it with an ExcludedFromSync error (without uploading to cloud). This would prevent createItem() from being reattempted on that folder, but the folder would still remain on the mount. Is there any way to delete it?

I am in the process of writing a macOS app using NSFileProviderExtension so that I can map my customer's data in Finder. I am in the process of building it out, I had initially started in Obj-C and then after the advice of folks here (https://developer.apple.com/forums//thread/793272?answerId=849339022&page=1#849752022) I have switched to Swift as the NSReplicatedFileProvider is not available in Obj-C. I have done the main app and also started plugging away with the FileProviderExtension. To verify that I have properly setup, I create a static list of files in the FileProviderExtension enumerate so I can see it work in Finder. I build the app and it works as expected and I see it mounted in Finder and I see the static list of files. But what I don't see is any debug statements in the app, none of those message show up in the logs. I am baffled by this. I check the log stream to see what the process prints out and I know it is logging everything else eg: 2025-07-18 11:32:05.772364-0700 0x19ea3f9 Activity 0x1172100 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (libsystem_secinit.dylib) AppSandbox 2025-07-18 11:32:05.794609-0700 0x19ea3f9 Activity 0x1172101 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (libsystem_info.dylib) Retrieve User by ID 2025-07-18 11:32:05.800179-0700 0x19ea3f9 Default 0x0 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (ExtensionFoundation) [com.apple.extensionkit:default] Extension `/Users/radwar/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Drive-fxfhbjutfvumoabnnfmxxstpifha/Build/Products/Debug/Drive.app/Contents/PlugIns/DriveFileProviderExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/DriveFileProviderExtension` of type: `1` launched. 2025-07-18 11:32:05.801453-0700 0x19ea3f9 Default 0x0 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (RunningBoardServices) [com.apple.runningboard:connection] Initializing connection 2025-07-18 11:32:05.803083-0700 0x19ea3f9 Default 0x0 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (RunningBoardServices) [com.apple.runningboard:process] Removing all cached process handles 2025-07-18 11:32:05.803231-0700 0x19ea613 Default 0x0 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (RunningBoardServices) [com.apple.runningboard:connection] Sending handshake request attempt #1 to server 2025-07-18 11:32:05.803414-0700 0x19ea613 Default 0x0 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (RunningBoardServices) [com.apple.runningboard:connection] Creating connection to com.apple.runningboard 2025-07-18 11:32:05.803459-0700 0x19ea613 Default 0x0 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (libxpc.dylib) [com.apple.xpc:connection] [0x12f106e10] activating connection: mach=true listener=false peer=false name=com.apple.runningboard 2025-07-18 11:32:05.805893-0700 0x19ea613 Default 0x0 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (RunningBoardServices) [com.apple.runningboard:connection] Handshake succeeded 2025-07-18 11:32:05.805955-0700 0x19ea613 Default 0x0 63622 0 DriveFileProviderExtension: (RunningBoardServices) [com.apple.runningboard:connection] Identity resolved as xpcservice<clio.Drive.DriveFileProviderExtension([osservice<com.apple.FileProvider(501)>:990])(501)>{vt hash: 247410607}[uuid:454E32DB-3FB4-4DC6-9C05-F4B2F97333E0]{persona:9EF54117-4998-4D72-83C4-F12587C95FBA} but none of my print lines are being printed. I have code like this sprinkled through the methods: print("🔍 FileProviderExtension INIT - Logger configured") print("🔍 Domain: \(domain.displayName)") None of these show up anywhere. I also do a pure log stream with all system output, and there, too, I don't see anything. What am I missing? With my Obj-C version, all NSLogs used to show up as expected. With Swift, am I missing something?