I want to share a Transferable (JSON-encoded) data struct from some HostApp with an Extension of my ContainingApp, and get a different Transferable (also JSON-encoded) data struct back on success. Since I want to present my ContainingApp's AppIcon in the sharing sheet to make it easy for the user to find it, I started building a Sharing Extension and not an Action Extension. AFAIK the difference is only in the presentation (Sharing Extension: Icon+name of the ContainingApp vs Action Extension: simple b/w system icon plus a string describing the action (e.g. "Copy", "Save to Files")), and the data flow is identical. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I added the Sharing Extension to my ContainingApp (which are both in the same app group so they can use a shared container to exchange data). The (real) HostApp is from a different company we are collaborating with, and thus is not in our app group. Once everything runs I will add a tailored NSExtensionActivationRule to make sure our Sharing Extension is only shown to our partner's HostApp. Currently I am still using TRUEPREDICATE. The goal is that after the user tapped the "Continue with ContainingApp" (Share-)button in the HostApp, iOS will only show my ContainingApp icon and nothing else, since that's the only useful choice for the user. Side Question 1: The best user experience would be if the HostApp could directly present our extension when the user tapped the "Continue with ContainingApp"-button, without the user needing to choose it manually in the Share-sheet, but I guess this is not possible for privacy/security reasons, right? In the debugger of the HostApp I see this error: Type "com.myapp.shareInput" was expected to be exported in the Info.plist of Host.app, but it was imported instead. Library: UniformTypeIdentifiers | Subsystem: com.apple.runtime-issues | Category: Type Declaration Issues but I definitely want to define and export both ShareInput and ShareResult as UTExportedTypeDeclarations in my extension, and all 3rd-party apps (like this demo HostApp) using my extension need to import them. Side Question 2: Can I just ignore this error? And tell the 3rd-party app developers they also can ignore it? After the user tapped on the ContainingApp icon in the sharing dialog, my Sharing Extension will show its dialog, presenting the shared item it got from the HostApp, and let the user edit the text. When the user taps the "Save"-button in my extension, it creates a ShareResult struct to send back to the HostApp, and dismisses the sheet. This (kinda) works when I share plain text with the 􀈂Text button in my HostApp. My ContainingApp icon is shown together with Mail, Messages, and other apps that can process plain text; with shortcuts to persons and devices (AirDrop targets) in the line above, and with actions (Copy, New Quick Note, Save to Files, Save to Citator, Certificat, Airdrop) below. When I choose my ContainingApp, the extension runs and shows the text it got. ("Kinda" because I am still struggling to send data back. See below...) So the principal operation works... Side Question 3: In the HostApp, can I use ShareLink() to present the Share-sheet and receive the result struct or do I always need to activityViewController!.completionWithItemsHandler = completionHandler windowScene.keyWindow?.rootViewController?.present(activityViewController!, animated: true, completion: nil) and process the result in the completionHandler? If returning (any) data from the extension is possible with ShareLink() also, then how? I didn't find any sample showing this... I implemented the ShareLink() anyway (and ignore the result part for the moment). When I try to share a ShareInput struct with the 􀈂ShareLink button, the same persons are sorted differently, there are less app icons (9 instead of 13), and less actions (only 3: New Quick Note, Save to Files, AirDrop): Note that while the preview correctly shows the preview text provided ("shareInput"), the preview image left of it is blank (instead of arrowshape.right.fill): let preview = SharePreview("shareInput", image: Image(systemName: "arrowshape.right.fill")) When I choose my ContainingApp, the extension runs ... On iOS17, I see that indeed my ShareInput data arrived in my extension: ❗️itemProvider=<NSItemProvider: 0x301b1c460> {types = ( "com.myapp.shareInput" )} Library: ShareExtension | Subsystem: com.myapp.containingdemo.ShareExtensionDemo | Category: ShareSheet However, on iOS 16 it doesn't work: Host[8615:634470] [Type Declaration Issues] Type "com.myapp.shareInput" was expected to be exported in the Info.plist of Host.app, but it was imported instead. Host[8615:634462] [ShareSheet] Couldn't load file URL for Collaboration Item Provider:<NSItemProvider: 0x280f49180> {types = ( "com.myapp.shareInput" )} : (null) That error is shown before I choose the ContainingApp to share with. When I do that, I get: ShareExtension[8774:636786] [ShareSheet] ❗️itemProvider=<NSItemProvider: 0x28243a300> {types = ( "dyn.age8u", "public.file-url" )} which clearly shows the ShareInput struct was not transferred to the extension. But since I don't know how to transfer the ShareResult back to the HostApp when using a ShareLink, I cannot continue this approach anyway. When I try to share a ShareInput struct with the 􀈂JSON button (using present(activityViewController)), I see (both on iOS 16 and iOS 17): My extension (rather, the ContainingApp's icon) is not shown as Sharing target (even though it still has TRUEPREDICATE), which means that my code didn't manage to pack the ShareInput struct for the activityViewController - and thus it doesn't know what to share. I did the same as with the plainText item before: let shareInput = ShareInput(inputStr: "ShareInput as JSON") let preview = SharePreview("shareInput", image: Image(systemName: "arrowshape.right.fill")) VStack(spacing: 25.0) { Text("HostApp!") ShareButton(title: "Text", shareItems: [ItemSource(dataToShare: "sharing some text")]) ShareButton(title: "JSON", shareItems: [ItemSource(dataToShare: shareInput)]) ShareLink("ShareLink", item: shareInput, preview: preview) } (I will continue in the next posting)

Hello, As of iOS 17, the keyboard app runs in a different process. I was wondering if there is a way to access the UIView of the keyboard app or if there is a way to subscribe to touch events done on the keyboard (especially during the trackpad mode). By trackpad mode I mean when the user long presses on space and then can move in the keyboard area (that turns into a trackpad) to move the caret in a text. Either Objective C or SwiftUI is fine. Thanks!

I am working on an App and I am in the process of adding Syphon support. Syphon uses CFMessagePort for IPC and passing of FrameBuffer data (MTLTexture) between apps - and is widely used in the professional video app and video production space. What I have noticed is that when the App is built as a Sandbox app, during the Syphon initialization, I see the following error message in the log: *** CFMessagePort: bootstrap_register(): failed 1100 (0x44c) 'Permission denied', port = 0x8703, name = 'info.v002.Syphon.D2499DBD-93AE-4CEA-B21F-FF356DCC069D' See /usr/include/servers/bootstrap_defs.h for the error codes. Syphon uses the "info.v002.Syphon.UUID" naming convention to identify IPC Syphon servers, so I don't think I can use the App Groups naming convention for Sandbox support. I have a very simple example app on github that publishes SpriteKit frames as a Syphon Server. To see the issue, simply enable App Sandbox for the build, and run the app. You should see the error message in the log and no data appears in any Syphon Client (I use Syphon Recorder for testing - available at syphon.github . io I am looking for other options to enable CFMessagePorts on a Sandbox App.

Hi There is a critical code section between the app and its app extensions that needs to be synchronized and done atomically. What would be a suitable solution to achieve locking and synchronization between app’s processes? Is there a way to share memory or an operation queue between the app and its app extensions? Thank you

Hi, I have two iOS apps in the same app group. Now App 1 wants to execute a method in App 2 via IPC: App 1 -> call method test() via IPC on App 2 -> App 2 returns the result to App 1. Is this possible? Regards,

I have used [[NSDistributedNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver in process AA to listen notification from other process BB, It works fine. But when make the observer process AA as a launch daemon (which is started by launchd), It found below difference. If run process BB as root privilege, AA can not receive notification posted by BB. If make process BB as a launch daemon, AA can receive notification posted by BB. What was happened in above difference, It can not find any document about this, Thanks.

We have app and notification extension both loading an agent lib to access the same files with read/write/delete operations. To avoid app and notification extension access the file simultaneously, we use boost::interprocess::file_lock when app enters foreground and notification extension didReceive notifications. If extension failed to grab file lock, it will skip loading agent and returns. If app failed to grab file lock, it will start a timer to keep trying while UI will display spinner. Sometimes we saw crash report from our app with: Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGKILL) Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000 Termination Reason: RUNNINGBOARD 3735883980 Triggered by Thread: 0 The code 3735883980 indicate "deadlock" - The operating system terminated the app because it held on to a file lock or SQLite database lock during suspension. In sysdiagnose, we also see "[osservice&lt;com.apple.InputUI&gt;:1496] check if suspended process is holding locks" in runningboardd process. Does it mean that our app fail to unlock? We did lock when app enters foreground and unlock when app goes to background. Is there anything we did wrong? @implementation FileLock -(id)init { self = [super init]; if (nil != self) { // Find empty lock file, created if it doesn't exist. FILE *file = fopen(lockFile.c_str(), "a"); if (file) { fclose(file); } m_lock = boost::make_shared&lt;boost::interprocess::file_lock&gt;(lockFile.c_str()); } return self; } -(BOOL)lock { return m_lock-&gt;try_lock(); } -(void)unlock { return m_lock-&gt;unlock(); } @end func applicationDidBecomeActive(_ application: UIApplication) { if !bFileLockAcquired { if fileLock.lock() { bFileLockAcquired = true // load agent } else { lockTimer = Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 1.0, repeats: true, block: { _ in DispatchQueue.main.async { if fileLock.lock() { self.lockTimer?.invalidate() self.lockTimer = nil bFileLockAcquired = true // load agent } } }) } } func applicationDidEnterBackground(_ application: UIApplication) { self.lockTimer?.invalidate() self.lockTimer = nil fileLock.unlock() bFileLockAcquired = false }

My goal is to create a communication mechanism between the UI test runner and my app. That way I can tell the app to display specific data (without laboriously going through the UI steps of getting the app into that state) and also read the values stored as a result of simulated user actions. So, what are the best options for that kind of IPC? So far I have tried NWListener and friends, but it looks like I'd have to add entitlements to my app, which I'd rather avoid since this is only for testing. Can I have the app listening for some kind of IPC connection without requiring entitlements?

Hello, we are currently working on a plan to migrate our app suite from Developer ID binaries inside a simple pkg installer to macOS app store distribution. The reason we are using an installer is that there are multiple binaries inside that communicate via XPC and we need to install the respective launchd plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons and /Library/LaunchAgents: 1 root daemon 1 agent that has minimal UI and lives in the system menu bar 1 embedded command line utility in user agent 1 embedded FileProvider extension in user agent 1 embedded Action Extension in user agent 1 agent that only does OAuth stuff Looking through Updating helper executables from earlier versions of macOS I can install the root daemon with SMAppService.daemon(plistName:) and the OAuth helper with SMAppService.agent(plistName:). For the main application I only found SMAppService.mainApp which does not accept a property list configuration. Therefore, I have no place to put my MachServices array and so the File Provider extension, the Action Extension, and the embedded command line utility have no way to talk to the user agent. Currently, XPC is used in between these processes: user agent -> root daemon command line utility -> user agent action extension -> user agent file provider extension -> user agent user agent -> file provider extension: that already works through NSFileProviderServicing I know app-to-app communication only works through launchd for security reasons, but these applications are all part of the same app group (except the root daemon obviously). My question is what is the proper way of starting the user agent so XPC from other binaries just work ™️? Any input is much appreciated!

I am looking for a solution to transfer data between two completely separate processes (not from the same group). I did a lot of research, but the solutions were mostly for processes that are in a group. Is there a method? (It doesn't matter if the app is sandboxed, I can disable it). My goal is to communicate between a bundle(plugin) that is activated on the Mac login page and an XPC service and transfer data from the service to the bundle.

We have an iOS application that supports the iOS share extension. We notice when a link is shared from Google Maps to other apps, the link automatically gets a "g_st" parameter with the bundle ID of the target app! The bundle ID of the destination share extension app becomes a part of the shared URL dynamically! This is being used as a kind of referrer with links. How is this being done and is this something that's allowed in iOS? For example, if a Google Maps link is shared to the LinkedIn iOS app, the URL changes to contain LinkedIn's share extension bundle ID!

Hey 👋 I have an extension of type "Device Activity Report Extension". Is there a way to know from the parent app if the extension process is alive? the process name is DeviceActivityReportService Why would I like to detect that? The extension sometimes crashes due to memory pressure and I would like to reload the view automatically when this happens. This issue happens under normal app use — the user switches quickly between two tabs that have DeviceActivityReport. I filed a bug for this with a sample project to replicate (12192929) Here is an output from the Console app when the DeviceActivityReportService is killed and the UI disappears: kernel memorystatus: killing process 33061 [DeviceActivityReportService] in high band FOREGROUND (100) - memorystatus_available_pages: 68660 kernel DeviceActivityReportService[33061] Corpse allowed 1 of 5 SpringBoard [xpcservice&lt;com.apple.DeviceActivityUI.DeviceActivityReportService([application&lt;com.labalab.Screen-Time.marcin&gt;:33046])&gt;:33061] Workspace connection invalidated. SpringBoard [xpcservice&lt;com.apple.DeviceActivityUI.DeviceActivityReportService([application&lt;com.labalab.Screen-Time.marcin&gt;:33046])&gt;:33061] Now flagged as pending exit for reason: workspace client connection invalidated SpringBoard [FBInterfaceOrientationServiceServer] Removing client xpcservice&lt;com.apple.DeviceActivityUI.DeviceActivityReportService([application&lt;com.labalab.Screen-Time.marcin&gt;:33046])&gt;:33061. SpringBoard Removed client for observing orientation events: &lt;FBServiceFacilityServerClientHandle: 0x281fa23a0; com.apple.frontboardservices.orientation-observer; xpcservice&lt;com.apple.DeviceActivityUI.DeviceActivityReportService([application&lt;com.labalab.Screen-Time.marcin&gt;:33046])&gt;:33061: remote&gt; kernel 266908.072 memorystatus: killing_specific_process pid 33061 [DeviceActivityReportService] (per-process-limit 100) 35873KB - memorystatus_available_pages: 68793 Screen Time Terminating interface and invalidating assertion: identifier: com.apple.DeviceActivityUI.DeviceActivityReportService; assertion: 0x282316b70 Screen Time Terminating interface and invalidating connection: identifier: com.apple.DeviceActivityUI.DeviceActivityReportService; assertion: 0x0

Hi, how could I get the command line arguments of a process given its audit token. My app is a Content Filter Network Extension written in swift. I can obtain the audit token from NEFilterFlow but I can't figure out how to get the process arguments, I was able to get the pid from the audit token using audit_token_to_pid.

I have successfully implemented Universal Links so that a visitor to specific URLs on our site is redirected to one of our apps. It all works well. Alarmingly well, in that it all worked perfectly first time. (I blame the documentation). A question I can't find specifically addressed in the documentation is: what if we have two apps that can both handle a given link? This is in fact our situation. In most cases users will have one or other of the apps installed. The correct behaviour would then be to direct the user to the installed app. In some cases the user will have both apps installed. In that case the ideal behaviour would be to direct the user to what we have defined to be the "main" app. It looks to me as if it is possible to two apps in an apple-app-site-association file, but not having found this in the documentation, I wonder: has anyone on here actually tried this? Did it work as expected?