Hi, I am facing a very weird issue where I am unable to download our own application from TestFlight for testing. This issue only happens for one of our applications; we are able to download our other applications without any issues. Furthermore, this only happens on one of our MacBooks; the game downloads fine on our other MacBook (macOS 15) and can run our application. When running the console, I noticed this error being thrown when the TestFlight fails the download: I have tried reinstalling TestFlight, clearing all instances of our application as what Finder can find, restarting the MacBook but nothing worked. Is there anyone that faced this similar issue, or any Apple staff that could help with this? OS version: macOS Tahoe (26 Beta) latest TestFlight was able to download on this version previously, until one day it couldn't (and not sure why), tried downloading latest version but did not solve the issue. Note: We noticed that we are unable to install our own application from the Appstore as well, on this MacBook that has the TestFlight issue.

We’ve been using the new Icon Composer–generated app icons for our existing universal bundle (iOS + Mac Catalyst) app. The icons work perfectly for iOS on the App Store. On macOS Tahoe (macOS 26), however, the App Store listing doesn’t display the app icon — it just shows placeholder while downloading. After the app is installed, the icon displays fine everywhere (Dock, Finder, Launchpad, etc.). Setup: using .iconset generated via Icon Composer, bundled with .png inside the .icon file. On older macOS App Stores, the app icon shows as expected. On Tahoe App Store only, the issue appears. Could this be because the App Store expects .svg variants inside the .icon file for proper display in the Store? Or is there any updated requirement for Mac App Store metadata icons vs. bundled app icons? Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Hello, I have a question regarding the Mac App Store deployment and App Review process. Our macOS app will also be distributed on the Steam platform. In our current build setup, the App Store build output (inside Contents/MacOS/) may still contain Steam-related dynamic libraries (e.g., libsteam_api.dylib) and metadata/configuration files (such as .txt files used only by Steam) These files are not used in the App Store version. Users will not see any Steam-related information, functionality, or UI when the app is running. Their presence is simply a byproduct of the current packaging process. My concern is whether including such unused Steam-related files in the App Store submission could be considered a violation of App Store Review Guideline 2.3.10, or otherwise lead to rejection during review. Would Apple recommend that we strictly separate the build targets so that the App Store submission does not contain any Steam-related files, even if they are unused and invisible to the user? Thank you very much for your guidance.

I work on a MacBook Pro M3 Max 36GB RAM I am running macOS Tahoe Version 26.1 Beta (23B5042k) The last few days I had a couple of situations where Blender 4.5 LTS Froze and I had to forcequit, I noticed Blender would get Deleted with no notification after the forcequit, it was nowhere to be found on the Application List, Finder. Thought it was a blender issue because I run a special module with it. However around 30min ago I was using Mem and the App froze and I had to ForceQuit, The app also got removed, is not on the list of application and nowhere to be found however the icon on the dock which remained shows a Question Mark. I think this is an OS Behavior I just dont know what to attribute it to.

Dear Team, We have developed a macOS app using Unity (6000.0.51f1) that includes learning activities, assessments/tests, audio recording, and video playback functionalities. For security and content protection, we want to restrict the ability for users to capture screenshots or screen recordings of the app (especially via the built-in Cmd+Shift+5 / Screenshot toolbar). We have attempted several approaches, but they have not been reliable. We would appreciate guidance from Apple or the developer community on the feasibility of this requirement. Our requirements: Block or disable screenshots/screen recordings (particularly the built-in Cmd+Shift+5) for the app. Preferably achieve this using public APIs so that the app remains App Store compatible and passes review. If full blocking is not possible, then at least ensure that any captured content appears blank/black for sensitive sections of the app. Additionally, we would like our app’s window behavior to work like other apps do: Red button → Close the application completely. Yellow button → Minimize the application to the Dock. Green button → Maximize to full screen while still allowing access to the Dock and menu bar. Any advice, best practices, or references to relevant documentation would be highly valuable. Thank you for your support.

Hi Everyone, I’ve recently launched a utility app focused on cleaning, optimizing, and improving device performance while protecting user privacy. It includes features like Junk cleaning, Duplicate/Large/Old file removal, App Uninstallation/Updater, Browser cleanup, and Startup Management tips. I’m trying to better understand how App Store search ranking works for this type of app so it can feature higher in search results. Specifically, I’d like to know: What factors influence whether an app shows up at the top for keywords like “storage cleaner”, “duplicate finder”, or “privacy cleaner”? How important are title, subtitle, and keyword fields compared to downloads, ratings, and reviews? Does keyword repetition in the description improve ranking, or does Apple ignore that? Are there any proven strategies for utility apps (like system optimizers/cleaners) to compete with big, established apps in search visibility? Does localization (multiple languages) significantly improve search exposure, even if the app is English-first? I want to make sure I’m optimizing everything correctly—title, subtitle, keywords, and descriptions—without wasting character space or doing anything that Apple might flag. Any guidance, best practices, or resources on App Store search optimization (ASO) specifically for cleaner/duplicate/optimizer apps would be hugely appreciated! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dustbyte/id6751766823 Thanks in advance 🙏

Is it possible to create a sandboxed app that uses accessibility permission? And if so, how do I ask the user for that permission in a way that is allowed by the App Store? Im creating a small menubar app and my current (rejected) solution is to create a pop-up, with link to Security & Privacy > Accessibility and the pop-up asks the user to manually add the app to the list and check the checkbox. This works in sandbox. Reason for rejection: "Specifically, your app requires to grant accessibility access, but once we opened the accessibility settings, your app was not listed." I know it's not listed there and it has to be added manually. But its the only solution I've found to this issue. Is there perhaps any way to add the app there programmatically? Im a bit confused since I've seen other apps in App Store that work the same way, where you have to add the app to the list manually. Eg. Flycut. :man-shrugging: I know about this alternative solution, and it's not allowed in sandboxed apps. It also adds the app to the accessibility list automagically: func getPermission() { AXIsProcessTrustedWithOptions([kAXTrustedCheckOptionPrompt.takeUnretainedValue():true] as CFDictionary). } Does anyone have a solution for this? Best regards, Daniel

Hi, I want to detect if there is a fullscreen window on each screen. _AXUIElementGetWindow and kAXFullscreenAttribute methods work, but I have to be in a non-sandbox environment to use them. Is there any other way that also works? I don't think it's enough to judge if it's fullscreen by comparing the window size to the screen size, since it doesn't work on MacBook with notch, or the menu bar is set to 'auto-hide'. Thanks.

Hi, One of my application doesn't get rating updates on AppStore. On https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/ Ratings and Reviews page I see that app got 19 Ratings with average 3.8 out of 5. But on AppStore it just have 5 ratings with average 3.4 out of 5. See attached screenshots: AppStore: AppStore Connect: . Please help me to figure out with this issue and hope we can fix rating on AppStore page accordingly to AppStore Connect. Thanks, Alex

Hi, I encounter problems after updating macOS to Sequoia 15.5 with plugins loaded with dlopen and dlsym. $ file /Applications/com.gsequencer.GSequencer.app/Contents/Plugins/ladspa/cmt.dylib /Applications/com.gsequencer.GSequencer.app/Contents/Plugins/ladspa/cmt.dylib: Mach-O universal binary with 2 architectures: [x86_64:Mach-O 64-bit bundle x86_64] [arm64:Mach-O 64-bit bundle arm64] /Applications/com.gsequencer.GSequencer.app/Contents/Plugins/ladspa/cmt.dylib (for architecture x86_64): Mach-O 64-bit bundle x86_64 /Applications/com.gsequencer.GSequencer.app/Contents/Plugins/ladspa/cmt.dylib (for architecture arm64): Mach-O 64-bit bundle arm64 I am currently investigating what goes wrong. My application runs in a sandboxed environment.

Since some time now, when users try to buy my App on the Mac App Store or want to start the trial, the system dialog to confirm the purchase is not working correctly. The dialog is sticking to the upper border of the screen behind the menubar and can‘t be moved. And - this is the real problem - users can not confirm the purchase, because the button (or Touch ID field) is not shown. Only the cancel button is there and clickable. Usually (where the arrow points) there is the Touch ID symbol, the password field or purchase button. Any ideas?

@Quinn, The application which is not made with Xcode, has a provision profile, but App Store Connect says "Not Available for Testing". My Googlefu appears weak as I can't seem to figure out why this is, except that it mentions you need to be using Xcode 13 or newer. Am guessing Xcode is adding some meta data to the Info.plist file which TestFlight requires. Is it possible to know which keys and values are required to satisfy TestFlight? If it's not plist keys, is there something else that's needed, that can be shared? We can do this privately if desired.

I'm an indie developer. My latest minor update for my game which has been on the Mac App Store for 13 years and which has spent time at #1 on the download charts just started getting rejected for the following reason: Guideline 2.5.2 - Performance - Software Requirements The app installed or launched executable code. Specifically, the app uses the itms-services URL scheme to install an app. However my app is certainly not installing any apps and to the best of my knowlege it is not using any itms/itunes/etc. type URLs in any way, so I can't figure out what would be triggering this claim. Inquiries as to what app I am supposedly installing or what URL I am supposedly using have yielded 'no further information can be provided'. Has anyone run into something similar? Any ideas on obscure scenarios that could trigger this particular rejection? Or any advice on what one should do in my situation? I feel a bit stuck. Has anyone had luck with the appeal process for this sort of thing (to at least get more information)?

I have a very embarrassing problem. that I can't transfer my macOS app to another account. and above is wrong picture. I already tried to delete the apps group. but it doesn't work. this transfer is very important for our team. if anyone can tell me how to do, I will be very grateful.

Hello, I hope to find out more about how AppTransaction works on macOS, specifically about its internet connection requirements: if I use this to validate that the app is a legit purchase from the Mac App Store, I would not want it to have an always-on requirement just to validate. Does AppTransaction require the user to always be online for AppTransaction.shared ? When an app is downloaded from the Mac App Store, is the data needed for AppTransaction automatically embedded during that download, or is that data downloaded upon first launch of the app, therefore requiring an internet connection at launch time? Once the data/receipt has been downloaded by AppTransaction, is it cached until the app's next update, or is it cleared at some time during the version's life and needs to be re-downloaded, therefore requiring an internet connection at launch? Where is that receipt/data stored? Also, if you don't mind me sneaking in this non-related but sort of related question, in terms of receipt validation: Does macOS Sequoia's MAC address rotation feature affect receipt validation in any way when using IOKit? Thank you kindly, – Matthias

Originally I thought this was shown by the OS after finishTransaction was called but it seems to be happening earlier, like when the transaction status changes to SKPaymentTransactionStatePurchased correct?

I have a new, unreleased app in App Store Connect. The Mac app icon is a rounded rect with transparent border. For some reason, the "Included Assets App Icon" has a black background in App Store Connect. The black background also appears in the TestFlight app. The issue doesn't appear to be specific to the new app's icon, because I tried uploading a build with another icon, from an already released Mac app, and App Store Connect also gave that a black background. The app icon displays correct at runtime on macOS. The black background is a phenomenon only of App Store Connect and TestFlight. My theory is that App Store Connect is confused and still treating the app icon as if it were iOS rather than Mac. During development, the app has gone through a transition: first it was iOS on Mac, then it was Catalyst, and now finally it's AppKit. If the App Store Connect record for the app has some kind of iOS or Catalyst flag, I have no idea how to reset the flag. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Hello, We're attempting to validate our application archive through Xcode but the application is crashing during the validate step and we're not sure why. Platform: macOS 15.1 Arch: arm64 We've confirmed that our developer agreements are up to date (a suggestion made by other posts on these forums). Other suggestions have been to downgrade Xcode but we're hoping there's another explanation. The application is quite complex - many libraries and framework - but executes as expected during development and testing. Crash Report Any insight into this error would be appreciated. We're sure it's something wrong with our plist or archive structure but the crash is limiting our ability to debug.

Hi, I recently created Peek Transit, and I was wondering why my app shows "Not Compatible With This Device" on the Mac App Store. In Xcode, I tested my app both for the "Design for IPad" and "Catalyst" options on my mac, and In both cases it worked as expected with no errors or warnings. In the App Store Connect, I have checked the "Make Available on MacOS" box and selected the minimum compatible OS version. The issue doesn't seem to be just in my mac as the app is marked as not available for mac at all in the device requirements of the app store page. Here is the Github Repo if you want to take a look at what I have in the info.plist. Thanks, Ayman

Hello, I hope you're doing well. I've had an issue with one of my apps since November 2024. I recently realized that people can download my app without paying anything. I'm not making any profit, and the stats show no financial transactions. The countries where this is happening include the UAE, the USA, and recently Benin. I don’t understand what’s going on. I reached out to support, but they haven’t addressed my claims. Does anyone have any information or an explanation?