Issue from App Review: My app shows a custom explanation screen before triggering the system location permission dialog. This screen explains why location access is needed. It includes: A “Continue” button → triggers the system permission dialog A “Not Now” button → dismisses the explanation and delays the permission request Apple states that: “The user should always proceed to the permission request after the message.” They are asking me to remove the exit button from the pre-permission message. My Questions Is it now against policy to include a “Not Now” option in a pre-permission explainer screen? Are we required to immediately show the system permission dialog after any pre-permission explanation? What is the recommended UX pattern if the feature depends on location but I don’t want to force the permission immediately at launch? Would it be compliant to: Remove the “Not Now” button, OR Remove the custom pre-prompt entirely and rely only on the system dialog? The feature in question requires location to function properly, but I want to implement it in a user-friendly way that respects user choice and avoids unnecessary denial rates. If anyone has recently resolved a similar 5.1.1(iv) issue, I’d really appreciate hearing how you handled it. Thank you in advance for your help!

I use MapKit and MKDirections for driving directions. The error "Directions Not Available" appears when the two points (A and B) are outside mainland China (e.g. Tokyo → Osaka). For routes inside China (e.g. Shanghai → Beijing), the same code works. let req = MKDirections.Request() req.source = MKMapItem(placemark: MKPlacemark(coordinate: origin)) req.destination = MKMapItem(placemark: MKPlacemark(coordinate: destination)) req.transportType = .automobile MKDirections(request: req).calculate { response, error in // Tokyo–Osaka (outside China): "Directions Not Available" // Shanghai–Beijing (inside China): works } Questions: Is MKDirections intended to support only routes within the device’s region (e.g. China)? When A/B are abroad, is "Directions Not Available" expected? Is this documented? For cross-country or overseas routes (e.g. Tokyo–Osaka), what is the recommended approach—third-party routing API + drawing on MapKit? Thanks.

Hello, thanks for your effort! I found that when showsUserLocation is set to true (by default), the pulsing blue dot user location annotation is shown, which is cool and beautiful. However, it will automatically and periodically attempt to call the Apple Server API GET https://api.apple-mapkit.com/v1/reverseGeocode within userLocationDidChange() and updateUserLocationAnnotation() to display, I assume, the user's current address when single-tapping on the blue dot. It will significantly use the MapKit service calls quota since the user location is automatically updated. It almost runs out of quota even though the map initialization is plenty enough. Is there any way to disable the bubble behavior but preserve the user location blue dot, which is lovely and better than drawing my own user location dot? It seems I can only turn off all user location features. Many thanks!

I have a desktop application developed in SwiftUI that shows property locations on the map. That's NOT the main feature. IF you give the application permission to access your location, the blue dot will appear on the map. If you don't, the blue user dot won't appear. That's the only difference with location services. In other words, the application has no use of user's current position beyond showing it on the map. Since it's just the matter of showing or not showing the blue dot on the map, the application doesn't really need to use the location service. Anyway, the reviewer is talking about something else by rejecting the application in two aspects. Guideline 5.1.1 - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and Storage Guideline 5.1.5 - Legal - Privacy - Location Services As I said earlier, the application only wants to show the blue dot on the map so that you can see your property locations relative to your current location. In code, it's something like the following. Map(position: $propertyViewModel.mapPosition) { ForEach(propertyViewModel.properties) { property in Annotation("", coordinate: CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: property.lat, longitude: property.lon)) { ... } } UserAnnotation() } So I'm hit with two rejection reasons with this one line. UserAnnotation() And the reviewer is talking about something like the app is not functional when Location Services are disabled. To resolve this issue, please revise the app so that the app is fully functional without requiring the user to enable Location Services. Well, I can remove the UserAnnotation() line if I want to put this application through the review process. Nothing will become dysfunctional, though, if you decide to reject permission request. So would you remove it or would you play along with this reviewer if you were me? It's been three or four days since rejection. As you can imagine, the reviewer doesn't bother to answer as to What are the exact coordinates that the application has allegedly collected What won't work as a result of location permission request refusal. This isn't the first time I get my app rejected. I've probably had 150 to 200 of them rejected in the past 15 years. And just because a reviewer rejects your app for a bizarre reason, would you give in? Remove this feature and that feature because the reviewer is incompetent such that he or she makes his or her decision based on imagination? What do you think?

Is there an API to programmatically create a guide for iOS 14 Maps? I know third-parties are curating Guides. I'd like to programmatically create a guide.

I have a desktop application that shows some real estate properties chosen by the user. The application shows those GPP locations on the map. The SwiftUI code is something like the following. import SwiftUI import MapKit struct ContentView: View { var body: some View ZStack { mapView } } private var mapView: some View { Map(position: $propertyViewModel.mapPosition) { ForEach(propertyViewModel.properties) { property in Annotation("", coordinate: CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: property.lat, longitude: property.lon)) { Button { } label: { VStack { Image(systemName: "house.circle.fill") .resizable() .scaledToFit() .frame(width: 48) .foregroundStyle(colorScheme == .light ? .white : .black) ... } } .buttonStyle(.borderless) } } UserAnnotation() } .mapControls { MapUserLocationButton() } .mapControlVisibility(.visible) .onAppear { CLLocationManager().requestWhenInUseAuthorization() } } } The application only wants to use the CLLocationManager class so that it can show those locations on the map relative to your current GPS position. And I'm hit with two review rejections. Guideline 5.1.1 - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and Storage Issue Description One or more purpose strings in the app do not sufficiently explain the use of protected resources. Purpose strings must clearly and completely describe the app's use of data and, in most cases, provide an example of how the data will be used. Guideline 5.1.5 - Legal - Privacy - Location Services The app uses location data for features that are not relevant to a user's location. Specifically, the app is not functional when Location Services are disabled. So I wonder if the application is even required to have 'NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription' and/or 'NSLocationUsageDescription'? just in order to show user's current location so that they can see property locations relative to it? The exact location privacy statement is the following. The application needs your permission in accessing your current location so that it will appear on the map

We are currently developing a research-based iOS application that relies heavily on background capabilities, specifically Significant Location Change. We are using CLLocationManager.startMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges(). During development, when using Debug → Simulate Location in Xcode, we receive a location update only once. Subsequent simulated location changes do not trigger additional callbacks, which makes testing and development quite cumbersome. Are there any tools, commands, or workflows (e.g., via Xcode, Instruments, or system-level simulation) to reliably simulate multiple significant location change callbacks for testing purposes? If there aren't such tools, how do I test this behaviour reliably, robustly and rigidly?

My app is currently using CLGeocoder to get a CLPlacemark, then using placemark.postalAddress with CNPostalAddressFormatter to get an attributed string for the full address, I then enumerate its attributes to pull out specific elements like just the street or state or zip etc. This is deprecated in iOS 26 with MKReverseGeocodingRequest being the intended replacement. This API returns an MKMapItem which doesn’t provide a CNPostalAddress - you can get a full address as a String but not structured address data that I’m seeing. Am I missing some way to get the postal address? Or is it a non-goal to provide that anymore? Thanks!

In MapKit, the MKAnnotation takes a CLLocationCoordinate2D. However, in 3D/Flyover mode, the user marker has a height position on the map. We are currently plotting points which have altitude, speed, heading, etc, and I have a method for creating a CLLocation with this information. What I'm trying to figure out is if there's a way to pass that information along to the MapKit rendering engine / annotations / AnnotationViews to recognize and show when in 3D mode. Is there any support for that currently?

Hello, I’d like to ask about best practices for handling interactive snippet intents when working with the user’s location. My use case is: 1. Get the user’s location 2. Fetch nearby data 3. Display it My current flow is: try to show the snippet view in "loading" state while waiting for Core Location Manager, then fetch data and reload() the view. BUT I’m running into an issue where I sometimes receive Core Location error 1 (not authorized), even though the main app has “While In Use” authorization. It seems that in some cases, especially when the app has been force-closed, App Intents are unable to start location updates, even though I’m using supportedModes = .foreground(.dynamic). Any guidance would be appreciated. Cheers, Ondrej

Hi, On a SwiftUI map I render a mix of MapPolygon and MapPolyline. All overlays must use the same overlay level (.aboveLabels). Goal: Ensure MapPolyline always renders on top of MapPolygon. Issue: I order data so polylines are last and even render in two passes (polygons first, polylines second), all at .aboveLabels. Despite that, after polygons change (items removed/added based on zoom levels), I see polygons visually on top of polylines. It seems MapKit may batch/reorder rendering internally. Questions: Is there a reliable way in SwiftUI Map to enforce z-order within the same overlay level so MapPolyline always appears above MapPolygon? If not, any known workarounds or best practices? (e.g. different composition patterns, using annotations with zIndex, or other techniques compatible with SwiftUI Map) I know you can do this with UIKit, but first looking for a solution compatible with SwiftUI's version of MapKit. Thanks

In my app, I am using geofencing to perform an action when the user enter or leaves a specified location. The geofencing (CLMonitor) is active permanently, and should work across multiple app sessions or after the device is restarted. It should also work after the app was minimized or terminated. This worked perfectly with iOS 17 and prior, but with iOS 18, things changed. As soon as iOS 18 dropped, users were informing me that the app does no longer perform the entry/exit action reliably (without me making any changes to the app). Most of the times, events are missed entirely. Sometimes, after the user opens or resumes the app, duplicate events are delivered and/or events with the current time instead of the correct time of entry/exit. I am making sure that the app has the "Always" location permission before geofencing is enabled The gefocence radius is between 20 and 500m, but even with the max. radius specified, the geofencing is unreliable For the same user and geofence, the entry/exit event is delivered occasionally, but not always I am currently not using CLLocationManager.allowsBackgroundLocationUpdates (even though it's documented as "Apps that receive location updates when running in the background must include the UIBackgroundModes key (with the location value) in their app’s Info.plist file") because it wasn't necessary on iOS 17 and in my tests, using it didn't yield any improvements In my search for what could have caused this change, I found this WWDC video about location authorization: . It appears that with iOS 18, it is now required to have an active CLServiceSession to ensure that location updates are delivered to my app. Even though the video is long (and I've watched it multiple times), some things are still unclear. For example, the docs state: If your app actively receives and processes location updates and terminates, it should restart those APIs upon launch in order to continue receiving updates. Also, in the video it is stated that: ... So your job, ..., is to make sure that your process launch logic knows what features it has been tasked with pursuing, and re-takes session objects... But on the other hand it's also said that: you can only start holding one (a CLServiceSession) when your app is in the foreground and also ... CLMonitor.events won’t yield results when it is not in use, unless a session which was started in the foreground, .... To summarize my questions, for the geofencing to work as described above: when exactly do I need to create a CLServiceSession if the app is launched into the backgorund? Immediately in the applicationDidFinishLaunching method, even though the app is still in the background (applicationState is background)? Or later on, when the app is opened again by the user, e.g. in applicationDidBecomeActive (and applicationState is active)? do I need to specify the background mode capability as noted in the Handling location updates in the background article? do I need to create a CLBackgroundActivitySession as noted in the Handling location updates in the background article? does it matter, which of the four initializer methods I am using to create the CLServiceSession (with CLServiceSessionAuthorizationRequirementAlways)? does it matter if I specify NSLocationRequireExplicitServiceSession in the Info.plist or not when I already do ensure that the app has the "Always" location permission when the feature is being enabled Does a CLServiceSession last indefinitely and should it only be invalidated once the user disables the feature?

I have a UIViewController that uses MKMapview to display the motion history trajectory. Repeatedly entering and exiting UIViewController will cause a crash, and the crash stack is as follows: Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) Exception Subtype: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x000000014bfc0fc8 Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000014bfc0fc8 VM Region Info: 0x14bfc0fc8 is not in any region. Bytes after previous region: 217033 Bytes before following region: 61496 REGION TYPE START - END [ VSIZE] PRT/MAX SHRMOD REGION DETAIL VM_ALLOCATE 14bf88000-14bf8c000 [ 16K] rw-/rwx SM=PRV ---> GAP OF 0x44000 BYTES VM_ALLOCATE 14bfd0000-14bfd4000 [ 16K] rw-/rwx SM=PRV Termination Reason: SIGNAL 11 Segmentation fault: 11 Terminating Process: exc handler [1881] Triggered by Thread: 8 Thread 8 name: Dispatch queue: com.apple.root.background-qos Thread 8 Crashed: 0 CoreFoundation 0x19e36ac40 CFRelease + 44 1 VectorKit 0x1ce16af6c md::TileGroupNotificationManager::~TileGroupNotificationManager() + 132 2 VectorKit 0x1cd6f7178 <deduplicated_symbol> + 76 3 VectorKit 0x1cdba8d74 -[VKSharedResources .cxx_destruct] + 32 4 libobjc.A.dylib 0x19b3321f8 object_cxxDestructFromClass(objc_object*, objc_class*) + 116 5 libobjc.A.dylib 0x19b32df20 objc_destructInstance_nonnull_realized(objc_object*) + 76 6 libobjc.A.dylib 0x19b32d4a4 _objc_rootDealloc + 72 7 VectorKit 0x1cdba93fc -[VKSharedResources dealloc] + 476 8 VectorKit 0x1cdafa3fc -[VKSharedResourcesManager _removeResourceUser] + 68 9 VectorKit 0x1cdafa380 +[VKSharedResourcesManager removeResourceUser] + 44 10 VectorKit 0x1cdafa2fc __37-[VKIconManager _internalIconManager]_block_invoke + 168 11 libdispatch.dylib 0x1d645b7ec _dispatch_client_callout + 16 12 libdispatch.dylib 0x1d6446664 _dispatch_continuation_pop + 596 13 libdispatch.dylib 0x1d6459528 _dispatch_source_latch_and_call + 396 14 libdispatch.dylib 0x1d64581fc _dispatch_source_invoke + 844 15 libdispatch.dylib 0x1d6453f48 _dispatch_root_queue_drain + 364 16 libdispatch.dylib 0x1d64546fc _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 180 17 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x1f9b7e37c _pthread_wqthread + 232 18 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x1f9b7d8c0 start_wqthread + 8 I have checked the code and did not find any issues. I have also tested on iOS 15, 16, and 18 without any issues. Could this be an error in the iOS 26 system? Have you ever met any friends? I hope to receive an answer. Thank you.

We are currently experiencing a very interesting issue when accessing the location in the background with CLLocationManager. The user has given our app the "whenInUse" permission for locations and in most cases the app provides location updates even when it's in the background. However, when we started to use other navigation apps in the foreground we saw that the func locationManager(_ manager: CLLocationManager, didFailWithError error: Error) method was called with (kCLErrorDomain error 1.). The user hasn't changed the location permission and we saw that locations were delivered once the user opened the app again. I don't see anything in the documentation explaining this issue, but I chatted with other developers that confirm that specific behavior. Am I missing something here?

Since iOS 26, the Apple Maps share sheet no longer provides a com.apple.mapkit.map-item attachment when sharing a location to my Share Extension. Additionally, on real devices the shared URL is now a short link (https://maps.apple/p/...), which does not contain coordinates. On the simulator, the URL still includes coordinates (as in previous iOS versions). I'm trying to find the official or recommended way to extract coordinates from these new short URLs. Environment: Devices: iPhone (real device) on iOS 26.0 / 26.0.1 Simulator: iOS 26.0 / 26.0.1 simulator (behaves like iOS 18 — see below) App: Share Extension invoked from Apple Maps -> Share -> my app Xcode: 26.0.1 Steps to Reproduce Open Apple Maps on iOS 26 (real device). Pick a POI (store/restaurant). Share -> choose my share extension. iOS 18 and earlier (lldb) po extensionContext?.inputItems ▿ Optional<Array<Any>> ▿ some : 1 element - 0 : <NSExtensionItem: 0x60000000c5d0> - userInfo: { NSExtensionItemAttachmentsKey = ( "<NSItemProvider: 0x600002930d20> {types = (\"public.plain-text\")}", "<NSItemProvider: 0x600002930c40> {types = (\"com.apple.mapkit.map-item\")}", "<NSItemProvider: 0x600002930bd0> {types = (\"public.url\")}" ); } Typical URL: https://maps.apple.com/place?address=Apple%20Inc.,%201%20Apple%20Park%20Way,%20Cupertino,%20CA%2095014,%20United%20States&coordinate=37.334859,-122.009040&name=Apple%20Park&place-id=I7C250D2CDCB364A&map=explore iOS 26 (lldb) po extensionContext?.inputItems ▿ 1 element - 0 : <NSExtensionItem: 0x6000000058d0> - userInfo: { NSExtensionItemAttachmentsKey = ( "<NSItemProvider: 0x600002900b60> {types = (\"public.url\")}", "<NSItemProvider: 0x600002900fc0> {types = (\"public.plain-text\")}" ); } URL looks like: https://maps.apple/p/U8rE9v8n8iVZjr On simulator iOS 26 same missing map-item provider - but the URL is still long and contains coordinates, like this: https://maps.apple.com/place?coordinate=37.334859,-122.009040&name=Apple%20Park&.. Issue The short URLs (maps.apple/p/...) cannot be resolved directly - following redirects ends with: https://maps.apple.com/unsupported The only way I've found to get coordinates is to intercept intermediate redirects - one of them contains the expanded URL with coordinate=.... Example of my current workaround: final class RedirectSniffer: NSObject, URLSessionTaskDelegate { private(set) var redirects: [URL] = [] func urlSession(_ session: URLSession, task: URLSessionTask, willPerformHTTPRedirection response: HTTPURLResponse, newRequest request: URLRequest) async -> URLRequest? { if let url = request.url { redirects.append(url) } return request } } Then I look through redirects to find a URL containing "coordinate=". This works, but feels unreliable and undocumented. Questions Was the removal of com.apple.mapkit.map-item from the Maps share payload intentional in iOS 26? If yes, is there a new attachment type or API to obtain an MKMapItem? What’s the official or supported way to resolve https://maps.apple/p/... to coordinates? Is there any MapKit API or documented URL scheme for this? Is intercepting redirect chains the only option for now? Why does the iOS 26 simulator still return coordinate URLs, while real devices don't?

Hello, We are a software and hardware development company for the forestry and environmental sectors. We have been based in Quebec (Canada) for over 30 years now. Our Canadian market covers Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritime provinces in the east. We are currently expanding across Canada and into the northern United States. We are on Android platforms with several map and data entry applications. To ensure the success of our expansion, we aim to become part of the Apple family, which is why we are contacting you today. We have developed our own GNSS receiver to increase the location accuracy of our users. This device is called GSFGPS. It uses Bluetooth BLE to communicate with mobile devices and a high-precision GPS that transmits its position using the NMEA protocol. We would like this device to be compatible with an iPhone/iPad. We have developed a mock location application in MAUI (multi-platform). Based on our interpretation of your documentation, we understand that the concept of mock location does not exist at Apple. How can we ensure that our Bluetooth GNSS device is compatible with your iPhone/iPad devices and that they can use the position of the Bluetooth device rather than the internal GPS of your devices? We are a reseller for Juniper Systems, and we know that they have an app on the App Store that has the same features as our product. https://junipersys.com/index.php/support/article/14709 We look forward to your follow-up and recommendations.

Summary While parallel testing Core Location on the new iOS 26.1 beta (23B5044i), I observed what I believe to be a regression of the issue described here: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/779192 Specifically, user positioning underground subway stations is noticeably inaccurate on the beta, whereas the same scenarios remain accurate on the unupgraded device below. I work with the MTA (New York City) and work with the OP of that thread. Happy to provide additional testing or details if helpful. Please let me know what else you need. Test Info Riding NYCT from Wall St to 34th St Penn Station on the 2 train carrying two iphones Recording: https://limewire.com/d/dpTWi#pDC3GRYIdE Expected: Consistent underground positioning comparable to prior releases. Actual: Degraded/inaccurate underground positioning on iOS 26.1 beta. Test Devices Left Screen: iPhone 15 Pro Max - iOS 26.1 beta (23B5044i) Right Screen: iPhone 11 - iOS 18.6.2 (22G100) Blue dots show location set by CoreLocation. Red dot on iphone 11 shows the actual location of both devices as I was able to manually place while travelling through a station. Placement through tunnels is not easy to verify and not usually indicated. Timestamps Comparison of when train was actually observed in a station vs when 26.1 and 18.6.2 CoreLocation updated to the station Fulton St 1:48 iOS 26.1 correctly updates (correctly) 2:16 iOS 18.6.2 updates (28sec late) Park Place 4:12 train arrives 4:15 iOS 18.6.2 updates to ~near Park Place 5:04 iOS 18.6.2 updates to Park Place (correctly) 6:07 iOS 26.1 update to ~near Park Place (over 2 mins late) Chambers St 6:02 train arrives / iOS 18.6.2 updates (correctly) 6:14 iOS 26.1 updates to ~near Chambers 6:18 iOS 26.1 update to Chambers (correctly) Franklin St 6:52 train arrives 6:55 iOS 18.6.2 updates (correctly) x:xx iOS 26.1 does not update Canal St: 7:16 train arrives 7:18 iOS 18.6.2 updates (correctly) x:xx iOS 26.1 does not update Houston St 7:54 train arrives 8:00 iOS 18.6.2 updates (correctly) x:xx iOS 26.1 does not update Christopher St 8:37 iOS 26.1 presumably between Houston St and Christopher St 8:40 train arrives / iOS 18.6.2 updates (correctly) x:xx iOS 26.1 does not update 14 St 9:22 train arrives 9:28 iOS 18.6.2 updates (correctly) 11:01 as train departs station iOS 26.1 updates (1.5 mins late)

Summary CLLocationSourceInformation.isSimulatedBySoftware (iOS 15+) fails to detect location spoofing when using third-party tools like LocaChange, despite Apple's documentation stating it should detect simulated locations. Environment iOS 18.0 (tested and confirmed) Physical device with Developer Mode enabled Third-party location spoofing tools (e.g., LocaChange etc.) Expected Behavior According to Apple's documentation, isSimulatedBySoftware should return true when: "if the system generated the location using on-device software simulation. " Actual Behavior Tested on iOS 18.0: When using LocaChange sourceInformation.isSimulatedBySoftware returns false This occurs even though the location is clearly being simulated. Steps to Reproduce Enable Developer Mode on iOS 18 device Connect device to Mac via USB Use LocaChange to spoof location to a different city/country In your app, request location updates and check CLLocation.sourceInformation?.isSimulatedBySoftware Observe that it returns false or sourceInformation is nil Compare with direct Xcode location simulation (Debug → Simulate Location) which correctly returns true

Hello, We are a software and hardware development company for the forestry and environmental sectors. We have been based in Quebec (Canada) for over 30 years now. Our Canadian market covers Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritime provinces in the east. We are currently expanding across Canada and into the northern United States. We are on Android platforms with several map and data entry applications. To ensure the success of our expansion, we aim to become part of the Apple family, which is why we are contacting you today. We have developed our own GNSS receiver to increase the location accuracy of our users. It uses Bluetooth BLE to communicate with mobile devices and a high-precision GPS that transmits its position using the NMEA protocol. We would like this device to be compatible with an iPhone/iPad. We have developed a mock location application in MAUI (multi-platform). Based on our interpretation of your documentation, we understand that the concept of mock location does not exist at Apple. How can we ensure that our Bluetooth GNSS device is compatible with your iPhone/iPad devices and that they can use the position of the Bluetooth device rather than the internal GPS of your devices? We are a reseller for Juniper Systems, and we know that they have an app on the App Store that has the same features as our product. https://junipersys.com/index.php/support/article/14709 We look forward to your follow-up and recommendations.

I am encountering a coordinate rendering issue using MKMapView in my iOS app. I have a GPS coordinate in WGS84 format, which corresponds to a location in Hong Kong. When my device is physically located in Hong Kong, MKMapView displays the map with the "Apple Maps" label, and the WGS84 coordinate is rendered at the correct position. However, when the device is in Mainland China, MKMapView switches to display "Amap" (Gaode Maps) branding, and the same WGS84 coordinate is rendered at an incorrect position. I understand that Amap in Mainland China uses the GCJ-02 coordinate system, while Apple Maps typically uses WGS84. This discrepancy suggests a potential coordinate system mismatch, but I cannot definitively confirm which map type (and corresponding coordinate system) MKMapView is actually using in different regions. My key questions are: How can I programmatically or visually confirm the underlying map type (Apple Maps vs. Amap) and its coordinate system within MKMapView? Is there a way to simulate the Apple Maps environment for testing when physically located in Mainland China?