Hello Apple Developers, I’m reaching out to the community with a concept that I truly believe could be a natural fit for the Apple ecosystem: A privacy-focused, iOS-exclusive dating app designed to enhance connections between Apple users while staying true to Apple’s commitment to security and user privacy. The idea is to create an iOS-only dating platform that fosters relationships between users who are part of the Apple ecosystem. The app would integrate seamlessly with Apple’s services (iMessage, FaceTime, Siri, etc.) and provide a premium user experience, where privacy is a priority. Apple users already prefer to communicate using Apple services (iMessage, FaceTime). A dating app designed specifically for iOS users would deepen this ecosystem lock-in, making it easier for Apple customers to connect within a trusted space. Apple is already known for its privacy focus, and an iOS-exclusive dating app would build upon that reputation. It would ensure secure, private interactions, minimizing the risks associated with data sharing in most dating apps today. The app could integrate directly with features like iCloud, Apple Pay (for date-night bookings), and Siri (for matchmaking suggestions), offering users a truly native iOS experience. While the app would remain free to use, here are a few potential monetization methods: Bundling with Apple One/iCloud+ for premium matchmaking features. Apple Pay-based date-night deals with local partners. I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether Apple might be open to this idea. Would there be any challenges from a technical or business perspective in creating a dating app exclusively for iOS users? I’m looking forward to hearing from you all, and thank you for your time and insights. Yours Truly, CapNKirk P.S. This is an idea. But I do not care who uses, implements, or executes this idea. I just want to see Apple take advantage of it.

I'm seeking help troubleshooting a persistent com.apple.IdentityLookup.error.messagefilter Code=3 error when my Message Filter Extension tries to defer to network. I’ve exhausted Apple documentation and forum posts, and Apple Support has asked me to escalate this via the forums to reach engineering. ✅ My Setup: Xcode: 16.2 macOS: Sequoia 15.3.1 (Apple Silicon Mac mini) Device: iPhone 14 Pro iOS: 18.3.2 (Developer Mode enabled) Tested via: TestFlight install on real device 📦 App Structure: Main App Target (minimal "hello world" logic) Message Filter Extension Target Messages Extension Target Message Reporting Extension Target Notifications Extension Target ✅ Capabilities & Configurations Main App Capabilities: App Groups: group.com.example.shared Network Extensions: Content Filter Associated Domains: messagefilter:my-api.example.com applinks:my-api.example.com Message Filter Capabilities: App Groups: same as main app Network Extensions: Content Filter Associated Domains: same as above 📄 Info.plist Config Main App Info.plist: NSAppTransportSecurity with: NSAllowsArbitraryLoads = YES Exception domain my-api.example.com with: NSIncludesSubdomains = YES NSTemporaryExceptionAllowsInsecureHTTPLoads = YES NSTemporaryExceptionMinimumTLSVersion = TLSv1.2 MessageFilter Info.plist: Same ATS settings as above NSExtension block: <key>NSExtension</key> <dict> <key>NSExtensionAttributes</key> <dict> <key>ILMessageFilterExtensionNetworkURL</key> <string>https://my-api.example.com/api/sms-filter</string> <key>ILClassificationExtensionSMSReportDestination</key> <string>+10000000000</string> </dict> <key>NSExtensionPointIdentifier</key> <string>com.apple.identitylookup.message-filter</string> <key>NSExtensionPrincipalClass</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).MessageFilterExtension</string> </dict> 📜 Entitlements Main App Entitlements <key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key> <array> <string>messagefilter:my-api.example.com</string> <string>applinks:my-api.example.com</string> </array> <key>com.apple.developer.networking.networkextension</key> <array> <string>content-filter-provider</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>group.com.example.shared</string> </array> Message Filter Extension Entitlements Identical to main app’s, scoped to the extension. 📄 AASA File (Hosted on https://my-api.example.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association) Serves as application/json, returns 200 OK, and is reachable on device via Safari. Logs confirm AASA is downloaded and installed successfully during TestFlight install. { "applinks": { "apps": [], "details": [ { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app", "paths": ["*"] }, { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app.MessageFilter", "paths": ["*"] } ] }, "messagefilter": { "apps": [], "details": [ { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app", "filterType": "URL", "domains": ["my-api.example.com"] }, { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app.MessageFilter", "filterType": "URL", "domains": ["my-api.example.com"] } ] }, "classificationreport": { "apps": [], "details": [ { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.app", "domains": ["my-api.example.com"] }, { "appID": "TEAMID.com.example.MessageReporting", "domains": ["my-api.example.com"] } ] } } ❌ The Problem When the extension launches and receives an SMS to classify, logs show: deferQueryRequestToNetwork failed: The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.IdentityLookup.error.messagefilter error 3.) The extension loads, network URL is available, the AASA is installed, and yet the extension is not allowed to defer to network. This occurs every time. 🧪 Other Notes Tried rebuilding everything from scratch Archiving to TestFlight, not running via Xcode Clean entitlements verified using codesign -d --entitlements :- Console logs show no issues with AASA download or validation Any help or insights from Apple engineering or others in the community who have successfully deployed a working Message Filter Extension would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance 🙏

Hi, We have a need to provide SIM verification. At present, accessing the phone number bound to the device is not programmatically accessible. Would Apple consider exposing this API via a user consent? Otherwise, what is the suggested approach to verify the SIM card is the correct phone number on an iOS device?

I'm unable to have stickers show in messages even with a new iOS app and a sticker pack extension target. I do see the iMessage App Icon but after tapping it nothing shows and I see a warning: "Error creating the CFMessagePort needed to communicate with PPT" This was tested on simulator and on real device. Xcode 16.1 (16B40) iOS 18.1 & 18.2

There appears to be a bug or a hidden feature where after sending a message in Messages and you hover over or touch near the back button in the top left, voice memo activates and starts recording. This is an unexpected behavior and it has been an issue going back several iOS releases to the current release. This has happened on various phone models, so it isn't limited to a specific model. In addition, (and yes, this does add a second bug/issue) there is a hidden feature where touching in the top left of a message thread, above the back button, causes the focus of the message thread to jump back to some texts/messages from an earlier time. This is unexpected and seems like it should be addressed.

i need help, i have a groupchat with friends, but it recently glitched and now i have 2 of the same one with half of the original conversation. i already tried leaving the duplicate and deleting the convo but it still reappears and it glitched back. i asked others in the chat if they’re experiencing the same issue and they are.

I have an app with Message Filtering Extension enabled and I have been experiencing unusual behaviour. When I send messages from local number to local number, the filtering is done correctly, but when I send messages from certain international number to my local number the messages are not filtered. I couldn't find any errors in Console. I see that the normalisation is correct, is there any specifications for SMS from certain countries? Or a reason why Message Filtering is not activated when a SMS is received?

I’m encountering an issue while reading/writing shared preferences using UserDefaults with an App Group in my iOS Message Extension. The following error appears in the console: `Couldn't read values in CFPrefsPlistSource&lt;0x3034e7f80&gt; (Domain: [MyAppGroup], User: kCFPreferencesAnyUser, ByHost: Yes, Container: (null), Contents Need Refresh: Yes): Using kCFPreferencesAnyUser with a container is only allowed for System Containers, detaching from cfprefsd. I have correctly enabled the App Group in both my containing app and the Message Extension, and I am using UserDefaults(suiteName:) to access shared preferences. However, I keep getting this error when trying to read/write values. Has anyone encountered this before? How can I properly configure my app group preferences to avoid this issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I am encountering the following issue while working with app group preferences in my Safari web extension: Couldn't read values in CFPrefsPlistSource<0x3034e7f80> (Domain: [MyAppGroup], User: kCFPreferencesAnyUser, ByHost: Yes, Container: (null), Contents Need Refresh: Yes): Using kCFPreferencesAnyUser with a container is only allowed for System Containers, detaching from cfprefsd. I am trying to read/write shared preferences using UserDefaults with an App Group but keep running into this error. Any guidance on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated! Has anyone encountered this before? How can I properly configure my app group preferences to avoid this issue?

Hi Apple Developer, I’m working on a message-filtering application and reviewing Apple's documentation on message filtering. The documentation clearly states that MMS messages can be filtered. (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/identitylookup/sms-and-mms-message-filtering) When we refer to MMS, it includes images, short videos, and other supported multimedia formats. However, the ILMessageFilterQueryRequest only provides the message body as a String, meaning we can access text and links but not images or other media files. Could you please confirm whether Apple allows third-party applications to access multimedia content sent from unknown numbers? Looking forward to your quick response. Thanks, Rijul Singhal

The rearrangemnet of the emoji menu is driving me crazy. I never use Memojis or the Apple animal emojis and now they're all squished together at the front of the emoji keyboard and it's difficult to select what I want, since the menu is so small. I switch between language and emoji keyboards frequently and this is extremely frustrating.

Hi Apple Developers, I am currently working on a message filtering application and facing issues specifically with filtering RCS (Rich Communication Services) messages. To debug this, I created a sample app that consistently categorizes all incoming messages as "junk." However, the filtering behaviour is inconsistent and not functioning as expected. Here are the key issues observed during testing on iOS versions 18.2.1 and 18.3: Inconsistent Filtering Behavior: When a message is received from an unknown number, it sometimes gets moved to the Junk folder momentarily but is then immediately moved back to the main Messages inbox. In some cases, the message does not get moved to the Junk folder at all, despite the app returning the verdict as "junk." Duplicate Contact Tiles: The Messages app displays two separate conversation tiles for the same mobile number, which is unexpected behavior. For reference, my carrier partner is T-Mobile. Please let me know if you need any additional information to investigate this issue further. Looking forward to your insights and guidance. Best regards, Rijul Singhal

Hi Apple Developers, I am currently working on a message filtering application and facing issues specifically with filtering RCS (Rich Communication Services) messages. To debug this, I created a sample app that consistently categorizes all incoming messages as "junk." However, the filtering behaviour is inconsistent and not functioning as expected. Here are the key issues observed during testing on iOS versions 18.2.1 and 18.3: Inconsistent Filtering Behavior: When a message is received from an unknown number, it sometimes gets moved to the Junk folder momentarily but is then immediately moved back to the main Messages inbox. In some cases, the message does not get moved to the Junk folder at all, despite the app returning the verdict as "junk." Duplicate Contact Tiles: The Messages app displays two separate conversation tiles for the same mobile number, which is unexpected behavior. I have attached both a sample app and a screen recording that clearly demonstrates the issue. The recording shows that the app categorizes messages as junk, yet they still end up in the main Messages inbox. For reference, my carrier partner is T-Mobile. Please let me know if you need any additional information to investigate this issue further. Looking forward to your insights and guidance. Best regards, Rijul Singhal

Hi there, I use the Clipboard API to create formatted project links with a "copy link" button. This has been really versatile for end users. When they paste into their email, they get a hyperlinked project name that leads to the project, and when they paste into the URL bar, they just get the project URL. It used to be that pasting into Messages on Mac would yield the same behavior as pasting into the URL bar. But recently, Messages started only pasting the inner text of the HTML clipboard, so no URL, just the project name, which isn’t very useful for a copy link function. Is there any way to ensure that Messages pastes the URL while maintaining my formatting options on other surfaces?

In the documentation for a Message Filter Extension it states: If you have servers that can help your app extension determine how to handle a message, you must add the Associated Domains capability to your Xcode project and specify those domains. (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/sms_and_call_reporting/sms_and_mms_message_filtering/creating_a_message_filter_app_extension) The words servers and domains are in the plural. If it's possible to specify multiple servers/domains for a Message Filter Extension then how is that done? There's no documentation nor reference for that. If multiple domains can be added to the info.plist then what is the iOS behavior in that case? Can the extension supply/change which domain is used at run time?

I’m working on a solution to archive iMessages by using an API or similar mechanism. Here’s the desired workflow: The user provides their phone number to initiate the archiving process. They receive a text message with a URL link. Clicking on the link authorizes the archiving of their iMessages. Once authorized, their text messages are archived. So far, I’ve researched third-party services and APIs but haven’t found any that offer this capability directly for iMessages. Questions: Are there any APIs or frameworks (Apple or third-party) that support accessing and archiving iMessages programmatically?

In my Catalyst app I use func setupMailComposer() { // Check if the device can send email guard MFMailComposeViewController.canSendMail() else { print("Mail services are not available") showMailErrorAlert() return } // Create and configure the mail composer let mailComposeVC = MFMailComposeViewController() mailComposeVC.mailComposeDelegate = self // Set the email details mailComposeVC.setToRecipients(["example@example.com"]) mailComposeVC.setSubject("Subject for your email") mailComposeVC.setMessageBody("This is the body of the email.", isHTML: false) // Attach a file (optional) if let filePath = Bundle.main.path(forResource: "example", ofType: "pdf"), let fileData = try? Data(contentsOf: URL(fileURLWithPath: filePath)) { mailComposeVC.addAttachmentData(fileData, mimeType: "application/pdf", fileName: "example.pdf") } // Present the mail composer self.present(mailComposeVC, animated: true, completion: nil) } Since I have updated to macOS 15.1 the canSendMail() function returns false although I have configured Apple Mail (like before in 15.0 where it worked flawlessly).

Issue: Using Messages in macOS Sequoia, I stop receiving any messages after 7+ hrs of the system being on. Troubleshooting: any messages sent to the target account doesn't show up when this issue occurs. I'm able to send messages from the target account which is received. only way to get it working is to reboot the computer but those messages sent never arrive to the target account even after reboot. upon reboot the behavior functions as expected. however the issue returns after 7hrs+ after reboot. logout and log back in when the system is in this state doesn't resolve the issue. only a reboot but the issues eventually returns. note the 7hrs+ is tested and is more accurately 7-10 hrs.

We recently began getting reports that when posts are shared via Messages the rich preview will display an unrelated image from an altogether different post. The correct open graph image appears when sharing via every other platform we've tried (Slack, Whatsapp, Twitter/X) and the og:image tag refers to the appropriate image url. The image Messages uses in the rich preview only appears in an unrelated metadata tag that includes data for multiple recent posts. Has anyone else encountered this?

I couldn’t create Apple ID account for the past 6 days