Local Network Privacy FAQ

I regularly get asked questions about local network privacy. This is my attempt to collect together the answers for the benefit of all. Before you delve into the details, familiarise yourself with the basics by watching WWDC 2020 Session 10110 Support local network privacy in your app.

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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@apple.com"

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Local Network Privacy FAQ

• FAQ-1 What is a local network?

• FAQ-2 What operations require local network access?

• FAQ-3 What operations require the multicast entitlement?

• FAQ-4 Do I need the multicast entitlement?

• FAQ-5 I’ve been granted the multicast entitlement; how do I enable it?

• FAQ-6 Can App Clips access the local network?

• FAQ-7 How does local network privacy work with app extensions?

• FAQ-8 How do I explicitly trigger the local network privacy alert?

• FAQ-9 How do I tell whether I’ve been granted local network access?

• FAQ-10 How do I use the unsatisfied reason property?

• FAQ-11 Do I need a local network usage description property?

• FAQ-12 Can I test on the simulator?

• FAQ-13 Once my app has displayed the local network privacy alert, how can I reset its state so that it shows again?

• FAQ-14 How do I map my Multipeer Connectivity service type to an entry in the Bonjour services property?

• FAQ-15 My app presents the local network privacy alert unexpectedly. Is there a way to track down the cause?

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Change history

• 16 Oct 2020 — First posted.

• 17 Oct 2020 — Added FAQ-15. Added a second suggestion to FAQ-13.

• 12 Nov 2020 — Made a minor tweak to FAQ-9.