Sandbox is off but my app cant use certain features

Question

Sandbox is set to no in the entitlements file.
Settings → security & privacy → privacy → accessibility is enabled for the app.
Can detect global mouse events.
Can't use accessibility features:

let systemWideElement: AXUIElement = AXUIElementCreateSystemWide()

var focusedElement : AnyObject?
let error = AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(
        systemWideElement,
        kAXFocusedUIElementAttribute as CFString,
        &focusedElement
)
print(focusedElement)  // this prints `nil`

Can't execute applescripts ( NSAppleScript() )
Can't send keypress events ( CGEvent().post() )

Also, if i compile the executable with swiftc from terminal and then run from terminal, the app is able to access these features.

Are there other xcode settings I need to change or are they always blocked when building from xcode?

260

Posted by

a-human-

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Answer 1

it seems deleting everything in the xcode Derived Data folder, and deleting my app from system preferences → security & privacy → privacy → accessibility, and then re-adding has fixed it

(i had two apps with the same name so perhaps that caused it to bug-out)

EDIT: with further testing it seems now occasionally i need to remove the app from system preferences → security & privacy → privacy → accessibility to get it to work

Posted by

a-human-

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Answer 2

Even setting the pasteboard fails:

class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {

    func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ aNotification: Notification) {

        let prevClipboard: String = NSPasteboard.general.string(forType: .string) ?? ""
        print("prev: \(prevClipboard)")  // returns "string 1"
        
        // modify clipboard from "string 1" to "string 2"
        NSPasteboard.general.setString("string 2", forType: .string)
        
        let newClipboard: String = NSPasteboard.general.string(forType: .string) ?? ""
        print("prev: \(newClipboard)") // returns "string 1" (not "string 2" as it should, thus it shows i am unable to modify the clipboard)
    }
}

Posted by

a-human-

Add a Comment

Answer 3

it seems deleting everything in the xcode Derived Data folder, and deleting my app from system preferences → security & privacy → privacy → accessibility, and then re-adding has fixed it

(i had two apps with the same name so perhaps that caused it to bug-out)

EDIT: with further testing it seems now occasionally i need to remove the app from system preferences → security & privacy → privacy → accessibility to get it to work

Posted by

a-human-

Add a Comment

Sandbox is off but my app cant use certain features

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