Reoccurring data access prompt issue with Swift Playgrounds 4.6.4 on macOS 26.1

Developer Tools & Services Swift Playground
OrchardAcre OP
Created 1w
Replies 9
Boosts 5
Views 330
Participants 7

Hello,

I am having a recurring issue using Swift Playgrounds version 4.6.4 on macOS 26.1.

Upon opening a file and every other time I start typing in the code section I get a prompt, the image below, two or three times. It doesn't matter if I accept or decline all or some of the prompts, as soon as I start typing on another line I get prompted another two or three times for permission.

It appears to me that prompt generates every time the preview pane tries to update. Declining the prompt breaks the preview but accepting the prompt only gets you through a single line of code before it appears again.

I believe this issue started after I updated to macOS26.1 as I had not encountered it before. I've also opened other files with Swift Playgrounds and encounter the same problem.

It could also be unrelated to the update and could be an issue with some permission setting somewhere, however, I have been unable to find what or where it could be.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

Thank you for your time :)

Replies  9
Boosts  5
Views  330
Participants  7
unparadise OP
1w

I am experiencing the same issue as you are. I granted Swift Playground full disk access as an online article suggested and restarted the app. But the problem persists.

2
DTS Engineer OP
Apple
1w

On another thread davpea wrote:

Is there a bug report for this / do you know if its being addressed soon (MacOS 26.2) ??

I’ve seen a bunch of forums threads about this but no one on those threads has posted a bug number. Without that, it’s hard to say anything about this issue. I recommend that you file your own bug about it.

Please post your bug number, just for the record.

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

1
alexjohnm OP
1w

Hello, I'm encountering the same issue, so I posted a report on the feedback assistant.

The ID is FB21077126

1
OrchardAcre OP
1w

Thank you for the suggestion. I have now also reported this issue with feedback assistant.

The ID is FB21079031

0
LuJian-666 OP
1w

How should this problem be solved?

0
DTS Engineer OP
Apple
1w

Thanks for those bug numbers. Using those, and some other spelunking, I was able to track down the ‘root’ bug for this (r. 164272589).

Unfortunately I don’t have any info to share as to when this will be fixed, or any sort of workaround )-:

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

2
nreilly OP
1w

I'm also seeing this with Get Started with Apps.

  • Swift Playground: Version 4.6.4 (1997.50)
  • MacOS: 26.1 (25B78)
  • Getting Started with Apps (Swift 5.8 Edition): 1.0.0
1
Mutiny78 OP
6d

Same problem here with 26.1

I have complete wild guess: The issue may originate from iCloud-Apple-whatever-enforced constraints within the local filesystem sandbox or from misconfigurations in the iCloud container provisioning layer or failures in the underlying iCloud service endpoints responsible for file coordination and metadata synchronization. Alternatively, the root cause could be an incomplete or corrupted code-signing pipeline within Xcode or the like. In addition, a failed or skipped notarization step, an unprocessed staple operation, or an artifact that was signed outside the expected keychain context can prevent the resulting binary from passing Apple’s runtime validation, ultimately blocking proper initialization. It has perhaps its root cause in the new (ugly and power lavishing 2007ish Windows Vista Aero designed) OS.

Perhaps it's so complicated to fix, that this app is beyond (costly) repair.

Best regards, S.

1
DTS Engineer OP
Apple
6d
I have complete wild guess

That’s a pretty wild guess, and AFAICT it’s not even close.

I actually spent some time looking at this before my previous reply. Based on my own research, here’s what I know:

  • Swift Playground has the App Sandbox enabled.
  • When you preview an app, it builds a copy of the app and runs that [1].
  • That app is stored in the Swift Playground app container.
  • That app is ad hoc signed.
  • Modern versions of macOS implement something called app container protection. This prevents app A from accessing the app container of app B without user approval [2].
  • In this case app A is the app being previewed and app B is Swift Playground. In fact, the app being previewed is triggering the app container protection immediately at startup, simply by trying to access its own main executable.

What I don’t know is why this is only happening on macOS 26.1. App container protection has been around since macOS 14. The Swift Playground team to going to have to investigate that part of the problem.

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

[1] Be warned, this is a vast simplification.

[2] For more about this, see the link in Trusted Execution Resources.

2
Reoccurring data access prompt issue with Swift Playgrounds 4.6.4 on macOS 26.1
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