Significant drop in APNs 410 Unregistered responses since around May 12

Question

Created 1d

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Hi,

We operate several iOS apps that use APNs through the HTTP/2 provider API. Since around May 12, we have observed a significant drop in APNs HTTP/410 “Unregistered” responses across multiple apps / bundle IDs.

There have been no relevant changes on our side around that time. Our APNs integration, request flow, credentials, and push token handling have remained unchanged.

What makes this more confusing is that App Store Connect does not show a corresponding drop in app deletion events for the same apps and time period. In other words, the app deletion trend appears stable in App Store Connect, but APNs 410 “Unregistered” responses dropped sharply.

We understand that APNs does not guarantee an immediate 410 response after an app uninstall, and that the exact token invalidation timing is not documented. However, the aggregate change in 410 response volume is large enough that it looks like a behavior change.

Questions:

Has there been any recent APNs behavior change around when device tokens are marked inactive after an app is uninstalled?
Were there any APNs-side changes around May 12 that could affect the rate of HTTP/410 “Unregistered” responses?
Why might App Store Connect app deletion events remain stable while APNs 410 “Unregistered” responses drop significantly?
Is APNs expected to return HTTP/200 for an extended period for tokens that may no longer be active for the topic?

Thanks.

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Answer 1

Engineer OP

Apple

22h

This is a temporary glitch that should correct itself in a short while.

But the fact that the starting the return of 410 status is being kept unpredictable by design remains. So, the answer to your Q4 remains unchanged regardless of this current issue, and you could be getting 200 for out of use tokens for an extended period.

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Answer 2

kyoungmin OP

13h

Hi,

Thank you for the clarification.

We understand that APNs 410 timing is intentionally unpredictable, and that APNs may return HTTP/200 for tokens that are no longer in active use for an extended period.

However, the current issue does not appear to be correcting itself within a short while on our side.

We have continued to observe the same behavior since around May 12, and it is still ongoing as of May 22. Across multiple bundle IDs, the volume and rate of HTTP/410 “Unregistered” responses remain significantly lower than the pre-May-12 baseline, while our APNs request volume, request flow, credentials, push token collection, and App Store Connect deletion trends remain stable.

Could you clarify the following?

Is this temporary glitch still ongoing on the APNs side?
Is there an estimated timeline for when APNs 410 “Unregistered” response behavior is expected to return to normal?
Should we expect APNs to eventually return 410 for tokens that would have returned 410 during the affected period, or will those tokens potentially continue returning 200 indefinitely?
Is this issue affecting all APNs provider API traffic, or only certain teams, bundle IDs, environments, regions, or token cohorts?
Is there any recommended mitigation for providers that rely on APNs 410 responses to clean up inactive tokens?
Can you confirm whether App Store Connect app deletion metrics and APNs token invalidation / 410 feedback are produced by separate systems and may diverge during this issue?

We can provide affected bundle IDs, Team ID, sample request timestamps, and aggregate response-code trends if that helps your investigation.

Thanks.

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Answer 3

kyoungmin OP

13h

Just to clarify our main concern:

We understand the documented limitations of APNs 410 responses, including that their timing is intentionally unpredictable and that APNs may return HTTP/200 for tokens that are no longer in active use for an extended period.

Our main question is about the temporary glitch you mentioned. On our side, the drop in HTTP/410 “Unregistered” responses has continued since around May 12 and is still ongoing as of May 22.

Is there an estimated timeline for when this temporary glitch is expected to be resolved and APNs 410 “Unregistered” response behavior is expected to return to normal?

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