I am trying to test a sandbox account for an in-app subscription. It will not work.
When I try to check out in my app, I'm told...
2026-07-08 14:41:59.282977-0700 PlainSite[1364:48033] [Default] [StoreKit] Purchase did not return a transaction: Error Domain=ASDErrorDomain Code=500 "Unhandled exception" UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x2835d21f0 {Error Domain=AMSErrorDomain Code=100 "Authentication Failed" UserInfo={NSMultipleUnderlyingErrorsKey=(
"Error Domain=AMSErrorDomain Code=2 \"An unknown error occurred. Please try again.\" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=An unknown error occurred. Please try again.}",
"Error Domain=AMSServerErrorDomain Code=-5000 \"(null)\" UserInfo={failureType=-5000, m-allowed=false, pings=(\n), cancel-purchase-batch=true, customerMessage=Check the account information you entered and try again.}"
), NSLocalizedDescription=Authentication Failed, NSLocalizedFailureReason=The authentication failed.}}, NSLocalizedFailureReason=An unknown error occurred, NSLocalizedDescription=Unhandled exception}
[CreateAccountView] purchaseForSignup threw: userCancelled
This is false. The user (me) did not cancel. This is with me manually typing in the sandbox credentials as the Apple ID and password at the point of completing the transaction on both iOS 15 and iOS 26.
So I try to make sure that my sandbox account is properly set in iOS 26's Settings -> Developer -> Sandbox Apple Account screen. It says Sign In. Then it says "Apple Account Sign in Requested". What does this actually mean? Who knows. It could mean my App Store Connect credentials are what it wants so that it can query which sandbox accounts are available to use—after all, that is where they are set up. It could also mean that you should type in the sandbox account's credentials directly because a sandbox account is basically a fake Apple ID.
I try both. Neither works. No matter what I do, it just goes back to the Developer view and says "Sign In". Have I signed in? I don't know. Maybe, but probably not, given that nothing works.
Is the problem that I didn't confirm the sandbox account's e-mail address? No. It doesn't work before or after I've confirmed the e-mail.
Is the problem that I don't have two-factor authentication on for the sandbox account? No. It doesn't work whether or not two-factor authentication is enabled.
I am not the only one having this problem. People on a certain Reddit thread I'm for some reason not allowed to link to here (sandbox_accounts_simulator_help) have been having it for the past year it looks like, except they got it to work on a real device, and I'm using an iPhone 17, which is a real device, and it doesn't work.
This is the third bug in Apple's code I've found in the past couple of weeks that is preventing me from getting my app published and it's getting frustrating.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
Fix your code, Apple.
