NSE Filtering Entitlement not carried over after App Store app transfer

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Created 3w

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We completed an App Store app transfer and the Notification Service Extension Filtering Entitlement (com.apple.developer.usernotifications.filtering) did not transfer with the app.

App Apple ID: 6760007376 NSE Bundle ID: io.nolink.ios.nse New Team ID: M85WA8W78C Previous Team ID: V2E3A94DC9

The app, bundle IDs, and App Store presence all moved normally, but the entitlement is not available on the new team, so we cannot sign the NSE with the configuration the app previously shipped with. Our app is an encrypted messenger and this breaks incoming call handling for live users.

Two questions:

Is there an official process for re-associating a previously approved entitlement with the receiving team after a transfer, or does the new team always have to submit a fresh request?
Could entitlements tied to a specific App ID move with the app during a transfer, the same way bundle IDs do?

We have an open support case, but wanted to raise the general question here too.

Answer 1

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

2w

Two questions: Is there an official process for re-associating a previously approved entitlement with the receiving team after a transfer, or does the new team always have to submit a fresh request?

No, you'll need to submit a new request. However, as part of that request, please make sure you specifically include:

The details of the app you're shipping the entitlement in.
That you've taken over this app through app transfer.
The details of the team (particularly the Team ID) the app was transferred from.

...as that can streamline the approval process.

Could entitlements tied to a specific App ID move with the app during a transfer, the same way bundle IDs do?

No, not really. At the most basic level, if an entitlement is worth having an approval process for, then we need to be looking at those entitlements whenever they cross teams. Beyond that, there's also an issue that there are more and more entitlements that we no longer grant simply because they're no longer "valid". For example, "legacy VoIP" and "unrestricted PushKit" have both been disabled since iOS 15, so there's no reason to grant them to new teams even if the transferred app previously had them.

__
Kevin Elliott
DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware

Answer 2

ReloadHK OP

1w

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the clarification — understood that the entitlement doesn't move with the app and that we need to submit a fresh request from the new team.

We've done that, and here are the details:

App: NoLink — Apple ID 6760007376 Main Bundle ID: io.nolink.ios NSE Bundle ID: io.nolink.ios.nse Entitlement: com.apple.developer.usernotifications.filtering New Team ID: M85WA8W78C (Reload Defi Ltd) Previous Team ID: V2E3A94DC9 (STUDIOWEB.BG OOD) — app taken over via App Store app transfer Previous case: 102886799629 (entitlement was granted on the previous team)

NoLink is an end-to-end encrypted messenger with voice and video calls. Push payloads are encrypted, and the NSE decrypts them to decide whether to show a message notification or pass an incoming call to CallKit. Without this entitlement we can't suppress the visible notification for call events, so users get a plain notification instead of a real incoming-call screen — the same reason io.element.elementx has it.

Since the transfer we are completely blocked. We can't sign the NSE, and we can't release our new security version of the app. We've submitted the request and pushed on every ticket available to us, but we haven't received any response or status change.

Could you help get this request looked at, or tell us where to escalate? If something is missing from our submission we'll fix it the same day, and we can send a demo build or more technical detail if that helps.

Thanks, Huo Bao - senior engineer Reload Defi Ltd — Team M85WA8W78C