Official iOS API or entitlement for real-time LTE/5G RF measurements (PCI, RSRP, SINR, Cell ID)?

Hello Apple Developer Team,

I am developing an iPhone application called RF Field Test for professional DAS (Distributed Antenna System) and macro cellular network technicians.

The application already supports GPS location tracking, network connection detection, and cellular speed testing.

To make it useful for professional RF field testing, I need access to real-time cellular measurements, including:

PCI (Physical Cell Identity)

Cell ID / ECI / NCI

RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR

LTE and NR frequency bands

EARFCN and NR-ARFCN

LTE / 5G NSA / 5G SA identification

Channel bandwidth

Serving and neighboring cell information

I understand that standard public Core Telephony APIs do not expose most of these measurements.

My questions are:

Is there an officially supported API, entitlement, or carrier-specific development program that provides access to these measurements?

Can an independent developer apply for this access, or must the application be developed through an authorized cellular carrier?

Would Apple's interoperability request process be appropriate for requesting these capabilities?

If these measurements are unavailable to third-party applications, is there an official recommended approach for developing professional cellular RF testing tools on iPhone?

I am looking for a legitimate, App Store-compliant solution without private APIs or unsupported methods.

Thank you for any guidance.

Answered by DTS Engineer in 909016022

Here on the forums we can only discuss things that are in the public SDK, and that includes no APIs to get the information you’re looking for.

Historically there were special affordances for carrier APIs that weren’t in the public SDK. My understanding is that these have largely gone away, being replaced by public APIs that are restricted via entitlements. There may be some exceptions but, either way, it’s not something we can talk about in the context. And it probably doesn’t matter to you because you’re not working on behalf of a carrier.

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

Here on the forums we can only discuss things that are in the public SDK, and that includes no APIs to get the information you’re looking for.

Historically there were special affordances for carrier APIs that weren’t in the public SDK. My understanding is that these have largely gone away, being replaced by public APIs that are restricted via entitlements. There may be some exceptions but, either way, it’s not something we can talk about in the context. And it probably doesn’t matter to you because you’re not working on behalf of a carrier.

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