Hi everyone,
I'm trying to find out if there's a way to mock Screen Time for a specific app (either on a real device or in a simulator). Specifically, I need to set the usage time of an app to something like 15 minutes. I'm not looking to alter the total Screen Time, just the usage time for a single app.
Currently, I'm manually keeping the app open for 15 minutes before I can start testing to see if the desired behavior occurs, but this process is slow and frustrating. Unfortunately, I can't reduce the 15-minute threshold, as Apple doesn't allow it for this particular use case.
Any advice or solutions would be greatly appreciated!
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Quibr question for Apple -
Context: We are developing an app that via screentime access blocks restricted sites for gamblers. However our blocking can be bypassed by going into settings→screentime->Apps With Screen time access" and toggling off access to screentime with device’s FaceID (and not the screentime passcode.) Then they can browse whatever blocked site and delete our app if they wish.
Question: We would like to know if there is a way to get the information when and how many times the toggle of our app under the “Apps with screen time access” has been pressed, or its current status.
3rd waay:
Alternatively is there a way to monitor if the app is still installed on the device?
A few weeks ago, I submitted a request for the Family Controls & Personal Device Usage Entitlement to enable my app to access the Managed Settings and Device Activity frameworks in the Screen Time API. The app is nearly complete, with the only remaining component being the Family Controls capability.
As of now, I haven’t received a response regarding the request. I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced a similar situation or can provide insight into the following:
• How long does it typically take to receive feedback on this type of entitlement request?
• Is there a way to check if a request is still active and under review?
• Is a finished website required for the entitlement to be granted?
Any information or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
I have a working iMessage app in the app store that does NOT have a companion app. iMessage app only. I now want to add stickers to it. I cannot get this to work; stickers do not show up in the stickers section, nor in the "Manage Sticker Apps" section.
Problem exists on Xcode 16, latest OS, on all simulators and devices.
I tried adding a new "Sticker App Extension" target to the project.
I tried adding just the Stickers.xcassets file to the exsisting iMessage extension and the app itself.
I tried googling but all examples and tutorials show how to create a complete stickers app, which works correctly. But I do not want the app.
Notable mention:
If I create a new "Stickers app" project it works, but if I then try to add an iMessage app extension, THAT does not work so I then have a reverse situation in which the stickers extension DOES work but the iMessage app doesn't.
I somehow have the feeling that an app cannot have both an iMessage Extension and a Stickers App Extension but the documentation is, of course, in true Apple style, lacking.
So how to add a Sticker App Extension to an existing app with an iMessage Extension?
The data displayed about a child’s apps can be outdated (DeviceActivityReport), leading to misinformation for the user. When I access the “Screen Time” section (for child in the parent device) in the iPhone settings, I see there is an update functionality to force load the actual data.
I have tried various workarounds, such as attempting to force an update on the child’s device to call DeviceActivityReport and opening system settings, but none of these have been successful :(
How can I implement something similar? Is there a way to force update this data ?
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Xcode
Device Activity
Family Controls
Screen Time
Sometimes when I schedule a DeviceActivityEvent with the includesPastActivity property set to false, the event is never triggered. I tried with thresholds of 20 seconds and 1 minute and both did not work.
I submitted feedback with more details FB15220094.
Is anyone else experiencing this issue ? or does anyone know about a fix ?
I've an app running for some time in the Appstore now. Recently I had to renew my singing certficicates to be able to publish my app again.
I renewed the certificates, updated my provisioning profile and signed a new app version to publish only to find out that the app crashes during the splash screen.
I added new features to the app so my first thought was that there would be an issue there. To test that, I built the latest stable version of the app and signed it with the new profivisioning profile. The result was exactly the same crash as the new build.
My assumption is that the crash is caused by bad signing (?) but I am not sure because I'm lacking experience on that front.
I do have a crash report from testflight and logs from the device where the app crashed.
Testflight crash:
TestFlight crashlog
Device error logs:
Device error logs
Hope someone can help my out because I'm at a dead end :(
I have an app that's capable of playing podcasts via Siri requests, e.g. "Hey Siri, play [Podcast Name]". I’m using INPlayMediaIntentHandling, that is, the SiriKit domain intents, as opposed to the newer AppIntents framework for its ability to select my app for audio playback without the need to specify the name of the app in the user's request to Siri.
This works great overall for the many podcasts I’ve tested the app with, with the exception of one. There's a podcast called "The Headlines", and I when I test the app with the request "Hey Siri, play The Headlines", my app is never selected. Instead, Apple Podcasts begins playback of a show called "NPR News Now".
Oddly, if the Apple Podcasts app is deleted, my app will still not be selected by the system, and instead, Siri responds with "I don’t see an app for that. You’ll need to download one" with a button to open the App Store. Additionally, if I do add the app name to the request using this style of intent, Siri responds with "[App Name] hasn’t added support for that with Siri." However, I’d still like to accomplish this without requiring the app name in the Siri request.
There's nothing complex in my setup:
The target declares one supported intent, INPlayMediaIntent, with "Podcasts" selected as a supported media category.
The Siri entitlement is enabled.
My INSiriAuthorizationStatus is .authorized.
My intent handler is specified in my AppDelegate as follows:
func application(_ application: UIApplication,
handlerFor intent: INIntent) -> Any? {
return IntentHandler.shared
}
My intent handler is simple:
final class IntentHandler: NSObject, INPlayMediaIntentHandling {
static let shared = IntentHandler()
func handle(intent: INPlayMediaIntent) async -> INPlayMediaIntentResponse {
print("IntentHandler: processing intent: \(intent)")
/** code to start playback based on information found in `intent` **/
}
When requesting Siri to "Play The Headlines", my handler code is not called at all. For all other supported shows, the print statement executes, and playback begins as expected.
Is there any way I can get my app to be selected instead of Apple Podcasts for this request?
In iOS 17, the call to "UIApplication.shared.open("App-prefs:ACCESSIBILITY&path=HEARING_AID_TITLE")" was opening the device Settings and going to Accessibility and then Hearing Device which is very helpful.
Now in iOS 18, this call only opens the device Settings at the root.
I would like to know how to replace the URL so that it works like before.
canOpenUrl does return true, so I'm wondering if something is broken, or
if canOpenUrl is kind of lying a bit.
I also tried other paths to go to other screens and they don't work either.
When I try to access the data in my IntentTimelineProvider in the recommendations function using App Groups, it is always empty "no data".
func recommendations() -> [IntentRecommendation<IndicatorIntent>] {
if let sharedUD = UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.measurements") {
let jm = JanitzaMeasurementValue(identifier: "1", display: "2")
let intent = IndicatorIntent()
intent.indicatorWidgetData = jm
let desc = sharedUD.string(forKey: "string") ?? "no data"
return [IntentRecommendation(intent: intent, description: desc)]
}
return []
}
Although I write this in both the watchOS and iOS app using App Groups.
if let sharedUD = UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.measurements") {
sharedUD.set("test", forKey: "string")
}
What is the right way to dynamically implement the widgets for Complications in watchOS?
Like for example in Shortcuts App.
**Thanks for support **
I have an application that updates bulk contacts it used to take 2 seconds to update 100 contacts on < IOS 18. After IOS 18 it takes almost 2 minutes and is highly affecting our app performance.
Our app has a share extension. And we recently noticed something with iOS 17.3.1.
From Safari, when we receive the plist and try to load it, we are seeing exceptions for classes not allowed to be unarchived.
[itemProvider loadItemForTypeIdentifier:[UTTypePropertyList identifier] options:nil completionHandler:^(NSDictionary *jsDict, NSError *error) {
}
We see these exceptions:
value for key 'NS.keys' was of unexpected class 'NSString' (0x1ee7d2970) [/System/Library/Frameworks/Foundation.framework].
Allowed classes are:
{(
"'NSDictionary' (0x1ee7cad38) [/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework]"
)}
(null)
Our preprocessing javascript file is basic, and only passes a title and URL as part of the payload.
arguments.completionFunction({
"URL": document.URL
"title": document.title,
});
Our watchOS App isn't opened when tapping on a Live Activity. Added the following to our Info.plist and still get the Open on iPhone option.
<key>WKSupportsLiveActivityLaunchAttributeTypes</key>
<array/>
Is there something else we need to configure?
I noticed that with iOS 18, when adding a widget to the Control Center, there is now some "grouping system". I'm interested in the Capture group, which contains native widgets from Apple as well as third party apps like Instagram and Blackmagic cam, widgets in this group open the camera. My widget also opens the camera in my app, how can I add it to this group?
Hello,
I'm trying to use CPBarButtons in trailingNavigationBarButtons and leadingNavigationBarButtons for a CPInformationTemplate, but the handler of the buttons is never called when the user presses them. Is this a known issue?
I created an intent for a configurable widget that lets users choose an option for a parameter called "domain."
I've successfully loaded the selectable items for this parameter using the following code:
import Intents
class IntentHandler: INExtension, ConfigChartIntentHandling {
func provideDomainOptionsCollection(for intent: ConfigChartIntent) async throws -> INObjectCollection<Domain> {
let prefs = UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.name")
let domains = prefs?.stringArray(forKey: "domains")
if let domains {
let optionsCollection = domains.map { Domain(identifier: $0, display: $0) }
return INObjectCollection(items: optionsCollection)
} else {
// If no options, provide an empty list or a default option
return INObjectCollection(items: [])
}
}
}
The issue occurs when I select a value for the "domain" parameter. Each time I select a value and then reopen the configuration modal, the field reverts back to "Choose." Here's a screenshot illustrating the behavior:
Additionally, the widget doesn’t refresh after I change the "domain" value. However, another parameter using an enum ("Stats Type") works as expected.
Is there something I might be missing?
My Environment:
MacOS Sonoma
XCode 15.4
Our context involves smart kitchen appliances, where cooking may be initiated by an app or directly by the device.
When the app is not running, we can only start a Live Activity through a remote push notification. However, an increasing number of users report issues where they cannot update or terminate the Live Activity.
While we can reproduce this issue in some cases, it is inconsistent and lacks a clear pattern.
I have a sample project and would like to confirm the following questions:
When the app is not running, does each pushToStartToken update wake the app and reliably trigger the callback below?
for await pushToken in Activity<DeviceAttributes>.pushToStartTokenUpdates {
}
When the app is not running, does each pushTokenUpdates update wake the app and reliably trigger the callback below?
Task {
for await activity in Activity<DeviceAttributes>.activityUpdates {
Task {
for try await tokenData in activity.pushTokenUpdates {
}
}
}
}
Must pushToStartTokenUpdates and pushTokenUpdates be placed directly in application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?), or can they be in another wrapper, such as an RxSwift wrapper?
If pushTokenUpdates is updated, but the received pushToken fails to synchronize to the server due to network issues, how should this be handled?
Alternatively, if you have any better suggestions, I would be very grateful to hear them.
Here is a simple example.
Hello everyone,
I'm currently working on an App Intent for my iOS app, and I’ve encountered a frustrating issue related to how Siri prompts for a category selection. Here’s an overview of what I’m dealing with:
extension Category: AppEntity, @unchecked Sendable {
var displayRepresentation: DisplayRepresentation {
DisplayRepresentation(title: "\(name)")
}
static var typeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Category")
typealias DefaultQueryType = ShortcutsCategoryQuery
static var defaultQuery: ShortcutsCategoryQuery = ShortcutsCategoryQuery()
}
struct ShortcutsCategoryQuery: EntityQuery {
func entities(for identifiers: [String]) async throws -> [Category] {
let context = await ModelContext(sharedModelContainer)
let categories = try CategoryDataProvider(context: context).getItems()
return categories.filter { identifiers.contains($0.id) }
}
func entities(matching string: String) async throws -> [Category] {
return try await suggestedEntities()
}
func suggestedEntities() async throws -> [Category] {
let context = await ModelContext(sharedModelContainer)
do {
let categories = try CategoryDataProvider(context: context).getItems()
if categories.isEmpty {
print("No categories found.")
}
return categories.map { category in
Category(
id: category.id,
name: category.name,
stringSymbol: category.stringSymbol,
symbol: category.symbol,
stringColor: category.stringColor,
color: category.color
)
}
} catch {
print(error)
return []
}
}
}
The issue arises when I use Siri to invoke the intent. Siri correctly asks me to select a category but does not display any options unless I said something that Siri recognized, like "Casa(House) or *****(Test)" in portuguese. Only then does it show the list of available categories.
I would like the categories to appear immediately when Siri asks for a selection. I've already tried refining the ShortcutsCategoryQuery and debugging various parts of my code, but nothing seems to fix this behavior.
@available(iOS 18.0, *)
@AssistantIntent(schema: .system.search)
struct SearchIntent: AppIntent {
static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "Search <app name redacted>"
static let searchScopes: [StringSearchScope] = [.general]
@Parameter(title: "Criteria")
var criteria: StringSearchCriteria
@MainActor
func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
MyDependencyManager.shared.performSearch(with: criteria.term)
return .result()
}
}
// In AppShortcutProvider
AppShortcut(
intent: SearchIntent(),
phrases: [
"Find \(\.$criteria) in \(.applicationName)",
"Search for \(\.$criteria) in \(.applicationName)",
],
shortTitle: "Search <app name redacted>",
systemImageName: "magnifyingglass"
)
The search works when using the Shortcuts app, but not when using Siri. For example if I ask Siri "Search for in " it just does a Google search or prompts me to install the app from the App Store (I am running a debug build via Xcode). I can't get this to work from Spotlight either.
I am using Xcode 16 and running the app on an iPhone 16 with OS 18.2 beta and Apple Intelligence turned on.
What am I doing wrong here? I cannot find any other information about this intent or how to properly set it up and use it.
Under Ventura, desktop wallpaper image names were stored in a sqlite database at ~/Library/Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db. This file is no longer being used under Sonoma.
I have a process I built that fetches the desktop image file names and displays them, either as a service, or on the desktop. I do this because I have many photos I've taken, and I like to know which one I'm viewing so I can make edits if necessary. I set these images across five spaces and have them randomly change every hour. I tried using AppleScript but it would not pull the file names.
A few people have pointed me to ~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.wallpaper/Store/Index.plist. However, on my system, this only reveals the source folder and not the image name itself. On one of my Macs, it shows 64 items, even though I have only five spaces!
Is there a way to fetch the image file names under Sonoma? Will Sequoia make this easier or harder?
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
macOS
Photos and Imaging
AppleScript
Files and Storage