Hi everyone and Apple support, I’ve built an app that continuously runs and receives temperature data from a sensor. When a threshold is reached, I use Live Activities with the push notification flow to display alerts on the Dynamic Island. The Live Activity and push notification flow work fine in foreground and background states. However, I’m trying to support push-triggered Live Activities when the app is in the terminated state. Since my app rarely terminates, I can’t confirm if the Live Activity push token is generated in that state. It seems like it isn’t, which blocks the Live Activity from starting via push. I tried with both pushtostarttoken and pushtostarttokenupdates. None of them worked. Has anyone dealt with this or found a workaround to ensure the push token is available even when the app is terminated?

We have a Subscription based feature in our App, using which a user can say something like "Ask Mickey". However we want to enable this system Shortcut only when the user has subscribed to certain premium features. i.e. If the User is not subscribed to Premium Services, we do not want to show this Shortcut. However, when adding any conditional code inside AppShortcutsProvider, I am getting the following Compile Time errors: **'AppShortcutsProvider' property 'appShortcuts' requires builder syntax AppShortcut builders support only a platform availability if statements, not general if statements'**

I am trying to feature flag widgets in my Widget extension. This feature flag value is stored remotely, read by my main app, and written to UserDefaults, then read from UserDefaults in my widget target. I understand that providing an empty array of WidgetFamilys will not show my app when the user goes to add a widget. However, even when this flag flips to true, hard-closing and reopening my app will not show my app in the list of apps you can add a widget for. But I notice that if I recompile my app from Xcode (running the app's scheme, not the widget scheme), then my app will show when you search for an app to add a widget for, making me think that these Widget objects are only created by the system once when the app is initially installed/updated. My concern is that I will not be able to flip this flag from false to true after the user has installed my app to do a rollout of my widget. Is this expected? Or is there an alternative or otherwise recommended way of doing this? struct MyWidget: Widget { let kind = "MyWidget" var supportedFamilies: [WidgetFamily] { let manager = ExtensionManager() if manager.widgetsEnabled { return [.systemSmall, .systemMedium, .systemLarge] } else { return [] } } var body: some WidgetConfiguration { IntentConfiguration( kind: kind, intent: MyWidgetIntent.self, provider: MyWidgetProvider() ) { entry in MyWidgetView(entry: entry) } .configurationDisplayName("My Widget") .description("Install my widget!") .supportedFamilies(supportedFamilies) } }

Background I'm developing an iOS app with Live Activities that allows users to select custom background images. While these custom images display correctly in widgets, they fail to appear in Live Activities on both Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, despite successful image loading and data transfer. Technical Details iOS Version: Testing on iOS 17.2+ Image Storage: Using App Group shared container for image sharing between main app and widget extension Image Loading: Successfully confirmed via logs - images load correctly with proper dimensions UI Framework: SwiftUI with ActivityKit What Works ✅ Custom images display correctly in Home Screen widgets ✅ Built-in bundled images work in Live Activities ✅ Image data successfully transfers via App Group shared container ✅ Image loading logs show successful UIImage creation with correct dimensions What Doesn't Work ❌ Custom user images don't display in Live Activities (Lock Screen) ❌ Custom user images don't display in Dynamic Island ❌ Images appear as black/gray background despite successful loading Code Implementation I've tried multiple approaches: 1. SwiftUI Image approach: Image(uiImage: customImage) .resizable() .aspectRatio(contentMode: .fill) 2. containerBackground API approach: .containerBackground(for: .widget) { Image(uiImage: customImage) .resizable() .aspectRatio(contentMode: .fill) } 3. UIKit wrapper approach: struct UIImageViewWrapper: UIViewRepresentable { let image: UIImage func makeUIView(context: Context) -> UIImageView { let imageView = UIImageView(image: image) imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFill return imageView } func updateUIView(_ uiView: UIImageView, context: Context) { uiView.image = image } } Observations Images load successfully (confirmed via console logs) File paths are correct and accessible Same image loading code works perfectly in widgets When testing with UIKit approach, a red prohibition icon appears, suggesting system restrictions Questions Is there a technical limitation preventing user-provided images from displaying in Live Activities? Are there specific security restrictions for Live Activity backgrounds that don't apply to widgets? Is this behavior intentional based on Apple's design guidelines for Live Activities? What's the recommended approach for custom backgrounds in Live Activities? Apple Documentation Reference I found this guidance in "10 questions with the Live Activities team": "The Dynamic Island is most immersive when you don't provide background color or imagery — think of it purely as a canvas of foreground view elements." However, this seems to be design guidance rather than a technical restriction, and it doesn't specifically address Lock Screen Live Activities. Expected Behavior Custom user images should display as backgrounds in Live Activities, similar to how they work in widgets. Current Workaround I've implemented a color extraction system that generates gradients based on the dominant colors of user images, but users specifically want to see their actual images. Has anyone successfully implemented custom user images as Live Activity backgrounds, or can Apple clarify the intended behavior and limitations? Thank you for any insights!

I’m implementing a Control Widget for watchOS 26 Beta 5, using .promptsForUserConfiguration() so that users can select an option from an enum when adding the widget. The overall functionality works fine, but when users configure the option, the enum’s corresponding text is not properly localized. My enum is defined like this: static var caseDisplayRepresentations: [XXXType: DisplayRepresentation] { [ XX1: .init(title: .init("text1", table: "xxx")), XX2: .init(title: .init("text2", table: "xxx")), ] } After the configuration is completed and the Control Widget appears in the Control Center or Smart Stack, the text is displayed correctly. Same code on iOS work perfect.

The execution of the shortcut command is abnormal. An App Intents was created through xcode, a test example was written, and an exception was executed. error: couldn`t communicate with a helper application. log: Shortcut <WFWorkflow: 0x600003008b40, name: Test, actions: 1> failed with error Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4097 "connection to service created from an endpoint" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=connection to service created from an endpoint, WFActionIndex=0}. -[WFBackgroundShortcutRunner callWorkflowRunningCompletionBlockWithResult:] Workflow Did Finish: Calling Completion Block -[WFBackgroundShortcutRunner listener:shouldAcceptNewConnection:]_block_invoke XPC connection invalidated -[WFBackgroundShortcutRunnerStateMachine invalidateWithReason:] connection invalidated/interrupted while finishing shortcut or exiting runner. Exiting should already be in process, not transitioning. -[WFBackgroundShortcutRunner unaliveProcess]_block_invoke_2 Exiting process

I cannot install any widgets on my simulator, even the system provided ones. I just finished removing all dev software from my machine and reinstalling only Xcode 16.3. Springboard always crashes: Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) Exception Subtype: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0xfffffffffffffff8 Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0xfffffffffffffff8 VM Region Info: 0xfffffffffffffff8 is not in any region. REGION TYPE START - END [ VSIZE] PRT/MAX SHRMOD REGION DETAIL UNUSED SPACE AT START ---> UNUSED SPACE AT END Termination Reason: SIGNAL 11 Segmentation fault: 11 Terminating Process: exc handler [5015] Triggered by Thread: 0 Thread 0 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread 0 SpringBoardHome 0x10f0f8e50 -[SBHRippleSimulation clear] + 74 1 SpringBoardHome 0x10f0f8f0f -[SBHRippleSimulation createRippleAtGridCoordinate:strength:] + 73 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x12de8e5b6 _dispatch_client_callout + 6 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x12de78a33 _dispatch_continuation_pop + 859 4 libdispatch.dylib 0x12de8baae _dispatch_source_invoke + 2178 5 libdispatch.dylib 0x12de8388e _dispatch_main_queue_drain + 732 6 libdispatch.dylib 0x12de835a4 _dispatch_main_queue_callback_4CF + 31 7 CoreFoundation 0x12c25fd5c __CFRUNLOOP_IS_SERVICING_THE_MAIN_DISPATCH_QUEUE__ + 9 8 CoreFoundation 0x12c25a7c8 __CFRunLoopRun + 2511 9 CoreFoundation 0x12c2599f1 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 536 10 GraphicsServices 0x118d35c09 GSEventRunModal + 137 11 UIKitCore 0x15732a580 -[UIApplication _run] + 875 12 UIKitCore 0x15732f707 UIApplicationMain + 123 13 SpringBoard 0x10fe9c4e2 SBSystemAppMain + 7639 14 ??? 0x10ada43da ??? 15 dyld 0x10fd7d530 start + 3056 So it's crashing when it tries to make the little animation when a widget is dropped. I removed all the runtimes, every cache and preference I could find, emptied the trash, rebooted (to release any open file descriptors), and reinstalled Xcode. Nothing helped.

I currently test AlarmKit's API with my project. But I find that AlarmKit API presents its UI inconsistently. When i turn off my device and re-install my application, it presents its alarm in Live activity, but sometimes doesn't. Is there any rules to present Alarm UI?

When does alarmkit's alarm displayed in Live activity? I think it is very random. is there any condition for this?

Can I Present AlarmKit's Alarm UI in Expanded Dynamic Island that I implement with SwiftUI when its fired? not System AlarmUI, but my the view that I implemented. I've implemented Dynamic Island properly, and tried various scenarios but I can't find out the way to present AlarmKit UI in Expanded Dynamic Island when it is fired. I don't know why, but, sometimes, it is presented in Expanded Dynamic Island UI which is I Implemented. But when I try lots of times, It is presented in System AlarmKit UI not my SwiftUI View. Can you please tell me how can I present my SwiftUI Expanded Dynamic Island when it is fired? Sincerely

I am looking into the new CarPlay support for systemSmall widgets introduced in iOS 26 (Apple documentation). I am trying to figure out if there is a way to programmatically detect whether the widget is currently being displayed on the iPhone/iPad home/lock screen or in CarPlay. So far, I haven’t found any information in the documentation or APIs that indicate how to distinguish between these environments. Is there an API, environment value, or best practice for handling this scenario? Thanks in advance for any insights!

A Live Activity relies on its app being in the background , but contrary to a widget it does not have a timeline. Our app "in the making" is sandboxed and does not need to receive ActivityKit push notifications How is the app "maintained in life" and not entirely killed for the duration of the activity - Apple documentation says up to 8 hours ? Is it necessary for us to do something to maintain it, like to trick the system , play a white noise audio background ...?

Just wanted to clarify some expected behaviors here. It seems that there are two distinct behaviors for Live Activity flows for freshly installed apps. When you start a Live Activity for the first time and the user hasn't yet clicked on Allow/Don't Allow in the activity interface, there are two different sequences: Starting a Live Activity locally Request a Live Activity locally via Swift Live Activity starts .pushTokenUpdates is immediately triggered, even if the Allow/Don't Allow buttons appear under the Activity UI Starting a Live Activity via push-to-start Send a push-to-start notification to launch a Live Activity Live Activity starts .pushTokenUpdates is not triggered, and .pushToken returns nil. If a user clicks on Allow in the Activity UI, only then is .pushTokenUpdates triggered.

Regular apns will give you a willPresent callback and there you can decide to suppress showing the notification or suppress its sound etc. I know the iOS app will give you callbacks for when there's a contentUpdate, yet that doesn't give the option to change the sound. Is there a way to suppress sound of a received Live Activity when app is in foreground?

We are currently using Live Activities in our app and supporting both of the following use cases: Starting a Live Activity directly from the app using ActivityKit APIs. Starting a Live Activity from the backend using the start token. In the first case (initiated from the app), the OS generates an update token, and we are able to continuously update the Live Activity via our backend—even if the user has not explicitly provided "Allow" or "Always Allow" consent from the lock screen. This works as expected. In the second case (initiated from the backend), if the user does provide consent ("Allow" or "Always Allow") from the lock screen, we receive the update token and can continue updating the Live Activity. However, if the user does not provide consent, the OS does not provide the update token, and we are unable to send further updates. Question: Is it possible to receive the update token from the OS when the Live Activity is started from the backend, without the user explicitly providing "Allow" or "Always Allow" consent from the lock screen? We would appreciate any clarification or official documentation related to this behavior. Thank you!

Description When starting Live Activities via ActivityKit push notifications, the “start” notification is received correctly on iPhone 16 Pro Max, but subsequent update or end push notifications are not. The same implementation on iPhone 16 Pro behaves as expected (both start and update/end notifications are delivered and processed). Environment Property Value Device (failing) iPhone 16 Pro Max Device (working) iPhone 16 Pro iOS Version 18.5 Xcode / SDK 16.2/ActivityKit / Push Notifications Network Wi-Fi / Cellular (both tested) Data Collection Method Devices connected via USB. Logs captured using Console.app. Log filtering applied for the liveactivitiesd daemon to isolate Live Activity behavior. Initial Triage/Observations Payload format confirmed compatible; no incompatible fields. APNs token remains the same across messages (no refresh). Identical ActivityKit subscriptions/participants on both devices. Server-side delivery is confirmed: iPhone 16 Pro receives all messages (start, update, end). Only iPhone 16 Pro Max fails to receive update or end push notifications. Log Analysis iPhone 16 Pro (Working) Push-to-Start successfully received: 13:45:20 - APSXPCDeliverMessageEvent: Created APSIncomingMessage 13:45:20 - Received message: eventType: start(SessionPushNotifications.IncomingMessage.EventType.StartParameters(attributesType: "AchToLSUpgradeAttributes", attributesData: 125 bytes, inputs: [])) 13:45:20 - Created activity: 1C081AC5-01AE-4EC0-8B67-5F2A9FAE2D60 13:45:45 - APSXPCDeliverMessageEvent: Created APSIncomingMessage 13:45:45 - Received message: eventType: end(dismissDate: Optional(2025-07-21 21:00:44 +0000)) 13:45:20 - Activity updated: 1C081AC5-01AE-4EC0-8B67-5F2A9FAE2D60 13:45:20 - Local activity did update: 1C081AC5-01AE-4EC0-8B67-5F2A9FAE2D60 iPhone 16 Pro Max (Failing) 13:56:39 - APSXPCDeliverMessageEvent: Created APSIncomingMessage 13:56:39 - Received message: eventType: start(SessionPushNotifications.IncomingMessage.EventType.StartParameters(attributesType: "AchToLSUpgradeAttributes", attributesData: 125 bytes, inputs: [])) 13:56:39 - Created activity: E6BBF691-0C7A-4791-98D2-6F1440D9932E **No subsequent APNs push-to-update or push-to-end messages received.** 13:56:39 - No destinations for event E6BBF691... of type start 13:56:40 - No destinations for event E6BBF691... of type update Questions for Apple Engineering Are there known issues with ActivityKit push notifications specifically on iPhone 16 Pro Max devices? What additional diagnostic logs (system, APNs, liveactivitiesd) would be most helpful to collect? Could device-specific power management, notification settings, or OS-level changes on Pro Max models affect Live Activity updates? Are there differences in how Live Activity push subscriptions or routing are handled on iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Pro that could lead to this issue?

We need a live activity to countdown our time in formats like 2h 30m -> 2h 29m -> 2h 28m etc 58m -> 57m I see this kind in pictures in official documentation. to make a functional timer is: Text(context.state.startTime, style: .timer) But it's very limited when it comes to formatting. This timer .relative includes seconds which we don't want Text(futureDate, style: .relative) Also format we need is h instead of hour, m instead of min

Attachments: Problem Description: I encountered an issue related to WidgetKit. Inside a widget, I used the following API: UIImage(named: "some_pic_in_asset")! However, in my crash monitoring system, I observed a large number of crashes caused by force-unwrapping a UIImage that could not be loaded. After analyzing the crash reports and the associated app version information, I found that this issue consistently occurs during the app upgrade process. For example: A user installs the app at version A and adds the widget to their Home Screen. Later, the app is upgraded to version A+1. Then, in the monitoring backend, I observe many crashes. The crash itself happens under version A, but the report is uploaded under version A+1. Since crash collection happens in the widget and the report is uploaded by the app, the version mismatch is understandable. I also confirmed that the number of crashes strongly correlates with the number of app version upgrades. Based on this analysis, I believe that in the upgrade scenario described above, UIImage(named: "some_pic_in_asset") sometimes fails to load the image even though it exists in the asset catalog. Please note that the force-unwrapping operation is not the focus of my concern here. Question: Is this a known system issue? If so, is there a plan for fixing it in future iOS updates?

Appears during code compilation Provisioning profile "iOS Team Provisioning Profile: ..*" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.ActivityKit entitlement， Has anyone encountered or resolved a similar issue where the ActiveKit feature was not found in the developer's identifier, despite not being activated in the developer's system?

There seems to be a long running issue with WidgetKit where some users don't see the widget when trying to add to their Home Screen. (even after opening the app for the first time). I have been able to reproduce myself intermittently, and typically restarting the phone or re-installing the app fixes the problem. However, some of my users have encountered this and end up requesting refunds because they think the app is broken. Has anybody else experienced this issue? Would be great to get this bug resolved as it's frustrating for users.