Hi! Could you please point me to the official documentation or recommended approach for launching the host app from a Share Extension? The scenario is: The user is sharing some text to my app. I need launch App and show this text. At the moment, I'm using the following hack: let selector = NSSelectorFromString("sharedApplication") if let app = UIApplication.perform(selector)?.takeUnretainedValue() as? UIApplication, app.responds(to: #selector(UIApplication.open(_:options:completionHandler:))) { app.open(url, options: [:], completionHandler: nil) } This does work, but it's terrible. So, the question: What is the official way to open the host app from within a Share Extension? Thanks!

Problem summary I have a macOS helper app that is launched from a sandboxed main app. The helper: has com.apple.security.app-sandbox = true and com.apple.security.inherit = true in its entitlements, is signed and embedded inside the main app bundle (placed next to the main executable in Contents/MacOS), reports entitlement_check = 1 (code signature contains sandbox entitlement, implemented via SecStaticCode… check), sandbox_check(getpid(), NULL, 0) returns 1 (runtime sandbox enforcement present), APP_SANDBOX_CONTAINER_ID environment variable is not present (0). Despite that, Cocoa APIs return non-container home paths: NSHomeDirectory() returns /Users/<me>/ (the real home). [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:inDomains:] and URLForDirectory:inDomain:appropriateForURL:create:error: return paths rooted at /Users/<me>/ (not under ~/Library/Containers/<app_id>/Data/...) — i.e. they look like non-sandboxed locations. However, one important exception: URLForDirectory:... for NSItemReplacementDirectory (temporary/replacement items) does return a path under the helper's container (example: ~/Library/Containers/<app_id>/Data/tmp/TemporaryItems/NSIRD_<helper_name>_hfc1bZ). This proves the sandbox is active for some FileManager APIs, yet standard directory lookups (Application Support, Documents, Caches, and NSHomeDirectory()) are not being redirected to the container. What I expect The helper (which inherits the sandbox and is clearly sandboxed) should get container-scoped paths from Cocoa’s FileManager APIs (Application Support, Documents, Caches), i.e. paths under the helper’s container: /Users/<me>/Library/Containers/<app_id>/Data/.... What I tried / diagnostics already gathered Entitlements & code signature codesign -d --entitlements :- /path/to/Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Helper # shows com.apple.security.app-sandbox = true and com.apple.security.inherit = true Runtime checks (Objective-C++ inside helper): extern "C" int sandbox_check(pid_t pid, const char *op, int flags); NSLog(@"entitlement_check = %d", entitlement_check()); // SecStaticCode check NSLog(@"env_variable_check = %d", (getenv("APP_SANDBOX_CONTAINER_ID") != NULL)); NSLog(@"runtime_sandbox_check = %d", sandbox_check(getpid(), nullptr, 0)); NSLog(@"NSHomeDirectory = %s", NSHomeDirectory()); NSArray *urls = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSApplicationSupportDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask]; NSLog(@"URLsForDirectory: %@", urls); Observed output: entitlement_check = 1 env_variable_check = 0 runtime_sandbox_check = 1 NSHomeDirectory = /Users/<me> URLsForDirectory: ( "file:///Users/<me>/Library/Application%20Support/..." ) Temporary/replacement directory (evidence sandbox active for some APIs): NSURL *tmpReplacement = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLForDirectory:NSItemReplacementDirectory inDomain:NSUserDomainMask appropriateForURL:nil create:YES error:&err]; NSLog(@"NSItemReplacementDirectory: %@", tmpReplacement.path); Observed output (example): /Users/<me>/Library/Containers/<app_id>/Data/tmp/TemporaryItems/NSIRD_<helper_name>_hfc1bZ Other facts Calls to NSHomeDirectory() and URLsForDirectory: are made after main() to avoid "too early" initialization problems. Helper is placed in Contents/MacOS (not Contents/Library/LoginItems). Helper is a non-GUI helper binary launched by the main app (not an XPC service). macOS version: Sequoia 15.6 Questions Why do NSHomeDirectory() and URLsForDirectory: return the real /Users/<me>/... paths in a helper process that is clearly sandboxed (entitlement + runtime enforcement), while NSItemReplacementDirectory returns a container-scoped temporary path? Is this behavior related to how the helper is packaged or launched (e.g., placement in Contents/MacOS vs Contents/Library/LoginItems, or whether it is launched with posix_spawn/fork+exec vs other APIs)? Are there additional entitlements or packaging rules required for a helper that inherits sandbox to have Cocoa directory APIs redirected to the container (for Application Support, Documents, Caches)? *Thanks in advance — I can add any requested logs

How can I return the results of a Spotlight query synchronously from a Swift function? I want to return a [String] that contains the items that match the query, one item per array element. I specifically want to find all data for Spotlight items in the /Applications folder that have a kMDItemAppStoreAdamID (if there is a better predicate than kMDItemAppStoreAdamID > 0, please let me know). The following should be the correct query: let query = NSMetadataQuery() query.predicate = NSPredicate(format: "kMDItemAppStoreAdamID > 0") query.searchScopes = ["/Applications"] I would like to do this for code that can run on macOS 10.13+, which precludes using Swift Concurrency. My project already uses the latest PromiseKit, so I assume that the solution should use that. A bonus solution using Swift Concurrency wouldn't hurt as I will probably switch over sometime in the future, but won't be able to switch soon. I have written code that can retrieve the Spotlight data as the [String], but I don't know how to return it synchronously from a function; whatever I tried, the query hangs, presumably because I've called various run loop functions at the wrong places. In case it matters, the app is a macOS command-line app using Swift 5.7 & Swift Argument Parser 1.5.0. The Spotlight data will be output only as text to stdout & stderr, not to any Apple UI elements.

Hi! I'm trying to submit a task request into BGTaskScheduler when I background my app. The backgrounding triggers an update of data to a shared app groups container. I'm currently getting the following error and unsure where it's coming from: *** Assertion failure in -[BGTaskScheduler _unsafe_submitTaskRequest:error:], BGTaskScheduler.m:274 Here is my code: BGAppRefreshTaskRequest *request = [[BGAppRefreshTaskRequest alloc] initWithIdentifier:kRBBackgroundTaskIdentifier]; NSError *error = nil; bool success = [[BGTaskScheduler sharedScheduler] submitTaskRequest:request error:&error];

Dear Apple： We are developing an app for file sharing between mobile devices. We want to create an iOS app that can continue sharing files with other devices even when it is running in the background. We are using WLAN channels for file sharing. Could you please advise on which background persistence measures we should use to ensure the iOS app can maintain file transfer when it goes to the background? Thank you.

I'm troubleshooting a crash I do not understand. I have a queue called DataQueue which never has anything dispatched to it - it's the sample buffer delegate of an AVCaptureVideoDataOutput. It can call DispatchQueue.main.sync to do some work on the main thread. It works fine no matter what we test, but has some crashes in the field that I need to fix. Here's it crashing: AppleCameraDataDelegate.dataQueue 0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x7bdc __ulock_wait + 8 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x4a80 _dlock_wait + 52 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x486c _dispatch_thread_event_wait_slow$VARIANT$mp + 52 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x113d8 __DISPATCH_WAIT_FOR_QUEUE__ + 332 4 libdispatch.dylib 0x10ff0 _dispatch_sync_f_slow + 140 The main thread isn't doing something I asked it to, but appears to be busy: Thread 0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x71a4 __psynch_cvwait + 8 1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x7fd8 _pthread_cond_wait$VARIANT$mp + 1232 2 grpc 0x2cb670 gpr_cv_wait + 131 (sync.cc:131) 3 grpc 0x119688 grpc_core::Executor::ThreadMain(void*) + 225 (executor.cc:225) 4 grpc 0x2e023c grpc_core::(anonymous namespace)::ThreadInternalsPosix::ThreadInternalsPosix(char const*, void (*)(void*), void*, bool*, grpc_core::Thread::Options const&)::'lambda'(void*)::__invoke(void*) + 146 (thd.cc:146) 5 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x482c _pthread_start + 104 6 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0xcd8 thread_start + 8 Can anyone help me understand why this is a crash?

In iOS Background Execution limits, I see this: When the user ‘force quits’ an app by swiping up in the multitasking UI, iOS interprets that to mean that the user doesn’t want the app running at all. iOS also sets a flag that prevents the app from being launched in the background. That flag gets cleared when the user next launches the app manually. However, I see that when I close an app on iPadOS 26 with the red X, the app doesn't appear in the multitasking UI. So are they treated as force closes and prevented from running background tasks?

I'm working on an enterprise product that's mainly a daemon (with Endpoint Security) without any GUI component. I'm looking into the update process for daemons/agents that was introduced with Ventura (Link), but I have to say that the entire process is just deeply unfun. Really can't stress this enough how unfun. Anyway... The product bundle now contains a dedicated Swift executable that calls SMAppService.register for both the daemon and agent. It registers the app in the system preferences login items menu, but I also get an error. Error registering daemon: Error Domain=SMAppServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted" UserInfo={NSLocalizedFailureReason=Operation not permitted} What could be the reason? I wouldn't need to activate the items, I just need them to be added to the list, so that I can control them via launchctl. Which leads me to my next question, how can I control bundled daemons/agents via launchctl? I tried to use launchctl enable and bootstrap, just like I do with daemons under /Library/LaunchDaemons, but all I get is sudo launchctl enable system/com.identifier.daemon sudo launchctl bootstrap /Path/to/daemon/launchdplist/inside/bundle/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.blub.plist Bootstrap failed: 5: Input/output error (not super helpful error message) I'm really frustrated by the complexity of this process and all of its pitfalls.

Just trying to understand the documentation. Obviously, we can send a request to the service to return all the data at once. Can the data arrive in pieces, involving either multiple async callbacks or a Combine Publisher?

Hello, I have a few questions regarding the documentation here: Can this method described in the article be built with Xcode 26 and run on iOS 26? Or is it restricted to run only on iOS 26, since AppExtensionPoint appears to be available starting from iOS 26? Does this approach allow two apps under the same Team ID to communicate with each other? Does this approach also allow two apps under different Team IDs to communicate with each other? Is it mandatory to implement EXAppExtensionBrowserViewController and obtain user consent before using this method to exchange information? In our implementation, we followed the documentation. Inside EXAppExtensionBrowserViewController, we were able to see the Generic Extension from another app and enabled the permission. However, we still get the following error: Failed to connect: Error Domain=NABUExtensionConnector Code=1 "No matching extension found" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=No matching extension found} Could someone clarify whether this is expected behavior, or if we are missing an additional configuration step? Thanks in advance!

I have been working on updating an old app that makes extensive use of Objective-C's NSTask. Now using Process in Swift, I'm trying to gather updates as the process runs, using readabilityHandler and availableData. However, my process tends to exit before all data has been read. I found this post entitled "Running a Child Process with Standard Input and Output" but it doesn't seem to address gathering output from long-running tasks. Is there a straightforward way to gather ongoing output from a long running task without it prematurely exiting?

iOS BGProcessingTask + Background Upload Not Executing Reliably on TestFlight (Works in Debug) Description: We are facing an issue with BGTaskScheduler and BGProcessingTask when trying to perform a background audio-upload flow on iOS. The behavior is inconsistent between Debug builds and TestFlight (Release) builds. Summary of the Problem Our application records long audio files (up to 1 hour) and triggers a background upload using: BGTaskScheduler BGProcessingTaskRequest Background URLSession (background with identifier) URLSession background upload task + AppDelegate.handleEventsForBackgroundURLSession In Debug mode (Xcode → Run on device), everything works as expected: BGProcessingTask executes handleEventsForBackgroundURLSession fires Background URLSession continues uploads reliably Long audio files successfully upload even when the app is in background or terminated However, in TestFlight / Release mode, the system does not reliably launch the BGProcessingTask or Background URLSession events. Technical Details We explicitly register BGTaskScheduler: BGTaskScheduler.shared.register( forTaskWithIdentifier: "example.background.process", using: nil ) { task in self.handleBackgroundProcessing(task: task as! BGProcessingTask) } We schedule it using: let request = BGProcessingTaskRequest(identifier: "example.background.process") request.requiresNetworkConnectivity = true request.requiresExternalPower = false try BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit(request) We also use Background URLSession: let config = URLSessionConfiguration.background(withIdentifier: sessionId) config.sessionSendsLaunchEvents = true config.isDiscretionary = false AppDelegate.handleEventsForBackgroundURLSession is implemented correctly and works in Debug. Issue Observed (TestFlight Only) In TestFlight builds: BGProcessingTask rarely triggers, or the system marks it as NO LONGER RUNNING. Background upload tasks sometimes never start or complete. No logs appear from our BGProcessingTask handler. system logs show messages like: NO LONGER RUNNING bgProcessing-example.background.process Tasks running in group [com.apple.dasd.defaultNetwork] are 1! This occurs most frequently for large audio uploads (30–60 minutes), while small files behave normally. What We Have Verified Proper Info.plist values: Permitted background modes: processing, audio, fetch BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers contains our identifier BGProcessingTask is being submitted successfully (no errors) App has microphone permission + background audio works Device plugged/unplugged doesn’t change outcome Key Question for Apple We need clarification on: Why BGProcessingTask behave differently between Debug and TestFlight builds? Are there additional restrictions or heuristics (related to file size, CPU usage, runtime, network load, or power constraints) that cause BGProcessingTask to be throttled or skipped in Release/TestFlight? How can we guarantee a background upload continues reliably for large files (100MB–500MB) on TestFlight and App Store builds? Is there an Apple-recommended pattern to combine BGProcessingTask + Background URLSession for long-running uploads? Expected Result Background uploads should continue reliably for long audio files (>30 minutes) when the app goes to background or is terminated, in the same way they currently function in Debug builds.

I am developing a background application that acts as a metadata server under MacOS written in Swift. Sandboxed clients prompt the user to select URLs which are passed to the server as security scoped bookmarks via an App Group and the metadata will be passed back. I don't want the I/O overhead of passing the complete image file data to the server. All the variations I have tried of creating security scoped bookmarks in the client and reading them from the server fail with error messages such as "The file couldn’t be opened because it isn’t in the correct format." Can anyone guide me in the right direction or is this just not possible?

How to execute code on main app when interacted with a live activity, given that they are already interactable. is there a way without opening the app? what are the best ways?

After logging in to the main App, turn on screen recording, then switch to the interface of another App to perform operations. After about ten-odd minutes, when returning to the main App, it was found that the app was forcefully quit by the system, and subsequent operations could not be carried out.

This is the functionality I am trying to achieve with libxpc: There's one xpc server and two xpc clients. When the xpc server receives a particular dictionary item from clientB, the server needs to send a response to both clientA and clientB. This is the approach I am currently using: First, clientA creates a dictionary item that indicates that this item is from clientA. Now, clientA sends this dictionary to server. When server receives this item, it stores the connection instance with clientA in a global variable. Next, when clientB sends a particular dictionary item, server uses this global variable where it perviously stored clientA's connection instance to send a response back to clientA, alongside clientB. Only one edge case I can see is that when clientA closes this connection instance, server will be trying to send a response to an invalidated connection. Question: Is this approach recommended? Any edge cases I should be aware of? Is there any better way to achieve this functionality?

Hi, I have a couple questions about background app refresh. First, is the function RefreshAppContentsOperation() where to implement code that needs to be run in the background? Second, despite importing BackgroundTasks, I am getting the error "cannot find operationQueue in scope". What can I do to resolve that? Thank you. func scheduleAppRefresh() { let request = BGAppRefreshTaskRequest(identifier: "peaceofmindmentalhealth.RoutineRefresh") // Fetch no earlier than 15 minutes from now. request.earliestBeginDate = Date(timeIntervalSinceNow: 15 * 60) do { try BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit(request) } catch { print("Could not schedule app refresh: \(error)") } } func handleAppRefresh(task: BGAppRefreshTask) { // Schedule a new refresh task. scheduleAppRefresh() // Create an operation that performs the main part of the background task. let operation = RefreshAppContentsOperation() // Provide the background task with an expiration handler that cancels the operation. task.expirationHandler = { operation.cancel() } // Inform the system that the background task is complete // when the operation completes. operation.completionBlock = { task.setTaskCompleted(success: !operation.isCancelled) } // Start the operation. operationQueue.addOperation(operation) } func RefreshAppContentsOperation() -> Operation { }

I have been playing with application bundled LaunchAgents: I downloaded Apple sample code, Run the sample code as is, Tweaked the sample code a lot and changed the LaunchAgents IDs and Mach ports IDs, Created new projects with the learnings, etc. After deleting all the Xcode projects and related project products and rebooting my machine several times, I noticed the LaunchAgent are still hanging around in launchctl. If I write launchctl print-disabled gui/$UID (or user/$UID) I can see all my testing service-ids: disabled services = { "com.xpc.example.agent" => disabled "io.dehesa.apple.app.agent" => disabled "io.dehesa.sample.app.agent" => disabled "io.dehesa.example.agent" => disabled "io.dehesa.swift.xpc.updater" => disabled "io.dehesa.swift.agent" => disabled } (there are more service-ids in that list, but I removed them for brevity purposes). I can enable or disable them with launchctl enable/disable service-target, but I cannot really do anything else because their app bundle and therefore PLIST definition are not there anymore. How can I completely remove them from my system? More worryingly, I noticed that if I try to create new projects with bundled LaunchAgents and try to reuse one of those service-ids, then the LaunchAgent will refuse to run (when it was running ok previously). The calls to SMAppService APIs such .agent(plistName:) and register() would work, though.

Dear Apple Support Team, My app, io.cylonix.sase, has a BGAppRefreshTask (io.cylonix.sase.ios.refresh) that is canceled by dasd ~9ms after submission from a Network Extension. Please help identify the cause and suggest a solution. App Details: App ID: io.cylonix.sase iOS Version: 17.1.1 (iPhone Xs Max) Network Extension: saseWgNetworkExtension with packet-tunnel-provider entitlement Use Case: VPN app; Network Extension records file receipts in shared group UserDefaults and schedules BGAppRefreshTask to wake the main app. App Usage: High (frequently used) System State: Sufficient resources (not low on battery or memory) Issue: The task is submitted but canceled immediately with priority 10. It has never run, so rate-limiting is not an issue. ` debug 22:09:37.952749-0700 dasd Best binding found for evaluator 0x16d541720: <private> debug 22:09:37.954483-0700 dasd Invoking selector backgroundTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiersWithContext:tableID:unitID:unitBytes: on <LSApplicationRecord 0x724844650> default 22:09:37.955563-0700 dasd CANCELED: bgRefresh-io.cylonix.sase.ios.refresh:ABDAFA at priority 10 <private>!

Hello, In a launched agent, I need to call into a third‑party library that may occasionally hang. At present, these calls are made from a separate thread, but if the thread hangs it cannot be terminated (pthread_cancel/pthread_kill are ineffective). Would Apple recommend isolating this functionality in a separate process that can be force‑terminated if it becomes unresponsive, or is there a preferred approach for handling such cases in launched agents? Can I use the system call fork() in launched agent? Thank you in advance!