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Instruments is a performance-analysis and testing tool for iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS apps.

Instruments Documentation

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Analytics Reports API - ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT only returns last 35 days of DAILY instances
Hello, I'm integrating the App Store Connect Analytics Reports API and I'm trying to understand the expected behavior of ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT requests. Current situation: We have an ONGOING analyticsReportRequest created several years ago. When querying DAILY report instances, we only receive data from: Earliest processingDate: 2026-07-24 Latest processingDate: 2026-08-27 This appears to match the documented 35-day retention window for report instances. To test historical access, I created new analyticsReportRequests with: accessType = ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT The requests were successfully created and are active: accessType: ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT stoppedDueToInactivity: false My question is: Should a ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT request generate historical analytics report instances beyond the normal 35-day retention window? Our goal is to retrieve analytics data from 2024 and earlier periods that are no longer visible through the ONGOING DAILY instances. Specifically: Does ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT provide access to older historical analytics data? Is there a way to request a specific date range (for example, January 2024) through the Analytics Reports API? If historical data exists, what is the correct workflow to access it through analyticsReportRequests, reports, instances, and segments? Any clarification or examples would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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The best way to build, test and upload an iOS app without owning a Mac
Hi everyone, I’m developing a cross-platform mobile app (React Native) but I don’t currently own a Mac. What is the most reliable and professional way to: Build the iOS version Test it properly (real device / TestFlight) Upload it to the App Store Are cloud Mac services (like MacinCloud, AWS Mac, etc.) considered stable for production release workflows? Is there any fully supported workflow without direct access to a physical Mac? Would appreciate real-world experience from developers who faced the same situation. Thanks in advance.
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see "call stack limit" in instruments when using leaks
I'm using the Leaks instrument in Xcode 26.2 to investigate a memory leak. After attaching Instruments to target process and starting a recording, it detected 29 leaks. However, I'm unable to view the allocation call stacks because each leak shows "Call stack limit reached." May I know if anyone has a solution for this? I’ve tried “Hide System Libraries,” “Invert Call Tree,” and “Flatten Recursion,” but unfortunately, none of them seem to work.
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SwiftUI instrument in iOS27 betas "Failed to stop recording session: Data Providers emitted errors: Required"
i've been struggling to get the SwiftUI instrument to work during the betas. It never produces any results on simulator, while on device it throws an error which prevents any results from other instruments from appearing. the error is: Failed to stop recording session: Data Providers emitted errors: Required I've tried on my iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) (iPadOS27 beta 3), and iPhone 17 Pro Max (iPadOS27 beta 2). And I get the same result running from my mac studio & MacBook air. Is this a known thing? cheers, Mike
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SwiftUI template in Instruments 26.4.1 shows empty channels on iOS 26.4.2 device — even with a minimal TimelineView repro
Hi all, I've hit a reproducible issue where the presence of the SwiftUI instrument in a template prevents any data from being recorded, including from the other instruments in the same template. Removing the SwiftUI instrument immediately restores normal recording. Environment Host: macOS 26.4.1 (25E253), Mac mini Xcode / Instruments 26.4.1 (17E202) Device: iPhone 17, iOS 26.4.2 (23E261) (physical device, USB-attached) Symptom Recording the same app, same device, same session, only varying the template contents: SwiftUI template (as-is) => All lanes empty across the entire recording Same template with the SwiftUI instrument removed => Data collected normally (Time Profiler samples, Hangs, etc.) So it seems not an issue with the SwiftUI lanes specifically being empty — including the SwiftUI instrument appears to silence the entire recording. Steps to reproduce Open Instruments → pick the SwiftUI template (or build a custom template that includes the SwiftUI instrument alongside, e.g., Time Profiler). Target the device, attach to the running app. Record for ~10s, interact with the app. Stop. Result: every lane is empty. Edit the template, remove the SwiftUI instrument, re-record with no other changes. Result: normal data appears in the remaining instruments. Questions Is this a known regression in Instruments 26.4.1 on iOS 26.4.x? Is there a workaround to use the SwiftUI instrument on this OS combo (different Xcode build, runtime flag, entitlement)? Does it work for anyone on iOS 26.4.x + Xcode 26.4.1, or is everyone seeing this? I can file a Feedback if confirmed as a bug — wanted to check here first in case I'm missing a setup step. Thanks!
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1.3k
Jul ’26
SwiftUI Instruments Template doesn't work
I am profiling a simple SwiftUI test app on my new iPhone through my new MacBook Pro and everything is version 26.2 (iOS, macOS, Xcode). I run Instruments with the SwiftUI template using all of the default settings and get absolutely zero data after interacting with the app for about 20 seconds. Using the Time Profiler template yields trace data. Trying the SwiftUI template again with the sample Landmarks app has the same issue as my app.
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Jul ’26
Instruments 27.0 beta crashes (EXC_BREAKPOINT in InstrumentsPlugIn modelers) every time a recording is stopped
Environment: macOS 27.0 beta (26A5368g) Xcode 27 beta — Instruments 27.0 (64578.226), build 27A5209h MacBook Pro (M1, 2020), 16 GB — MacBookPro17,1 Target: physical iPhone running an iOS app (on-device LLM inference benchmarking) Summary: Instruments crashes reproducibly with EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP) shortly after I stop a recording. Recording itself works — the crash occurs during the post-stop analysis phase, while the trace is being processed. This has happened multiple times today with different templates (Time Profiler, and a custom document with Power Profiler / os_signpost / Thermal State). Steps to reproduce: Open Instruments 27.0 beta, choose Time Profiler (or a document containing Power Profiler + os_signpost) Target a physical iPhone and an installed app Record for a short period, then press Stop Instruments crashes while analyzing/importing the trace Crash details: The crashing thread is always on the dispatch queue com.apple.dt.frame.activity, inside InstrumentsPlugIn transformer/modeler code. In one report the crashing frame is: Thread 10 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.dt.frame.activity 0 InstrumentsPlugIn NetworkConnectionStatsModeling.__receiveRow(cursor:writer:referenceManager:) + 920 1 InstrumentsPlugIn TransformerExecutionUnit.run(yieldBlock:) + 92 2 InstrumentsPlugIn specialized TransformerHostingModeler.populateOutputTables(_:usingObserverations:parameters:checkToYieldBlock:) + 2344 Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP), esr 0xf2000001 (Breakpoint) brk 1 At crash time, sibling worker threads on the same queue were executing SystemPowerImpactModeling and ProcessSubsystemImpactModeling transformers, so the failure appears to be in the modeling pipeline that runs when the recording is finalized. Incident identifiers from two occurrences today: D6D2467F-8553-487C-A291-EC30C0D2846F (14:13 IST) 55017CAB-5345-4865-9695-36228B B80AA4A (18:20 IST) Filed via Feedback Assistant as FBXXXXXXXX with full crash logs and sysdiagnose attached. Questions: Is this a known issue in the current Instruments 27.0 beta? Is there a recommended workaround to record and analyze traces until a fix ships — e.g., recording headlessly with xctrace and opening the .trace in a late r build? Happy to provide the .trace files or additional diagnostics. Thanks!
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689
Jul ’26
Power & Performance Group Lab Questions
Since my questions were never answer and no replies during the group lab, I'm posting them here: When does vapor chamber cooling activate on the new iPhone 17 Pro devices? Does the system handle the cooling in those scenarios, can developer activate it? Does volume level affect performance/battery? Can you discuss bluetooth connections to AirPods Pro 3/AirPods Pro Max and impact on battery? Is there an API to detect thermal changes and what are UI changes that can reduce thermal impact when app is in background and foreground? Whats the best way to profile Power usage and battery drain when an application is processing, working in background and multimodal? Thank you.
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571
Jun ’26
Missing SwiftData symbols in Instruments
I’m profiling a SwiftData app in Instruments. Most frames are symbolicated correctly but SwiftData frames appear only as addresses. 0x21ff2abd4 SwiftData 0x21ffb06c8 SwiftData 0x21ffb3064 SwiftData while surrounding frames are symbolicated, for example: __CFRunLoopDoObservers CoreFoundation stepTransactionFlush AppKit Attribute.syncMainIfReferences<A>(do:) SwiftUICore Is this expected, or should SwiftData symbols normally be visible here?
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625
Jun ’26
SDK Performance challenges
I'm joining the Ads iOS SDK team — our SDK is embedded in thousands of host apps. I want to understand the recommended approach for two performance challenges specific to embedded SDKs: what's the Instruments workflow for isolating our SDK's CPU and memory contribution from the host app's footprint, when we don't control or have access to the host app's source? are there any new APIs in iOS 27 that allow a third-party framework to declare or report its own performance budget to the host app, so developers can see SDK-level impact without custom instrumentation?
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772
Jun ’26
Xcode 26 - Create ML don't work
I tried using Create ML of Xcode 26.0 beta 7 to generate a model using the "Word Tagging" template, and I received the error: Training progress unavailable - Unexpected error. Using Create ML of XCode 16.4 with the same documentation, I was able to build the model and use it in a test app. I'd like to understand why Create ML of Xcode 26 no longer works.
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May ’26
APU H series
What about a studio rendering audio interface with airpods max, when linked has a usb-c*thunderbolt's cable. Them can bring Use and Space at utility. +can bring 32 bits dept into sound edit +can bring Audio Spatialisation +and a bunch of codecs to encode ogg capabilties or atmos/dtsX fidelity -since the latency became minimalist at bluetooth 6.0, a think could look forward about cableless capability upforth.
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May ’26
[SDK / Instruments] Clarification on Runnable & Blocked Time Semantics — Customers Misinterpreting as CPU Usage
Hi Apple Developer Technical Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to seek urgent clarification on a profiling question that is directly impacting our SDK customers. Context We provide an iOS SDK that is integrated into third-party applications. Our SDK includes a background monitoring thread created via: -[NSObject performSelectorInBackground:withObject:] As documented, threads created through this API carry a default (relatively low) scheduling priority. Inside the thread, we call sleep(1) once per second for periodic idle intervals, and we collect CPU usage metrics using kernel APIs: • task_threads() • thread_info() Both calls involve kernel-level operations and are known to trigger context switches internally. The Core Issue — Customer Misinterpretation When our customers profile their apps using Instruments with "Context Switch Sampling" enabled, they observe that our SDK thread shows a large proportion of time labeled as "Runnable" and "Blocked". A representative example: • Total (wall clock): 4.30 s — 100% • Runnable: 3.06 s — 71.4% ← customers flag this as high CPU usage • Blocked: 1.05 s — 24.5% • Running: 176 ms — 4.1% ⚠️ Our customers are interpreting the "Runnable" time (71.4%) as CPU consumption by our SDK, and are raising concerns that our SDK is degrading their app's performance. We strongly believe this interpretation is incorrect — a thread in the "Runnable" state is merely waiting in the scheduler's ready queue and has NOT been assigned to any CPU core, therefore it should NOT consume any CPU resources. However, we need an official confirmation from Apple to address our customers' concerns definitively. Our Questions Do the time values shown next to "Runnable" and "Blocked" in the Time Profiler call tree represent wall-clock waiting time (i.e., time spent in that state), or actual CPU consumption time? Does a thread in the "Runnable" state consume any CPU resources on the device? We want to confirm clearly: does Runnable time contribute to CPU load or battery drain in any way? Is it correct that the high Runnable time observed is caused by the combination of: a. The low thread scheduling priority assigned by performSelectorInBackground:withObject:, and b. Context switch overhead introduced by the task_threads() and thread_info() kernel calls? Is there any official Apple documentation that explicitly describes the semantics of "Runnable" and "Blocked" time in Instruments, which we could reference when communicating with our customers? An authoritative answer from Apple would allow us to accurately explain the profiling data to our customers and clarify that the high "Runnable" time does NOT represent CPU consumption by our SDK. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards
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602
Apr ’26
[SDK / Instruments] Clarification on Runnable & Blocked Time Semantics — Customers Misinterpreting as CPU Usage
Hi Apple Developer Technical Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to seek urgent clarification on a profiling question that is directly impacting our SDK customers. Context We provide an iOS SDK that is integrated into third-party applications. Our SDK includes a background monitoring thread created via: -[NSObject performSelectorInBackground:withObject:] As documented, threads created through this API carry a default (relatively low) scheduling priority. Inside the thread, we call sleep(1) once per second for periodic idle intervals, and we collect CPU usage metrics using kernel APIs: • task_threads() • thread_info() Both calls involve kernel-level operations and are known to trigger context switches internally. The Core Issue — Customer Misinterpretation When our customers profile their apps using Instruments with "Context Switch Sampling" enabled, they observe that our SDK thread shows a large proportion of time labeled as "Runnable" and "Blocked". A representative example: • Total (wall clock): 4.30 s — 100% • Runnable: 3.06 s — 71.4% ← customers flag this as high CPU usage • Blocked: 1.05 s — 24.5% • Running: 176 ms — 4.1% ⚠️ Our customers are interpreting the "Runnable" time (71.4%) as CPU consumption by our SDK, and are raising concerns that our SDK is degrading their app's performance. We strongly believe this interpretation is incorrect — a thread in the "Runnable" state is merely waiting in the scheduler's ready queue and has NOT been assigned to any CPU core, therefore it should NOT consume any CPU resources. However, we need an official confirmation from Apple to address our customers' concerns definitively. Our Questions Do the time values shown next to "Runnable" and "Blocked" in the Time Profiler call tree represent wall-clock waiting time (i.e., time spent in that state), or actual CPU consumption time? Does a thread in the "Runnable" state consume any CPU resources on the device? We want to confirm clearly: does Runnable time contribute to CPU load or battery drain in any way? Is it correct that the high Runnable time observed is caused by the combination of: a. The low thread scheduling priority assigned by performSelectorInBackground:withObject:, and b. Context switch overhead introduced by the task_threads() and thread_info() kernel calls? Is there any official Apple documentation that explicitly describes the semantics of "Runnable" and "Blocked" time in Instruments, which we could reference when communicating with our customers? An authoritative answer from Apple would allow us to accurately explain the profiling data to our customers and clarify that the high "Runnable" time does NOT represent CPU consumption by our SDK. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards
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707
Apr ’26
Subject: [SDK / Instruments] Clarification on Runnable & Blocked Time Semantics — Customers Misinterpreting as CPU Usage
Subject: [SDK / Instruments] Clarification on Runnable & Blocked Time Semantics — Customers Misinterpreting as CPU Usage Hi Apple Developer Technical Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to seek urgent clarification on a profiling question that is directly impacting our SDK customers. Context We provide an iOS SDK that is integrated into third-party applications. Our SDK includes a background monitoring thread created via: -[NSObject performSelectorInBackground:withObject:] As documented, threads created through this API carry a default (relatively low) scheduling priority. Inside the thread, we call sleep(1) once per second for periodic idle intervals, and we collect CPU usage metrics using kernel APIs: • task_threads() • thread_info() Both calls involve kernel-level operations and are known to trigger context switches internally. The Core Issue — Customer Misinterpretation When our customers profile their apps using Instruments with "Context Switch Sampling" enabled, they observe that our SDK thread shows a large proportion of time labeled as "Runnable" and "Blocked". A representative example: • Total (wall clock): 4.30 s — 100% • Runnable: 3.06 s — 71.4% ← customers flag this as high CPU usage • Blocked: 1.05 s — 24.5% • Running: 176 ms — 4.1% ⚠️ Our customers are interpreting the "Runnable" time (71.4%) as CPU consumption by our SDK, and are raising concerns that our SDK is degrading their app's performance. We strongly believe this interpretation is incorrect — a thread in the "Runnable" state is merely waiting in the scheduler's ready queue and has NOT been assigned to any CPU core, therefore it should NOT consume any CPU resources. However, we need an official confirmation from Apple to address our customers' concerns definitively. Our Questions Do the time values shown next to "Runnable" and "Blocked" in the Time Profiler call tree represent wall-clock waiting time (i.e., time spent in that state), or actual CPU consumption time? Does a thread in the "Runnable" state consume any CPU resources on the device? We want to confirm clearly: does Runnable time contribute to CPU load or battery drain in any way? Is it correct that the high Runnable time observed is caused by the combination of: a. The low thread scheduling priority assigned by performSelectorInBackground:withObject:, and b. Context switch overhead introduced by the task_threads() and thread_info() kernel calls? Is there any official Apple documentation that explicitly describes the semantics of "Runnable" and "Blocked" time in Instruments, which we could reference when communicating with our customers? An authoritative answer from Apple would allow us to accurately explain the profiling data to our customers and clarify that the high "Runnable" time does NOT represent CPU consumption by our SDK. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards
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585
Apr ’26
Instruments Malfunction
I’m reporting a severe reproducible issue in Instruments, specifically when using the SwiftUI instrument and opening Show Cause & Effect Graph. What happens: • Instruments becomes extremely laggy/unresponsive • The graph/detail area can turn solid magenta/pink • Memory usage rapidly increases (I observed around 18 GB, 25 GB, and up to 34 GB) • My Mac has crashed/restarted during this, or in other terms, had a kernel panic, where my Mac froze, and everything unresponsive. The Trackpad wouldn't even click. Important detail: • I could not find a generated kernel panic log after the crash/restart. Repro context: • SwiftUI iOS app profiled from Xcode • Trigger is specifically entering Show Cause & Effect Graph • Recordings can be short and still trigger it • Issue is much less severe or absent if I avoid that view What I already tried: • Rebooting • Short captures / fewer instruments • Clearing Xcode/Instruments caches/preferences • Retesting after cleanup • Reinstalling Xcode Is this a known Instruments regression? Is there a workaround besides avoiding Show Cause & Effect Graph? What exact diagnostics should I collect when no kernel panic file is generated? Specs: Xcode Version 26.3 (17C529) Instruments Version 26.3 (17C529) macOS Version 26.4 Beta (25E5223i) MacBook Pro 13-inch, M1, 2020, 16 GB RAM
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Mar ’26
Instruments Crash using swiftui instrument
Instruments is crashing when the swiftui instrument is stopped (the session is finished) and the transfer begins from device to device: Crashed Thread: 11 Dispatch queue: com.apple.swiftuitracingsupport.reading Exception Type: EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL) Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x0000000000000000 Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 4 Illegal instruction: 4 Terminating Process: exc handler [1633] I've tried removing derived data, reinstalling xcode, updating xcode (I originally thought this might be the issue -- I needed to update to 26.2 from the 26 RC -- the update didn't fix crash or change the crash report), and restarting both devices. I'm running Instruments/Xcode 26.2 on a MacBook Pro 15" (2018) running Mac OS 15.7.2 (24G325) with an iPhone 16 Pro Max running 26.2. Hoping someone else might have seen this or could help me troubleshoot. I find the swiftui instrument be helpful and like to use it :) I can post a complete crash report as well.
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Mar ’26
Analytics Reports API - ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT only returns last 35 days of DAILY instances
Hello, I'm integrating the App Store Connect Analytics Reports API and I'm trying to understand the expected behavior of ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT requests. Current situation: We have an ONGOING analyticsReportRequest created several years ago. When querying DAILY report instances, we only receive data from: Earliest processingDate: 2026-07-24 Latest processingDate: 2026-08-27 This appears to match the documented 35-day retention window for report instances. To test historical access, I created new analyticsReportRequests with: accessType = ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT The requests were successfully created and are active: accessType: ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT stoppedDueToInactivity: false My question is: Should a ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT request generate historical analytics report instances beyond the normal 35-day retention window? Our goal is to retrieve analytics data from 2024 and earlier periods that are no longer visible through the ONGOING DAILY instances. Specifically: Does ONE_TIME_SNAPSHOT provide access to older historical analytics data? Is there a way to request a specific date range (for example, January 2024) through the Analytics Reports API? If historical data exists, what is the correct workflow to access it through analyticsReportRequests, reports, instances, and segments? Any clarification or examples would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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The best way to build, test and upload an iOS app without owning a Mac
Hi everyone, I’m developing a cross-platform mobile app (React Native) but I don’t currently own a Mac. What is the most reliable and professional way to: Build the iOS version Test it properly (real device / TestFlight) Upload it to the App Store Are cloud Mac services (like MacinCloud, AWS Mac, etc.) considered stable for production release workflows? Is there any fully supported workflow without direct access to a physical Mac? Would appreciate real-world experience from developers who faced the same situation. Thanks in advance.
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2
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899
Activity
4d
see "call stack limit" in instruments when using leaks
I'm using the Leaks instrument in Xcode 26.2 to investigate a memory leak. After attaching Instruments to target process and starting a recording, it detected 29 leaks. However, I'm unable to view the allocation call stacks because each leak shows "Call stack limit reached." May I know if anyone has a solution for this? I’ve tried “Hide System Libraries,” “Invert Call Tree,” and “Flatten Recursion,” but unfortunately, none of them seem to work.
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114
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2w
SwiftUI instrument in iOS27 betas "Failed to stop recording session: Data Providers emitted errors: Required"
i've been struggling to get the SwiftUI instrument to work during the betas. It never produces any results on simulator, while on device it throws an error which prevents any results from other instruments from appearing. the error is: Failed to stop recording session: Data Providers emitted errors: Required I've tried on my iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) (iPadOS27 beta 3), and iPhone 17 Pro Max (iPadOS27 beta 2). And I get the same result running from my mac studio & MacBook air. Is this a known thing? cheers, Mike
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940
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2w
SwiftUI template in Instruments 26.4.1 shows empty channels on iOS 26.4.2 device — even with a minimal TimelineView repro
Hi all, I've hit a reproducible issue where the presence of the SwiftUI instrument in a template prevents any data from being recorded, including from the other instruments in the same template. Removing the SwiftUI instrument immediately restores normal recording. Environment Host: macOS 26.4.1 (25E253), Mac mini Xcode / Instruments 26.4.1 (17E202) Device: iPhone 17, iOS 26.4.2 (23E261) (physical device, USB-attached) Symptom Recording the same app, same device, same session, only varying the template contents: SwiftUI template (as-is) => All lanes empty across the entire recording Same template with the SwiftUI instrument removed => Data collected normally (Time Profiler samples, Hangs, etc.) So it seems not an issue with the SwiftUI lanes specifically being empty — including the SwiftUI instrument appears to silence the entire recording. Steps to reproduce Open Instruments → pick the SwiftUI template (or build a custom template that includes the SwiftUI instrument alongside, e.g., Time Profiler). Target the device, attach to the running app. Record for ~10s, interact with the app. Stop. Result: every lane is empty. Edit the template, remove the SwiftUI instrument, re-record with no other changes. Result: normal data appears in the remaining instruments. Questions Is this a known regression in Instruments 26.4.1 on iOS 26.4.x? Is there a workaround to use the SwiftUI instrument on this OS combo (different Xcode build, runtime flag, entitlement)? Does it work for anyone on iOS 26.4.x + Xcode 26.4.1, or is everyone seeing this? I can file a Feedback if confirmed as a bug — wanted to check here first in case I'm missing a setup step. Thanks!
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1.3k
Activity
Jul ’26
SwiftUI Instruments Template doesn't work
I am profiling a simple SwiftUI test app on my new iPhone through my new MacBook Pro and everything is version 26.2 (iOS, macOS, Xcode). I run Instruments with the SwiftUI template using all of the default settings and get absolutely zero data after interacting with the app for about 20 seconds. Using the Time Profiler template yields trace data. Trying the SwiftUI template again with the sample Landmarks app has the same issue as my app.
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3
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1.3k
Activity
Jul ’26
Instruments 27.0 beta crashes (EXC_BREAKPOINT in InstrumentsPlugIn modelers) every time a recording is stopped
Environment: macOS 27.0 beta (26A5368g) Xcode 27 beta — Instruments 27.0 (64578.226), build 27A5209h MacBook Pro (M1, 2020), 16 GB — MacBookPro17,1 Target: physical iPhone running an iOS app (on-device LLM inference benchmarking) Summary: Instruments crashes reproducibly with EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP) shortly after I stop a recording. Recording itself works — the crash occurs during the post-stop analysis phase, while the trace is being processed. This has happened multiple times today with different templates (Time Profiler, and a custom document with Power Profiler / os_signpost / Thermal State). Steps to reproduce: Open Instruments 27.0 beta, choose Time Profiler (or a document containing Power Profiler + os_signpost) Target a physical iPhone and an installed app Record for a short period, then press Stop Instruments crashes while analyzing/importing the trace Crash details: The crashing thread is always on the dispatch queue com.apple.dt.frame.activity, inside InstrumentsPlugIn transformer/modeler code. In one report the crashing frame is: Thread 10 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.dt.frame.activity 0 InstrumentsPlugIn NetworkConnectionStatsModeling.__receiveRow(cursor:writer:referenceManager:) + 920 1 InstrumentsPlugIn TransformerExecutionUnit.run(yieldBlock:) + 92 2 InstrumentsPlugIn specialized TransformerHostingModeler.populateOutputTables(_:usingObserverations:parameters:checkToYieldBlock:) + 2344 Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP), esr 0xf2000001 (Breakpoint) brk 1 At crash time, sibling worker threads on the same queue were executing SystemPowerImpactModeling and ProcessSubsystemImpactModeling transformers, so the failure appears to be in the modeling pipeline that runs when the recording is finalized. Incident identifiers from two occurrences today: D6D2467F-8553-487C-A291-EC30C0D2846F (14:13 IST) 55017CAB-5345-4865-9695-36228B B80AA4A (18:20 IST) Filed via Feedback Assistant as FBXXXXXXXX with full crash logs and sysdiagnose attached. Questions: Is this a known issue in the current Instruments 27.0 beta? Is there a recommended workaround to record and analyze traces until a fix ships — e.g., recording headlessly with xctrace and opening the .trace in a late r build? Happy to provide the .trace files or additional diagnostics. Thanks!
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689
Activity
Jul ’26
Power & Performance Group Lab Questions
Since my questions were never answer and no replies during the group lab, I'm posting them here: When does vapor chamber cooling activate on the new iPhone 17 Pro devices? Does the system handle the cooling in those scenarios, can developer activate it? Does volume level affect performance/battery? Can you discuss bluetooth connections to AirPods Pro 3/AirPods Pro Max and impact on battery? Is there an API to detect thermal changes and what are UI changes that can reduce thermal impact when app is in background and foreground? Whats the best way to profile Power usage and battery drain when an application is processing, working in background and multimodal? Thank you.
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1
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571
Activity
Jun ’26
Missing SwiftData symbols in Instruments
I’m profiling a SwiftData app in Instruments. Most frames are symbolicated correctly but SwiftData frames appear only as addresses. 0x21ff2abd4 SwiftData 0x21ffb06c8 SwiftData 0x21ffb3064 SwiftData while surrounding frames are symbolicated, for example: __CFRunLoopDoObservers CoreFoundation stepTransactionFlush AppKit Attribute.syncMainIfReferences<A>(do:) SwiftUICore Is this expected, or should SwiftData symbols normally be visible here?
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625
Activity
Jun ’26
SDK Performance challenges
I'm joining the Ads iOS SDK team — our SDK is embedded in thousands of host apps. I want to understand the recommended approach for two performance challenges specific to embedded SDKs: what's the Instruments workflow for isolating our SDK's CPU and memory contribution from the host app's footprint, when we don't control or have access to the host app's source? are there any new APIs in iOS 27 that allow a third-party framework to declare or report its own performance budget to the host app, so developers can see SDK-level impact without custom instrumentation?
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0
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772
Activity
Jun ’26
Xcode 26 - Create ML don't work
I tried using Create ML of Xcode 26.0 beta 7 to generate a model using the "Word Tagging" template, and I received the error: Training progress unavailable - Unexpected error. Using Create ML of XCode 16.4 with the same documentation, I was able to build the model and use it in a test app. I'd like to understand why Create ML of Xcode 26 no longer works.
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1
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1
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979
Activity
May ’26
APU H series
What about a studio rendering audio interface with airpods max, when linked has a usb-c*thunderbolt's cable. Them can bring Use and Space at utility. +can bring 32 bits dept into sound edit +can bring Audio Spatialisation +and a bunch of codecs to encode ogg capabilties or atmos/dtsX fidelity -since the latency became minimalist at bluetooth 6.0, a think could look forward about cableless capability upforth.
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0
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0
Views
584
Activity
May ’26
[SDK / Instruments] Clarification on Runnable & Blocked Time Semantics — Customers Misinterpreting as CPU Usage
Hi Apple Developer Technical Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to seek urgent clarification on a profiling question that is directly impacting our SDK customers. Context We provide an iOS SDK that is integrated into third-party applications. Our SDK includes a background monitoring thread created via: -[NSObject performSelectorInBackground:withObject:] As documented, threads created through this API carry a default (relatively low) scheduling priority. Inside the thread, we call sleep(1) once per second for periodic idle intervals, and we collect CPU usage metrics using kernel APIs: • task_threads() • thread_info() Both calls involve kernel-level operations and are known to trigger context switches internally. The Core Issue — Customer Misinterpretation When our customers profile their apps using Instruments with "Context Switch Sampling" enabled, they observe that our SDK thread shows a large proportion of time labeled as "Runnable" and "Blocked". A representative example: • Total (wall clock): 4.30 s — 100% • Runnable: 3.06 s — 71.4% ← customers flag this as high CPU usage • Blocked: 1.05 s — 24.5% • Running: 176 ms — 4.1% ⚠️ Our customers are interpreting the "Runnable" time (71.4%) as CPU consumption by our SDK, and are raising concerns that our SDK is degrading their app's performance. We strongly believe this interpretation is incorrect — a thread in the "Runnable" state is merely waiting in the scheduler's ready queue and has NOT been assigned to any CPU core, therefore it should NOT consume any CPU resources. However, we need an official confirmation from Apple to address our customers' concerns definitively. Our Questions Do the time values shown next to "Runnable" and "Blocked" in the Time Profiler call tree represent wall-clock waiting time (i.e., time spent in that state), or actual CPU consumption time? Does a thread in the "Runnable" state consume any CPU resources on the device? We want to confirm clearly: does Runnable time contribute to CPU load or battery drain in any way? Is it correct that the high Runnable time observed is caused by the combination of: a. The low thread scheduling priority assigned by performSelectorInBackground:withObject:, and b. Context switch overhead introduced by the task_threads() and thread_info() kernel calls? Is there any official Apple documentation that explicitly describes the semantics of "Runnable" and "Blocked" time in Instruments, which we could reference when communicating with our customers? An authoritative answer from Apple would allow us to accurately explain the profiling data to our customers and clarify that the high "Runnable" time does NOT represent CPU consumption by our SDK. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards
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Apr ’26
[SDK / Instruments] Clarification on Runnable & Blocked Time Semantics — Customers Misinterpreting as CPU Usage
Hi Apple Developer Technical Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to seek urgent clarification on a profiling question that is directly impacting our SDK customers. Context We provide an iOS SDK that is integrated into third-party applications. Our SDK includes a background monitoring thread created via: -[NSObject performSelectorInBackground:withObject:] As documented, threads created through this API carry a default (relatively low) scheduling priority. Inside the thread, we call sleep(1) once per second for periodic idle intervals, and we collect CPU usage metrics using kernel APIs: • task_threads() • thread_info() Both calls involve kernel-level operations and are known to trigger context switches internally. The Core Issue — Customer Misinterpretation When our customers profile their apps using Instruments with "Context Switch Sampling" enabled, they observe that our SDK thread shows a large proportion of time labeled as "Runnable" and "Blocked". A representative example: • Total (wall clock): 4.30 s — 100% • Runnable: 3.06 s — 71.4% ← customers flag this as high CPU usage • Blocked: 1.05 s — 24.5% • Running: 176 ms — 4.1% ⚠️ Our customers are interpreting the "Runnable" time (71.4%) as CPU consumption by our SDK, and are raising concerns that our SDK is degrading their app's performance. We strongly believe this interpretation is incorrect — a thread in the "Runnable" state is merely waiting in the scheduler's ready queue and has NOT been assigned to any CPU core, therefore it should NOT consume any CPU resources. However, we need an official confirmation from Apple to address our customers' concerns definitively. Our Questions Do the time values shown next to "Runnable" and "Blocked" in the Time Profiler call tree represent wall-clock waiting time (i.e., time spent in that state), or actual CPU consumption time? Does a thread in the "Runnable" state consume any CPU resources on the device? We want to confirm clearly: does Runnable time contribute to CPU load or battery drain in any way? Is it correct that the high Runnable time observed is caused by the combination of: a. The low thread scheduling priority assigned by performSelectorInBackground:withObject:, and b. Context switch overhead introduced by the task_threads() and thread_info() kernel calls? Is there any official Apple documentation that explicitly describes the semantics of "Runnable" and "Blocked" time in Instruments, which we could reference when communicating with our customers? An authoritative answer from Apple would allow us to accurately explain the profiling data to our customers and clarify that the high "Runnable" time does NOT represent CPU consumption by our SDK. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards
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Apr ’26
Subject: [SDK / Instruments] Clarification on Runnable & Blocked Time Semantics — Customers Misinterpreting as CPU Usage
Subject: [SDK / Instruments] Clarification on Runnable & Blocked Time Semantics — Customers Misinterpreting as CPU Usage Hi Apple Developer Technical Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to seek urgent clarification on a profiling question that is directly impacting our SDK customers. Context We provide an iOS SDK that is integrated into third-party applications. Our SDK includes a background monitoring thread created via: -[NSObject performSelectorInBackground:withObject:] As documented, threads created through this API carry a default (relatively low) scheduling priority. Inside the thread, we call sleep(1) once per second for periodic idle intervals, and we collect CPU usage metrics using kernel APIs: • task_threads() • thread_info() Both calls involve kernel-level operations and are known to trigger context switches internally. The Core Issue — Customer Misinterpretation When our customers profile their apps using Instruments with "Context Switch Sampling" enabled, they observe that our SDK thread shows a large proportion of time labeled as "Runnable" and "Blocked". A representative example: • Total (wall clock): 4.30 s — 100% • Runnable: 3.06 s — 71.4% ← customers flag this as high CPU usage • Blocked: 1.05 s — 24.5% • Running: 176 ms — 4.1% ⚠️ Our customers are interpreting the "Runnable" time (71.4%) as CPU consumption by our SDK, and are raising concerns that our SDK is degrading their app's performance. We strongly believe this interpretation is incorrect — a thread in the "Runnable" state is merely waiting in the scheduler's ready queue and has NOT been assigned to any CPU core, therefore it should NOT consume any CPU resources. However, we need an official confirmation from Apple to address our customers' concerns definitively. Our Questions Do the time values shown next to "Runnable" and "Blocked" in the Time Profiler call tree represent wall-clock waiting time (i.e., time spent in that state), or actual CPU consumption time? Does a thread in the "Runnable" state consume any CPU resources on the device? We want to confirm clearly: does Runnable time contribute to CPU load or battery drain in any way? Is it correct that the high Runnable time observed is caused by the combination of: a. The low thread scheduling priority assigned by performSelectorInBackground:withObject:, and b. Context switch overhead introduced by the task_threads() and thread_info() kernel calls? Is there any official Apple documentation that explicitly describes the semantics of "Runnable" and "Blocked" time in Instruments, which we could reference when communicating with our customers? An authoritative answer from Apple would allow us to accurately explain the profiling data to our customers and clarify that the high "Runnable" time does NOT represent CPU consumption by our SDK. Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards
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585
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Apr ’26
Processor Trace cannot finish due to "failed stoping ktrace session"
Enabled processor trace on my mac and other types of profiler work fine. However, Processor Trace keeps showing nothing and I see the error "Failed to stop recording session. Failed stoping ktrace session" How to solve this?
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1.1k
Activity
Mar ’26
Icon composer icon contains alpha channel upload error
When creating an icon using icon composer, I cant upload a build to testflight/App Store connect. Running on device from Xcode works fine, but as soon as I archive and upload to App Store Connect, I get an error saying the icon contains an alpha channel
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40
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5.2k
Activity
Mar ’26
Instruments Malfunction
I’m reporting a severe reproducible issue in Instruments, specifically when using the SwiftUI instrument and opening Show Cause & Effect Graph. What happens: • Instruments becomes extremely laggy/unresponsive • The graph/detail area can turn solid magenta/pink • Memory usage rapidly increases (I observed around 18 GB, 25 GB, and up to 34 GB) • My Mac has crashed/restarted during this, or in other terms, had a kernel panic, where my Mac froze, and everything unresponsive. The Trackpad wouldn't even click. Important detail: • I could not find a generated kernel panic log after the crash/restart. Repro context: • SwiftUI iOS app profiled from Xcode • Trigger is specifically entering Show Cause & Effect Graph • Recordings can be short and still trigger it • Issue is much less severe or absent if I avoid that view What I already tried: • Rebooting • Short captures / fewer instruments • Clearing Xcode/Instruments caches/preferences • Retesting after cleanup • Reinstalling Xcode Is this a known Instruments regression? Is there a workaround besides avoiding Show Cause & Effect Graph? What exact diagnostics should I collect when no kernel panic file is generated? Specs: Xcode Version 26.3 (17C529) Instruments Version 26.3 (17C529) macOS Version 26.4 Beta (25E5223i) MacBook Pro 13-inch, M1, 2020, 16 GB RAM
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965
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Mar ’26
Question about UX/UI in a Connect mobile app
Is it possible to change the order of Cards in a Trends/Units screen like that (in a such order): Free In-App Paid Free iOS/watchOS/tvOS Free macOS In-App iOS/tvOS In-App macOS Paid iOS/watchOS/tvOS Paid macOS
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625
Activity
Mar ’26
Instruments Crash using swiftui instrument
Instruments is crashing when the swiftui instrument is stopped (the session is finished) and the transfer begins from device to device: Crashed Thread: 11 Dispatch queue: com.apple.swiftuitracingsupport.reading Exception Type: EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL) Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x0000000000000000 Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 4 Illegal instruction: 4 Terminating Process: exc handler [1633] I've tried removing derived data, reinstalling xcode, updating xcode (I originally thought this might be the issue -- I needed to update to 26.2 from the 26 RC -- the update didn't fix crash or change the crash report), and restarting both devices. I'm running Instruments/Xcode 26.2 on a MacBook Pro 15" (2018) running Mac OS 15.7.2 (24G325) with an iPhone 16 Pro Max running 26.2. Hoping someone else might have seen this or could help me troubleshoot. I find the swiftui instrument be helpful and like to use it :) I can post a complete crash report as well.
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981
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Mar ’26