I found that in iOS 18.5, DeviceActivityCenter startMonitoring cannot start multiple monitors, even if their names and periods are different, and restarting the phone cannot solve it. My app uses DeviceActivityCenter, which makes the entire function unusable. (I have less than 20 monitors)

Hi everyone, I’m experimenting with the new ScreenTime DeviceActivityReport view in SwiftUI (iOS 17 / Xcode 15). My goal is to show the report inside a Button (or, more generally, capture any tap on it) so that I can push a detail screen when the user selects it. Here’s the minimal code that reproduces the issue: import FamilyControls import DeviceActivity import SwiftUI struct ScreenTimeView: View { let center = AuthorizationCenter.shared @State private var context: DeviceActivityReport.Context = .init(rawValue: "Total Activity") @State private var filter = DeviceActivityFilter( segment: .hourly( during: Calendar.current.dateInterval(of: .day, for: .now)! ), users: .all, devices: .init([.iPhone, .iPad]) ) var body: some View { ZStack { DeviceActivityReport(context, filter: filter) } .onAppear { Task { do { try await center.requestAuthorization(for: .individual) } catch { print("Authorization failed:", error) } } } } } struct ContentView: View { var body: some View { ScrollViewReader { _ in ScrollView(showsIndicators: false) { VStack { Button { print("BUTTON TAPPED") // ← never fires } label: { ScreenTimeView() .frame(height: UIScreen.main.bounds.height * 1.4) } } } } } } ** What happens** DeviceActivityReport renders correctly with hourly bars. Tapping anywhere inside the Button does not trigger print("BUTTON TAPPED"). I’ve tried replacing Button with .onTapGesture, adding .contentShape(Rectangle()), and .allowsHitTesting(true), but nothing registers. What I’ve checked Authorisation succeeds—calling code in .onAppear prints no errors. Removing DeviceActivityReport and replacing it with a plain Rectangle() lets the tap gesture fire, so the issue seems specific to DeviceActivityReport.

Hello! I am a relatively new Apple developer and am almost done with my first app. I am implementing the Screen Time API to my app because the app is designed to help the user digitally detox and I am trying to make it so the user can select which apps they would like to monitor from a list of their apps on their phone so I am using the family activity picker but I just can't extract the data needed to track the apps. I am wondering how to do this. Thank you!

Issue with Universal Links and App Extension (ShieldAction Handler) I'm currently working on a POC app using the FamilyControls framework and facing an issue when trying to open a Universal Link from an app extension, specifically from a ShieldAction handler. When I try to open a Universal Link, I encounter the following error: Failed to open URL https://sixteen-server-c008110f8759.herokuapp.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association: Error Domain=FBSOpenApplicationServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "The request to open 'com.apple.mobilesafari' failed." UserInfo={BSErrorCodeDescription=RequestDenied, NSUnderlyingError=0x14f2d90b0 {Error Domain=FBSOpenApplicationErrorDomain Code=3 "Application com.sixteen.life is neither visible nor entitled, so may not perform un-trusted user actions." UserInfo={BSErrorCodeDescription=Security, NSLocalizedFailureReason=Application com.sixteen.life is neither visible nor entitled, so may not perform un-trusted user actions.}} Context: I’m using a ShieldAction handler as part of an App Extension to trigger the action (e.g., "Break in Shield") in my app. The app extension (ShieldAction handler) is responsible for trying to open the Universal Link. I’m encountering the error because the app is not visible or entitled to perform this action, which seems to be related to security restrictions when using App Extensions. Questions: App Extension and Universal Link Interaction: Is it possible for an App Extension (like ShieldAction handler) to open a Universal Link or trigger an external app, such as Safari, even though it is not the foreground app? Entitlements for App Extensions: Are there any specific entitlements or permissions required to allow an app extension (ShieldAction handler) to open Universal Links or perform actions like opening Safari from the background? App Visibility and State: How can I ensure that my app is in the right state (visible/active) and has the necessary entitlements to trigger these actions when running in the context of an app extension? Workaround: If this behavior is restricted due to app extension limitations, what would be the recommended workaround to handle launching external apps (like Safari) or Universal Links from within an app extension?

I'm working with the Screen Time API (FamilyActivityPicker) in SwiftUI and need help with a specific scenario. I'm using the FamilyActivityPicker to let users select apps and categories to block. I save the previous selection (both applicationTokens and categoryTokens) locally. When the user updates their selection, I compare the new selection with the saved one to determine which apps or categories were removed. However, I’m trying to handle a specific case: when an individual app token is removed from the selection because its entire category was selected instead. In this situation, even though the app is no longer in applicationTokens, it's still blocked due to its category being included in categoryTokens. Since I need to show users which apps were actually removed, I want to avoid listing apps that are still indirectly blocked via a selected category. I’ve created a mapping between ApplicationToken and FamilyActivityCategoryToken to check whether a removed app is still covered by a selected category before displaying it. Is there any way to check this using the current Screen Time APIs, or does the system not give access to the relationship between apps and their categories? Any help or suggestions would mean a lot!

Hello everyone, I’m developing an app using the FamilyControls framework, I distributed through TestFlight the other day using the “Family Controls” distribution (not Development). Everything works as expected in dev builds — but for external TestFlight testers, nothing in the FamilyControls framework seems to function. I'm using the correct Family Controls capability in Xcode (added via Signing & Capabilities). The com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement is present in my .entitlements file. All the users who reported the issue had correctly given screen time permissions to the app. Would really appreciate some help regarding where the issue could come from.

Hi there! I've been getting this error when I've checked multiple times that I've included the right entitlements as well as provisiong profile. My one concern is that perhaps I'm unable to submit to internal or external TestFlight with Family Controls (Development) and need the one for distrubution, but have yet to submit my appplication for this ability. If anyone has any inisght into this issue lmk!

Hi, I have a released screentime app ScreenZen. The last few days I've seen a disturbing spike in bug reports coming from people with 17.4.1 and 17.5.1 phones with no update to the app itself. People reported they saw the issue immediately after updating their iOS version. Unfortunately it is not replicable on all phones with those versions, so we haven't been able to replicate it on our test phones. It appears the issue is the ApplicationToken passed into ShieldActionExtension and ShieldConfigurationExtension does not match any of the ApplicationTokens that the user selected to block through FamilyControls. (The selected ApplicationTokens are being loaded through a group UserDefaults and they are indeed being loaded in the ShieldActionExtension in the bug reports).This is preventing the app from loading the correct settings and handling the blocking accordingly. I am trying to isolate this better with a new release with better logging, but would appreciate any help on this issue.

We persist ApplicationTokens in a storage container that ShieldConfigurationExtension has access to. In rare, cases all the ApplicationTokens for a user seem to change. We know this because the Application parameter passed into configuration(shielding application: Application) -> ShieldConfiguration function has a Token that does not match (using == ) any of the ones we are persisting in storage. Interestingly, the persisted ones still work, so I don't believe storage has gotten corrupted or anything. We can use them to add or remove shields, we can use them to display labels of the apps they represent, etc. But they don’t match what’s passed into the ShieldConfiguration extension. If the user goes into the FamilyPicker at this point and selects an app of a token that we are already persisting, the FamilyPickerSelection will have a token matching the new one that is passed into ShieldConfigurationExtension, not the one we persisted when they last selected that app. This leads me to believe the tokens are updated/rotated in some cases. When and why does this happen, and how can we handle it gracefully?

I’m in crisis mode and desperately need advice. Launching in 10 days and just hit a major roadblock. Background: Set up developer account under a business name only because we needed the D-U-N-S number when starting development Have a working app with Family Controls already configured on the main identifier Yesterday my developer discovered we need Family Controls on 3 additional identifiers for launch a week ago (terrible timing) I submitted a business name change request thinking it was good housekeeping The Crisis: Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles portal is completely locked during business name change processing Can’t add Family Controls to the 3 identifiers we need for launch Business name change typically takes 2-4 weeks Launch is in 10 days What I’ve Done: Contacted Apple Developer Support explaining the urgency Case ID: 102633553000 for the name change request Desperate Questions: Has ANYONE successfully cancelled a business name change mid-process for urgent app needs? Any emergency escalation paths at Apple for launch-blocking issues? Would creating a new developer account be faster? (Though that seems nuclear) Any other workarounds I’m not thinking of? The business name change was purely administrative - nothing structural changes. But these identifier updates are absolutely critical for launch functionality and we didn’t realize they were needed until trying to launch into testflight. This is our first time so learning a lot the hard way 🫠. Thanks in advance for any help!

Hello, I already have got approval from Apple for com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement When I am building my app, there is one part where I need to check the list of applications which I have blocked with my app. To get the list I have to have com.apple.developer.managed-settings entitlement ... Now how and where show I get hold of it ? I already got permission for Family Control, how do I get hold of this now ?

I have tried multiple time through multiple channels and you have yet to respond to my request. I am developing an App on xcode APP Bundle ID: garymdmd.MediaPace Apple ID: 6740823496 Apple has granted me distribution use of the Family Control/Screentime module for my main app. According to your engineer's post here: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/764919 That permission should be extended to your extensions that are part of the app. When you try to setup the extension identifiers they do not show the "added capabilities" column that sow sup when getting permission for the main app so you are not able to endow the extension with these permissions which seem to be needed to work with the app. I am trying to add these bundle identifier extensions: garymdmd.MediaPace.ScreenTimeMonitorDuo garymdmd.MediaPace.DeviceActivityReport Can you please tell me how to get this to work or to add permissions to these extensions. I have sent in the request form multiple times (here - https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/family-controls-distribution) and Apple simply writes back that I have permission after a few weeks but nothing changes for the extension capabilities.

I have developed three apps using the Screen Time API. The following are common problems I encountered in the three apps: DeviceActivityMonitorExtension is automatically killed after running for a few days (frequently) The same DeviceActivityEvent in DeviceActivityMonitorExtension is triggered twice during eventDidReachThreshold (especially obvious in iOS18.5) Screen Time authorization is automatically canceled for no reason (occasionally) I hope to get help

How to programmatically check if ApplicationToken or ActivityCategoryToken is expired in FamilyActivityPicker? I'm building a Screen Time-based parental control app using FamilyControls and ManagedSettings. We use FamilyActivityPicker to allow the user to select apps and categories to restrict, and we apply the shield using: store.shield.applications = .specific(selection.applicationTokens) store.shield.applicationCategories = .specific(selection.categoryTokens) Sometimes, we observe that the shield silently fails to apply — no error is thrown, but the restrictions aren't enforced. I suspect this may be due to expired or invalid tokens, possibly if the app was removed or the selection became stale. My Questions: Can ApplicationToken or ActivityCategoryToken expire or become invalid over time? If yes, is there a supported or recommended way to detect whether a token is still valid before applying it to the shield? Is comparing the current shield values (store.shield.applications and store.shield.applicationCategories) after applying them a reliable validation method? What's the best practice to handle expired tokens (e.g. re-prompt the FamilyActivityPicker, or show a fallback)? What Is the Expiration Duration of Tokens from FamilyActivityPicker? Any guidance or insight from the Screen Time/FamilyControls team would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I’m creating an app with the Screen Time API and I would like to know how to make the app show a parental control editing view for parents and a view for child accounts that shows which apps are blocked. How can I do this?

Is there any way to use the screen time API on Mac?