Hi everyone, I have a question regarding the intended privacy limits of the DeviceActivityReportExtension. According to the documentation and the WWDC21 session "Meet the Screen Time API", this extension was created specifically to prevent the host application from accessing the user's underlying activity data (websites visited, app usage, screen time, etc). But I have found that my host app is actually able to reconstruct this raw activity data from the activity report. I am able to extract specific visited websites and app usage durations back into the main app. I reported this to Apple Security (Case ID: OE1100504480881 ), assuming it was a sandbox bypass. However, they closed the ticket stating that this is "expected behavior" and requires no fix. My question for Screen Time Engineers: Is the documentation incorrect? If my host app is expected to be able to read this data, is there a formal API we should be using instead of extracting it from the report extension? The current behavior contradicts the privacy limits described in the documentation, so I am confused if I should rely on this data access for my app features or if it will be patched later. Thanks.

Issue: The search functionality in FamilyActivityPicker has disappeared on iPadOS 26.0+. This feature was working in previous versions but is now missing. Framework: FamilyControls Expected: Search bar should be available in FamilyActivityPicker to help users find apps quickly. Actual: Search functionality is completely missing. Impact: Makes app selection difficult for users with many installed apps. Is this a known issue? If it's a bug, please address it in an upcoming update. If intentional, guidance on alternatives would be appreciated. Thank you.

The Problem The Family Activity Picker shows only the child's app categories on the guardian's/parent's device. The application names from the child's device are not showing on the guardian's/parent's device. The authorization is done on the child's device via try await AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .child) Usage of the family activity picker on the guardian's/parent's device struct ContentView: View { @State private var isPresented = true @StateObject private var familyControlsHelper = FamilyControlsHelper.shared var onClose: () -> Void var body: some View { ZStack { Color.black.opacity(0.1).ignoresSafeArea() } .familyActivityPicker( isPresented: $isPresented, selection: $familyControlsHelper.familyActivitySelection ) .onChange(of: isPresented) { _ in if !isPresented { onClose() } } } } IMPORTANT Both devices are real (not simulators), and the app has granted distribution Family Controls entitlement. Question Is this the expected behavior? Or the child's app should appear on the guardian's device? Thanks.

On pressing the secondary button on my ShieldConfigurationExtension, I remove the shields by setting shields in the named ManagedStore to nil in my ShieldActionExtension. // ShieldActionExtension.swift let store = ManagedSettingsStore() store.shield.applications = nil store.shield.applicationCategories = nil Now after some duration I want to re-apply the shields again for which I do the following: // ShieldActionExtension.swift DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + unlockDuration) { [weak self] in self?.reapplyShields(for: sessionId, application: application) } private func reapplyShields(for sessionId: String, application: ApplicationToken) { store.shield.applications = Set([application]) } Followed by the completionHandler: // ShieldActionExtension.swift completionHandler(.defer) Now the expectation is ShieldConfigurationExtension should be re-triggered with store.shield.applications = Set([application]), however I see the default iOS screen time shield. This behavior is experience when the blocked app is running in the foreground. However, if I close and re-open the blocked app - the ShieldConfigurationExtension is trigerred again correctly. If I do a completionHandler(.none) instead, the overriden configuration method in ShieldConfigurationExtension is not triggered. How do I make sure ShieldConfigurationExtension is triggered if the blocked app is running in the foreground when the shields are re-applied again?

I am getting this error when I try to show device activity report view by this DeviceActivityReport(appsContext, filter: filter) Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. I have taken access by this way. AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .individual)

I am getting this error when I try to show device activity report view by this DeviceActivityReport(appsContext, filter: filter) Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. I have taken access by this way. AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .individual) Detailed errors: LaunchServices: store (null) or url (null) was nil: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=72, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried.

Hello! I recently submitted a request for the Family Controls (Distribution) for my app, and I’d be super happy if i could have some information about how long this process usually takes so i can plan accordingly. It would help immensly since we want to ship the app as soon as possible. I submitted the request around a week ago. Is there anything I can do on my end to help the process move more smoothly? Thanks in advance!

Here is a post to gather findings in case anyone found out what this new API does. Apple did not include any comments or documentation and due to the generic naming we don't know what this API might does. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/deviceactivity/deviceactivityauthorization?changes=latest_major

I want to display device activity reports for particular selected apps. for getting a daily basis app uses time. Now, what is happening? there are 10 apps selected from the family activity picker but some apps are displayed in the list. I need all 10 apps or more that I will choose from the family activity picker. The bellow code is used for fetching reports. var body: some View { VStack { DeviceActivityReport(context, filter: filter) } } bellow code is used for the filter @State public var filter = DeviceActivityFilter() init(selectedApps: Set<ApplicationToken>, selectedCategories: Set<ActivityCategoryToken>, selectedWebDomains: Set<WebDomainToken>) { self.selectedApps = selectedApps self.selectedCategories = selectedCategories self.selectedWebDomains = selectedWebDomains self.filter = DeviceActivityFilter( segment: .daily( during: Calendar.current.dateInterval( of: .weekOfYear, for: .now )! ), users: .all, devices: .init([.iPhone]), applications: selectedApps, categories: selectedCategories, webDomains: selectedWebDomains ) } You can see we selected 3 apps from family activity picker but we getting 2 apps from DeviceActivityReport extension following code is for device activity report extension let context: DeviceActivityReport.Context = .totalActivity // Define the custom configuration and the resulting view for this report. let content: (ActivityReport) -> TotalActivityView func makeConfiguration(representing data: DeviceActivityResults<DeviceActivityData>) async -> ActivityReport { // Reformat the data into a configuration that can be used to create // the report's view. var res = "" var list: [AppDeviceActivity] = [] let totalActivityDuration = await data.flatMap { $0.activitySegments }.reduce(0, { $0 + $1.totalActivityDuration }) for await d in data { res += d.user.appleID!.debugDescription res += d.lastUpdatedDate.description for await a in d.activitySegments{ res += a.totalActivityDuration.formatted() for await c in a.categories { for await ap in c.applications { if let apptoken = ap.application.token { let appName = (ap.application.localizedDisplayName ?? "nil") let bundle = (ap.application.bundleIdentifier ?? "nil") let duration = ap.totalActivityDuration let numberOfPickups = ap.numberOfPickups let app = AppDeviceActivity(appToken: apptoken, id: bundle, displayName: appName, duration: duration, numberOfPickups: numberOfPickups) list.append(app) } } } } } return ActivityReport(totalDuration: totalActivityDuration, apps: list) }

I have noticed that when I select the app token of the youtube app to be blocked via a ManagedSettingsStore, the youtube website is blocked as well (which is a good and intended behavior IMO). But how do I know in the ShieldConfigurationDataSource’s override func configuration(shielding webDomain: WebDomain, in category: ActivityCategory) -> ShieldConfiguration to which ManagedSettingsStore the WebDomain’s token is related? We use different ManagedSettingsStores for different block purposes, which differentiate in their ShieldConfiguration. Thanks a lot and have a great day!

Is it possible to change the title "Choose Activites" and also remove the search on the FamilyActivityPicker?

I've successfully obtained Distribution entitlements for Family Controls. However, this seems to only apply to the main target/identifier and not the extensions, like DeviceActivityMonitor, ShieldConfigurationDataSource, or ShieldActionExtension. Did I perhaps fill out the form with the wrong bundle ID? If I go to "Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles", my main identifier for the app has the Distribution entitlement. But the extensions and the wildcard don't. This means that trying to create an archive results in the following two errors, each repeated twice: Provisioning profile failed qualification (Profile doesn't support Family Controls (Development)) Provisioning profile failed qualification (Profile doesn't include the com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement) Note that my entitlement files are set up correctly. Do I need to fill out the form with a wildcard instead? Or am I doing something wrong? Thank you.

Hi there, I am planning an app that requires use of the Family Controls Entitlement to access data on the user's screen time. I understand that this has to be requested from Apple before it can be used in production. I have found the following form to request approval, but it requires an App and bundle ID, which suggests that approval can only be requested after the app has been developed. https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/family-controls-distribution I'd like to avoid the situation where I spend a lot of time on developing the app, only to find out that the Family Controls Entitlement will not be granted for my use case. Is there any way that I can request provisional pre-approval for my app? Perhaps based on an app description and some mockups? Or, at least some idea of whether my particular use case is likely to be approved? Thanks.

I am developing a parental control app using Apple’s Screen Time API and FamilyControls Framework. My goal is to allow parents to remotely block apps on their child’s device from their own phone. Does anyone have any idea how I can achieve that?

Questions I am developing a social screen time application that enables users to create “sprints” and set sprint goals—essentially time limits on usage for selected applications. For this functionality, users select the apps they wish to manage using the FamilyActivitySelection interface (from the FamilyControls framework). However, our backend needs to distinguish each application uniquely (for example, via the app’s bundle identifier) in order to correctly map and enforce user-defined sprint goals. Unfortunately, we are encountering an issue where retrieving the bundle identifier directly from the FamilyActivitySelection is returning nil. As a result, we are unable to globally identify the selected apps. Could you please advise if there is an alternative method or property available in the FamilyControls API that would allow us to uniquely identify the apps? Alternatively, is there another approach recommended by Apple for obtaining a global identifier for applications selected via FamilyActivitySelection? Thank you for your time and assistance. I look forward to your guidance on how to resolve this issue. Code The following is the print statement I used to check if bundleIdentifier is nil after I stored user's selections to the variable selection using familyActivityPicker: for app in selection!.applications { let bundleId = app.bundleIdentifier ?? "Unknown Bundle ID" let token = app.token let localizedDisplayName = app.localizedDisplayName ?? "Unknown Localized Display Name" print("Selected app bundle identifier: \(bundleId)") print("localizedDisplayName: \(localizedDisplayName)") } Console log result I received from the print statement above: Selected app bundle identifier: Unknown Bundle ID localizedDisplayName: Unknown Localized Display Name

I have a model with a FamilyActivitySelection, currently i'm using a codable struct to store it with UserDefaults, but would prefer strongly to transition to Swift Data

I requested permission to use the Family Controls entitlement two weeks ago, and I have not received a response or status update. I have been to that page where it says "Thank you! We'll get back to you soon!" so many times.

Hello Apple Developer Community, I have an existing Family Controls entitlement approved for my main app. My app includes the following extensions: AppLimitMonitorExtension ShieldConfigurationExtension ShieldActionExtension I am seeking clarification on whether my existing Family Controls entitlement for the main app automatically covers these extensions, or if I must submit separate entitlement requests for each extension. Because when I try to distribute app on App Store Connect it give me error "Provisioning profile failed qualification". Many developers appear to be facing this issue, and it seems that Apple has not clearly documented this. is information anywhere.

If I present "SFSafariViewController" when a "FamilyActivityPicker" is visible, it will automatically dismiss the "SFSafariViewController" and crash the "FamilyActivityPicker." I'm assuming the cause of the bug is that each is in a separate process (aside from the app), and there's some hacks to try to stop "FamilyActivityPicker" from crashing, and this is causing the new bug because "SFSafariViewController" is also in a separate process. (I'm not 100% if its just in 18.4 or iOS 18 overall...) (I'll try to file a feedback soon, but its 100% reproducible for me across multiple devices on iOS 18.4)

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?