I'm working on an app for iOS that will help people get tasks done. Within the app, we use a ManagedSettingsStore to let the user setup distracting apps. When the user opens any of those apps while it is being shielded, our ShieldConfiguration target opens and displays a screen that we configure with the description of the task they are supposed to do. On the bottom of the view, there are two buttons, one to start the task, and another to dismiss and return to their home screen. I want to have the button that starts the task open up the main application and deeplink to the focus view with the task that they started. Currently, the only thing that we can tell the system to do is via a ShieldActionResponse which is an enum with 3 cases: none, close, or defer. None of these three allow us to open the main application. I have found no workarounds that allow us to do it either. I've tried creating a custom URL scheme and calling UIApplication.shared.open(url), but there is no shared application available within the action extension. I have tried using a NSExtensionContext to open a url, but that does not work either. I have even tried starting a live activity to show the user what task they are working on and have a live timer, but that does not work either. I know it is technically possible, because an app I downloaded does it perfectly. The app is called "Ascent: Screen Time Control". Is there some sort of extension I am missing, or entitlement I have not requested? Any help would be very appreciated.

Do I need this permission to test out development on my local phone? I believe I do since I cannot get the monitor extension to embed AND sign, making it so i cannot test this feature. As in the class will not instantiate and trigger after specific time has happened

Hello, I have noticed that the ShieldConfiguration is only requested when opening a target app, and never when the application token is moved to a different shield while the target app remains in foreground. This causes problems because many times the wrong ShieldConfiguration is displayed (recycled) instead of requesting a new ShieldConfiguration. This bug has been around since the introduction of the Screen Time API in 2020 and is has not been addressed. Bug reports: FB14237883 FB17902392 Please fix asap!! Not acceptable to have bugs not being addressed for more than 5 years. Most concerning: This is still reproducing on iOS 26 beta 7!! Thanks a lot for your help.

i am try to build an app that show beautiful result represent the user activity. but i found that if i write metal code in the View of some DeviceActivityReportScene, the metal code wasn't working. (the same metal code works in other taget) i can switch to canvas, but the perform is bad compare with metal. can use metal? or it is just not working?

Hello, I have an Apple Developer Enterprise account, and Apple Support has already enabled MDM for my account. I successfully downloaded and installed my MDM Vendor Certificate (it shows up in Keychain as MDM Vendor: [My Company Name] with its private key). Here’s what I’ve done so far: Exported the Vendor Certificate + private key as a .p12, then converted to .pem and .key using OpenSSL. Generated an unsigned CSR with CN=com.apple.mgmt.External. using OpenSSL. Attempted to sign the CSR using: my Vendor certificate the Vendor private key Apple Worldwide Developer Relations (WWDR) intermediate certificate OpenSSL smime -sign command with DER output Problem: Every time I try to upload the vendor-signed CSR to the Apple Push Certificates Portal, I get an error (CSR rejected). Sometimes OpenSSL even fails with “unable to load certificates” depending on how the WWDR certificate is included. My Questions: What is the correct OpenSSL command and certificate chain Apple expects for signing the CSR? Do I need to include any additional intermediates besides WWDR? Is there an official Apple reference example for generating the vendor-signed CSR that the Push Certificates Portal will accept? Any guidance from the community (or someone who has successfully done this end-to-end) would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Sergio Sanchez

I'm experiencing a conflict between Xcode 16's build requirements and App Store validation for DeviceActivityReport extensions. The Issue: Created a DeviceActivityReport extension using Xcode 16's template Extension builds and runs perfectly locally TestFlight upload fails with Apple saying EXAppExtensionAttributes is incorrect for widget extensions When I remove EXAppExtensionAttributes from Info.plist, local builds fail with: "Appex bundle does not define an EXAppExtensionAttributes dictionary" Current Info.plist (works locally, rejected by App Store): EXAppExtensionAttributes EXExtensionPointIdentifier com.apple.deviceactivityui.report-extension NSExtension NSExtensionPointIdentifier com.apple.deviceactivityui.report-extension NSExtensionPrincipalClass $(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).ActivityReportExtension The Problem: Xcode 16's "Device Activity Report Extension" template uses fileSystemSynchronizedGroups which appears to require the EX configuration format. But App Store validation rejects this format. Has anyone successfully uploaded a DeviceActivityReport extension created in Xcode 16? Any workarounds for this conflict between local build requirements and App Store validation? Using: Xcode 16.4, Family Controls entitlement (approved), iOS 18.5 SDK Thanks for any insights!

Hi, after updating to iOS 26 I'm encountering an issue where the FamilyActivityPicker no longer opens. No errors are shown in the console, it just never shows up. It works fine pre iOS 26. I've never had any issues with the picker showing up until iOS 26. My latest update was rejected because of this issue, but I've changed nothing in the code. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Hello everyone, I’ve been stuck for weeks on an issue with Family Controls + Device Activity entitlements in my iOS app, and Apple Developer Support has not provided a solution so far. I’m hoping someone here who has successfully implemented Family Controls + Device Activity can point me in the right direction. About the App • The app is a Digital Wellbeing app called Breakloop. • It lets users select apps they want to block, requires them to complete a positive affirmation before opening those apps, and can re-block apps after a set time (e.g., 10 minutes). • This functionality exactly matches the purpose of Family Controls and Device Activity APIs. What Works So Far • Family Controls capability is enabled in the main app target in Xcode. • We have valid Apple Developer certificates (Apple Development) and a team account. • The main app builds and runs fine when using Family Controls alone. • We have App IDs for: • bl.Breakloop (main app) • bl.Breakloop.BreakloopMonitorExtension • bl.Breakloop.BreakloopShieldConfigurationExtension The Problem The provisioning profiles for the extension targets (BreakloopMonitorExtension and BreakloopShieldConfigurationExtension) do not include the com.apple.developer.device-activity entitlement even though: • The App IDs in the Developer Portal have Family Controls (Development) enabled. • The extensions have the correct entitlements file with both: com.apple.developer.family-controls com.apple.developer.device-activity • Xcode Signing & Capabilities points to the correct provisioning profile + certificate. Because the provisioning profiles don’t include the entitlement, the build fails with: Provisioning profile doesn't include the com.apple.developer.device-activity entitlement. What Apple Support Said Apple Support told me: • “Family Controls grants access to Device Activity.” • They cannot enable it manually or guarantee that profiles will include the entitlement. • They sent links to the documentation but no further assistance. What I Need Help With 1. Has anyone successfully built extensions using Family Controls + Device Activity? 2. Do I need to request any additional approval for Device Activity, or should it appear automatically once Family Controls is enabled? 3. Is there a known Xcode or Apple Developer Portal configuration issue that causes the entitlement to be missing in provisioning profiles? 4. Any working example of a project setup that uses Family Controls + Device Activity in extensions would be extremely helpful. Extra Info • We use the latest Xcode + iOS SDK. • Tried recreating certificates, profiles, and App IDs multiple times. • Followed Apple’s docs for Family Controls + Device Activity exactly. I would greatly appreciate any guidance, especially from someone who has this working with iOS app extensions. Thank you!

I started monitoring using the following code: deviceActivityCenter.startMonitoring( DeviceActivityName(name), during: makeDailySchedule(), events: events ) Where: DeviceActivitySchedule( intervalStart: DateComponents(hour: 0, minute: 0), intervalEnd: DateComponents(hour: 23, minute: 59), repeats: true, warningTime: nil ) In DeviceActivityMonitor, I read and write data using UserDefaults and keep the logic minimal to ensure the size does not exceed 6MB. However, after a period of time, monitoring continues to fail. Why is this happening? How can I resolve this issue?

Hello everyone, I would like to know if there is any way for an iOS app to automatically access a user’s total Screen Time (for example, daily or weekly usage) and then share this with friends so they can compare results, like in a “Screen Time battle”? Thanks you very much for you help!

I am still struggling to nail down the screen time between monitoring and showing it in a DeviceActivityReport. It's always off by a couple of percentage points, which results in a difference of a couple of minutes between the time shown for my total screen time in DeviceActivityReport and DeviceActivityMonitor with a threshold set for all apps/websites/categories. In the report, I am looping through all segment (there is only 1 segement using .daily segment interval for a given day) then loop through all categories and all apps within each category and sum up all totalActivityDuration for each app. Based on avaiable documentation, that should corrolate to DeviceActivityMonitor threshold but it doesn't. Are there any differences in how these 2 places count screen time? Are there any apps/core ios services which are excluded from DeviceActivityMonitor. Would appreciate any help at all, I'm losing my mind here. My current suspicion is that Apple Developer documentation is counted twice. i.e. this website https://developer.apple.com/documentation/deviceactivity/deviceactivitymonitor shows up in usage as an App with bundleId of apple.developer.wwdc-release and time spent there is counted twice, against this bundleId AND Safari. I don't know why it's not counted as a webdomain.

Hi - appreciate your help in advance! Building a simple habit tracking app. I got approval for FamilyControls distribution. After creating a new provisioning profile with those capabilities enabled, when I try and build in xcode (16.4) using that Profile I get an error stating: "Provisioning profile "CreateMoreFamilyControlsv2" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.deviceactivity and com.apple.developer.deviceactivity.reporting entitlements" I've confirmed bundle identifier matches, Team etc Similarly when i do automatic signing see 3rd screenshot. Not sure what to do at this point, I've heard deviceActivity is automatically applied when family controls is approved but still running into this issue.

Hi Apple Engineers and fellow developers, I'm a student developer working on an educational focus management app that helps users hide distracting apps during study sessions. The app consists of: macOS app: Simple "Hide apps" button that triggers app hidding sessions iOS app: Uses Screen Time API to temporarily hide selected apps from home screen Communication: Bonjour networking between Mac and iPhone for session coordination The Challenge My app requires two entitlements that aren't available with Personal Developer Teams: com.apple.developer.family-controls (for Screen Time API) com.apple.developer.networking.multicast (for Bonjour device discovery) Current Error Messages text Cannot create a iOS App Development provisioning profile for "focuser.focuser-app". Personal development teams, including "My Name", do not support the Family Controls (Development) capability. Provisioning profile doesn't include the com.apple.developer.family-controls and com.apple.developer.networking.multicast entitlements. My Question for Apple Engineers Is there any legitimate way to test these privacy-sensitive APIs on my own devices for educational/learning purposes without purchasing the $99/year Apple Developer Program membership? I understand the security reasons behind these restrictions, but as a student just learning iOS development, it creates a significant barrier to experimenting with these technologies.

Hi everyone, I’m currently developing a parental control app that uses the Screen Time API (FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, DeviceActivity). I have a question regarding the customization limits of the Shield UI in ManagedSettingsUI. From the documentation, I understand that we can customize the ShieldConfiguration (background color, blur style, icon, title, subtitle, button labels, etc.). However, I’d like to clarify a few points before finalizing the design: 1. Is it allowed (or technically possible) to display custom media content, such as videos, animations, or interactive elements, inside a custom Shield? 2. Are there limitations on the text length for the title and subtitle fields (e.g. maximum number of characters, multiline support, truncation behavior)? 3. Can the Shield be personalized per user (for example, showing a different title or color scheme based on user preferences or device state)? 4. Are there App Store Review restrictions or UI guidelines that define what a Shield should or should not contain (for instance, whether the Shield can resemble a mini-app experience)? I want to ensure that the implementation fully complies with Apple’s technical and design expectations before submission. Thanks in advance for any official clarification or best practices on how far we can go with Shield customization! Best regards, Ferdinand

Hi! For some reason my DeviceActivityReport sometimes fails to load. I've tried setting up a very simple mock views and displaying a report with a simple "Hello world" but even that won't work. It prints the following error message in the terminal but doesn't show anything else or any context as to what has gone wrong. Failed to update the client's configuration: Error Domain=DeviceActivityReportService.ReportViewController.ClientError Code=2 "(null)" It seems like the "makeConfiguration" method for the report isn't even being invoked. That may though just be an issue with printing messages in the extension. Any help on what could be the issue, or even just a message that you're being the same thing would be greatly appreciated!

I work at a school in NYC and have a software idea that could better support the new NYC phone ban law than current market options (i.e. Yondr pouches). Right now at my school, students and staff scan a QR code upon entering the building to indicate that they are in the building. They scan again on the way out to indicate they've left the building. This is super helpful for attendance, particularly in emergency situations (fire drills, etc). Imagine if when students scanned their QR code, it also activated an app similar to Opal or ScreenZen, but with an admin preset whitelisted apps. The idea is that this app would default deny access to all apps on students' phones except the admin preset whitelisted ones such as Phone, Calculator, etc. Depending on the age/needs of the student, other apps like Spotify, or medical apps could also be whitelisted. My question is -- is this idea possible to create? We would need admin preset controls to create the preset whitelist. We can't have students picking their own restrictions, as we know most would opt to not restrict at all. We would need an admin dashboard so teachers/admin can see which students have activated the app in the building, and which may be trying to sneakily avoid it. We would ideally need to be able to whitelist both system apps like Phone and Calculator, as well as non-system apps such as Spotify (and medical apps -- we have some students who manage/monitor their Diabetes with an app). I don't have a background in software. I'm a math and health teacher. I've experimented with trying to have friends who majored in CS to create this app for me, but they've all either struggled/lost interest. So I'm also looking for a business partner in this venture. If anyone has any guidance here, it would be so helpful! My boss (Head of School) is super interested in this idea and significantly prefers it to every other alternative that he has encountered. The problem is this idea does not exist yet! Note: I know this is a super similar idea to the app and product "Brick". Notably, though, Brick does not have the ability for admin preset controls, or the admin dashboard. We reached out to the company to see if they're create this for us and they said it's a back burner idea that they're aware of, but it's not a priority for them right now. Thank you for any guidance!

class ShieldActionExtension: ShieldActionDelegate { override func handle(action: ShieldAction, for application: ApplicationToken, completionHandler: @escaping (ShieldActionResponse) -> Void) { // Handle the action as needed. switch action { case .primaryButtonPressed: if let url = URL(string: "blockfocusapp://") { let extensionContext = NSExtensionContext() extensionContext.open(url, completionHandler: nil) } // completionHandler(.defer) case .secondaryButtonPressed: let userDefaults = UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.in.appsquare.FocusApp.shieldExt") userDefaults?.set(false, forKey: "shouldOpenMainApp") completionHandler(.defer) @unknown default: fatalError() } } override func handle(action: ShieldAction, for webDomain: WebDomainToken, completionHandler: @escaping (ShieldActionResponse) -> Void) { // Handle the action as needed. completionHandler(.close) } override func handle(action: ShieldAction, for category: ActivityCategoryToken, completionHandler: @escaping (ShieldActionResponse) -> Void) { // Handle the action as needed. completionHandler(.close) } } I want to be able to open my app from ShieldActionExtension

Situation: I previously had Family Controls (Distribution) approved for a different bundle ID during initial development (for the same app I'm currently working on). I have since migrated to a new bundle ID to align with my app's branding and have already configured multiple third-party integrations (RevenueCat, backend services, etc.) with this new bundle ID. Request: In this scenario, can Apple please expedite the review process for Family Controls (Distribution) on the new bundle ID? The migration is necessary to maintain existing service integrations and avoid significant reconfiguration work for my app. Current Status: Submitted request for approval on new bundle ID over a week ago, still pending review.

I am building a screen time management app. It has the main app target, and then three extensions - those are the four targets in Xcode. The three extensions are: Shield Device Activity Monitor Device Activity Report Extension I requested "Family Controls (Distribution)" capability from Apple for the main app target / bundle ID, and it got approved. Do I need it for the extensions too? Because previously I had "Family Controls (Development)" for the extensions...

I'm developing a parental control app that needs to block adult/18+ websites using the Screen Time API. I've run into scaling issues with 'ManagedSettings.webContent.blockedByFilter`. Environment: iOS 18.x, real device (iPhone) ManagedSettings framework Screen Time permissions granted Current Behavior: The Question: Commercial parental control apps successfully block tens of thousands of domains. What API or architecture should I be using to scale beyond 30-50 domains? Approaches I'm considering: Safari Content Blockers (limited to Safari only) Multiple ManagedSettingsStore instances Network Extension / DNS filtering A different Screen Time API approach What's the recommended way to block large domain lists (1000-60000+) across all apps and browsers? Any guidance appreciated! //33 domains - Works perfectly let blockedSites: Set<WebDomain> = [ WebDomain(domain: "example1.com"), WebDomain(domain: "example2.com"), // ... 31 more domains ] store.webContent.blockedByFilter = .specific(blockedSites) // All 33 domains blocked successfully // 101 domains - Complete failure (no domains blocked at all) let blockedSites: Set<WebDomain> = [ WebDomain(domain: "example1.com"), // ... 100 more domains ] store.webContent.blockedByFilter = .specific(blockedSites) // No errors thrown, but ZERO domains are blocked