I have a question regarding your policies on app ownership and payment processing. We have two separate legal entities: • Company A: owns the app and the Apple Developer account • Company B: operates the business and processes all payments (via a third-party payment provider, Klarna) Klarna’s merchant agreement is signed with Company B, and all payments go to Company B’s bank account. Company A has no involvement in the payment flow. Is this setup permitted under Apple’s App Store guidelines? Specifically, is it acceptable for the developer account and app ownership to be held by Company A, while all in-app payments are processed and received by Company B?

Markup Tool: Support for persistent tool presets (color, stroke, fill settings) I use Markup heavily for work — up to 20 images per day, always with the same settings: red arrow or rectangle, no fill, specific stroke width. The problem has two parts: Part 1 – Markup resets everything: Every time Markup is opened, all settings reset: tool, color, fill, stroke width. This means 3–4 manual steps per image, adding up to 80 unnecessary interactions per day. Part 2 – The default red is unusable: The red in Apple’s color palette is muted and too pale for clear, high-contrast annotations. I have to open the color wheel every single time to manually select a proper, vivid red. The copy/duplicate workaround only helps within one image — as soon as a new photo or screenshot is opened, everything starts over from scratch. Markup has no memory between different images. Switching to a third-party annotation app is not a solution — the entire advantage of Markup is its native integration directly within the Photos app, without switching apps. And Markup cannot be configured in depth through Shortcuts either — color, fill, and stroke width are not controllable there. The attached images: Image 1 shows the entry point in the Photos app. Image 2 shows Markup open with the current color palette. The blue-outlined fields do not indicate colors to be replaced — they mark the position where personally configured tool presets should appear: not individual colors, but fully pre-configured tools with color, stroke width, and fill setting already saved, ready to use with a single tap. My suggestion: Tool presets — configure once, saved permanently, available directly in the Markup toolbar. No need to re-configure color, fill, or stroke width for every new image. iOS already remembers last-used settings in many areas: camera mode, emojis, colors in Notes, Pages, and Keynote. Markup behaves as if it’s being opened for the first time, every time. This inconsistency costs me measurable time every single day.

Platform and Version Platform: iOS iOS Version: 17.0+ Development Environment: .NET MAUI (C#, .NET 9) Network Layer: HttpClient with HttpClientHandler Description of the Problem We are facing an issue where HttpClientHandler.ServerCertificateCustomValidationCallback is not being invoked when the app is in a terminated (kill) state. In normal app lifecycle states (foreground/background), the callback is triggered as expected and allows us to handle server certificate validation (e.g., for certificate pinning or custom validation logic). However, when the app is in a killed state and is relaunched due to a notification action, the callback does not execute. We would like to understand: Why ServerCertificateCustomValidationCallback is not invoked in this scenario Whether this behavior is expected within iOS networking/runtime constraints Any recommended approach or workaround to ensure certificate validation still occurs when handling notification-triggered flows from a terminated state Steps to Reproduce Ensure the app is force-terminated (kill mode) Configure a push notification with category: "INVITE_CATEGORY" Include custom notification action buttons Tap one of the custom actions This triggers app launch and network call using HttpClient Expected Behavior ServerCertificateCustomValidationCallback should be invoked during the network request initiated after tapping the notification action, allowing custom certificate validation.

I have Family Controls (Distribution) and (Development) on my main app. The shield overlay, shield actions, and ManagedSettingsStore all work correctly. My app concept: the user selects a specific time (e.g. 7:00 AM) at which their selected apps (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc.) should be blocked until they complete an action. The blocking should happen everyday automatically at the chosen time without the user needing to open my app. What actually happens: at 7:00 AM nothing happens. The selected apps remain accessible. The blocking only activates when the user manually opens my app and then closes it. Has anyone found a reliable way to make intervalDidStart fire every day at the scheduled time in the background? Is there a known workaround? I have seen similar reports from other developers but no confirmed solution. Any guidance from Apple engineers would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, I submitted a request for Family Controls (Distribution) approval, and it has now been over 12 days without any update on the status. I understand that review times can vary, but I wanted to check if this delay is expected or if there’s anything I might need to do on my end to help move the process forward. Could anyone from the Apple team or the community provide insight into: Typical processing times for Family Controls distribution requests Whether delays beyond a few days are common Any steps I should take to follow up or expedite the review For reference: Status: Submitted Submission time: April 29, 2026 Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi, I’m seeing WeatherKit fail on device with a JWT permission error even though the app appears to be signed correctly with the WeatherKit entitlement. Error: Failed to generate jwt token for: com.apple.weatherkit.authservice Error Domain=WeatherDaemon.WDSJWTAuthenticatorServiceListener.Errors Code=2 "(null)" Setup verified: iOS physical device, tested after clean install/reboot Tested on more than one physical device Bundle ID: com.elilindenDinematch.Al-Outfits Team ID: FYGW4LHN42 App ID has WeatherKit capability enabled Fresh provisioning profile includes: application-identifier = FYGW4LHN42.com.elilindenDinematch.Al-Outfits com.apple.developer.team-identifier = FYGW4LHN42 com.apple.developer.weatherkit = true Signed app binary entitlements also include com.apple.developer.weatherkit = true codesign -dv confirms TeamIdentifier=FYGW4LHN42 Cleared DerivedData and regenerated/reinstalled with a fresh profile Toggled WeatherKit capability off/on in Developer portal and regenerated profile The failure occurs when calling: let weather = try await WeatherKit.WeatherService.shared.weather(for: location) The request takes a few seconds before failing, which makes it seem like the WeatherKit daemon is reaching Apple’s auth service but being rejected during JWT generation. Has anyone seen WeatherKit entitlement propagation get stuck server-side for a specific Team ID + Bundle ID? Is there anything else I can verify locally, or does this require Apple to inspect the WeatherKit auth service registration for this App ID?

Hey . So i'm building a screentime app whereby users can add an accountability partner who will be able to see their total screentime.(no app breakdowns included) . This will require me to send the data to firebase realtime database and retrieve for the accountability partner to see. Problem is , I've literally tried everything but the screentime still shows 0m on the accountabiliy partner's end. I need the data to be displayed rounded down to the nearest 0.5 e.g 1hr43mins ->1.5hrs+ ,2.0hrs+ ,3.5hrs+ , meaning it only moves when a threshold is crossed by the user. (this is to save database costs). Anyway i'd really appreciate if someone could help me out here. Thanks

From the Developer Guide page 12 for the entitlements. The footnote mentions that CarPlay EV charging app and CarPlay fueling app entitlements may be combined in a single app Does this mean that i can implement both fuelling and EV charging feature in the same app ? How will the entitlement process to get this be done ? should i make 2 request for each of the entitlement ?

Hi, I submitted my Family Controls entitlement requests on April 21 for my iOS app, but I still haven’t received an approval, rejection, or any status update. This is blocking my ability to properly test and move forward with the app, since it depends on the Screen Time / Family Controls APIs. Has anyone had a similar delay recently? Is the recommended next step to file a code-level support request with my Team ID, or should I continue waiting? Thanks.

I started a fresh “Sticker Pack App” project, add one image to it and it wouldn’t show up on emulator or device. From what I remember, there shouldn't be any coding involved, just drag and drop images of the correct format and dimensions and it should work. I tried changing the file format, dimensions etc while consulting with web and AI assistant searches and but still didn’t work. Apple support also didn't reply with anything useful but to post in the forum. I'm guessing I'm missing something trivial where a lot of us here have encountered before. Appreciate your help here, thank you in advance!

We’re building an iOS app that uses an ILMessageFilterExtension to classify unwanted property-related SMS messages. Our goal is for filtered/junk messages to trigger an automatic scan/classification flow so the main app can show the user useful stats like “X messages blocked since your last check-in,” and ideally categorize them by type such as likely wholesaler, investor, realtor, scam, or unclear. The bottleneck we’re running into is understanding the correct architecture and limits of the Message Filter Extension. We know the extension can inspect sender/message content and return allow/junk, and we understand that network requests are limited to Apple’s deferred query flow. What we’re trying to clarify is whether there is an Apple-compliant way for the extension to persist lightweight scan results or aggregate counts that the containing app can later read, without violating privacy or extension restrictions. We do not need to export a full copy of message bodies into the app; what we want is a compliant way to keep counters/summary metadata such as blocked count, blocked since last app open, and maybe category counts. Questions we’re trying to answer: Is it acceptable for an ILMessageFilterExtension to persist aggregate scan stats for later display in the main app? If so, what is the recommended storage pattern for lightweight counters/metadata? Can extension-side classification results be surfaced to the app only as summary data, not raw message content? If using deferred network classification, what is the best way to reflect those results back into user-facing counts like “messages blocked since last check-in”? Our desired user experience is: unwanted message hits the filter filter classifies it locally or via deferred server lookup message is junked if appropriate aggregate counters are updated when the user opens the app, they see something like: 12 messages blocked since your last check-in 8 likely wholesalers 3 scams 1 unclear We’re mainly looking for guidance on the correct Apple-supported architecture here, especially around what data can be retained/shared between the extension and the containing app.

Hello, I have submitted the Family Controls Distribution entitlement request twice, but I have not received any confirmation email or follow-up number for either submission. App: parental control app Bundle ID: com.learnunlock.app Use case: We use FamilyControls (authorization), ManagedSettings (shield apps), and DeviceActivity (schedule restrictions) to help families manage screen time. Could anyone from Apple please check the status of my submissions, or advise on next steps? Thank you.

Hi We are trying to set the child's age but kind of stuck in loop in Age Range SetUp. Attached a video for reference. Could you please suggest what steps we are missing or is this a Bug from Age Range Services Framework.

Hi all, I'm the developer of OV Message, an end-to-end encrypted SMS messaging app already shipped on Google Play (Android, where it natively encrypts SMS content). The iOS port aims to be the default carrier-messaging app, handling SMS, MMS, and RCS through TelephonyMessagingKit with the com.apple.developer.carrier-messaging-app entitlement under the EU programme. While testing the cold-launch flow on iOS 26.x, I've hit a reproducible bug that silently drops the first SMS/MMS/RCS that wakes the app, and I'd like to confirm whether other devs working with this API see the same. The bug When a default carrier-messaging app is force-killed and a message arrives, iOS correctly: Routes the message via CommCenter (IMS in my case — SFR France) Wakes the app in background (state = .background at didFinishLaunchingWithOptions) Acquires a TelephonyMessaging runningboard assertion on the app But CommCenter then pushes the pending message via XPC before the client TMK library has finished registering its messageHandlersByID dictionary. Result: client responds Received unhandled request, server logs TMKXPCError Code=2, message is dropped, never delivered to for await in incomingMessageNotifications. Subsequent messages (with the app warm) work fine. Native log sequence (from idevicesyslog with the Telephony logging profile) T+0.000 CommCenter: SMS arrives via IMS (k3GPP) T+0.003 CommCenter: Default app is set to com.example.app T+0.004 CommCenter: Attempting to launch and acquire process assertion T+0.083 CommCenter: Notifying SMS message received, target: bundleID=... T+0.085 CommCenter(TMK): There are no client connections matching, pending message [~125 ms — app boots] T+0.128 App(TMK): Configuring connection T+0.128 App(TMK): Pinging remote end T+0.130 CommCenter(TMK): Received new connection from PID T+0.130 CommCenter(TMK): New incoming connection, flushing pending messages (1) ← server flushes T+0.130 App(TMK): Received unhandled request ← client not ready T+0.131 CommCenter(TMK): Failed to send pending message: TMKXPCError Code=2 T+0.132 App(TMK): Registered for IncomingMessageNotification (smsReceived) ← ~2 ms too late The race window between Pinging remote end (client) and Registered for IncomingMessageNotification (client) is 2–7 ms across my measurements. CommCenter considers the connection ready as soon as the ping completes, but the client library populates messageHandlersByID slightly after, so the dispatch fails. Minimal reproduction I built a ~50-line Swift app to confirm this isn't specific to OV Message. UIKit AppDelegate, single for await in TelephonyMessagingSession.shared.smsService.incomingMessageNotifications started in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions. No SwiftUI, no other modules, no Darwin notifications. Just TMK. Steps: Build & install on iPhone iOS 26.x with carrier-messaging-app entitlement (auto-provisioned in iOS 26) Settings → Apps → Default Messaging → select the test app Force-kill, then send 2 SMS in rapid succession from another phone Wait 30 s, open the app — log shows only the 2nd SMS Same result: the 1st SMS is gone. I've reproduced this consistently dozens of times. Source code (Swift + xcodegen project.yml): https://gist.github.com/ovmessage/fbc529292a65222191bec6ce5e5a4275 What I've tried Task.detached(priority: .userInitiated) to decouple the for await from main thread scheduling — no effect (race is internal to TMK lib, before our scheduling) Pre-fetching cellularServices synchronously — no effect Subscribing MMS + RCS in parallel — no effect Direct XPCSession/xpc_connection_create_mach_service to com.apple.commcenter.tmk.xpc — Apple has marked these unavailable on iOS for 3rd-party apps (no public way to bypass the lib) I've also done runtime introspection of the TMK framework via Mirror, which confirms the architecture: a single XPCConnection.messageHandlersByID dict shared by smsReceived, mmsReceived, rcsReceivedNotification — all four entries (incl. serviceStatusNotification) are populated after the XPC ping. So the same race affects SMS, MMS, and RCS equally. Suggested fixes (Apple-side) Either: Server (CommCenter): defer flushing pending messages until the client confirms its handlers are registered (extra XPC handshake message) Client (TelephonyMessagingKit): register messageHandlersByID entries before sending Pinging remote end, so they exist when the server starts flushing Buffer client-side: cache messages received before handler registration completes, dispatch on attach Filed in Feedback Assistant FB[YOUR_FB_NUMBER_HERE] Question for fellow devs If you're also building with carrier-messaging-app entitlement (Beeper, Google Messages on iOS, anyone in the EU programme), can you confirm whether you see the same race? Especially interested in whether: It happens with non-IMS carriers (mine is SFR France, IMS-routed via SIP) iOS 26.1 / 26.2 changed the timing Anyone has found a workaround I haven't tried Thanks.

Hi everyone, We are investigating a possible iOS permission state issue after a device previously installed our app through TestFlight and later installed the production version from the App Store using the same Bundle ID. Environment: Device: iPhone 15 iOS version: 26.2.1 App distribution history: The app was previously installed through TestFlight and later installed from the App Store Permissions involved: Camera / Photos Issue: When the user opens the App Store version of the app and tries to access a feature that requires Camera or Photos permission, the iOS permission prompt does not appear as expected. Also, the app does not appear under: Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera or: Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos Because of this, the user cannot manually enable the permission. Another user on iOS was able to grant the permissions normally, so the issue appears to be isolated to the device that previously used the TestFlight build. Expected behavior: When the App Store version requests Camera or Photos permission, iOS should display the permission prompt, or the app should appear under Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera/Photos so the user can manage the permission manually. Actual behavior: The permission prompt does not appear, and the app does not appear in the corresponding privacy permission list. Possible cause: It seems like the device may be preserving or reusing a stale privacy permission state from the previous TestFlight installation, since both the TestFlight build and the App Store build use the same Bundle ID. Steps to reproduce: Install the app through TestFlight. Open the app and trigger a Camera/Photos permission request. Grant or deny the permission. Stop testing or remove the TestFlight version. Install the production version from the App Store using the same Bundle ID. Open the App Store version. Trigger the same Camera/Photos permission request flow. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera/Photos. The app does not appear, or the permission prompt does not behave as expected. Workarounds attempted or suggested: Close and reopen the app. Restart the iPhone. Delete and reinstall the app from the App Store. Stop testing the app from TestFlight. Reset Location & Privacy settings. Question: Has anyone experienced a similar issue where iOS does not show the permission prompt or does not list the app under Privacy & Security after switching from a TestFlight build to the App Store version with the same Bundle ID? Is there a recommended way to fully clear the previous TestFlight permission state, or should this be reported as a possible iOS/TestFlight permission state bug?

Hi all, Our team (D36U48VRGM) holds approved Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement on three bundles, all live on the App Store as part of the same app: com.strategieayoub.quranfocus (main app) com.strategieayoub.quranfocus.ShieldAction com.strategieayoub.quranfocus.ShieldConfiguration We've added a fourth target — a DeviceActivityMonitor extension at com.strategieayoub.quranfocus.DeviceActivityMonitor — to replace our current BGProcessingTaskRequest re-shield path. The BGTaskScheduler approach is unreliable for our use case: iOS routinely runs the task hours late or skips it entirely, leaving users' apps unblocked far past the unlock window we promised. DeviceActivityMonitor's intervalDidEnd callback is the only mechanism Apple provides that fires reliably regardless of app state. The new bundle ID is registered, has Family Controls (Development) provisioned, and intervalDidEnd works correctly during local on-device testing. The blocker is Distribution — Xcode's Signing pane shows: "Bundle identifier is using development only version of Family Controls (Development) capability. Please request access to Family Controls (Distribution) to avoid issues when distributing." Two questions: The previous per-asset Family Controls request form has been replaced with a single account-level form that contains no free-text field where I can specify a bundle ID. How does Apple now expect developers with already-approved teams to attach an additional child bundle to that approval? Phone Developer Support said they cannot make entitlement attachments and pointed me back to the form. Is there a documented escalation path? Thanks for any pointers.

I'm developing an iOS application that relies on peer-to-peer discovery and connection using Bluetooth. The expected behavior is: Two iOS devices with the application installed. Both users marked as "visible". When within Bluetooth range, the devices should discover each other and establish a connection. However, the problem occurs when: The application is in the background (minimized) OR The device is locked (screen off). In these states: The devices can no longer be detected. The search returns no nearby devices. Connection could not be established. ChatGPT: What you want to do probably runs into a structural limitation of iOS — it's not a bug. And iOS: severely limits background BLE scanning. reduces advertising frequency. may even stop completely depending on the state (lock screen). In other words: 👉 iPhone was not designed to function as a "continuous radar" between background apps. Apps that do something similar (like AirDrop or Find My): use Apple's private or privileged APIs or combine BLE + Wi-Fi + Ultra Broadband. i need help : /

I'm working on a MailKit extension and I'm getting a full Mail crash every time I click the Primary Action button in my message banner. I have filed a feedback: FB22513160 Apple's own unsubscribe banner successfully presents a confirmation modal when its primary action is clicked, demonstrating that this flow is intended to work. That behavior does not appear to be accessible to third-party extensions via the documented EMessageSecurityHandler API. Or if it is and I'm missing something, I'd love to know. Thanks!

Looks like the Weather Kit API is not responding. I experience the same with Weather App - API is returning 504 HTTP errors I was wondering if I was alone on this situation In this example: in my app the weather complication is consuming my weather provider which is based on Weather Kit Thank you for your answers. Ilyes

Here’s a polished Apple Developer Forums post you can use. I removed personal identifiers such as email, Person ID, Team ID, and DTS Case ID because the forums are public. The post is based on your DTS request and Apple’s response directing you to ask in the Developer Forums.  ⸻ Title Supported public API to open containing iOS app from Share Extension for image/PDF share sheet imports Tags iOS Share Extension UIKit App Intents Uniform Type Identifiers Post Body Hello Apple Developer Forums, We are building an iOS app that needs to receive images and PDFs shared from the system share sheet. The sources include Screenshots, Photos, Files, and third-party apps. The desired user experience is similar to apps such as ChatGPT or Claude: when the user taps our app in the share sheet, the main containing app opens and starts importing or uploading the shared image or PDF. We are trying to understand the supported public API for this behavior. What we have tried CFBundleDocumentTypes We added document type support for: public.image public.png public.jpeg public.heic public.heif com.adobe.pdf This works for some document-open flows, such as opening files from Files or Photos in certain cases. However, it does not make the app appear reliably as a share target from Screenshot Share or from some third-party app share sheets. App Intents We tried using App Intents with IntentFile and: static var openAppWhenRun: Bool = true However, this does not seem to create a general-purpose share-sheet receiver for arbitrary image or PDF NSItemProvider payloads. Share Extension We also implemented a Share Extension that: Receives the shared NSItemProvider. Stores the image or PDF in an app group container. Attempts to open the containing app. However: NSExtensionContext.open(_:completionHandler:) does not appear to foreground the containing app from a Share Extension in the way we need. We also tested responder-chain openURL: trampoline approaches, but those do not work reliably and appear to be unsupported as a public API contract. Questions Is there a supported public API for an iOS app to appear as a share target for arbitrary image/PDF NSItemProvider payloads and then directly open the containing app? If apps such as ChatGPT or Claude appear to switch directly into the main app from the share sheet, is that behavior achievable using public APIs available to third-party developers? If directly opening the containing app is not supported, is the recommended design to perform all upload/import work inside the Share Extension itself? Are App Intents intended to support this kind of share-sheet attachment import flow, either currently or in a future iOS version? Reproduction Steps We created a focused sample project to reproduce the issue. Build and run the app on a physical iPhone. Leave the app installed. Capture a screenshot. Tap the screenshot thumbnail. Tap the Share button. Choose the app’s Share Extension from the share sheet. Observe that the Share Extension receives the image payload. Attempt to open the containing app from the extension. Expected Result The containing app should foreground and receive a URL or other handoff signal indicating that a shared file is available for import. Actual Result The Share Extension receives the image payload and logs the provider type identifiers, but the containing app does not reliably foreground. NSExtensionContext.open does not provide the desired transition, and responder-chain URL-opening workarounds do not appear to be supported or reliable. Minimal Question For image/PDF imports from the iOS share sheet, should the supported implementation be: Share Extension receives the file → Share Extension performs the upload/import itself rather than: Share Extension receives the file → Share Extension opens containing app → Main app performs upload/import Any guidance on the supported architecture would be appreciated. Thank you.