Hi! We are planning to build an app for a research project that collects sensitive information (such as symptoms, photos and audio). We don't want to store this data locally on the phone or within the app but rather have it securely transferred to a safe SFTP server. Is it possible to implement this i iOS, and if so, does anyone have any recommendations on how to do this?

It doesn’t seem like there’s any high level, first-party documentation on how to use what is the recommended API for executing networking logic that you otherwise wouldn’t use URLSession for; which is a lot of things. There’s a sample app, and docs on how to choose the right network API in general, but apparently no high level API docs for Network.framework itself. Am I missing something? How do people learn to use this? Know which classes to use? Know the various ways it can be configured?

Hello, I am in a very similar situation as described in the thread: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/655183 Context: I am working on an app that receives data from a hardware device through its Wifi network, and the hardware is not connected to the internet. Now, I would need to call some API while still connected to hardware so I would need to use the cellular data. As mentioned on the thread, I can achieve this via Network framework, using the requiredInterfaceType property. But Is there any other way I can achieve this? I can also do some suggestion on the hardware if that's helpful. Thank you!

CarPlay woes. I think it's unacceptable that it silently kills an ongoing WiFi connection that has been established using ASAccessoryKit and NEHotspotHelper which is in active use. This is responsible for angry clients because their processes break a lot when they are in reach of the connected car. (And yes, they have to be in the reach of the car, because it is a diagnostic/maintenance app for cars…) Do I really need to ask my clients to unpair from CarPlay before using our app or is there another way?

Hi everyone, I developed an Android version of a VPN app built with Flutter using OpenVPN, and it works perfectly on Android. However, when porting it to iOS, I’ve encountered an issue: the app connects successfully but then automatically disconnects when tested via TestFlight. We’ve already added all the necessary network extensions. Despite this, we decided to submit the app to the App Store. It’s been five days now, and the app is still 'Waiting for Review.' Could anyone share their experience deploying and working on an iOS version of a VPN app? I’d really appreciate your insights!

Here's what the documentation says https://developer.apple.com/documentation/networkextension/maintaining-a-reliable-network-connection Confirm that your NEAppPushProvider implementation doesn’t create a retain cycle with itself. After you call the completionHandler that the system passes to stop(with:completionHandler:), the Network Extension framework releases your NEAppPushProvider instance. This instance typically deallocates from memory when released, but if the instance has a retain cycle with itself, it fails to deallocate and wastes memory. Failure to deallocate can also cause the system to have two or more instances of your push provider, leading to inconsistent behavior. Use Instruments or add a logging statement to deinit to verify that your NEAppPushProvider deinitializes when expected. I observe that when I turn off the wifi, the AppPushProvider subclass fully deinitializes. But when I call removeFromPreferences on the NEAppPushManager from the app, it calls stop() on my AppPushProvider subclass, but it does not initialize. Should I be alarmed by this behavior? Will this cause a memory leak? Will this cause multiple Extension/AppPushProviders to be operating concurrently? For testing, I've removed everything except for logs and some singleton calls. No closures capturing self, and no strong references of self being passed anywhere. I am also not using the debugger, and am using the console to debug.

Title: Loss of Internet Connectivity on iOS Device When Packet Tunnel Crashes Feedback ticket: https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/feedback/14162605 Product: iPhone 12 Version: iOS - 17.5.1 Configuration: NETunnelProviderManager Configuration Description: We are developing an iOS VPN client and have configured our packet tunnel provider according to Apple's guidelines. The configuration is as follows: includeAllNetworks = YES excludeLocalNetworks = NO enforceRoutes = NO This setup works as expected when the VPN successfully connects. However, we encounter a blocker issue where the device loses internet connectivity if the packet tunnel crashes. Steps to Reproduce: Configure the NETunnelProviderManager with the above settings. Connect the VPN, which successfully establishes a connection. Verify that resources are accessible and internet connectivity is functional. Packet tunnel to crash unexpectedly.Observe that the NE process (Packet Tunnel) restarts automatically, as expected and attempts to reconnect the VPN; however, the device now lacks internet connectivity, preventing VPN reconnection. Try accessing resources using Safari or any other internet-dependent app, resulting in an error indicating the device is not connected to the internet. Actual Results: The device loses internet connectivity after the packet tunnel crashes and fails to regain it automatically, preventing the VPN from reconnecting. Expected Results: The device should maintain internet connectivity or recover connectivity to allow the VPN to reconnect successfully after the packet tunnel process restarts. Workaround - iPhone device needs a restart to regain internet connectivity .

I've had no problem running my app in a simulator or on a device, but today my app is failing on a URLRequest to my local machine (in a sim). From the same simulator I can go to Safari and manually enter the URL that the app is using (and that appears in the error message), and it works fine. I think there was a recent Xcode update; did something change in this regard?

I upgraded my Mac to Sequoia 15.4.1 an i hat to upgrade XCode to Version 16.3. I access a MQTT Broker by an sending an mosquitto_sub request to the Broker. Now its no longer possible the request fails i granted Network permission to my App

Network is not working when over 50MB size file upload smb using NEFilterDataProvider in macOS The event received through NEFilterDataProvider is returned immediately without doing any other work. override func handleNewFlow(_ flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterNewFlowVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .filterDataVerdict(withFilterInbound: true, peekInboundBytes: Int.max, filterOutbound: true, peekOutboundBytes: Int.max) } override func handleInboundData(from flow: NEFilterFlow, readBytesStartOffset offset: Int, readBytes: Data) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return NEFilterDataVerdict(passBytes: readBytes.count, peekBytes: Int.max) } override func handleOutboundData(from flow: NEFilterFlow, readBytesStartOffset offset: Int, readBytes: Data) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return NEFilterDataVerdict(passBytes: readBytes.count, peekBytes: Int.max) } override func handleInboundDataComplete(for flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .allow() } override func handleOutboundDataComplete(for flow: NEFilterFlow) -> NEFilterDataVerdict { guard let socketFlow = flow as? NEFilterSocketFlow, let auditToken = socketFlow.sourceAppAuditToken, let remoteEndpoint = socketFlow.remoteEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint, let localEndpoint = socketFlow.localEndpoint as? NWHostEndpoint else { return .allow() } return .allow() } how can i fix it?

Could anyone teach me how to ask iOS 18 to have a prompt during set-up process of a new APP if user accidentally turns off Local Network ?

Recently, we have observed that after upgrading to OS 15.4.1, some devices are experiencing network issues. We are using a Network Extension with a transparent app proxy in our product. The user encounters this issue while using our client, but the issue persists even after stopping the client app. This appears to be an OS issue. Below is the sytem logs. In the system logs, it says [C669.1 Hostname#546597df:443 failed transform (unsatisfied (No network route), flow divert agg: 2)] event: transform:children_failed @0.001s In scutil --dns, it says not reachble. DNS configuration resolver #1 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) resolver #2 domain : local options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300000 resolver #3 domain : 254.169.in-addr.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300200 resolver #4 domain : 8.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300400 resolver #5 domain : 9.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300600 resolver #6 domain : a.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 300800 resolver #7 domain : b.e.f.ip6.arpa options : mdns timeout : 5 flags : reach : 0x00000000 (Not Reachable) order : 301000 We need to restart the system to recover from the issue.

Hi everyone, I'm developing a visionOS app that allows users to download large video files (similar to a movie download experience, with each file being around 10 GB). I've successfully implemented the core video download functionality using URLSession, and everything works as expected while the app is active. Now, I’m looking to support background downloading. Specifically, I want users to be able to start a download and then leave the app (e.g., switch apps or return to the home screen) while the download continues in the background. Additionally, I’d like to confirm a specific scenario: If the user starts a download, then removes the headset (keeping the device turned on and connected to power), will the download continue in the background? Or does visionOS suspend the app or downloads in this case? I’m considering using a background URLSessionConfiguration (as done in iOS/macOS) to enable this behavior, but I’m not sure if it behaves the same way on visionOS or if there are special limitations or best practices when handling large downloads on this platform. Any insights or official guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I implemented a Network Extension in the macOS, use NETransparentProxyProvider. After installing and enabling it, I implemented a UDP client to test its. I found that the UDP client failed to send the data successfully (via sendto, and it returned a success), and when using Wireshark to capture the network data packet, I still couldn't see this UDP data packet. The code for Network Extension is like this: @interface MyTransparentProxyProvider : NETransparentProxyProvider @end @implementation MyTransparentProxyProvider - (void)startProxyWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)options completionHandler:(void (^)(NSError *))completionHandler { NETransparentProxyNetworkSettings *objSettings = [[NETransparentProxyNetworkSettings alloc] initWithTunnelRemoteAddress:@"127.0.0.1"]; // included rules NENetworkRule *objIncludedNetworkRule = [[NENetworkRule alloc] initWithRemoteNetwork:nil remotePrefix:0 localNetwork:nil localPrefix:0 protocol:NENetworkRuleProtocolAny direction:NETrafficDirectionOutbound]; NSMutableArray<NENetworkRule *> *arrIncludedNetworkRules = [NSMutableArray array]; [arrIncludedNetworkRules addObject:objIncludedNetworkRule]; objSettings.includedNetworkRules = arrIncludedNetworkRules; // apply [self setTunnelNetworkSettings:objSettings completionHandler: ^(NSError * _Nullable error) { // TODO } ]; if (completionHandler != nil) completionHandler(nil); } - (BOOL)handleNewFlow:(NEAppProxyFlow *)flow { if (flow == nil) return NO; char szProcPath[PROC_PIDPATHINFO_MAXSIZE] = {0}; audit_token_t *lpAuditToken = (audit_token_t*)flow.metaData.sourceAppAuditToken.bytes; if (lpAuditToken != NULL) { proc_pidpath_audittoken(lpAuditToken, szProcPath, sizeof(szProcPath)); } if ([flow isKindOfClass:[NEAppProxyTCPFlow class]]) { NWHostEndpoint *objRemoteEndpoint = (NWHostEndpoint *)((NEAppProxyTCPFlow *)flow).remoteEndpoint; LOG("-MyTransparentProxyProvider handleNewFlow:] TCP flow! Process: (%d)%s, %s Remote: %s:%s, %s", lpAuditToken != NULL ? audit_token_to_pid(*lpAuditToken) : -1, flow.metaData.sourceAppSigningIdentifier != nil ? [flow.metaData.sourceAppSigningIdentifier UTF8String] : "", szProcPath, objRemoteEndpoint != nil ? (objRemoteEndpoint.hostname != nil ? [objRemoteEndpoint.hostname UTF8String] : "") : "", objRemoteEndpoint != nil ? (objRemoteEndpoint.port != nil ? [objRemoteEndpoint.port UTF8String] : "") : "", ((NEAppProxyTCPFlow *)flow).remoteHostname != nil ? [((NEAppProxyTCPFlow *)flow).remoteHostname UTF8String] : "" ); } else if ([flow isKindOfClass:[NEAppProxyUDPFlow class]]) { NSString *strLocalEndpoint = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", ((NEAppProxyUDPFlow *)flow).localEndpoint]; LOG("-[MyTransparentProxyProvider handleNewFlow:] UDP flow! Process: (%d)%s, %s LocalEndpoint: %s", lpAuditToken != NULL ? audit_token_to_pid(*lpAuditToken) : -1, flow.metaData.sourceAppSigningIdentifier != nil ? [flow.metaData.sourceAppSigningIdentifier UTF8String] : "", szProcPath, strLocalEndpoint != nil ? [strLocalEndpoint UTF8String] : "" ); } else { LOG("-[MyTransparentProxyProvider handleNewFlow:] Unknown flow! Process: (%d)%s, %s", lpAuditToken != NULL ? audit_token_to_pid(*lpAuditToken) : -1, flow.metaData.sourceAppSigningIdentifier != nil ? [flow.metaData.sourceAppSigningIdentifier UTF8String] : "", szProcPath ); } return NO; } @end The following methods can all enable UDP data packets to be successfully sent to the UDP server: 1.In -[MyTransparentProxyProvider startProxyWithOptions:completionHandler:], add the exclusion rule "The IP and port of the UDP server, the protocol is UDP"; 2.In -[MyTransparentProxyProvider startProxyWithOptions:completionHandler:], add the exclusion rule "All IPs and ports, protocol is UDP"; 3.In -[MyTransparentProxyProvider handleNewFlow:] or -[MyTransparentProxyProvider handleNewUDPFlow:initialRemoteEndpoint:], process the UDP Flow and return YES. Did I do anything wrong?

I was wondering which is the preferred way to send a lot of data from sensors of the apple watch to server. It is preferred to send small chucks to iphone and then to server or directly send bulk data to server from watch. How does it affect battery and resources from watch ? Are there any triggers that I can use to ensure best data stream. I need to send at least once a day. Can I do it in background or do I need the user to have my app in the foreground ? Thank you in advance

Hello, A quick background: I am developing an App that receives a data stream from a device through its Wi-Fi network. The device itself is not connected to the internet, so the app won't be either. Now, I am adding a new feature to the App that would require internet connection during the data stream. Consequently, my users would need to use their cellular data. On later versions of iPhone, the phone would occasionally detect the lack of internet connection and asks the user via a pop-up if they want to use their cellular data. However, this behavior is not consistent. So my question is- can we programmatically invoke this pop-up so the user can connect to the internet? Or even better- can we program the App to use cellular data while still being connected to a Wi-Fi network? Note: I have seen mixed answers on the internet whether this is doable or not, and I know that users are able do it themselves by manually configuring their IP in their WiFi settings page, but I doubt this operation can be done through the App for security reasons. Thanks!

Is it possible using the network framework to retrieve the list of certificates presented by the host alone, and not the reconstructed chain assembled by the system? For example, in OpenSSL one can call SSL_get_peer_cert_chain which will return exactly this - a list of the certificates presented by the server. This is useful for when you may want to manually reconstruct the chain, or if the server is misconfigured (for example, is missing an intermediate cert). Is something like this possible with the network framework? If I connect to a host that I know only returns 1 certificate, the trust ref already has the reconstructed chain by the time my code is called: sec_protocol_options_set_verify_block(tlsOptions.securityProtocolOptions, { metadata, trustRef, verifyComplete in let trust = sec_trust_copy_ref(trustRef).takeRetainedValue() let numberOfCertificates = SecTrustGetCertificateCount(trust) // Returns 3 even though the server only sent 1

Hello, I'm having some problems when install my Packet Tunnel network extension as system extension on my mac(macos 15.0). It stuck on Validation By Category. (it works well as NE app extension on ios) systemextensionsctl list --- com.apple.system_extension.network_extension enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state] <...> com.myteam.balabalabla.ne (1.0/1) - [validating by category] This is my install System Extension Code sample public class SystemExtension: NSObject, OSSystemExtensionRequestDelegate { private let forceUpdate: Bool private let inBackground: Bool private let semaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 0) private var result: OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? private var properties: [OSSystemExtensionProperties]? private var error: Error? private init(_ forceUpdate: Bool = false, _ inBackground: Bool = false) { } // some request function i overwrite public func activation() throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { let request = OSSystemExtensionRequest.activationRequest(forExtensionWithIdentifier: FilePath.packageName + ".myNeName", queue: .main) request.delegate = self OSSystemExtensionManager.shared.submitRequest(request) semaphore.wait() if let error { throw error } return result } public func getProperties() throws -> [OSSystemExtensionProperties] { let request = OSSystemExtensionRequest.propertiesRequest(forExtensionWithIdentifier: FilePath.packageName + ".myNeName", queue: .main) request.delegate = self OSSystemExtensionManager.shared.submitRequest(request) semaphore.wait() if let error { throw error } return properties! } public nonisolated static func install(forceUpdate: Bool = false, inBackground: Bool = false) async throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { try await Task.detached { try SystemExtension(forceUpdate, inBackground).activation() }.result.get() } public nonisolated static func uninstall() async throws -> OSSystemExtensionRequest.Result? { try await Task.detached { try SystemExtension().deactivation() }.result.get() } } // And other methods I follow this post Your Friend the System Log and use this command line to collect log. After I initiated the system extension request sudo log collect --last 5m Here is my log (),I only pasted some code snippets that caught me, full version see attachments.(only include com.apple.sysextd), if need more, plz ask me. 1. Some policy missing ```log 22:00:13.818257 `sysextd` extension mockTeamID app.balabala.com.mockbalabala (1.0/1) advancing state from staging to validating 22:00:13.818263 sysextd returning cdhash for local arch arm64 of extension app.balabala.com.mockbalabala info 2025-05-01 22:00:13.818336 sysextd Extension with identifier <private> reached state <private> 22:00:13.819185 sysextd [0x9a2034b00] activating connection: mach=false listener=false peer=false name=com.apple.CodeSigningHelper 22:00:13.819911 sysextd [0x9a2034b00] invalidated after the last release of the connection object 22:00:13.821024 sysextd making activation decision for extension with teamID teamID("mockTeamID ), identifier app.balabala.com.mockbalabala 22:00:13.821026 sysextd no related kext found for sysex `app.balabala.com.mockbalabala` 22:00:13.821027 sysextd no extension policy -- activation decision is UserOption nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.313576 sysextd [0x9a2178280] invalidated because the client process (pid 1886) either cancelled the connection or exited 22:00:14.542154 sysextd connection to com.apple.nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.542319 sysextd [0x9a2178000] Re-initialization successful; calling out to event handler with XPC_ERROR_CONNECTION_INTERRUPTED 22:00:14.542351 sysextd connection to com.apple.nesessionmanager.system-extensions interrupted 22:00:14.589375 nesessionmanager [0x6c80e4500] activating connection: mach=true listener=false peer=false name=com.apple.sysextd And when i debug the System Extension code i notice the request Error catch by didFailWithError public func request(_: OSSystemExtensionRequest, didFailWithError error: Error) { self.error = error semaphore.signal() } error is OSSystemExtensionErrorDomain code 1 This problem has been bothering me for a long time, I would appreciate any help, if need more info, comment, thank you.

My app sent a network request to the backend. The backend returns a 200, but the front end received a -1001 or -1005 NSURLError. Any clue why this could be happening?

We have a vpn app which uses PacketTunnelProvider. We also support per-app vpn for iOS, I need help with debugging steps for an issue I am facing recently. In the per app vpn, we have split tunneling: some urls should be tunneled while others should be direct, for tunneled urls/ips everything is working as expected. But for "direct" resources, I am facing an issue where sometimes I don't get an ACK back from the browser. Leading to a series of retransmissions and eventually the direct website not loading. Some more points of data: we do get true for the writePackets call, which seems to mean that the vpn app did write the packets to the TUN interface, but we don't get an ACK from the browser. I want some way of debugging this further so I can check if the browser actually got the packets. I also suspect that there might be a loop with packets (we are reading the packets we just wrote onto TUN), but can't say for sure since the issue is intermittent, in case of a loop, I would expect it to always help. Any help would be greatly appreciated.