Widgets & Live Activities

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WidgetKit Documentation

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We would like to inquire about the push notification budget for Live Activities.
We are developing a service that uses the “More Frequent Updates” feature of Live Activities. I have a question regarding the push notification budget for Live Activities. According to the documentation and the following session: WWDC23 Session 10185 – “What’s New in ActivityKit” https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2023/10185/ At 11:58, it is stated that there is no limit on the number of updates when using low priority (5). Could you confirm whether updates sent with low priority (5) are indeed not subject to the Live Activity push notification budget?
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May ’25
iOS Dynamically loaded custom fonts in WidgetKit not working on real device (simulator is fine). Sandbox chronod deny file-read-data for font file.
Project structure is: App target + widget extension + widget intent extension All share a common appgroup group.com.x.y and all file handling is done using FileManager.default.containerURL(forSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier: "group.com.x.y") so that only the shared container is used. Using the Main app target, a font "Chewy-Regular.ttf" is downloaded and saved to the shared AppGroup container. Font can now be loaded via CTFontManagerRegisterFontsForURL and displayed in a Main App Text view Text("Testing...").font(Font.custom("Chewy-Regular", size: 20)) Now add a Widgetkit widget instance that uses this font. In 'getTimeLine() and getSnapShot() of IntentTimelineProvider we load the font again via CTFontManagerRegisterFontsForURL (this needs to happen again probably because widget runs in a separate process from the main app?). On simulator, the widget will show the correct font. BUT On iPhone7 real device, the widget will show the 'redacted placeholder view'. It seems that something is crashing. I see in the device console : error 14:39:07.567120-0800 chronod No configuration found for configured widget identifier: D9BF75EE-4A04-441A-8C85-1507F7ECE379 fault 14:39:07.625600-0800 widgetxExtension -[EXSwiftUI_Subsystem beginUsing:withBundle:] unexpectedly called multiple times. error 14:39:07.672733-0800 chronod Encountered an error reading the view archive for <private>; error: <private> error 14:39:07.672799-0800 chronod [co.appevolve.onewidget.widgetx:widgetx:small:1536744920620481560@148.0/148.0/20.2] reload: could not decode view error 14:39:07.674984-0800 kernel Sandbox: chronod(2128) deny(1) file-read-metadata /private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/9B524570-1765-4C24-9E0C-15BC3982F0DC/downloadedFonts/Chewy/Chewy-Regular.ttf error 14:39:07.675762-0800 kernel Sandbox: chronod(2128) deny(1) file-read-data /private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/9B524570-1765-4C24-9E0C-15BC3982F0DC/downloadedFonts/Chewy/Chewy-Regular.ttf error 14:39:07.708914-0800 chronod [u 8D2C83B3-A6CB-432E-A9D4-9BC8F7056B10:m (null)] [<private>(<private>)] Connection to plugin invalidated while in use. fault 14:39:07.710284-0800 widgetxExtension -[EXSwiftUI_Subsystem beginUsing:withBundle:] unexpectedly called multiple times. error 14:39:07.803468-0800 chronod Encountered an error reading the view archive for <private>; error: <private> It seems that it's a permission issue, and the textview can't access the font file it needs when the widget is rendering. Notes: 1) Font is definitely registered because I can see them in for fontFamily in UIFont.familyNames {             for fontName in UIFont.fontNames(forFamilyName: fontFamily) {                 print(fontName) 								... in both the Main App target and the Widget Extension target 2) If I make make the font part of the app bundle and add to 'Fonts provided by application' , the are loaded absolutely fine in the Main App and the Widget on simulator and iPhone 7 real device. 3) I do see this error sometimes in the Widget extension target log, don't know if it's related. widgetxExtension[1385:254599] [User Defaults] Couldn't read values in CFPrefsPlistSource<0x28375b880> (Domain: group.co.appevolve.onewidget, User: kCFPreferencesAnyUser, ByHost: Yes, Container: (null), Contents Need Refresh: Yes): Using kCFPreferencesAnyUser with a container is only allowed for System Containers, detaching from cfprefsd 4) I suspected something to do with app groups, so I tried to copy the font into the Widget Extension container and load from there, but had the same result. Please help! Thank you.
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3.0k
May ’25
Are push-to-start tokens app wide or per type?
Confusion Based on the fact that the subscription is requested on a Activity type, I assumed that the push-to-start tokens would be different. But the push-to-start token for WidgetExtensionAttributes and WidgetExtensionAttributesOther were identical. This is misleading. The code below prints identical tokens even though the name of the token and their underlying schema are different. Code Sample func getTokens() { Task { if let data = Activity<func getTokens() { Task { if let data = Activity<WidgetExtensionAttributes>.pushToStartToken { print("exists:", data.hexadecimalString) } else { print("requesting pushToStartToken") for await ptsToken in Activity<WidgetExtensionAttributes> .pushToStartTokenUpdates { let ptsTokenString = ptsToken.hexadecimalString print("new:", ptsTokenString) } } } Task { if let data = Activity<WidgetExtensionAttributesOther>.pushToStartToken { print("other exists:", data.hexadecimalString) } else { print("other requesting pushToStartToken") for await ptsToken in Activity<WidgetExtensionAttributesOther> .pushToStartTokenUpdates { let ptsTokenString = ptsToken.hexadecimalString print("other new:", ptsTokenString) } } } }>.pushToStartToken { print("exists:", data.hexadecimalString) } else { print("requesting pushToStartToken") for await ptsToken in Activity<WidgetExtensionAttributes> .pushToStartTokenUpdates { let ptsTokenString = ptsToken.hexadecimalString print("new:", ptsTokenString) } } } Task { if let data = Activity<WidgetExtensionAttributesOther>.pushToStartToken { print("other exists:", data.hexadecimalString) } else { print("other requesting pushToStartToken") for await ptsToken in Activity<WidgetExtensionAttributesOther> .pushToStartTokenUpdates { let ptsTokenString = ptsToken.hexadecimalString print("other new:", ptsTokenString) } } } } Activity Types struct WidgetExtensionAttributesOther: ActivityAttributes { public struct ContentState: Codable, Hashable { var age: Int } var addresses: [String] } struct WidgetExtensionAttributes: ActivityAttributes { public struct ContentState: Codable, Hashable { var emoji: String } var name: String } Docs After much investigation I noticed the wording of the docs kind of hint that the push-to-start token is per ActivityKit as it says: An asynchronous sequence you use to observe changes to the token for starting a Live Activity with an ActivityKit push notification. But docs and the API don't align well. Questions Is it correct that the push-to-start token is per app? If so then is there a reason that that API designers decided to still have to pass a specific type and not just make a request without passing a type? Should I maybe file a radar? Is it correct to say push-to-start is per app, while update tokens are per instance. i.e. if I have two soccer matches, then unless the push-to-start token was refreshed by the OS, then both would use the same push-to-start token, however each match would have a unique update token?
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May ’25
Strange Live Activity Occurrence Behavior
I am seeing a really weird behavior with Live Activities. The Live Activity is always appearing on the simulator. However the Live Activity is only appearing on my physical device when there is no other widget in the widget bundle shown below. @main struct HoerspielWidgetsBundle: WidgetBundle { var body: some Widget { // Uncomment the line below and the Live Activity will no longer appear // UpNextWidget() PlaybackLiveActivity() } } Annotating that var with @WidgetBundle has no effect. There are no logs indicating an error, the function to request a Live Activity does not throw and the status of the activity is active. Both the widget and the Live Activity are working fine otherwise. NSSupportsLiveActivities is set to true in the correct Info.plist file. I am not running any beta software and the physical iPhone is on the newest version (iOS 18.5). Using the template when adding a new target in Xcode, I was able to set up a similar app where the Live Activity works as expected. I am really at a loss here which additional information I should provide or how this issue can be resolved. Thank you for your help.
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May ’25
push-to-start notification does not reliably result in a new push-to-update token on the pushTokenUpdates async sequence
I've noticed that the when starting live activities via a remote push-to-start notification, the live activity widget consistently succeeds in displaying on the lock screen. However push-to-update token is not always received by the task observing the pushTokenUpdates async-sequence. Task { print("listening for pushTokenUpdates") for await pushToken in activity.pushTokenUpdates { let token = pushToken.map {String(format: "%02x", $0)}.joined() print("Push token: \(token)") } } The log will print "listening for pushTokenUpdates" however occasionally the "Push token: ___" line will not be present even when the widget has displayed on screen. This happens even if the "allow" button has been selected on live activities for that app. The inconsistent behavior leads me to believe there is an issue at the ActivityKit level. Would appreciate any feedback in debugging this!
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May ’25
communication between live activity and main app
I found the live activity process cannot write to the app group and FileManger, can only read the app group. When I write using FileManager in a live activity process, the console prompts me with a permission error. When I write using UserDefault(suit:) in the live activity process, I read a null value in the main app. Is this the case for real-time event design? I haven’t seen any documentation mentioning this. Does anyone know, thank you very much.
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113
May ’25
Can't change iPhone watch app complication picker app name
I have an objective-c watch app and have added a swift widget style compilation to it and am having problems. The complication works fine but the name in the iPhone watch app complication picker stubbornly remains as the watchkit app name despite me trying various ways of changing it. Here are the various CF bundle name and display name values I am using: phone app values CFBundleIdentifier - com.Distribution-Systems-Associates.Tennis-Watch-v1 CFBundleName - $(PRODUCT_NAME) CFBundleDisplayName - Tennis Scorekeeper watchkit app CFBundleIdentifier - com.Distribution-Systems-Associates.Tennis-Watch-v1.watchkitapp CFBundleName - Tennis Scorekeeper CFBundleDisplayName - Tennis Scorekeeper WatchKit extension CFBundleIdentifier - com.Distribution-Systems-Associates.Tennis-Watch-v1.watchkitapp.watchkitextension CFBundleName - Tennis Scorekeeper CFBundleDisplayName - Tennis Scorekeeper __Watchkit complication __ CFBundleIdentifier - com.Distribution-Systems-Associates.Tennis-Watch-v1.watchkitapp.watchkitextension.Tennis-Watch-V1-Complication Changing the values in the complication doesn't seem to matter. Every other name in both my iPhone and watch apps are as expected. ChatGPT suggested that I try adding a localized name in the watchkit app but that didn't seem to do much of anything useful. I have run this though Chat quite a bit to see if I could get any accidental insights that way and while it has been interesting, it has also been not terribly helpful. I didn't post any of the complication code because that seems to be fine. However, I can do that if needed. The complication works as intended (starts the app). The various names everywhere else show up as intended. It's just that this one name refuses to be overridden. Thoughts?
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May ’25
Can't load widget with a particular bundle id on Catalyst
Please note that the widgets sub forum is a 404: https://developer.apple.com/forums/post/question?community=1394020 I have a widget that works on iOS but doesn't work on Catalyst. The widget does not appear in the list of available widgets to install. It's related to the Bundle ID for the widget. If I use a fresh bundle ID the widget loads, but if I use the one I'm currently using for iOS it doesn't appear as available to install. To confirm it's related to the bundle ID I created a fresh project in xcode and recreated the behaviour. Any help greatly appreciated.
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222
May ’25
AccessibilityNode not working in Unity?
Hi, I have a class project I am working on (with a due date tomorrow, unfortunately RIP to me). But I have made my project about adding accessibility to a Unity game. I've successfully added apple unity core and accessibility plugins to my project, and my project builds. But I have simple text nodes and buttons and they aren't accessible with voiceover once I build/export my game and test. I am only building for MacOS right now (for the assignment). I don't have too much experience with Unity, but I am relatively experienced with accessibility (even formerly an intern and contractor at Apple for accessibility). So I wonder if I am just using Unity incorrectly? Perhaps I've done something to my build process (or haven't done something I should)? I've attached a photo of what my dev environment looks like in Unity, I've focused a text node (on the left) and on the right are my AccessibilityNode settings. Any help would be awesome, even if I don't make my deadline tomorrow... :*( Project repo is here, if it is helpful: https://github.com/frankelavsky/PGD_final_project Thanks!
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194
Apr ’25
Help getting elements from SwiftData in AppIntent for widget
Hello, I am trying to get the elements from my SwiftData databse in the configuration for my widget. The SwiftData model is the following one: @Model class CountdownEvent { @Attribute(.unique) var id: UUID var title: String var date: Date @Attribute(.externalStorage) var image: Data init(id: UUID, title: String, date: Date, image: Data) { self.id = id self.title = title self.date = date self.image = image } } And, so far, I have tried the following thing: AppIntent.swift struct ConfigurationAppIntent: WidgetConfigurationIntent { static var title: LocalizedStringResource { "Configuration" } static var description: IntentDescription { "This is an example widget." } // An example configurable parameter. @Parameter(title: "Countdown") var countdown: CountdownEntity? } Countdowns.swift, this is the file with the widget view struct Provider: AppIntentTimelineProvider { func placeholder(in context: Context) -> SimpleEntry { SimpleEntry(date: Date(), configuration: ConfigurationAppIntent()) } func snapshot(for configuration: ConfigurationAppIntent, in context: Context) async -> SimpleEntry { SimpleEntry(date: Date(), configuration: configuration) } func timeline(for configuration: ConfigurationAppIntent, in context: Context) async -> Timeline<SimpleEntry> { var entries: [SimpleEntry] = [] // Generate a timeline consisting of five entries an hour apart, starting from the current date. let currentDate = Date() for hourOffset in 0 ..< 5 { let entryDate = Calendar.current.date(byAdding: .hour, value: hourOffset, to: currentDate)! let entry = SimpleEntry(date: entryDate, configuration: configuration) entries.append(entry) } return Timeline(entries: entries, policy: .atEnd) } // func relevances() async -> WidgetRelevances<ConfigurationAppIntent> { // // Generate a list containing the contexts this widget is relevant in. // } } struct SimpleEntry: TimelineEntry { let date: Date let configuration: ConfigurationAppIntent } struct CountdownsEntryView : View { var entry: Provider.Entry var body: some View { VStack { Text("Time:") Text(entry.date, style: .time) Text("Title:") Text(entry.configuration.countdown?.title ?? "Default") } } } struct Countdowns: Widget { let kind: String = "Countdowns" var body: some WidgetConfiguration { AppIntentConfiguration(kind: kind, intent: ConfigurationAppIntent.self, provider: Provider()) { entry in CountdownsEntryView(entry: entry) .containerBackground(.fill.tertiary, for: .widget) } } } CountdownEntity.swift, the file for the AppEntity and EntityQuery structs struct CountdownEntity: AppEntity, Identifiable { var id: UUID var title: String var date: Date var image: Data var displayRepresentation: DisplayRepresentation { DisplayRepresentation(title: "\(title)") } static var defaultQuery = CountdownQuery() static var typeDisplayRepresentation: TypeDisplayRepresentation = "Countdown" init(id: UUID, title: String, date: Date, image: Data) { self.id = id self.title = title self.date = date self.image = image } init(id: UUID, title: String, date: Date) { self.id = id self.title = title self.date = date self.image = Data() } init(countdown: CountdownEvent) { self.id = countdown.id self.title = countdown.title self.date = countdown.date self.image = countdown.image } } struct CountdownQuery: EntityQuery { typealias Entity = CountdownEntity static var typeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Countdown Event") static var defaultQuery = CountdownQuery() @Environment(\.modelContext) private var modelContext // Warning here: Stored property '_modelContext' of 'Sendable'-conforming struct 'CountdownQuery' has non-sendable type 'Environment<ModelContext>'; this is an error in the Swift 6 language mode func entities(for identifiers: [UUID]) async throws -> [CountdownEntity] { let countdownEvents = getAllEvents(modelContext: modelContext) return countdownEvents.map { event in return CountdownEntity(id: event.id, title: event.title, date: event.date, image: event.image) } } func suggestedEntities() async throws -> [CountdownEntity] { // Return some suggested entities or an empty array return [] } } CountdownsManager.swift, this one just has the function that gets the array of countdowns func getAllEvents(modelContext: ModelContext) -> [CountdownEvent] { let descriptor = FetchDescriptor<CountdownEvent>() do { let allEvents = try modelContext.fetch(descriptor) return allEvents } catch { print("Error fetching events: \(error)") return [] } } I have installed it in my phone and when I try to edit the widget, it doesn't show me any of the elements I have created in the app, just a loading dropdown for half a second: What am I missing here?
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142
Apr ’25
WidgetKit memory issues only in iOS 18.3
I've been working on a new application and beta testing with TestFlight. When iOS 18.3 came out, my widgets stopped working due to using too much memory. I've been trying to debug for a while now, but not making much progress. Now that iOS 18.4 is out, I noticed the widgets are working again. I'm wondering if there was some change made in iOS 18.3 that was rolled back in iOS 18.4 that I'm not seeing in the iOS Release Notes etc? I haven't seen much in the Developer Forums, either. My concern is that perhaps Apple decided to make the 30MB Widget memory limit a "hard" limit, but then rolled it back, perhaps temporarily, so I'd like some clarity on the situation if possible. Otherwise, I did notice that it seemed as if all of my widgets were loaded at once, even if only one widget was installed, this boosting the memory usage significantly. If so, that might indicate that a bug was fixed in the Widget Provider system? In any case, I'd appreciate any information or advice on this. Thanks!
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252
Apr ’25
Live Activity - ActivityState - case .dismissed
Hi everyone, I'm working with Live Activities using the ActivityKit(Activity), and I'm trying to find a way to detect when a user manually dismisses a Live Activity by swiping it away — either from the Lock Screen or the Dynamic Island. Currently, when a Live Activity ends, the activityState changes to .dismissed, which is defined as: /// The Live Activity ended and is no longer visible because a person or the system removed it. case dismissed This doesn’t allow me to determine whether the dismissal was triggered by the user or by the system. Is there any way — either through ActivityState, notifications, or another approach — to distinguish if a Live Activity was manually dismissed by the user vs. ended by the system? Thanks in advance!
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185
Apr ’25