I have recently added a SetFocusFilterIntent target extension to my app which is a system utility which goes into the menu bar(Application is agent = YES). I have followed the approach in the WWDC22 video introducing Focus Intent and I have created an App Groups to being able to make the Extension to communicate with my main app, however from when I did this sometimes when I run the app I do get this log line: Couldn't read values in CFPrefsPlistSource<0x97cd34700> (Domain: group.xxx.xxx.MyApp, User: kCFPreferencesAnyUser, ByHost: Yes, Container: (null), Contents Need Refresh: Yes): Using kCFPreferencesAnyUser with a container is only allowed for System Containers, detaching from cfprefsd Despite this the Focus mode integration is working correctly on my development Mac. However I used to Archive the app and then Copy the app to my MacBook but when I do that now my other Mac cannot open the app and it is giving me an error. If I revert this change then I can bring the app back to my other Mac as usual following the procedure: Product -> Archive. Then from the archiver: Distribute App -> Copy App. After that I copy the app generated to the App folder of my other MacBook but it doesn't open anymore. During the archival phase now I am even getting this warning: MyAppFocus.appex is an ExtensionKit extension and must be embedded in the parent app bundle's Extensions directory, but is embedded in the parent app bundle's ../../../BuildProductsPath/Release/MyApp.app/Contents/Extensions directory. How can I solve this issue? If I rollback the commit related to this SetFocusFilterIntent new feature the app can be Copied and moved to the other Mac as before. Is this related to the extension or to the fact that I had to use this new entitlement: com.apple.security.application-groups ?

I've heard that when a Mac app implements their version of the Standard AppleEvent suite, the developer can copy "CocoaStandard.sdef" and trim out whatever they don't need. What are the constraints on this trimming? I guess that we could remove commands wholesale, but can we remove sub-parts of a command? Can we change an enumeration? A record type?

Hi! I have defined the following app intent. It returns a result with a dialog to confirm that the intent has been executed. Naturally, that dialog needs to be localized properly. But the String interpolation with the provided format doesn't do that. I specified wide for the width parameter and expect spelled-out unit names. However, in the textual output, Siri always uses the abbreviated unit (e.g. "min" or "s"), in all languages I tested. In the audio output, Siri says "minutes" in English where the textual representation is "min". In German, Siri says "min", so it basically reads the textual representation aloud and that's not quite understandable to the user. struct StartTimerIntent: AppIntent { static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "Start New Timer" static var description = IntentDescription("Starts a timer with a custom duration.") @Parameter(title: "Duration", description: "The duration of the timer.") var duration: Measurement<UnitDuration> func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ProvidesDialog { // [code to execute intent goes here] return .result( dialog: .init( full: "\(duration, format: .measurement(width: .wide, usage: .asProvided)) timer started.", systemImageName: "timer" ) ) } } As this SwiftUI-style formatter doesn't seem to work with localization, I tried a different approach with a MeasurementFormatter: extension Measurement where UnitType == UnitDuration { func localized() -> String { let formatter = MeasurementFormatter() formatter.locale = .autoupdatingCurrent formatter.unitOptions = .providedUnit formatter.unitStyle = .long return formatter.string(from: self) } } Usage with String interpolation: "\(duration.localized()) timer started." This works great as long as these two languages are set to the same language on the user's device: [UI language] Settings → General → Language & Region → Preferred Language [Siri langauge] Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri → Language However, when they differ, even this method doesn't yield correct results. For example, I have my general (UI) language set to English, but my Siri language set to German. Then Siri replies in German, but the unit is formatted in English and Siri speaks it in English, so the result is a messed up sentence that's half German, half English. What is the proper way to localize parameters in dialogs for Siri? How can I make sure that parameters are localized to match Siri's language?

I have a Quick Action which flattens a PDF via Applescript. The code works extremely well--I right click in finder and the PDF is flattened, annotations are burned in, no other applications are opened, and the action completes in less than 2 seconds. Here is the Applescript code: I have a Shortcut which completes several operations on already-flattened PDFs. Presently 1) I run my Quick Action by right-clicking a PDF in Finder in order to flatten it, and 2) then right-click that save PDF in Finder to run my Shortcut on that now-flattened PDF. Ideally I'd like to add the Applescript code which flattens the PDF to the beginning of my Shortcut for the sake of convenience, and because sometimes I run my Shortcut having forgotten to flatten the PDF first. However I'm finding that the Applescript code, when placed into a Run Applescript action in Shortcuts, gives this error message: The exact same code when placed into a Run Applescript action in Automator and then run as a Quick Action by right-clicking the PDF in Finder, does not give an error and works perfectly. Does anybody have an explanation (and possible solution) for why this is the case?

I am very new to the macOS Shortcuts application. In my opinion, the documentation is sparse and totally inadequate. The internet seems to be the only method of figuring out how to use this application. I have recently created a shortcut that is working well for me. It has several steps and is too large to fit in the Shortcuts editor window, so I cannot grab a screenshot of it for documenation purposes. I also cannot copy the contents of the editor window and paste them anywhere, such as in a new Note or TextEdit document. I do think Apple should add a means to create a PDF document of the Shortcuts editor window's contents. I went to the official Apple feedback page to leave comments but, irony of ironies, the Shortcuts app is not listed there! I have no idea what I am doing at this point but am excited to learn how to use Shortcuts to automate and simplify tasks that I have to perform frequently. Here's hoping the documentation and features for this application will one day be comprehensive, comprehensible, and complete.

Hello, I am experiencing an issue with the App Intents framework where a parameter of type [String] (String Array) fails to persist user input in the Shortcuts app action editor. Issue Description: When adding an item to the String Array parameter in the Shortcuts app action editor, the input text automatically clears/resets to empty within less than 1 second. This happens spontaneously while the keyboard is still active, or immediately after typing, making it impossible to input any values. Environment: Xcode Version: 26.2 (17C52) iOS Version: 26.2.1 Device: iPhone 17 Code Snippet: import AppIntents import SwiftUI struct TestStringArrayIntent: AppIntent { static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "Test Array Input Bug" static var description: IntentDescription = "Reproduces the issue where String Array input clears automatically." // PROBLEM: // Input for this parameter vanishes automatically < 1s after typing. @Parameter(title: "Test Strings", default: []) var strings: [String] func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ReturnsValue<String> { return .result(value: "Count: \(strings.count)") } } Steps to Reproduce: Build and install the app containing the code above. Open the Shortcuts app and create a new shortcut. Add the "Test Array Input Bug" action. Tap the "Test Strings" parameter to add a new item. Type any text (e.g., "Hi"). Observe: Wait for about 1 second Observed Behavior: The text field clears itself automatically. The array remains empty ([]). Expected Behavior: The text should remain in the field and be successfully added to the array. **Filed as Feedback:**FB21808619 Thank you.

When asking Siri to run a shortcut, it will spawn two processes called BackgroundShortcutRunner that do not die when the shortcut is done running. If the Siri window is on screen when I speak to have the shortcut run it does not spawn those two processes. However if the Siri window is not on screen when I speak, the Siri window appears and spawns these two processes. The two processes do not terminate once the shortcut is done running. I now have over 200 these processes since rebooting three days ago to install 26.4. FB22015192

I have created a simple AppleScript that makes a folder named with today’s date. For many years, it has worked fine except: If I run the script (from a script app in the menu bar), then dump files into the folder, then change the colored “Tag” on the folder, I get a Finder error - An unexpected error occurred (error code -8076) - and I have to force-quit the Finder to complete the color tagging. If it change the tag before dumping the files, no error occurs. (Please hold the “Doctor, it hurts when I do this …” jokes.) This error has persisted through many macOS major iterations, including Tahoe 26.4.1. Prolly a Finder bug, but not sure. Here’s the source, for anyone interested. set dateStr to getDate() --display dialog dateStr tell application "Finder" activate try --set thisFolder to (the target of the front window) as alias set thisFolder to (the target of the front window) as string make new folder at thisFolder with properties {name:dateStr as string} on error errMsg display dialog "ERROR: " & errMsg end try end tell on getDate() set theDate to current date set theYear to year of theDate as string set theNewYear to third character of theYear & fourth character of theYear set theMonth to month of theDate as number as string if length of theMonth = 1 then set theMonth to "0" & theMonth as string end if set theDay to day of theDate as string if length of theDay = 1 then set theDay to "0" & theDay as string end if return theNewYear & " " & theMonth & " " & theDay as string end getDate

Hi all, Since updating to iOS 18.4, I'm experiencing a regression with AppIntents triggered from Widgets. In my app, I use AppIntents inside a WidgetKit extension to control HomeKit devices. This setup was working perfectly up to iOS 18.3. However, starting with iOS 18.4, when the AppIntent is triggered from the widget and the main app is not running, the action fails with this error: Error Domain=HMErrorDomain Code=80 "Missing entitlement for API." UserInfo={ NSLocalizedFailureReason=Handler does not support background access, NSLocalizedDescription=Missing entitlement for API. } Interestingly, the exact same AppIntent works fine if the app is still alive in the background — it seems like the failure only occurs when the intent is handled by the widget process. This looks like a behavior change or new restriction introduced in iOS 18.4. Has anyone experienced the same? Is there a new entitlement needed, or a recommended workaround? Thanks in advance!

After installing my notarized 3rd party app in a Tahoe VM, its embedded Automator actions can not be configured in Automator while defining a workflow: After adding the actions (enabling 3rd party extensions), their views / UI elements do not respond to any mouse event. When enabling „show this action when running“, the options can be changed during execution of the workflow. Needless to say: Adjusting these action settings in Automator was working for years, macOS 12 - 15 and before. Reported via Feedback Assistent (FB19015185). Can anybody confirm this issue with Automator actions?

So I'm developing an ios application which should be showing shortcuts, but its not. I'm not sure how to debug why the functionality isnt working. Believe I'm correctly calling AppShortcutsProvider's updateAppShortcutParameters, but I dont see any errors in the console showing me a problem. And in fact, I made a simplified just swift version that works before I tried to integrate it into a more complex project. But now I'm at a loss as to what is going wrong or what debug tools I can use to figure it out. Any help would be appreciated. When building my project I see: 025-08-18 14:07:49.371 appintentsmetadataprocessor[57506:35387547] Starting appintentsmetadataprocessor export 2025-08-18 14:07:49.414 appintentsmetadataprocessor[57506:35387547] Writing Metadata.appintents 2025-08-18 14:07:49.414 appintentsmetadataprocessor[57506:35387547] Metadata root: /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework/Metadata.appintents AppIntentsSSUTraining (in target 'UnityFramework' from project 'Unity-iPhone') cd /Users/jpetersen/no_doc_repos/payments_ios_investigation/SpotlightSearch/client/Build /Applications/Xcode_16.1.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/appintentsnltrainingprocessor --infoplist-path /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework/Info.plist --temp-dir-path /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Intermediates.noindex/Unity-iPhone.build/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.build/ssu --bundle-id com.unity3d.framework --product-path /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework --extracted-metadata-path /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework/Metadata.appintents --archive-ssu-assets 2025-08-18 14:07:49.436 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Parsing options for appintentsnltrainingprocessor 2025-08-18 14:07:49.437 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Starting AppIntents SSU YAML Generation 2025-08-18 14:07:49.444 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Training 'Start ${+applicationName}' for English 2025-08-18 14:07:49.444 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Training 'Play ${ShortcutEntity}|Play ${ShortcutEntity} on ${+applicationName}' for English 2025-08-18 14:07:49.444 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Training Negative Phrases '' for English 2025-08-18 14:07:49.444 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Application name 'UnityFramework' for English 2025-08-18 14:07:49.449 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Generated AppIntents SSU YAML files in file:///Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Intermediates.noindex/Unity-iPhone.build/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.build/ssu/ 2025-08-18 14:07:49.449 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Copied AppIntents SSU YAML files to file:///Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework/Metadata.appintents/ So I think it should be making the required app intent data :shrug:

l’m trying to automate Apple Music on macOS Tahoe 26 using ScriptingBridge. Scripts that previously worked for controlling playback, fetching track info, or manipulating playlists no longer function. For example, code like this used to work: `import ScriptingBridge let music = SBApplication(bundleIdentifier: "com.apple.Music") as! MusicApplication print(music.currentTrack?.name ?? "No track playing")` But now it fails, returning nil for track info and failing to send playback commands. Questions: Has ScriptingBridge been deprecated or broken in Tahoe 26 for Apple Music? Any guidance or example code would be appreciated.

On macOS Tahoe 26 activating GUI apps from command-line often fails. It launches the app but not brings to the foreground as expected. For example, running the following commands in Terminal is expected to launch Pages and bring it to the foreground. open /Applications/Pages.app or osascript -e `tell application "Pages" to activate` Moreover, they sometimes not return in Terminal. These commands worked as expected until macOS 15 but no more in macOS 26. The tricky part is that this failure doesn't happen 100% of the time; it occurs randomly. However, since multiple users of my app have reported the same symptoms, and I can reproduce it not only with my app but also with apps bundled to macOS, I don't believe this is an issue specific to my environment alone. I’ve already filed this issue: FB21087054 Open version: https://github.com/1024jp/AppleFeedback/issues/87 However, I’d like to know if any workaround exists or my understanding is wrong, especially for case with osascript.

Hi everyone, I’m currently experimenting with App Intents and I’m trying to customize the section titles that appear at the top of groups of intents inside the Shortcuts app UI. For example, in the Phone shortcut, there are built-in sections such as “Call Favorite Contacts” and “Call Recent Contacts” (see screenshot attached). Apple’s own system apps such as Phone, Notes, and FaceTime seem to have fully custom section headers inside Shortcuts with icon. My question is: 👉 Is there an API available that allows third-party apps to define these titles (or sections) programmatically? I went through the AppIntents and Shortcuts documentation but couldn’t find anything. From what I can tell, this might be private / Apple-only behavior, but I’d be happy to know if anybody has found a supported solution or a recommended alternative. Has anyone dealt with this before? Thanks! Mickaël 🇫🇷

I have added an "App Intents Extension" target to my main application in macOS. This generated the below two files: TWAppIntent.swift import AppIntents struct TWAppIntent: AppIntent { static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "TWAppIntentExtension" static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary { Summary("Get information on \(\.$TWType)") } //launch app on running action static var openAppWhenRun: Bool = true // we can have multiple parameter of diff types @Parameter(title: "TWType") var TWType: String func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ReturnsValue<String> & ProvidesDialog { return .result(value: TWType, dialog: "Logged break.") } } TWAppIntentExtension.swift import AppIntents @main struct TWAppIntentExtension: AppIntentsExtension { } I m able to build the extension target and I my intent action is available in the shortcuts app. However, on launching a shortcut with the above created intent action. I m getting the below popups: I have identified what is causing this error. Setting the openAppWhenRun to true is causing this error. I don't get this when it is set to false. This property is supposed to launch the application, but can someone help me understand why is it happening? This is only causing the error when using this property for AppIntent Extension and not for In app handling for the AppIntent. Can we not launch our application from AppIntent extension?

The following code works perfectly fine in iOS 17, where I can retrieve the desired dependency value through @IntentParameterDependency as expected. However, in iOS 18, addTransaction always returns nil. struct CategoryEntityQuery: EntityStringQuery { @Dependency private var persistentController: PersistentController @IntentParameterDependency<AddTransactionIntent>( \.$categoryType ) var addTransaction func entities(matching string: String) async throws -> [CategoryEnitity] { guard let addTransaction else { return [] } // ... } func entities(for identifiers: [CategoryEnitity.ID]) async throws -> [CategoryEnitity] { guard let addTransaction else { return [] } // ... } func suggestedEntities() async throws -> [CategoryEnitity] { guard let addTransaction else { return [] } // ... } } Has anyone else encountered the same issue? Any insights or potential workarounds would be greatly appreciated. iOS: 18.0 (22A3354) Xcode 16.0 (16A242d)

We are observing a regression in iOS 26.4 related to AppIntents, specifically AppEntity + EntityQuery. When using a single AppIntent with a parameter backed by AppEntity and EntityQuery, the query correctly returns multiple entities (e.g. ~50 items). However, in the Shortcuts app UI, only a single item is displayed. This behavior differs from iOS 26.3 and earlier, where all returned entities are correctly displayed in the selection list. This issue significantly impacts dynamic configuration use cases where AppEntity is used to represent server-driven or runtime-generated options.(The screenshots below illustrate the difference in shortcut presentation between iOS 26.4 and earlier versions.)

I’m looking for some advice regarding the usage of temporary exception entitlements in Mac App Store apps. Specifically the Apple Event Temporary Exception to communicate with other third party applications (not first-party macOS system apps): The Best Practices for Submitting Scriptable and AppleScript Apps to the Mac App Store section is a bit vague (how to 'request' a temporary entitlement?) and I couldn't find it mentioned in the Review Guidelines. Before designing, implementing and testing functionality based on the Apple Event Temporary Exception I’d like to know if these entitlements would: A. Always be rejected on the Mac App Store B. Only accepted in highly specific use cases C. Accepted if there is a clear use case and sufficient argumentation For this particular use case I’d like to send Apple Events to Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXPress. The application helps the user with some design tasks in their documents. The app requests the currently open documents and accesses document content to process used design elements. This is optional functionality that the user must explicitly enable in the app. I’m aware that the com.apple.security.scripting-targets entitlement is preferred. (Side question: are these always allowed or can they also be rejected for third party app scripting?) However, many third party applications don’t offer any scripting access groups in their definition, including Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXPress in this case. So before spending a lot of time implementing this feature I’d like to have some indication whether it is unlikely that sending Apple Events to third party apps will be allowed on the Mac App Store. Thanks for any insights!

My team is preparing for iOS 18, and wanted to add intents using assistant schemas that are iOS 18 and above restricted. We noticed that the result builder for AppShortcuts added support for limitedAvailabilityCondition from iOS 17.4 so we marked the whole struct as available from it. The app compiles but writing a check like below inside appShortcuts property a crash will happen in iOS 17.5 runtime. (Removing the #available) is solving this problem. if #available(iOS 18, *) { AppShortcut( intent: SearchDonut(), phrases: [ "Search for a donut in \(.applicationName)" ], shortTitle: "search", systemImageName: "magnifyingglass" ) } We tried out putting the os check above and returning shortcuts in arrays and that both compiles and runs but then AppShortcuts.strings sends warnings that the phrases are not used (This phrase is not used in any App Shortcut or as a Negative Phrase.) because the script that extracts the phrases somehow fails to perform when shortcuts are written like below: static var appShortcuts: [AppShortcut] { if #available(iOS 18.0, *) { return [ AppShortcut( intent: CreateDonutIntent(), phrases: [ "Create Donut in \(.applicationName)", ], shortTitle: "Create Donut", systemImageName: "pencil" ) ] } else { return [ AppShortcut( intent: CreateDonutIntent(), phrases: [ "Create Donut in \(.applicationName)", ], shortTitle: "Create Donut", systemImageName: "pencil" ) ] } } This is very problematic because we can't test out on TF with external users new intents dedicated for iOS 18. We filed a radar under FB15010828

AppleScript for the Music app no longer supports the current track event. Before macOS Tahoe, running the following script in Script Editor would return the current track information: tell application "Music" return name of current track end tell However, when I run this script on a device with macOS 26 Tahoe, I receive this error: "Result: error "Music got an error: Can’t get name of current track." number -1728 from name of current track” I've tested this extensively, and here are my findings: Going to the “songs” tab and playing something from there makes everything work. Playing any song directly will make it work with current track UNLESS this song is NOT in your Music library (either added through Apple Music or uploaded). If you play a song not in your library, current track is not updated even if you clicked on it specifically. Playing an album (in your library obviously) makes all the tracks within it appear in current track until autoplay takes over. Any autoplayed track won’t appear in current track even if in your library (unless: see the last bulletpoint) Music played through the “songs” tab all appear in current track even if autoplay kicks in. I assume this is because this tab is an iTunes legacy (visually and under the hood) and doesn’t use the modern autoplay. This tab also won’t play non-library songs unlike the “albums” tab which seems to use the correct autoplay and suffers the same symptoms as the “recently added”, “home”, “radio”, etc… tabs. Is this a bug, or has Apple simply deprecated this functionality?