Demystify code signing and its importance in app development. Get help troubleshooting code signing issues and ensure your app is properly signed for distribution.

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Bundle Identifier and development team when running playground on xcode
Hi everyone, I am doing my app playground, when I change the development team or try to clear it, this bug happend? So I wonder do I have to remove it when I submit my work or just leave it there. Signing for "myapp" requires a development team. Select a development team in the Signing & Capabilities editor.
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416
Feb ’25
Provisioning profile failed qualification - SensorKit Reader Access entitlement issue during app distribution
Hello, I'm currently developing an iOS app that uses SensorKit. Everything works fine in development and testing — the app correctly requests and receives SensorKit permissions on test devices. In my App ID configuration, the SensorKit Reader Access entitlement (com.apple.developer.sensorkit.reader.allow) is included and visible in Xcode under the project’s entitlements list. However, when I try to archive and distribute the app, I get the following errors in Xcode: Provisioning profile failed qualification Profile doesn't support SensorKit Reader Access. Provisioning profile failed qualification Profile doesn't include the com.apple.developer.sensorkit.reader.allow entitlement. Even though my provisioning profile includes this entitlement, Xcode still refuses to distribute the app. Here’s what I’ve confirmed so far: The provisioning profile lists com.apple.developer.sensorkit.reader.allow in its entitlements. SensorKit works perfectly in debug and development builds. The issue only occurs when attempting to distribute (Archive → Distribute App). Could this be because my account has only development entitlement for SensorKit and not the distribution entitlement? If so, how can I verify or request the proper distribution entitlement for SensorKit Reader Access? Thank you for any guidance or confirmation from Apple regarding this entitlement behavior.
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437
Dec ’25
Notarization submissions stuck "In Progress" for 2+ days
Multiple notarization submissions have been stuck at "In Progress" status for over 2 days with no resolution or error: 4996643b-4512-4025-9648-028fbafca82f - submitted Jan 18 b6db6cd0-dad7-4a8e-b1fc-379467c1086d - submitted Jan 17 88f269c1-56ea-4404-98ba-edbe9a05b3d2 - submitted Jan 19 No logs available (notarytool log returns "not yet available"). The submissions were uploaded successfully and received submission IDs. Is there a known issue with the notarization service?
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258
2w
screen recording entitlements for MacOS
My app records the screen to use the audio for audio analysis for a music visualization. The app works perfectly in production but when uploaded to Transporter is rejected as below. What is the correct entitlement to use as the entitlement I am using seems deprecated. Validation failed (409) Invalid Code Signing Entitlements. Your application bundle's signature contains code signing entitlements that are not supported on macOS. Specifically, key 'com.apple.security.screen-capture' in 'com.boxedpandora.pulse.pkg/Payload/PuLsE.app/Contents/MacOS/PuLsE' is not supported. (ID: a1a436f5-925d-43bc-908d-0761064d589b) Many thanks for any input provided!
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170
Mar ’25
launching app with error "domain: RBSRequestErrorDomain; code: 5; Launch failed."
After upgrading the iOS system to 18.3.1, the APP crashed continuously when it was launched. The following log was seen in the device log: Bootstrapping failed for <FBApplicationProcess: 0x72ad16b80; app<com.xxxx.yyyy>:> with error: <NSError: 0x300cd4d80; domain: RBSRequestErrorDomain; code: 5; "Launch failed."> { NSUnderlyingError = <NSError: 0x300cd4ab0; domain: NSPOSIXErrorDomain; code: 85> { NSLocalizedDescription = Launchd job spawn failed; }; } Our APP is in-house distribution What are the possible causes? How can I solve it?
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536
Mar ’25
WatchOS Companion app on VPP Crashing on Launch
Hello, I sent this in as a feedback several weeks ago about watchOS 26.2 beta 2 but since the issue is still active now that watchOS 26.2 is in production I'm reposting here for the community. I would also like to submit a DTS about this issue but honestly don't know the best way to go about it and would appreciate advice about that. There seems to be an issue with VPP distribution for our app on watchOS 26.2. When our watchOS companion app is launched after being installed through VPP to a supervised iPhone, it encounters a dyld error before main() or any application code is even called. The same app launches correctly in every other circumstance we could imagine and test: – Installed through VPP on supervised devices running watchOS 26.1. – Installed from the app store (using an apple id) on a supervised iPhone and paired watch running iOS 26.2 / watchOS 26.2. – Installed through Testflight on a supervised iPhone and paired watch running iOS 26.2 / watchOS 26.2. – Installed through the app store on unsupervised devices running watchOS 26.1 and 26.2. This strongly appears to be a VPP signing issue because we even did the following experiment: Install iPhone and Watch apps through the App Store on a supervised device pair running public iOS 26.2 beta 2 / watchOS 26.2 beta 2. Verify that both apps launch successfully. Use an MDM command to install from VPP over the existing installations Verify that the watch app fails to launch (the iOS app is unaffected) My feedback included some crash logs which I won't be reposting publicly here. Any feedback or ideas appreciated.
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435
Dec ’25
Notifications filtering request - do we need separate approvals for apps belonging in the same account?
I have two apps - say A and B in my AppStore account, deployed in the AppStore. App A has obtained the com.apple.developer.usernotifications.filtering entitlement and this is added to my AppStore account by Apple after approval. Note that this is added for the account, and not for the specific app. Now, my app B also wants this functionality. Followed all the steps as done for app A - adding the already approved entitlement to my app B's identifier, regenerating the profiles, adding the key in the entitlements file, calling the completion handler with empty content like - contentHandler(UNNotificationContent()) Still the notifications show, the filtering is not working. Do I have to request the entitlement for App B separately? Even if I do request again, I am not sure if there is going to be any difference in the steps already done. The difference can only be if Apple has a mapping with the app id internally in their system, for the filtering to work? If I have white-labelled versions of apps A or B, do I have to request again then? Or does Apple restrict only one app to have this entitlement from one AppStore account? Please guide on the next steps here.
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838
Dec ’25
xcrun notarytool submit going on 48 hours "In Progress"
I've submitted my app four times, each time waiting a few hours for something to happen, then reducing the file size of my *.dmg and trying again. The first two seemed to have completed after 36 hours, but I no longer have that specific signed binary (and its a much smaller binary now anyway). The latest two are still "In Progress" and its almost been 48 hours. I know my process isn't wrong, and my app isn't somehow incorrectly built or being denied because two were accepted. The outage page shows green for the notary tool (https://developer.apple.com/system-status/) so I'm not sure what the hold up is.
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160
4w
Notarization taking forever
I am submitting .dmg notarization requests from Sequoia 15.7.3 using xcrun submit. My developer certificate was created in the last two weeks and is valid. I have had some successful notarizations already so I know that my configuration is correct. However, for the last 48 hours all of my submissions are stuck at 'in progress'. Is there an issue with the notarization service on Apple's side?
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4w
Side Button Access entitlement not appearing in Xcode capabilities list
Hi everyone, I'm trying to add the Side Button Access entitlement to my voice-based conversational app following the documentation, but I'm unable to find it in Xcode. Steps I followed: Selected my app target in Xcode project navigator Went to the Signing & Capabilities tab Clicked the + Capability button Searched for "Side Button Access" Problem: The "Side Button Access" option does not appear in the capabilities list at all. Environment: I'm developing and testing in Japan (where this feature should be available) Xcode version: Xcode 26.2 beta 3 iOS deployment target: iOS 26.2 Questions: Is there any pre-registration or special approval process required from Apple before this entitlement becomes available? Are there any additional requirements or prerequisites I need to meet? Is this feature already available, or is it still in a limited beta phase? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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646
Dec ’25
VM App - PCIDriverKit Entitlement for Thunderbolt
I want to help contribute a feature in a virtual-machine app in macOS that supports PCIe device passthrough over thunderbolt. I have a question about the entitlements. Since I do not represent the GPU vendors, would I be allowed to get a driver signed that matches GPU vendor IDs? Is there such a thing as wildcard entitlement for PCIDriverKit? I don't want end-users to have to disable SIP to be able to use this. Any suggestions/leads? Thank you.
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534
Jan ’26
Determining if an entitlement is real
This issue keeps cropping up on the forums and so I decided to write up a single post with all the details. If you have questions or comments: If you were referred here from an existing thread, reply on that thread. If not, feel free to start a new thread. Use whatever topic and subtopic is appropriate for your question, but also add the Entitlements tag so that I see it. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" Determining if an entitlement is real In recent months there’s been a spate of forums threads involving ‘hallucinated’ entitlements. This typically pans out as follows: The developer, or an agent working on behalf of the developer, changes their .entitlements file to claim an entitlement that’s not real. That is, the entitlement key is a value that is not, and never has been, supported in any way. Xcode’s code signing machinery tries to find or create a provisioning profile to authorise this claim. That’s impossible, because the entitlement isn’t a real entitlement. Xcode reports this as a code signing error. The developer misinterprets that error [1] in one of two ways: As a generic Xcode code signing failure, and so they start a forums thread asking about how to fix that problem. As an indication that the entitlement is managed — that is, requires authorisation from Apple to use — and so they start a forums thread asking how to request such authorisation. The fundamental problem is step 1. Once you start claiming entitlements that aren’t real, you’re on a path to confusion. Note If you’re curious about how provisioning profiles authorise entitlement claims, read TN3125 Inside Code Signing: Provisioning Profiles. There are a couple of ways to check whether an entitlement is real. My preferred option is to create a new test project and use Xcode’s Signing & Capabilities editor to add the corresponding capability to it. Then look at what Xcode did. You might find that Xcode claimed a different entitlement, or added an Info.plist key, or did nothing at all. IMPORTANT If you can’t find the correct capability in the Signing & Capabilities editor, it’s likely that this feature is available to all apps, that is, it’s not gated by an entitlement or anything else. Another thing you can do is search the documentation. The vast majority of real entitlements are documented in Bundle Resources > Entitlements. IMPORTANT When you search for documentation, focus on the Apple documentation. If, for example, you search the Apple Developer Forums, you might be mislead by other folks who are similarly confused. If you find that you’re mistakenly trying to claim a hallucinated entitlement, the fix is trivial: Remove it from your .entitlements file so that your app starts to build again. Then add the capability using Xcode’s Signing & Capabilities editor. This will do the right thing. If you continue to have problems, feel free to ask for help here on the forums. See the top of this post for advice on how to do that. [1] Xcode 26.2, currently being seeded as Release Candidate, is much better about this (r. 155327166). Give it a whirl! Commonly Hallucinated Entitlements This section lists some of the more commonly hallucinated entitlements: com.apple.developer.push-notifications — The correct entitlement is aps-environment (com.apple.developer.aps-environment on macOS), documented here. There’s also the remote-notification value in the UIBackgroundModes property. com.apple.developer.in-app-purchase — There’s no entitlement for in-app purchase. Rather, in-app purchase is available to all apps with an explicit App ID (as opposed to a wildcard App ID). com.apple.InAppPurchase — Likewise. com.apple.developer.storekit — Likewise. com.apple.developer.in-app-purchase.non-consumable — Likewise. com.apple.developer.in-app-purchase.subscription — Likewise. com.apple.developer.app-groups — The correct entitlement is com.apple.security.application-groups, documented here. And if you’re working on the Mac, see App Groups: macOS vs iOS: Working Towards Harmony. com.apple.developer.background-modes — Background modes are controlled by the UIBackgroundModes key in your Info.plist, documented here. UIBackgroundModes — See the previous point. com.apple.developer.voip-push-notification — There’s no entitlement for this. VoIP is gated by the voip value in the UIBackgroundModes property. com.apple.developer.family-controls.user-authorization — The correct entitlement is com.apple.developer.family-controls, documented here. IMPORTANT As explained in the docs, this entitlement is available to all developers during development but you must request authorisation for distribution. com.apple.developer.device-activity — The DeviceActivity framework has the same restrictions as Family Controls. com.apple.developer.managed-settings — If you’re trying to use the ManagedSettings framework, that has the same restrictions as Family Controls. If you’re trying to use the ManagedApp framework, that’s not gated by an entitlement. com.apple.developer.callkit.call-directory — There’s no entitlement for the Call Directory app extension feature. com.apple.developer.nearby-interaction — There’s no entitlement for the Nearby interaction framework. com.apple.developer.secure-enclave — On iOS and its child platforms, there’s no entitlement required to use the Secure Enclave. For macOS specifically, any program that has access to the data protection keychain also has access to the Secure Enclave [1]. See TN3137 On Mac keychain APIs and implementations for more about the data protection keychain. com.apple.developer.networking.configuration — If you’re trying to configure the Wi-Fi network on iOS, the correct entitlement is com.apple.developer.networking.HotspotConfiguration, documented here. com.apple.developer.musickit — There is no MusicKit capability. Rather, enable MusicKit via the App Services column in the App ID editor, accessible from Developer > Certificates, Identifiers, and Profiles > Identifiers. com.apple.mail.extension — Creating an app extension based on the MailKit framework does not require any specific entitlement. com.apple.security.accessibility — There’s no entitlement that gates access to the Accessibility APIs on macOS. Rather, this is controlled by the user in System Settings > Privacy & Security. Note that sandboxed apps can’t use these APIs. See the Review functionality that is incompatible with App Sandbox section of Protecting user data with App Sandbox. com.apple.developer.adservices — Using the AdServices framework does not require any specific entitlement. [1] While technically these are different features, they are closely associated and it turns out that, if you have access to the data protection keychain, you also have access to the SE. Revision History 2025-12-09 Updated the Xcode footnote to mention the improvements in Xcode 26.2rc. 2025-11-03 Added com.apple.developer.adservices to the common hallucinations list. 2025-10-30 Added com.apple.security.accessibility to the common hallucinations list. 2025-10-22 Added com.apple.mail.extension to the common hallucinations list. Also added two new in-app purchase hallucinations. 2025-09-26 Added com.apple.developer.musickit to the common hallucinations list. 2025-09-22 Added com.apple.developer.storekit to the common hallucinations list. 2025-09-05 Added com.apple.developer.device-activity to the common hallucinations list. 2025-09-02 First posted.
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3.4k
Dec ’25
Upon trying to archive I got funny errors preventing it
When I try to archive an app in order to submit it to the App Store I receive the following errors I do not know how to fix: error: Framework /Users/fbartolom/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Virtual_Tags-apzduassdiglhcapscsllvzbfgid/Build/Intermediates.noindex/ArchiveIntermediates/Virtual Tags/InstallationBuildProductsLocation/Applications/VirtualTags.app/Frameworks/StoreKit.framework did not contain an Info.plist (in target 'VirtualTags' from project 'Virtual Tags') error: Framework /Users/fbartolom/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Virtual_Tags-apzduassdiglhcapscsllvzbfgid/Build/Intermediates.noindex/ArchiveIntermediates/Virtual Tags/InstallationBuildProductsLocation/Applications/VirtualTags.app/Frameworks/Security.framework did not contain an Info.plist (in target 'VirtualTags' from project 'Virtual Tags') error: Framework /Users/fbartolom/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Virtual_Tags-apzduassdiglhcapscsllvzbfgid/Build/Intermediates.noindex/ArchiveIntermediates/Virtual Tags/InstallationBuildProductsLocation/Applications/VirtualTags.app/Frameworks/CloudKit.framework did not contain an Info.plist (in target 'VirtualTags' from project 'Virtual Tags') MacBook Pro M5, Tahoe 26.1, Xcode 26.1.1
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Dec ’25
Mac App Packaging
Can someone please explain why Mac app packaging is so farcically convoluted? Windows app packaging can be picked up in an hour or so. But I've spent longer trying to fathom how to package the Mac version than I did building the app. And it's not done with me yet. Every single line of code requires a deep dive into a new, unrelated skillset. So, it’s sidebar after sidebar. Kafka’s ‘The Trial’ comes to mind. Why does it have to be like this?
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Nov ’25
Title: Push notifications not working on iOS – aps-environment missing in signed app with manual Codemagic signing
Hi everyone, I’m having trouble getting remote push notifications working on iOS for a production Flutter app, and it looks like it’s related to the provisioning profile / entitlements used during signing. Context Platform: Flutter Push provider: OneSignal (backend is Supabase; Android push works fine) CI: Codemagic Target: iOS TestFlight / App Store builds I’m on Windows, so I cannot open Xcode locally. All iOS builds happen via Codemagic. Capabilities / entitlements In the Apple Developer portal, my App ID for com.zachspizza.app has: Push Notifications capability enabled A separate Broadcast capability is listed but currently not checked. In my repo, ios/Runner/Runner.entitlements contains: xml aps-environment production So the project is clearly requesting the push entitlement. Codemagic signing setup For my App Store workflow (ios_appstore_release in codemagic.yaml ): I use a combination of manual and automatic signing: Environment variables can provide: P12_BASE64 + P12_PASSWORD (distribution certificate) MOBILEPROVISION_BASE64 (a .mobileprovision file) A script in the workflow: Creates a temporary keychain. Imports the .p12 and installs the .mobileprovision into ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles. For the final export, I generate an exportOptions.plist that does: If a profile name/UUID is provided via env (PROV_PROFILE_SPEC, PROV_PROFILE_UUID, PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER, PROVISIONING_PROFILE): xml signingStylemanual provisioningProfiles com.zachspizza.app[profile name or UUID] Otherwise, it falls back to: xml signingStyleautomatic After archiving and exporting, my script runs: bash codesign -d --entitlements :- "$ARCHIVE_PATH/Products/Applications/Runner.app" ... and again on the signed Runner.app inside the exported IPA codesign -d --entitlements :- "$SIGNED_APP" In both cases, the effective entitlements output does not show aps-environment, even though: The App ID has push enabled. Runner.entitlements includes aps-environment = production. Observed behavior iOS devices (TestFlight build) do not receive remote push notifications at all. Android devices receive notifications as expected with the same backend payloads. OneSignal configuration and backend are verified; this appears to be an APNs / signing / entitlements problem. The Codemagic logs strongly suggest that the provisioning profile being used for signing does not carry aps-environment. Questions Under what conditions would a distribution provisioning profile (for an App ID with Push Notifications enabled) result in a signed app without aps-environment, even when: The entitlements file in the project includes aps-environment, and The App ID in the Developer portal has Push Notifications enabled? Does using a CI flow like the above (custom .p12 + .mobileprovision installed via script, exportOptions with signingStyle=manual) increase the chances of: Xcode ignoring the requested entitlements, or Selecting a provisioning profile variant that does not include the push entitlement? Is there a recommended way, from the Apple side, to verify that a given .mobileprovision (the one I’m base64-encoding and installing in CI) definitely includes the aps-environment entitlement for my bundle ID? i.e., a canonical method to inspect the profile and confirm that APNs is included before using it in CI? Are there any known edge cases where: The project entitlements include aps-environment, The App ID has Push Notifications enabled, But the final signed app still has no aps-environment, due to profile mismatch or signing configuration? Given that I’m on Windows and can’t open Xcode to manage signing directly, I’d really appreciate guidance on how to ensure that the correct push-enabled provisioning profile is being used in this CI/manual-signing setup, and how to debug why aps-environment is being stripped or not applied. CodeMagic Signing/Export Step: Signing / entitlements output from Codemagic Dumping effective entitlements for Runner.app in archive... /Users/builder/clone/build/ios/archive/Runner.xcarchive/Products/Applications/Runner.app: code object is not signed at all Failed to dump entitlements Exporting IPA with exportOptions.plist... 2025-11-20 22:25:00.111 xcodebuild[4627:42054] [MT] IDEDistribution: -[IDEDistributionLogging _createLoggingBundleAtPath:]: Created bundle at path "/var/folders/w2/rrf5p87d1bbfyphxc7jdnyvh0000gn/T/Runner_2025-11-20_22-25-00.110.xcdistributionlogs". 2025-11-20 22:25:00.222 xcodebuild[4627:42054] [MT] IDEDistribution: Command line name "app-store" is deprecated. Use "app-store-connect" instead. ▸ Export Succeeded Dumping entitlements from signed Runner.app inside exported IPA... Executable=/private/var/folders/w2/rrf5p87d1bbfyphxc7jdnyvh0000gn/T/tmp.LHkTK7Zar0/Payload/Runner.app/Runner warning: Specifying ':' in the path is deprecated and will not work in a future release application-identifier.com.zachspizza.app beta-reports-active com.apple.developer.team-identifier get-task-allow As you can see, the signed app’s entitlements do not contain aps-environment at all, even though Runner.entitlements in the project has aps-environmentproduction and the App ID has Push Notifications enabled. Thanks in advance for any help and pointers.
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210
Dec ’25
Notarization time
Hi Team, i'm running into same issue with notarization time. I create new, small app for a customer but however the notarization is running since this morning, so almost a few hours. This isn't normal or ? Is there anything what i can do ? Best regard, Lars
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425
Nov ’25