Prioritize user privacy and data security in your app. Discuss best practices for data handling, user consent, and security measures to protect user information.

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Should ATT come before a 3rd party CMP? Does the order matter?
When presenting a cookie banner for GDPR purposes, should ATT precede the cookie banner? It seems that showing a Cookie Banner and then showing the ATT permission prompt afterwards (if a user elects to allow cookies/tracking) would be more appropriate. Related question: Should the “Allow Tracking” toggle for an app in system settings serve as a master switch for any granular tracking that might be managed by a 3rd party Consent Management Platform? If ATT is intended to serve as a master switch for tracking consent, if the ATT prompt is presented before a cookie banner, should the banner even appear if a user declines tracking consent? I’m not finding any good resources that describe this flow in detail and I’m seeing implementations all over the place on this. Help! Thanks!!!
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185
Jul ’25
App Attest Issue in Production - Attestation Object Size Increased
Hi Apple Team and Community, We encountered a sudden and widespread failure related to the App Attest service on Friday, July 25, starting at around 9:22 AM UTC. After an extended investigation, our network engineers noted that the size of the attestation objects received from the attestKey call grew in size notably starting at that time. As a result, our firewall began blocking the requests from our app made to our servers with the Base64-encoded attestation objects in the payload, as these requests began triggering our firewall's max request length rule. Could Apple engineers please confirm whether there was any change rolled out by Apple at or around that time that would cause the attestation object size to increase? Can anyone else confirm seeing this? Any insights from Apple or others would be appreciated to ensure continued stability. Thanks!
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193
Jul ’25
Apple SignIn not working for an account that was deleted.
I was testing an app with AppleSignIn with a Firebase backend and wanted to test account deletion functionality. I was unaware of needing to revoke the token with Apple before proceeding with account deletion. Now, when I try to create a new account with the same appleId email, the token passed to Firebase is invalid and the login fails. As such, I am blocked from testing my app with authenticated Apple users, so I'm trying to understand what the workaround is. Thanks in advance!
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385
Jan ’25
Local Authentication & localized reason string
In a project I was using Local Authentication to authenticate a user. When I got a request to support smartcard/PIV token authentication (which Local Authentication does not support), I had to switch to Authorization Services, which works pretty. There's only one issue I have. Local Authentication's evaluatePolicy:localizedReason:reply: requires a reason in the form "<appname>" is trying to <localized reason>. The app is currently translated into 41 languages and I would like to use the localized strings for the AuthorizationEnvironment of Authorization Services as well. The problem is that Local Authentication prefixes the localized string with something like "<appname>" is trying to and Authorization Services does not do this. Is there a way to get this prefix from somewhere so I can manually add it to the (partially) localized string? Any help would be highly appreciated. Thank you, Marc
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Feb ’25
App Sandbox Resources
General: Forums subtopic: Privacy & Security > General Forums tag: App Sandbox App Sandbox documentation App Sandbox Design Guide documentation — This is no longer available from Apple. There’s still some info in there that isn’t covered by the current docs but, with the latest updates, it’s pretty minimal (r. 110052019). Still, if you’re curious, you can consult an old copy [1]. App Sandbox Temporary Exception Entitlements archived documentation — To better understand the role of temporary exception entitlements, see this post. Embedding a command-line tool in a sandboxed app documentation Discovering and diagnosing App Sandbox violations (replaces the Viewing Sandbox Violation Reports forums post) Resolving App Sandbox Inheritance Problems forums post The Case for Sandboxing a Directly Distributed App forums post Implementing Script Attachment in a Sandboxed App forums post Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" [1] For example, this one archived by the Wayback Machine.
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2.7k
Jul ’25
My first launch and... My Apple Developer Account suddenly disappeared
Hi! I've just opened Xcode and found that I can't build my app anymore. The error was about signing. Basically, there's no team in my account. Also, I've found that all my certificates have been revoked! I created my dev account a month ago and released only one macOS app. It's SecFolder (it's not self-promotion!!!). App not even in the App Store. I planned to self-distribute it. I'm in a little shock right now since I've just launched and had my first users. And of course, my app is now gone from their Macs, screaming "malware" popup in their faces now :( Since my app is all about paranoia security, this is basically a death sentence for my project... Could someone with experience in the Apple dev ecosystem help me understand what might have gone wrong? Why might Apple think that my app is malware or something? P.S. My app is about Advanced File Access Control for macOS. It gives user complete control over which applications can access specified by user files and folders
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394
Dec ’24
ASWebAuthenticationSession crash after window closes on macOS
I'm trying to use ASWebAuthenticationSession on macOS but there is a weird crash and I have no idea what to do. It looks like there is a main thread check in a framework code that I have no control over. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance. The stack of crashed thread has no symbols, even for supposedly my code in OAuthClient.authenticate. macOS 15.4.1 (24E263) Xcode Version 16.3 (16E140) Thread 11: EXC_BREAKPOINT (code=1, subcode=0x10039bb04) Thread 12 Queue : com.apple.NSXPCConnection.m-user.com.apple.SafariLaunchAgent (serial) #0 0x0000000100b17b04 in _dispatch_assert_queue_fail () #1 0x0000000100b52834 in dispatch_assert_queue$V2.cold.1 () #2 0x0000000100b17a88 in dispatch_assert_queue () #3 0x000000027db5f3e8 in swift_task_isCurrentExecutorWithFlagsImpl () #4 0x00000001022c7754 in closure #1 in closure #1 in OAuthClient.authenticate() () #5 0x00000001022d0c98 in thunk for @escaping @callee_guaranteed (@in_guaranteed URL?, @guaranteed Error?) -> () () #6 0x00000001c7215a34 in __102-[ASWebAuthenticationSession initWithURL:callback:usingEphemeralSession:jitEnabled:completionHandler:]_block_invoke () #7 0x00000001c72163d0 in -[ASWebAuthenticationSession _endSessionWithCallbackURL:error:] () #8 0x00000001c7215fc0 in __43-[ASWebAuthenticationSession _startDryRun:]_block_invoke_2 () #9 0x0000000194e315f4 in __invoking___ () #10 0x0000000194e31484 in -[NSInvocation invoke] () #11 0x00000001960fd644 in __NSXPCCONNECTION_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_REPLY_BLOCK__ () #12 0x00000001960fbe40 in -[NSXPCConnection _decodeAndInvokeReplyBlockWithEvent:sequence:replyInfo:] () #13 0x00000001960fb798 in __88-[NSXPCConnection _sendInvocation:orArguments:count:methodSignature:selector:withProxy:]_block_invoke_3 () #14 0x0000000194a6ef18 in _xpc_connection_reply_callout () #15 0x0000000194a6ee08 in _xpc_connection_call_reply_async () #16 0x0000000100b3130c in _dispatch_client_callout3_a () #17 0x0000000100b362f8 in _dispatch_mach_msg_async_reply_invoke () #18 0x0000000100b1d3a8 in _dispatch_lane_serial_drain () #19 0x0000000100b1e46c in _dispatch_lane_invoke () #20 0x0000000100b2bfbc in _dispatch_root_queue_drain_deferred_wlh () #21 0x0000000100b2b414 in _dispatch_workloop_worker_thread () #22 0x0000000100c0379c in _pthread_wqthread () My code: @MainActor func authenticate() async throws { let authURL = api.authorizationURL( scopes: scopes, state: state, redirectURI: redirectURI ) let authorizationCodeURL: URL = try await withUnsafeThrowingContinuation { c in let session = ASWebAuthenticationSession(url: authURL, callback: .customScheme(redirectScheme)) { url, error in guard let url = url else { c.resume(throwing: error ?? Error.unknownError("Failed to get authorization code")) return } c.resume(returning: url) } session.presentationContextProvider = presentationContextProvider session.start() } let authorizationCode = try codeFromAuthorizationURL(authorizationCodeURL) (storedAccessToken, storedRefreshToken) = try await getTokens(authorizationCode: authorizationCode) } Here is disassembly of the crashed function. libdispatch.dylib`_dispatch_assert_queue_fail: 0x10067fa8c <+0>: pacibsp 0x10067fa90 <+4>: sub sp, sp, #0x50 0x10067fa94 <+8>: stp x20, x19, [sp, #0x30] 0x10067fa98 <+12>: stp x29, x30, [sp, #0x40] 0x10067fa9c <+16>: add x29, sp, #0x40 0x10067faa0 <+20>: adrp x8, 71 0x10067faa4 <+24>: add x8, x8, #0x951 ; "not " 0x10067faa8 <+28>: adrp x9, 70 0x10067faac <+32>: add x9, x9, #0x16b ; "" 0x10067fab0 <+36>: stur xzr, [x29, #-0x18] 0x10067fab4 <+40>: cmp w1, #0x0 0x10067fab8 <+44>: csel x8, x9, x8, ne 0x10067fabc <+48>: ldr x10, [x0, #0x48] 0x10067fac0 <+52>: cmp x10, #0x0 0x10067fac4 <+56>: csel x9, x9, x10, eq 0x10067fac8 <+60>: stp x9, x0, [sp, #0x10] 0x10067facc <+64>: adrp x9, 71 0x10067fad0 <+68>: add x9, x9, #0x920 ; "BUG IN CLIENT OF LIBDISPATCH: Assertion failed: " 0x10067fad4 <+72>: stp x9, x8, [sp] 0x10067fad8 <+76>: adrp x1, 71 0x10067fadc <+80>: add x1, x1, #0x8eb ; "%sBlock was %sexpected to execute on queue [%s (%p)]" 0x10067fae0 <+84>: sub x0, x29, #0x18 0x10067fae4 <+88>: bl 0x1006c258c ; symbol stub for: asprintf 0x10067fae8 <+92>: ldur x19, [x29, #-0x18] 0x10067faec <+96>: str x19, [sp] 0x10067faf0 <+100>: adrp x0, 71 0x10067faf4 <+104>: add x0, x0, #0x956 ; "%s" 0x10067faf8 <+108>: bl 0x1006b7b64 ; _dispatch_log 0x10067fafc <+112>: adrp x8, 108 0x10067fb00 <+116>: str x19, [x8, #0x2a8] -> 0x10067fb04 <+120>: brk #0x1
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May ’25
Trusted Execution Resources
Trusted execution is a generic name for a Gatekeeper and other technologies that aim to protect users from malicious code. General: Forums topic: Code Signing Forums tag: Gatekeeper Developer > Signing Mac Software with Developer ID Apple Platform Security support document Safely open apps on your Mac support article Hardened Runtime document WWDC 2022 Session 10096 What’s new in privacy covers some important Gatekeeper changes in macOS 13 (starting at 04: 32), most notably app bundle protection WWDC 2023 Session 10053 What’s new in privacy covers an important change in macOS 14 (starting at 17:46), namely, app container protection WWDC 2024 Session 10123 What’s new in privacy covers an important change in macOS 15 (starting at 12:23), namely, app group container protection Updates to runtime protection in macOS Sequoia news post Testing a Notarised Product forums post Resolving Trusted Execution Problems forums post App Translocation Notes forums post Most trusted execution problems are caused by code signing or notarisation issues. See Code Signing Resources and Notarisation Resources. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
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3.2k
Jul ’25
Developing Platform SSO extension
Hi, I am developing a Platform SSO in order to have integrated with our IdP, which I am also adapting to provide the right endpoints for Platform SSO. I have a few questions about the implementation: does the client-request-id need to be present on all requests? Is it unique per request, or requests that are bound together like those requesting a nonce and those who will use that nonce should use the same client-request-id? I am not sure how the loginManager.presentRegistrationViewController works. I'd like to get the user to authenticate to my IdP before device registration. So I am not sure if I should provide my own Webview or something similar or if this method should do something for me; My idea is to request user authentication once, save the state when performing device registration, so that I avoid asking for user authentication twice when performing user registration. Is this the right way to do it? How does platform SSO handles tokens? If one application of my IdP requests the authentication on a common OIDC/OAuth2 flow, should I perform some sort of token exchange? How about SAML? Platform SSO seems to be token-centric, but how does one handle SAML flows? Is it by using WebView as well?
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59
Nov ’25
Unexpectedly invalidated Biometrics in iOS 18.3.2 or later
There is a sudden surge of users in our apps with invalidated biometrics. Even though the issue is being handled correctly and the user has another way to login, some of the users forgot their passwords and they can not login. Is there any known issue with Biometrics in iOS 18.3.2 or later? There is a (possible) related discussion here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256011565
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Apr ’25
Feature Request: Allow Foundation Models in MessageFilter Extensions
I’d like to submit a feature request regarding the availability of Foundation Models in MessageFilter extensions. Background MessageFilter extensions play a critical role in protecting users from spam, phishing, and unwanted messages. With the introduction of Foundation Models and Apple Intelligence, Apple has provided powerful on-device natural language understanding capabilities that are highly aligned with the goals of MessageFilter. However, Foundation Models are currently unavailable in MessageFilter extensions. Why Foundation Models Are a Great Fit for MessageFilter Message filtering is fundamentally a natural language classification problem. Foundation Models would significantly improve: Detection of phishing and scam messages Classification of promotional vs transactional content Understanding intent, tone, and semantic context beyond keyword matching Adaptation to evolving scam patterns without server-side processing All of this can be done fully on-device, preserving user privacy and aligning with Apple’s privacy-first design principles. Current Limitations Today, MessageFilter extensions are limited to relatively simple heuristics or lightweight models. This often results in: Higher false positives Lower recall for sophisticated scam messages Increased development complexity to compensate for limited NLP capabilities Request Could Apple consider one of the following: Allowing Foundation Models to be used directly within MessageFilter extensions Providing a constrained or optimized Foundation Model API specifically designed for MessageFilter Enabling a supported mechanism for MessageFilter extensions to delegate inference to the containing app using Foundation Models Even limited access (e.g. short text only, strict execution limits) would be extremely valuable. Closing Foundation Models have the potential to significantly raise the quality and effectiveness of message filtering on Apple platforms while maintaining strong privacy guarantees. Supporting them in MessageFilter extensions would be a major improvement for both developers and users. Thank you for your consideration and for continuing to invest in on-device intelligence.
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How to manage User Account Token
I am running a service available on both an app and a web platform with "Sign In with Apple." Should I store the tokens separately, or should I overwrite them in a single storage location? When a user requests to sign out, should I revoke both the app and web tokens, or will revoking the app token automatically cover the web token as well?
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388
Jan ’25
Submission Rejected: Guideline 5.1.1 - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and Storage
Hi, I am in need of your help with publishing my game. I got the following explanation for the negative review of my app/game. Issue Description One or more purpose strings in the app do not sufficiently explain the use of protected resources. Purpose strings must clearly and completely describe the app's use of data and, in most cases, provide an example of how the data will be used. Next Steps Update the local network information purpose string to explain how the app will use the requested information and provide a specific example of how the data will be used. See the attached screenshot. Resources Purpose strings must clearly describe how an app uses the ability, data, or resource. The following are hypothetical examples of unclear purpose strings that would not pass review: "App would like to access your Contacts" "App needs microphone access" See examples of helpful, informative purpose strings. The problem is that they say my app asks to allow my app to find devices on local networks. And that this needs more explanation in the purpose strings. Totally valid to ask, but the problem is my app doesn't need local access to devices, and there shouldn't be code that asks this?? FYI the game is build with Unity. Would love some help on how to turn this off so that my app can get published.
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How to Digitally Sign a PDF File in Swift?
I'm currently working on a project in Swift where I need to digitally sign a PDF file. I have the following resources available: Private Key stored in the iOS Keychain with a tag. Public Key also stored in the iOS Keychain with a tag. A valid certificate stored as a PEM string. I need to digitally sign a PDF file with the above keys and certificate, but I'm struggling to find a clear and straightforward example or guidance on how to achieve this in Swift. Specifically, I’m looking for help with: Creating the digital signature using the private key and certificate. Embedding this signature into the PDF file. Any considerations I should be aware of regarding the format of the signed PDF (e.g., CMS, PKCS7, etc.). If anyone has experience with digitally signing PDFs in Swift, I would greatly appreciate your guidance or code examples. Thank you in advance!
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545
Dec ’24
Is it possible for an iOS app extension to support App Attest?
From watching the video on App Attest the answer would appear to be no, but the video is a few years old so in hope, I thought I would post this question anyway. There's several scenarios where I would like a notification service extension to be able to use App Attest in communications with the back end(for example to send a receipt to the backend acknowledging receipt of the push, fetching an image from a url in the push payload, a few others). Any change App Attest can be used in by a notification service extension?
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Authentication using MSAL library in offline mode
Hi. We are trying to get the access token before calling any API. The app can go in bad network areas but the token acquisition keeps happening for the network call. The devices are managed devices which means it has some policies installed. We are using MSAL lib for the authentication and we are investigating from that angle too but the below error seems to be coming from apple authentication which needs our attention. ========================================== LaunchServices: store (null) or url (null) was nil: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=68, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. Failed to initialize client context with error Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=68, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Failed to get application extension record: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "(null)" ASAuthorizationController credential request failed with error: Error Domain=com.apple.AuthenticationServices.AuthorizationError Code=1003 "(null)" ========================================== This happens mostly when we switches the network or keep the device in no or low network area. This comes sometimes when app goes in background too. Just trying to give as much as information I could. Any lead would be highly appreciated. Thank you
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99
Apr ’25
Accessibility permission not granted for sandboxed macOS menu bar app (TestFlight & local builds)
Hello, I am developing a macOS menu bar window-management utility (similar in functionality to Magnet / Rectangle) that relies on the Accessibility (AXUIElement) API to move and resize windows and on global hotkeys. I am facing a consistent issue when App Sandbox is enabled. Summary: App Sandbox enabled Hardened Runtime enabled Apple Events entitlement enabled NSAccessibilityDescription present in Info.plist AXIsProcessTrustedWithOptions is called with prompt enabled Observed behavior: When App Sandbox is enabled, the Accessibility permission prompt never appears. The app cannot be manually added in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. AXIsProcessTrusted always returns false. As a result, window snapping does not work. When App Sandbox is disabled: The Accessibility prompt appears correctly. The app functions as expected. This behavior occurs both: In local builds In TestFlight builds My questions: Is this expected behavior for sandboxed macOS apps that rely on Accessibility APIs? Are window-management utilities expected to ship without App Sandbox enabled? Is there any supported entitlement or configuration that allows a sandboxed app to request Accessibility permission? Thank you for any clarification.
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