Hi everyone, I'm working on an app for parents and kids where parents can define screen time goals or restrict usage of certain app categories (like social media or games). If the kid follows those rules—for example, by using their device less or avoiding restricted categories—they would earn points or rewards in the app. I’ve been exploring if the Apple Screen Time API allows developers to access this kind of data (like total screen time, app usage by category, etc.) so that I can track the kid’s behavior and reward them accordingly. Is it possible to programmatically access this data and implement such a reward system within my app? If so, what’s the best way to get started or which APIs should I look into? Thanks in advance for your help!

I want to localize the app name, user the String Catalog to set en, en-US, en-CA, however, when the phone language is set to English (United States), the app name is displayed in English, while when the phone language is set to French, the app name is displayed in English-United States. However, the base language of the app settings is English. How can I make it right?

Hi I'm trying to build a screen time app and the Apple docs and APIs really leave something to be desired. I want to block apps on a schedule. That's it. To do this I need my DeviceActivityMonitorExt to know which apps to block. I need to somehow pass a DeviceActivitySelection from the main app into this DeviceActivityMonitorExt. How can I do this?

I want to start the mail application from the development application, but the mail application made by Apple starts. It doesn't work even if I change the default email application to Outlook. When you delete the Apple Mail app, Outlook starts. I want to automatically attach the generated pdf file to the email, but that doesn't work either. Please tell me how to code.

Hi all — I’m building a Wallet-style transaction details view using FinanceKit and I’m running into a gap around merchant location. What I’m seeing FinanceKit gives me great core fields (amount, currency, status, dates, MCC, merchantName, transactionDescription), but I’m not seeing any address or place/location metadata on a Transaction. For example, a small/local merchant where I can plausibly infer a single place: Fetched transaction: Transaction( id: 8D142B16-3E0E-40B8-945A-2E7C0CF65F1D, accountID: 14939CF4-DBC3-4A9D-8292-5FEA495B8461, transactionAmount: 47.24 USD, creditDebitIndicator: .debit, transactionDescription: "Local Dental Care", originalTransactionDescription: "Local Dental Care", merchantCategoryCode: 8021, merchantName: "Local Dental Care", transactionType: .pointOfSale, status: .booked, transactionDate: 2025-08-20 22:27:50 +0000, postedDate: 2025-08-21 11:22:06 +0000 ) Because this appears to be a single-location practice, I can usually resolve it to a place using MapKit search heuristics. But for big-box chains, I don’t get enough signal to determine which store: Fetched transaction: Transaction( id: 3F8E9F74-7565-4D24-9038-8FD709184799, accountID: 14939CF4-DBC3-4A9D-8292-5FEA495B8461, transactionAmount: 441.77 USD, creditDebitIndicator: .debit, transactionDescription: "The Home Depot", originalTransactionDescription: "The Home Depot", merchantCategoryCode: 5200, merchantName: "The Home Depot", transactionType: .pointOfSale, status: .booked, transactionDate: 2023-12-27 23:07:02 +0000, postedDate: 2023-12-29 03:09:41 +0000 ) There’s no store number, address, phone, or any stable identifier. With hundreds of locations, I can’t deterministically choose a map pin or fetch the right brand assets. What I’m trying to achieve I’d like to replicate the Apple Wallet experience: show a small map snapshot and merchant visuals (logo/name that match Apple Maps / the Place Card) on the transaction detail screen. Without a location hint, I have to either: Ask users to pick a store manually, or Make a guess based on a coarse, app-defined region …neither of which feels great. Questions Is there any way in FinanceKit today to access merchant location or a resolvable identifier (e.g., address, city/state, store number, Apple Maps place identifier, network merchant ID/MID, terminal ID, etc.)? If not, can FinanceKit expose additional merchant metadata (even opt-in / privacy-preserving) to enable Wallet-like enrichment? A few examples that would unblock this: merchantAddress (or components: street/city/region/postalCode/country) merchantPhone (often unique per store) merchantIdentifier (stable per physical location, e.g., network merchant ID / store number) mapsPlaceURL or mapsPlaceIdentifier (linkage to the Apple Maps Place Card) brandAssetURL (logo/brand reference similar to what Wallet shows) With even one of the above, I could reliably: Render an accurate map snapshot, Fetch the correct brand assets, and Avoid prompting the user or inferring via fuzzy search. Context / constraints I do not want to (and shouldn’t need to) request or monitor the user’s device location to resolve a merchant’s store location. For small merchants, MapKit text search is often enough. For large chains, I need a store-level identifier. If there’s an existing field or recommended approach I’m missing, I’d love pointers. If not, please consider this a feature request for richer merchant metadata in FinanceKit so developers can build Wallet-quality transaction details. Thanks!

Hi, I’m working on a proof of concept for a CarPlay application where I need to display multiple Points of Interest, such as EV charging stations and fuel stations. The app will also allow users to book a selected Point of Interest (for example, an EV charging slot). I understand that the app can be registered under the Navigation (turn‑by‑turn) category, but I wanted to check whether it is also possible to register it under the Driving Task category. I also want to know if i can Register for multiple Categories for my car play application.

Hello, If I fire an alarm using AlarmKit, using a ringtone that lengths less than 30 seconds, in the last version of iOS (26.0) the sound doesn't repeat. (After about 30 seconds, the sounds stops). BUT in the current version of iOS (26.1), the sound repeats until we slide Stop, thing that I doesn't want. So, is there a way to restore the previous behavior? Or is there a property that can fill this lack? Thank you very much.

We now know the IsEligibleForAgeFeatures API is NOT returning True in Brazil at least 2 days past compliance date, and we don't know if that's the right API, or how it behaves. Folks here: Is there anyone here from Brazil who has tested out this 26.4 API? Has anyone tested out the regulatory feature API? Does it return something like declaredAgeRangeRequired? I don't know how to test it in Brazil without sandbox/physically in Brazil. Much appreciated!!

When fetching Apple Savings transactions via FinanceKit, the data is missing key context about where the deposit originated from. Here’s an example transaction I retrieved: Transaction( id: 77371A0C-7122-42C7-BEBC-85BDF654AD2B, accountID: 68D9FE9D-6DA6-4A27-BB9D-19209CD29A56, transactionAmount: 1.46 USD, creditDebitIndicator: .credit, transactionDescription: "Deposit", originalTransactionDescription: "", merchantCategoryCode: nil, merchantName: nil, transactionType: .deposit, status: .booked, transactionDate: 2025-08-20 13:44:26 +0000, postedDate: 2025-08-20 13:44:26 +0000 ) As shown: transactionDescription is just "Deposit" merchantName is nil No indication of the source account In contrast, the Wallet app clearly shows context for Apple Savings account deposits, such as: "Apple Card" (daily cash) "Bank of America" (external transfer) "Interest Paid" (we do see "Interest" come through correctly) Without this metadata, third-party apps cannot replicate Wallet’s clarity about where a deposit came from. Every deposit simply appears as "Deposit", which is ambiguous. Request: Please expose additional metadata for Apple Savings account transactions, for example: sourceAccountName (e.g. “Apple Card” or “Bank of America”) transactionOriginType (cashback, external bank transfer, interest) institutionIdentifier or similar for external banks This would allow developers to show clear, Wallet-quality transaction details and avoid confusing users. Impact: The lack of source info makes Savings deposits nearly indistinguishable from one another, even though Wallet provides this context. For apps leveraging FinanceKit, this results in a poorer experience compared to Apple’s own Wallet. Thanks!

Hi, I'm using ScreenCaptureKit on macOS 14+ to record a single window. I've noticed that the Presenter Overlay only appears when capturing the entire screen, but it does not appear when recording a specific window or a region. Is there a way to enable the Presenter Overlay while recording a single window or a defined region, similar to how it works with full-screen capture? Any guidance or clarification would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hi, My app is going to consist of 2-3 pages of weather data. Do I have to add the Apple Weather logo to each page, or just the main one? Thanks, Dan Uff

Hi! We’ve had Live Caller ID Lookup in production for a while. We’re seeing backend RPS on our /queries endpoint much higher than our expected incoming call volume. While testing with Console.app during an incoming call, it looks like iOS may still hit our service even when the caller number is already in the user’s Contacts - but I’m not 100% sure from logs alone. Can you confirm: Does iOS invoke Live Caller ID Lookup (i.e. call /queries) for every incoming call, including calls from saved Contacts? If yes, is this simply expected framework behavior? Thanks!

Hi DTS / Apple engineers, We’re attempting to extending our screen time app target to Mac Catalyst. On iOS, FamilyControls works as expected (AuthorizationCenter + FamilyActivityPicker, then ManagedSettings shields + DeviceActivity monitoring/reporting). On Mac Catalyst: The project builds with FamilyControls/DeviceActivity/ManagedSettings capabilities enabled. But attempting to request FamilyControls authorization (or present FamilyActivityPicker) fails at runtime. We see errors similar to: Failed to get service proxy: The connection to service named com.apple.FamilyControlsAgent was invalidated: failed at lookup with error 159 - Sandbox restriction. And our app stays authorizationStatus == .notDetermined, with the request failing. We saw an Apple engineer suggestion to “disable App Sandbox”, but Mac Catalyst apps appear to always be sandboxed, so we can’t disable it. Questions: Is FamilyControls authorization supported on Mac Catalyst today? If so, what entitlement/capability is required specifically for Catalyst/macOS? If FamilyControls auth cannot succeed on Catalyst, does that mean ManagedSettings shields and DeviceActivity monitoring/reporting are effectively unusable on Catalyst (since they depend on that authorization)? Is there an Apple‑recommended approach for a Catalyst “portal” app that mirrors an iOS child device’s restrictions, or is local enforcement on Catalyst intentionally unsupported? Any guidance (and any official docs that clarify current platform support) would be hugely appreciated.

Hi all, I'm trying to set up universal links for my app but it's not working. What I want: cogover.com → Safari (website) - NOT my app *.cogover.com (any subdomain like abc.cogover.com) → My app What I did: Added applinks:*.cogover.com in Xcode Put AASA files on all subdomains They work fine (checked with curl) Problem: All links still open in Safari, not my app. I do not put AASA on my root domain cogover.com because I don't want open my app with root domain. I have checked TN3155: Debugging universal links | Apple Developer Documentation but it only say about universal link works with both root domain and subdomains. Weird thing I found: I checked how Salesforce does it - their *.force.com subdomains work perfectly. But when I tried to check their setup, (https://force.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association) doesn't seem to exist either! So how does theirs work? Even stranger - Apple's CDN has their file cached at (https://app-site-association.cdn-apple.com/a/v1/force.com) but the actual domain doesn't serve it. Can Apple's CDN have a file cached even if it's not on the website anymore? Thanks for any help!

We’re seeing unexpected NFC behavior once our app has 50+ Advanced App Clips created. Expected: Scanning an NFC tag with a URL that is NOT an App Clip invocation should show the standard “Open in Safari” notification. Actual: After we create ~50+ Advanced App Clips, scanning NFC tags for URLs on the same domain that are not associated with App Clips consistently shows “CPSErrorDomain error 2” instead of the Safari prompt.
 QR codes for the same non–App Clip URLs work as expected (shows Safari prompt). Clearing the App Clips “Experience Cache” sometimes helps briefly, but the error returns on consequent scans. Notes: Domain has valid AASA. App Clip invocation URLs work as expected.
 The issue appears tied to the number of Advanced App Clips configured. Below ~50, non–App Clip NFC scans behave correctly; above that, they fail.
 Affected across multiple devices and iOS versions tested. Repro steps: Configure 50+ Advanced App Clips for paths on a single domain.
 Encode a different URL on the same domain that is NOT listed as an App Clip invocation into an NFC tag.
 Scan the NFC tag on iPhone.
 Observe “CPSErrorDomain error 2” instead of the “Open in Safari” notification. Impact: blocks our NFC use case for regular web links once we scale App Clip experiences. Sysdiagnose #: FB20563121

I'm new to the Screen Time API and trying to block custom websites, but I can't get WebDomain tokens to work. When I create a WebDomain like WebDomain(domain: "reddit.com"), the token property is always nil. I have proper authorization and the app works fine for blocking apps, but website blocking just won't work. I'm confused because I see apps like JOMO that let users type in any website domain and successfully block it using Screen Time API. They have the same 49 domain limit and only ask for Screen Time permission, so they must be using the same API I am. But somehow their WebDomain tokens work and mine don't. I've tried creating the tokens right after getting authorization and during the FamilyActivityPicker session, but still get nil. Am I missing some setup step or API call that makes WebDomain tokens valid? Any help would be really appreciated since I'm stuck on this.

We developed a "Default Translation App" following the guide: https://aninterestingwebsite.com/documentation/translationuiprovider/preparing-your-app-to-be-the-default-translation-app. I have already configured everything that needs to be configured according to the document, but there is still this problem

I'm trying to fade in the sound used in my alarm app but currently there's no way to achieve this since the alarm sound loops and if i add a fade-in at the beginning of my audio, every time the audio loops the fadein happens.

I'm encountering what appears to be a specific precedence behavior with ManagedSettingsStore.shield and would appreciate some further clarification. My current understanding is that category-level shields take precedence over individual app allowances. My test involved... Using FamilyActivityPicker to select a single target application (e.g., "Calculator," which falls under the "Utilities" category). Using FamilyActivityPicker again to select the category of that target application. I applied shields using ManagedSettingsStore (named .individual): store.shield.applicationCategories = .specific(Set([utilitiesCategoryToken])) store.shield.applications = Set([calculatorApplicationToken]) Result: The calculator app remains shielded, suggesting that the category-level shield on Utilities overrides the attempt to allow the individual app. I also tried this using a single picker, but received only the category token instead of all application tokens in that category. Is this observed precedence (where store.shield.applicationCategories effectively overrides store.shield.applications for apps within the shielded category) the intended behavior? If so, are there any mechanisms available within the main app's capabilities (potentially using a Device Activity Report Extension or Shield Extension) to allow a specific ApplicationToken if its corresponding ActivityCategoryToken is part of the store.shield.applicationCategories set? Essentially, can store.shield.applications be used to create "allow exceptions" for individual apps that fall into an otherwise shielded category? Additionally, I mentioned that selecting an entire category in the picker only returns the opaque category token, not any application tokens. Is there any way in which I could return both the category and all application tokens by just selecting the category? Any insights or pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Hello, We are using a Message Filter Extension (ILMessageFilterExtension) to classify SMS/iMessage content (junk vs allow) in our app. After testing on iOS 26.1, we want to confirm whether there are any behavioral, performance, or API-level changes that impact message filtering, such as: Changes in how often the filter extension is invoked Differences in classification accuracy or system overrides New privacy, entitlement, or permission-related restrictions Execution time limits or memory constraints Any changes specific to iMessage vs SMS filtering We did not find any explicit mention of Message Filter Extensions in the iOS 26.1 release notes and would like to confirm whether the existing behavior from previous iOS versions remains unchanged. Has Apple introduced any known or undocumented changes in iOS 26.1 that developers should be aware of when supporting Message Filter Extensions? Sometime I also found unpredictable behaviour on iOS version 18.5 or below, like sometime it works but sometimes starts working. Thanks in advance for any guidance.