Hello, I am currently developing an MDM solution, including both the sever-side(.NET) and the client app. I have recently been granted the "MDM CSR" signing permission in the Certificates, Identifier & Profiles of my developer account. I am following the official Apple documentation, "Setting up Push Notifications for your MDM Customers," to generate the required MDM Push Certificate. However, I keep encountering the "Invalid Certificate Signing Request" error when uploading the encoded .plist file to the Apple Push Certificates Portal(identity.apple.com/pushcert). The steps I have taken so far: Generated .csr file via Keychain Access Used the MDM SCR certificate to sign the request. Created a .plist file for th final upload containing : Customer CSR: Base64 encoded Signature : Signed using the SHA256withRSA algorithm and Base64 encoded. Certificate Chain : Including my MDM Vendor Signing Certificate, the Apple WWDR intermediate certificate, and the Apple Root CA. Issues/Questions: Is there a specific requirement for the order of the certificates in the chain? Are there common pitfalls regarding the .plist structure or the encoding of the signature that might cause the "Invalid CSR" error? Is there a tool or a specific validation step I can use to verify the integrity of the generated .plist before uploading? I have double-checked the encoding and the signing process, but the portal continues to reject the request. Any insights or guidance from community would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!

I’m building a firefighter app that needs to automatically check in a firefighter when they arrive at the station and check them out when they leave — even if the app is killed. We need reliable enter/exit detection, low latency, and only one fixed location per user. We’re evaluating Region Monitoring, which works in the killed state but may introduce delays and inconsistent accuracy. To ensure mission-critical reliability, we are considering the Location Push Service Extension, since it can fetch precise location on demand and wake the extension even when the app is terminated. Before requesting the restricted entitlement, we need clarification on Apple’s expectations: Is Region Monitoring recommended for this fixed-location use case? Would Apple consider approving the Location Push Service Extension for a public-safety workflow? What prerequisites do we need before submitting the entitlement request (Always permission, prototype, privacy disclosures, etc.)? What details should be included in the justification form? Our goal is to follow the most reliable and Apple-approved approach for firefighter check-in/out. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Is there any information for developer about notification forwarding which is published in iOS 26.3? how to use it ?

Version: iOS 18.1 and later (works as expected on iOS 18.0 and earlier) Area: SpringBoard / Notification Center / App Icon Rendering Description: When changing the app's alternate icon using UIApplication.setAlternateIconName(_:completionHandler:), the icon is updated correctly on the Home Screen and App Switcher. However, in Notification Center, the old app icon is still shown for notifications, even after the change has completed. This issue only occurs on iOS 18.1 and later. In iOS 18.0 and earlier, Notification Center correctly reflects the updated icon. - Steps to reproduce: Create an iOS app with alternate app icons configured in the Info.plist. Use UIApplication.shared.setAlternateIconName("IconName") to change the icon at runtime. Send a notification. Pull down Notification Center and observe the icon shown beside the notification. - Expected Behavior: Notification Center should reflect the updated (alternate) app icon immediately after the change. - Actual Behavior: Notification Center continues to display the old (primary) app icon. The new icon appears correctly on the Home Screen and App Switcher. Restarting the device does cause Notification Center to update and reflect the correct icon, which suggests a cache or refresh issue in SpringBoard or Notification Center. - Notes: Issue introduced in iOS 18.1; not present in 18.0. Reproduces on both physical devices and simulators. Occurs with both scheduled local notifications and remote notifications. Restarting the device updates the Notification Center icon, but this is not a viable user-facing workaround.

When subscription renewing , can do purchase_date faster than notification_date quickly? I received my app user purchase notification this purchase date is 2025-08-31 06:42:54(UTC) but notification date is 2025-08-30 22:45:01(UTC) how can you do this? I can't understand it please let me explain

We are currently planning the development of an iOS healthcare application that will require the use of Critical Alerts. I understand that these notifications bypass Do Not Disturb and Silent mode, and therefore require special entitlement from Apple. We understand that Critical Alerts require a special entitlement from Apple. Could you please clarify: Do we need to request and obtain Apple’s approval for Critical Alerts before we begin development of the app? Or can we apply for this entitlement after we have a working build or prototype ready? We want to ensure compliance and streamline our development process, so any guidance on the appropriate timing for the entitlement request would be greatly appreciated.

Is there a public method to know when an APNS has appeared on the screen? wrapping up a very high end photogrammetry app, using the front facing camera and screen illumination- incoming notifications completely throw off the math. Ideally, it would be great to turn on Do Not Disturb for the short process, but we’d settle for just the detection of the notification banner. also: extra credit - programattically adjusting Auto Dimming, and True Tone would be lovely too.

Hi All, im working on a project to send a push notification in CarPlay. Current accepted by apple entitlements is driving. Are custom actions / buttons allowed/supported in CarPlay notifications?

Push-notification token is properly requested and displayed from the iOS simulator / xcode, but not from the release in the AppStore... Both popups for permission (push-notifications and critical alert) appear and can be confirmed, but no callback takes place...

I created an app. One if its functionalities is receive Remote Notification in the background, while app is monitoring Significant Location Changes (SLC). This functionality worked fine. I was receiving these notifications correctly. Sometimes instantly, sometime with small or large delay. And then I send the app for review. It was rejected with 3 remarks: The app or metadata includes information about third-party platforms that may not be relevant for App Store users, who are focused on experiences offered by the app itself (I wrote that app communication works both for iOS and Android.) The app declares support for audio in the UIBackgroundModes key in your Info.plist but we are unable to locate any features that require persistent audio. EULA (End User License Agreement) is missing for in-app purchases. After the rejection the app is no longer receiving these notifications. They are there, since the app receives them, when I open app, or significant location change is detected. It also works, when I run the app directly from Xcode (in debug mode), not from TestFlight nor in Sandbox. It seem to me like Apple somehow spoiled my background capabilities on purpose or accidentally. Is it possible? What can I do with it? Is it the case that I should just fix the review remarks and send the app back to review, and once the app passes it, it will work again? Or should I not count on it? Any suggestions? I asked Apple using: https://aninterestingwebsite.com/contact/topic/#!/topic/select but so far no response.

My App supports two services that is Push Notification for Alerts and a Voip Call feature whose notification also comes in the same way as of PushNotification but video rendering is done with GoogleWebRTC. The App was working perfectly fine but from past few months these services are not working.[ Nothing is changed in App and on the server side to push the notifications] Issues: VoIP (Video call) not working: I have apns certificate which is valid in today's date and stays with the backend Server. My server sends the payload notification to APNS but on iPhone am unable to receive it. I have checked the App registration part also and is able to receive the token for the same. Framework used are: PushKit, UserNotifications, GoogleWebRTC . I don't understand where is the gap, the backend triggers the APNS but there no response. Ports enabled on server are: 443, 5223, 2197, 2195, 2196. Similarly Push notification were also not working, So I tried to change it to register on Firebase for device registration token And did some coding at backend to send the notification to that device. It was working perfectly fine from last few weeks, but it suddenly stopped. I checked the JSON Payload and tried to send it through PostMan, in both it says 200 Success. And in Application end am waiting for breakpoint to hit in userNotificationCenter(_: , willPresent, completionHandler). What all I have checked: 1)My server to APNS server connectivity. 2)Verified the apns certificate. The certificate was created in October 2024, whose expiry is in Nov 2025 and it support both Sandbox and Production environment. 3)Checked required delegates are implemented in App. With the capability enable in it, is also sending registration token to backend. Kindly guide me where I can check in this flow. Thanks in Advance!

Hi, there is a issue that iOS background NFC scanning will only provide a notification result, It need user click to enter my APP, can I have any method to enter my APP directly without user action ?

Hi all, May I please ask for an official clarification or documentation reference from Apple regarding this scenario: Is it possible for an iOS app to automatically launch or open a specific screen when a push notification is received — while the app is in the background or terminated (killed) state? I understand that for most cases, user interaction (such as tapping the notification) is required before the app can show UI. However, I’d like to confirm whether this is also true for time-sensitive or critical alert notifications, including emergency use cases (e.g. public safety alerts). Specifically: Can a critical alert notification directly launch the app or present a view controller? Or is user interaction always required before the app can present any UI, even with the critical alert entitlement? I would appreciate if anyone — especially Apple staff or engineers — could share an official Apple document or statement that confirms this behavior. Thank you very much! (Use case context: I’m developing an emergency broadcast feature for a property management / tenant app.)

The iOS documentation shows notification actions buttons with the text center aligned: https://aninterestingwebsite.com/documentation/usernotifications/declaring-your-actionable-notification-types But there's no apparent way for an app to control this. The buttons are controlled and rendered by the system and the text is always left aligned. Is there some way to get the text center aligned?

I'm experiencing issues with didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken not being called on iOS 18.1.1. Here's what I've tried: Basic Setup: Properly configured UNUserNotificationCenter Requested permissions with requestAuthorization(options:) Registered for remote notifications with registerForRemoteNotifications() Environment: Xcode 16.3 iOS 18.1.1 (physical device) Firebase (tried with and without it) Troubleshooting: Verified provisioning profile includes Push Notifications Confirmed APNs certificate is valid Disabled Firebase's method swizzling Tested on a clean project (works fine) Checked device logs (no relevant errors) Code Snippet: // In AppDelegate.swift public func application(_ application: UIApplication, didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data) { let tokenParts = deviceToken.map { data in String(format: "%02.2hhx", data) } let tokenString = tokenParts.joined() print("📱 Device Token: \(tokenString)") // Store the token for your backend UserDefaults.standard.set(tokenString, forKey: "deviceToken") // Send to backend Task { do { try await APIService.shared.setDeviceToken(tokenString) } catch { print("❌ [AppDelegate] Failed to send device token to backend: \(error)") } } } public func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? = nil) -> Bool { // IMPORTANT: First handle push notification registration UNUserNotificationCenter.current().delegate = self // Request notification permissions self.requestNotificationPermissions() // Register for remote notifications DispatchQueue.main.async { UIApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications() } return true } private func requestNotificationPermissions() { UNUserNotificationCenter.current().requestAuthorization(options: [.alert, .badge, .sound]) { granted, error in guard granted else { print("❌ Notification permission not granted") return } print("✅ Notification permission granted") } }

I have multiple app ids that are registered with Push Notification, however they do not hsow up in the Push Notification Console for testing.

I have a messaging app that has been working successfully for several years. It still works for most users, but about one month ago one of my users started experiencing issues receiving notifications. From my investigation, the user's Notification Service Extension (NSE) has not been triggered since they started reporting the issue. I was able to access the user's phone and connected it to the console to check for any logs related to the NSE being triggered or a push notification being received, but there were no relevant logs. I have already verified that notifications are enabled for the app and that Do Not Disturb is not active. I also tried sending a test notification using the CloudKit Console. The notification was successfully delivered to other push notification tokens, but it did not work for this specific device’s token. I have also confirmed that the push token on the server matches the one on the device and that it is being used with the APNs production environment. The issue for this user started in iOS version 26.2 and are still ongoing in version 26.3.1 . Has anyone encountered a similar issue or have suggestions on how to further diagnose this?

Hi Apple team and fellow developers, We previously had Location Push Service Extension enabled and working in production. After transferring the app to a new Apple Developer team, the production App ID was transferred, but the Location Push entitlement was not retained. We've also created a new App ID for development, and now need Location Push access enabled for both the transferred production ID and the new development ID. We’ve already submitted the Location Push Access form with all relevant details. Unfortunately, the App Transfer documentation didn’t make it clear that Location Push access would be lost, and now we’re blocked from making new builds — even for the existing production app. ❓ Questions: Is it possible to re-enable Location Push for a transferred App ID? What’s the expected timeline for entitlement approval? Can Apple staff confirm the request status or let us know if any further action is needed? Thanks in advance — this entitlement is critical for our app’s functionality and release pipeline. Best, Aidar

Currently, I have implemented local cache update with server data when app is killed using Push Notification and Notification Service Extension. So it works even the app is killed by the user, but I wanted to know whether this is app review safe work around or not as I am not finding any documentation for this.

Here are some questions we received and answers: Q1: Is there a limit to the number of alarms that can be scheduled using AlarmKit? There is no set number as a limit, but this does not mean you can schedule a limitless number of alarms. Depending on device state, available resources, etc., the device may impose a limit, and restrict an app trying to schedule too many alarms simultaneously. When you hit a limit and not able to schedule more alarms, you will receive the maximumLimitReached error. Q2: Will the scheduled alarms persist after system or app events that may terminate an app, for example, a reboot, force quit, or app crash? Yes, all alarms are expected to persist regardless of app or device state changes, once they are successfully scheduled. Q3: Will alarms work if scheduled by an app that is hidden, or requires a passcode or Touch ID/Face ID to launch? Hidden or passcode required apps do not work with AlarmKit. Currently, any scheduled alarms by such apps will silently fail. Q4: When an alarm is dismissed (either by swiping or pressing the power button), can an app detect this action and execute code in response? What about force closed apps? When an alarm is dismissed, the stopIntent set in the AlarmConfiguration is called. Any code in the perform method of this AppIntent would execute. Q5: Is there a focus mode that AlarmKit cannot break through? No. AlarmKit alarms can break through all focus modes. Q6: What is the expected behavior when alarms from multiple apps overlap? Which one gets priority? Which alarm would get activated when multiple alarms are scheduled for the same time is non-deterministic. There is no way to guarantee which app or which alarm will "win". Q7: What do pressing the physical buttons do when an AlarmKit alarm is active? Any physical button that causes a reaction from AlarmKit will stop the currently alerting alarm. Q8: If there are multiple alarms active at one time, which ones do physical buttons interact with? Pressing a physical button will dismiss all currently alerting alarms Argun Tekant /  DTS Engineer / Core Technologies Change History: 2025-08-15: First posted