Hi everyone,
I’m working on an offline-first iOS app using Core Data.
I have a question about safe future updates: in my project, I want to be able to add new optional fields to existing Entities or even completely new Entities in future versions — but nothing else (no renaming, deleting, or type changes).
Here’s how my current PersistenceController looks:
import CoreData
struct PersistenceController {
static let shared = PersistenceController()
let container: NSPersistentContainer
init(inMemory: Bool = false) {
container = NSPersistentContainer(name: "MyApp")
if inMemory {
container.persistentStoreDescriptions.first!.url = URL(fileURLWithPath: "/dev/null")
}
container.loadPersistentStores(completionHandler: { (storeDescription, error) in
if let error = error as NSError? {
print("Core Data failed to load store: \(error), \(error.userInfo)")
}
})
container.viewContext.automaticallyMergesChangesFromParent = true
}
}
Do I need to explicitly set these properties to ensure lightweight migration works?
shouldMigrateStoreAutomatically = true
shouldInferMappingModelAutomatically = true
Or, according to the documentation, are they already true by default, so I can safely add optional fields and new Entities in future versions without breaking users’ existing data?
Thanks in advance for your guidance!
iCloud & Data
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Hi everyone,
I'm looking for the correct architectural guidance for my SwiftData implementation.
In my Swift project, I have dedicated async functions for adding, editing, and deleting each of my four models. I created these functions specifically to run certain logic whenever these operations occur. Since these functions are asynchronous, I call them from the UI (e.g., from a button press) by wrapping them in a Task.
I've gone through three different approaches and am now stuck.
Approach 1: @MainActor Functions
Initially, my functions were marked with @MainActor and worked on the main ModelContext. This worked perfectly until I added support for App Intents and Widgets, which caused the app to crash with data race errors.
Approach 2: Passing ModelContext as a Parameter
To solve the crashes, I decided to have each function receive a ModelContext as a parameter. My SwiftUI views passed the main context (which they get from @Environment(\.modelContext)), while the App Intents and Widgets created and passed in their own private context. However, this approach still caused the app to crash sometimes due to data race errors, especially during actions triggered from the main UI.
Approach 3: Creating a New Context in Each Function
I moved to a third approach where each function creates its own ModelContext to work on. This has successfully stopped all crashes. However, now the UI actions don't always react or update. For example, when an object is added, deleted, or edited, the change isn't reflected in the UI. I suspect this is because the main context (driving the UI) hasn't been updated yet, or because the async function hasn't finished its work.
My Question
I'm not sure what to do or what the correct logic should be. How should I structure my data operations to support the main UI, Widgets, and App Intents without causing crashes or UI update failures?
Here is the relevant code using my third (and current) approach. I've shortened the helper functions for brevity.
// MARK: - SwiftData Operations
extension DatabaseManager {
/// Creates a new assignment and saves it to the database.
public func createAssignment(
name: String, deadline: Date, notes: AttributedString,
forCourseID courseID: UUID, /*...other params...*/
) async throws -> AssignmentModel {
do {
let context = ModelContext(container)
guard let course = findCourse(byID: courseID, in: context) else {
throw DatabaseManagerError.itemNotFound
}
let newAssignment = AssignmentModel(
name: name, deadline: deadline, notes: notes, course: course, /*...other properties...*/
)
context.insert(newAssignment)
try context.save()
// Schedule notifications and add to calendar
_ = try? await scheduleReminder(for: newAssignment)
newAssignment.calendarEventIDs = await CalendarManager.shared.addEventToCalendar(for: newAssignment)
try context.save()
await MainActor.run {
WidgetCenter.shared.reloadTimelines(ofKind: "AppWidget")
}
return newAssignment
} catch {
throw DatabaseManagerError.saveFailed
}
}
/// Finds a specific course by its ID in a given context.
public func findCourse(byID id: UUID, in context: ModelContext) -> CourseModel? {
let predicate = #Predicate<CourseModel> { $0.id == id }
let fetchDescriptor = FetchDescriptor<CourseModel>(predicate: predicate)
return try? context.fetch(fetchDescriptor).first
}
}
// MARK: - Helper Functions (Implementations omitted for brevity)
/// Schedules a local user notification for an event.
func scheduleReminder(for assignment: AssignmentModel) async throws -> String {
// ... Full implementation to create and schedule a UNNotificationRequest
return UUID().uuidString
}
/// Creates a new event in the user's selected calendars.
extension CalendarManager {
func addEventToCalendar(for assignment: AssignmentModel) async -> [String] {
// ... Full implementation to create and save an EKEvent
return [UUID().uuidString]
}
}
Thank you for your help.
Hi,
I did cloudkit synchronization using swiftdata.
However, synchronization does not occur automatically, and synchronization occurs intermittently only when the device is closed and opened.
For confirmation, after changing the data in Device 1 (saving), when the data is fetched from Device 2, there is no change.
I've heard that there's still an issue with swiftdata sync and Apple is currently troubleshooting it, is the phenomenon I'm experiencing in the current version normal?
Since publishing new record types to my CloudKit schema in production, a previously unchanged record type has stopped indexing new records.
While records of this type are successfully saved without errors, they are not returned in query results—they can only be accessed directly via their recordName. This issue occurs exclusively in the Production environment, both in the CloudKit Console and our iOS app.
The problem began on July 21, 2025, and continues to persist. The issue affects only new records of this specific record type; all other types are indexing and querying as expected.
The affected record's fields are properly configured with the appropriate index types (e.g., QUERYABLE) and have been not been modified prior to publishing the schema.
With this, are there any steps I should take to restore indexing functionality for this record type in Production? There have been new records inserted, and I would prefer to not have to reset the production database, if possible.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
iCloud & Data
Tags:
CloudKit
Cloud and Local Storage
CloudKit Dashboard
CloudKit Console
I am working on a SwiftUI project using Core Data. I have an entity called AppleUser in my data model, with the following attributes: id (UUID), name (String), email (String), password (String), and createdAt (Date). All attributes are non-optional.
I created the corresponding Core Data class files (AppleUser+CoreDataClass.swift and AppleUser+CoreDataProperties.swift) using Xcode’s automatic generation. I also have a PersistenceController that initializes the NSPersistentContainer with the model name JobLinkModel.
When I try to save a new AppleUser object using:
let user = AppleUser(context: viewContext)
user.id = UUID()
user.name = "User1"
user.email = "..."
user.password = "password1"
user.createdAt = Date()【The email is correctly formatted, but it has been replaced with “…” for privacy reasons】
try? viewContext.save()
I get the following error in the console:Core Data save failed: Foundation._GenericObjCError.nilError, [:]
User snapshot: ["id": ..., "name": "User1", "email": "...", "password": "...", "createdAt": ...]
All fields have valid values, and the Core Data model seems correct. I have also tried:
• Checking that the model name in NSPersistentContainer(name:) matches the .xcdatamodeld file (JobLinkModel)
• Ensuring the AppleUser entity Class, Module, and Codegen are correctly set (Class Definition, Current Product Module)
• Deleting duplicate or old AppleUser class files
• Cleaning Xcode build folder and deleting the app from the simulator
• Using @Environment(.managedObjectContext) for the context
Despite all this, I still get _GenericObjCError.nilError when saving a new AppleUser object.
I want to understand:
1. Why is Core Data failing to save even though all fields are non-nil and correctly assigned?
2. Could this be caused by some residual old class files, or is there something else in the setup that I am missing?
3. What steps should I take to ensure that Core Data properly recognizes the AppleUser entity and allows saving?
Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
The following complex migration consistently crashes the app with the following error:
SwiftData/PersistentModel.swift:726: Fatal error: What kind of backing data is this? SwiftData._KKMDBackingData<SwiftDataMigration.ItemSchemaV1.ItemList>
My app relies on a complex migration that involves these optional 1 to n relationships. Theoretically I could not assign the relationships in the willMigrate block but afterwards I am not able to tell which list and items belonged together.
Steps to reproduce:
Run project
Change typealias CurrentSchema to ItemSchemaV2 instead of ItemSchemaV1.
Run project again -> App crashes
My setup:
Xcode Version 16.2 (16C5032a)
MacOS Sequoia 15.4
iPhone 12 with 18.3.2 (22D82)
Am I doing something wrong or did I stumble upon a bug? I have a demo Xcode project ready but I could not upload it here so I put the code below.
Thanks for your help
typealias CurrentSchema = ItemSchemaV1
typealias ItemList = CurrentSchema.ItemList
typealias Item = CurrentSchema.Item
@main
struct SwiftDataMigrationApp: App {
var sharedModelContainer: ModelContainer = {
do {
return try ModelContainer(for: ItemList.self, migrationPlan: MigrationPlan.self)
} catch {
fatalError("Could not create ModelContainer: \(error)")
}
}()
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup {
ContentView()
}
.modelContainer(sharedModelContainer)
}
}
This is the migration plan
enum MigrationPlan: SchemaMigrationPlan {
static var schemas: [any VersionedSchema.Type] {
[ItemSchemaV1.self, ItemSchemaV2.self]
}
static var stages: [MigrationStage] = [
MigrationStage.custom(fromVersion: ItemSchemaV1.self, toVersion: ItemSchemaV2.self, willMigrate: { context in
print("Started migration")
let oldlistItems = try context.fetch(FetchDescriptor<ItemSchemaV1.ItemList>())
for list in oldlistItems {
let items = list.items.map { ItemSchemaV2.Item(timestamp: $0.timestamp)}
let newList = ItemSchemaV2.ItemList(items: items, name: list.name, note: "This is a new property")
context.insert(newList)
context.delete(list)
}
try context.save() // Crash indicated here
print("Finished willMigrate")
}, didMigrate: { context in
print("Did migrate successfully")
})
]
}
The versioned schemas
enum ItemSchemaV1: VersionedSchema {
static var versionIdentifier = Schema.Version(1, 0, 0)
static var models: [any PersistentModel.Type] {
[Item.self]
}
@Model
final class Item {
var timestamp: Date
var list: ItemSchemaV1.ItemList?
init(timestamp: Date) {
self.timestamp = timestamp
}
}
@Model
final class ItemList {
@Relationship(deleteRule: .cascade, inverse: \ItemSchemaV1.Item.list)
var items: [Item]
var name: String
init(items: [Item], name: String) {
self.items = items
self.name = name
}
}
}
enum ItemSchemaV2: VersionedSchema {
static var versionIdentifier = Schema.Version(2, 0, 0)
static var models: [any PersistentModel.Type] {
[Item.self]
}
@Model
final class Item {
var timestamp: Date
var list: ItemSchemaV2.ItemList?
init(timestamp: Date) {
self.timestamp = timestamp
}
}
@Model
final class ItemList {
@Relationship(deleteRule: .cascade, inverse: \ItemSchemaV2.Item.list)
var items: [Item]
var name: String
var note: String
init(items: [Item], name: String, note: String = "") {
self.items = items
self.name = name
self.note = note
}
}
}
Last the ContentView:
struct ContentView: View {
@Query private var itemLists: [ItemList]
var body: some View {
NavigationSplitView {
List {
ForEach(itemLists) { list in
NavigationLink {
List(list.items) { item in
Text(item.timestamp.formatted(date: .abbreviated, time: .complete))
}
.navigationTitle(list.name)
} label: {
Text(list.name)
}
}
}
.navigationTitle("Crashing migration demo")
.onAppear {
if itemLists.isEmpty {
for index in 0..<10 {
let items = [Item(timestamp: Date.now)]
let listItem = ItemList(items: items, name: "List No. \(index)")
modelContext.insert(listItem)
}
try! modelContext.save()
}
}
} detail: {
Text("Select an item")
}
}
}
Hi everyone,
In the simple app below, I have a QueryView that has LazyVStack containing 100k TextField's that edit the item's content. The items are fetched with a @Query. On launch, the app will generate 100k items. Once created, when I press any of the TextField's , a severe hang happens, and every time I type a single character, it will cause another hang over and over again.
I looked at it in Instruments and it shows that the main thread is busy during the duration of the hang (2.31 seconds) updating QueryView. From the cause and effect graph, the update is caused by @Observable QueryController <Item>.(Bool).
Why does it take too long to recalculate the view, given that it's in a LazyVStack? (In other words, why is the hang duration directly proportional to the number of items?)
How to fix the performance of this app? I thought adding LazyVStack was all I need to handle the large dataset, but maybe I need to add a custom pagination with .fetchLimit on top of that? (I understand that ModelActor would be an alternative to @Query because it will make the database operations happen outside of the main thread which will fix this problem, but with that I will lose the automatic fetching of @Query.)
Thank you for the help!
import SwiftData
import SwiftUI
@main
struct QueryPerformanceApp: App {
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup {
ContentView()
.modelContainer(for: [Item.self], inMemory: true)
}
}
}
@Model
final class Item {
var name: String
init(name: String) {
self.name = name
}
}
struct ItemDetail: View {
@Bindable var item: Item
var body: some View {
TextField("Name", text: $item.name)
}
}
struct QueryView: View {
@Query private var items: [Item]
var body: some View {
ScrollView {
LazyVStack {
ForEach(items) { item in
VStack {
ItemDetail(item: item)
}
}
}
}
}
}
struct ContentView: View {
let itemCount = 100_000
@Environment(\.modelContext) private var context
@State private var isLoading = true
var body: some View {
Group {
if isLoading {
VStack(spacing: 16) {
ProgressView()
Text("Generating \(itemCount) items...")
}
} else {
QueryView()
}
}
.task {
for i in 1...itemCount {
context.insert(Item(name: "Item \(i)"))
}
try? context.save()
isLoading = false
}
}
}
Problem
The following code doesn't work:
let predicate = #Predicate<Car> { car in
car.size == size //This doesn't work
}
Console Error
Query encountered an error: SwiftData.SwiftDataError(_error: SwiftData.SwiftDataError._Error.unsupportedPredicate)
Root cause
Size is an enum, #Predicate works with other type such as String however doesn't work with enum
Enum value is saved however is not filtered by #Predicate
Environment
Xcode: 15.0 (15A240d) - App Store
macOS: 14.0 (23A339) - Release Candidate
Steps to reproduce
Run the app on iOS 17 or macOS Sonoma
Press the Add button
Notice that the list remains empty
Expected behaviour
List should show the newly created small car
Actual behaviour
List remains empty inspite of successfully creating the small car.
Feedback
FB13194334
Code
Size
enum Size: String, Codable {
case small
case medium
case large
}
Car
import SwiftData
@Model
class Car {
let id: UUID
let name: String
let size: Size
init(
id: UUID,
name: String,
size: Size
) {
self.id = id
self.name = name
self.size = size
}
}
ContentView
struct ContentView: View {
var body: some View {
NavigationStack {
CarList(size: .small)
}
}
CarList
import SwiftUI
import SwiftData
struct CarList: View {
let size: Size
@Environment(\.modelContext)
private var modelContext
@Query
private var cars: [Car]
init(size: Size) {
self.size = size
let predicate = #Predicate<Car> { car in
car.size == size //This doesn't work
}
_cars = Query(filter: predicate, sort: \.name)
}
var body: some View {
List(cars) { car in
VStack(alignment: .leading) {
Text(car.name)
Text("\(car.size.rawValue)")
Text(car.id.uuidString)
.font(.footnote)
}
}
.toolbar {
Button("Add") {
createCar()
}
}
}
private func createCar() {
let name = "aaa"
let car = Car(
id: UUID(),
name: name,
size: size
)
modelContext.insert(car)
}
}
Experiencing a crash that is only reproducible on TestFlight or AppStore version of the app, note this does not happen when running from Xcode.
I've isolated the problem to sort argument being added to @Query that fetches a model that sorts based on inherited property.
To reproduce:
@Model
class SuperModel {
var createdAt: Date = .now
}
@available(macOS 26.0, *)
@Model
class SubModel: SuperModel {
}
@Query(sort: \SubModel.createdAt, animation: .default) private var models: [SubModel]
Hi everyone,
We’re currently using CKSyncEngine to sync all our locally persisted data across user devices (iOS and macOS) via iCloud.
We’ve noticed something strange and reproducible:
On iOS, when the CKSyncEngine is initialized with manual sync behavior, both manual calls to fetchChanges() and sendChanges() happen nearly instantly (usually within seconds). Automatic syncing is also very fast.
On macOS, when the CKSyncEngine is initialized with manual sync behavior, fetchChanges() and sendChanges() are also fast and responsive.
However, once CKSyncEngine is initialized with automatic syncing enabled on macOS:
sendChanges() still appears to transmit changes immediately.
But automatic fetching becomes significantly slower — often taking minutes to pick up changes from the cloud, even when new data is already available.
Even manual calls to fetchChanges() behave as if they’re throttled or delayed, rather than performing an immediate fetch.
Our questions:
Is this delay in automatic (and post-automatic manual) fetch behavior on macOS expected, or possibly a bug?
Are there specific macOS constraints that impact CKSyncEngine differently than on iOS?
Once CKSyncEngine has been initialized in automatic mode, is fetchChanges() no longer treated as a truly manual trigger?
Is there a recommended workaround to enable fast sync behavior on macOS — for example, by sticking to manual sync configuration and triggering sync using a CKSubscription-based mechanism when remote changes occur?
Any guidance, clarification, or experiences from other developers (or Apple engineers) would be greatly appreciated — especially regarding maintaining parity between iOS and macOS sync performance.
Thanks in advance!
Hi,
I was testing the new iOS 18 behavior where NSPersistentCloudKitContainer wipes the local Core Data store if the user logs out of iCloud, for privacy purposes.
I ran the tests both with a Core Data + CloudKit app, and a simple one using SwiftData with CloudKit enabled. Results were identical in either case.
In my testing, most of the time, the feature worked as expected. When I disabled iCloud for my app, the data was wiped (consistent with say the Notes app, except if you disable iCloud it warns you that it'll remove those notes). When I re-enabled iCloud, the data appeared. (all done through the Settings app)
However, in scenarios when NSPersistentCloudKitContainer cannot immediately sync -- say due to rate throttling -- and one disables iCloud in Settings, this wipes the local data store and ultimately results in data loss.
This occurs even if the changes to the managed objects are saved (to the local store) -- it's simply they aren't synced in time.
It can be a little hard to reproduce the issue, especially since when you exit to the home screen from the app, it generally triggers a sync. To avoid this, I swiped up to the screen where you can choose which apps to close, and immediately closed mine. Then, you can disable iCloud, and run the app again (with a debugger is helpful). I once saw a message with something along the lines of export failed (for my record that wasn't synced), and unfortunately it was deleted (and never synced).
Perhaps before NSPersistentCloudKitContainer wipes the local store it ought to force sync with the cloud first?
I'm running a project with these settings:
Default Actor Isolation: MainActor
Approachable Concurrency: Yes
Strict Concurrency Checking: Complete (this issue does not appear on the other two modes)
I receive a warning for this very simple use case. Can I actually fix anything about this or is this a case of Core Data not being entirely ready for this?
In reference to this, there was a workaround listed in the release notes of iOS 26 beta 5 (https://forums.swift.org/t/defaultisolation-mainactor-and-core-data-background-tasks/80569/22). Does this still apply as the only fix for this?
This is a simplified sample meant to run on a background context. The issue obviously goes away if this function would just run on the MainActor, then I can remove the perform block entirely.
class DataHandler {
func createItem() async {
let context = ...
await context.perform {
let newGame = Item(context: context)
/// Main actor-isolated property 'timestamp' can not be mutated from a Sendable closure
newGame.timestamp = Date.now
// ...
}
}
}
The complete use case would be more like this:
nonisolated
struct DataHandler {
@concurrent
func saveItem() async throws {
let context = await PersistenceController.shared.container.newBackgroundContext()
try await context.perform {
let newGame = Item(context: context)
newGame.timestamp = Date.now
try context.save()
}
}
}
Hi all,
I’m encountering a consistent issue with SwiftData on watchOS when using CloudKit sync. After enabling:
let config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, cloudKitDatabase: .automatic)
…the app terminates ~30–60 seconds into a WKExtendedRuntimeSession. This happens specifically when:
Always-On Display is OFF
The iPhone is disconnected or in Airplane Mode
The app is running in a WKExtendedRuntimeSession (e.g., used for meditation tracking)
The Xcode logs show a warning:
Background Task ("CoreData: CloudKit Setup"), was created over 30 seconds ago. In applications running in the background, this creates a risk of termination.
It appears CloudKit sync setup is being triggered automatically and flagged by the system as an unmanaged long-running task, leading to termination.
Workaround:
Switching to:
let config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, cloudKitDatabase: .none)
…prevents the issue entirely — no background task warning, no crash.
Feedback ID submitted: FB17685611
Just wanted to check if others have seen this behavior or found alternative solutions. It seems like something Apple may need to address in SwiftData’s CloudKit handling on watchOS.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
iCloud & Data
Tags:
CloudKit
watchOS
Background Tasks
SwiftData
Hi everyone,
I’m running into a breaking issue with SwiftData automatic CloudKit syncing on iOS 26, and I'm trying to determine if this is a known regression or a new configuration requirement I missed.
The Setup: My setup is extremely standard; I am using the default configuration exactly as described in Apple's documentation here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swiftdata/syncing-model-data-across-a-persons-devices
The schema is very simple:
A single @Model class.
No relationships.
The Issue: Prior to iOS 26, this exact app was successfully syncing data between devices and to iCloud without issues. Immediately after the iOS 26 update, syncing stopped completely.
I haven't changed any code, but when I check the CloudKit Console, I am seeing some BAD_REQUEST errors during sync attempts.
Since I am using the default SwiftData sync (and not manual CKRecord handling), I’m not sure how my client code could be triggering a bad request unless the schema requirements have changed under the hood.
Questions:
Has anyone else seen increased BAD_REQUEST errors with SwiftData on iOS 26?
Are there new entitlements or strict schema requirements introduced in iOS 26 that might cause a previously valid model to be rejected by CloudKit?
Any pointers or confirmations would be appreciated. Thanks!
Perhaps I just have the wrong expectations, but I discovered some odd behavior from SwiftData that sure seems like a bug to me...
If you make any change to any SwiftData model object — even just setting a property to its current value — every SwiftUI view that uses SwiftData is rebuilt. Every query and every entity reference, even if the property was set on a model class that is completely unrelated to the view.
SwiftUI does such a good job of optimizing UI updates that it's hard to notice the issue. I only noticed it because the updates were triggering my debug print statements.
To double-check this, I went back to Apple's new iOS app template — the one that is just a list of dated items — and added a little code to touch an unrelated record in the background:
@Model
class UnrelatedItem {
var name: String
init(name: String) {
self.name = name
}
}
@main
struct jumpyApp: App {
var sharedModelContainer: ModelContainer = {
let schema = Schema([
Item.self,
UnrelatedItem.self
])
let modelConfiguration = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, isStoredInMemoryOnly: false)
do {
return try ModelContainer(for: schema, configurations: [modelConfiguration])
} catch {
fatalError("Could not create ModelContainer: \(error)")
}
}()
init() {
let context = sharedModelContainer.mainContext
// Create 3 items at launch so we immediately have some data to work with.
if try! context.fetchCount(FetchDescriptor<Item>()) == 0 {
for _ in 0..<3 {
let item = Item(timestamp: Date())
context.insert(item)
}
}
// Now create one unrelated item.
let unrelatedItem = UnrelatedItem(name: "Mongoose")
context.insert(unrelatedItem)
try? context.save()
// Set up a background task that updates the unrelated item every second.
Task {
while true {
try? await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 1_000_000_000)
Task { @MainActor in
// We don't even have to change the name or save the contxt.
// Just setting the name to the same value will trigger a change.
unrelatedItem.name = "Mongoose"
}
}
}
}
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup {
ContentView()
}
.modelContainer(sharedModelContainer)
}
}
I also added a print statement to the ContentView so I could see when the view updates.
struct ContentView: View {
@Environment(\.modelContext) private var modelContext
@Query private var items: [Item]
var body: some View {
NavigationSplitView {
List {
let _ = Self._printChanges()
...
The result is that the print statement logs 2 messages to the debug console every second. I checked in iOS 17, 18.1, and 18.2, and they all behave this way.
Is this the intended behavior? I thought the whole point of the new Observation framework in iOS 17 was to track which data had changed and only send change notifications to observers who were using that data.
Hello,
SwiftData is not working correctly with Swift Concurrency. And it’s sad after all this time.
I personally found a regression. The attached code works perfectly fine on iOS 17.5 but doesn’t work correctly on iOS 18 or iOS 18.1.
A model can be updated from the background (Task, Task.detached or ModelActor) and refreshes the UI, but as soon as the same item is updated from the View (fetched via a Query), the next background updates are not reflected anymore in the UI, the UI is not refreshed, the updates are not merged into the main.
How to reproduce:
Launch the app
Tap the plus button in the navigation bar to create a new item
Tap on the “Update from Task”, “Update from Detached Task”, “Update from ModelActor” many times
Notice the time is updated
Tap on the “Update from View” (once or many times)
Notice the time is updated
Tap again on “Update from Task”, “Update from Detached Task”, “Update from ModelActor” many times
Notice that the time is not update anymore
Am I doing something wrong? Or is this a bug in iOS 18/18.1?
Many other posts talk about issues where updates from background thread are not merged into the main thread. I don’t know if they all are related but it would be nice to have
1/ bug fixed, meaning that if I update an item from a background, it’s reflected in the UI, and
2/ proper documentation on how to use SwiftData with Swift Concurrency (ModelActor). I don’t know if what I’m doing in my buttons is correct or not.
Thanks,
Axel
import SwiftData
import SwiftUI
@main
struct FB_SwiftData_BackgroundApp: App {
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup {
ContentView()
.modelContainer(for: Item.self)
}
}
}
struct ContentView: View {
@Environment(\.modelContext) private var modelContext
@State private var simpleModelActor: SimpleModelActor!
@Query private var items: [Item]
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
VStack {
if let firstItem: Item = items.first {
Text(firstItem.timestamp, format: Date.FormatStyle(date: .omitted, time: .standard))
.font(.largeTitle)
.fontWeight(.heavy)
Button("Update from Task") {
let modelContainer: ModelContainer = modelContext.container
let itemID: Item.ID = firstItem.persistentModelID
Task {
let context: ModelContext = ModelContext(modelContainer)
guard let itemInContext: Item = context.model(for: itemID) as? Item else { return }
itemInContext.timestamp = Date.now.addingTimeInterval(.random(in: 0...2000))
try context.save()
}
}
.buttonStyle(.bordered)
Button("Update from Detached Task") {
let container: ModelContainer = modelContext.container
let itemID: Item.ID = firstItem.persistentModelID
Task.detached {
let context: ModelContext = ModelContext(container)
guard let itemInContext: Item = context.model(for: itemID) as? Item else { return }
itemInContext.timestamp = Date.now.addingTimeInterval(.random(in: 0...2000))
try context.save()
}
}
.buttonStyle(.bordered)
Button("Update from ModelActor") {
let container: ModelContainer = modelContext.container
let persistentModelID: Item.ID = firstItem.persistentModelID
Task.detached {
let actor: SimpleModelActor = SimpleModelActor(modelContainer: container)
await actor.updateItem(identifier: persistentModelID)
}
}
.buttonStyle(.bordered)
Button("Update from ModelActor in State") {
let container: ModelContainer = modelContext.container
let persistentModelID: Item.ID = firstItem.persistentModelID
Task.detached {
let actor: SimpleModelActor = SimpleModelActor(modelContainer: container)
await MainActor.run {
simpleModelActor = actor
}
await actor.updateItem(identifier: persistentModelID)
}
}
.buttonStyle(.bordered)
Divider()
.padding(.vertical)
Button("Update from View") {
firstItem.timestamp = Date.now.addingTimeInterval(.random(in: 0...2000))
}
.buttonStyle(.bordered)
} else {
ContentUnavailableView(
"No Data",
systemImage: "slash.circle", //
description: Text("Tap the plus button in the toolbar")
)
}
}
.toolbar {
ToolbarItem(placement: .primaryAction) {
Button(action: addItem) {
Label("Add Item", systemImage: "plus")
}
}
}
}
}
private func addItem() {
modelContext.insert(Item(timestamp: Date.now))
try? modelContext.save()
}
}
@ModelActor
final actor SimpleModelActor {
var context: String = ""
func updateItem(identifier: Item.ID) {
guard let item = self[identifier, as: Item.self] else {
return
}
item.timestamp = Date.now.addingTimeInterval(.random(in: 0...2000))
try! modelContext.save()
}
}
@Model
final class Item: Identifiable {
var timestamp: Date
init(timestamp: Date) {
self.timestamp = timestamp
}
}
Hi,
I’m working on a macOS app that includes a file browser component. And I’m trying to match Finder’s behavior for color tags and folder icons.
For local files/folders everything works fine:
Tag color key returns the expected label number via
NSColor * labelColor = nil;
[fileURL getResourceValue:&labelColor forKey:NSURLLabelColorKey error:nil];
NSNumber * labelKey = nil;
[fileURL getResourceValue:&labelKey forKey:NSURLLabelNumberKey error:nil];
QLThumbnailGenerator obtains the expected colored folder icon (including emoji/symbol overlay if set) via
QLThumbnailGenerationRequest * request =
[[QLThumbnailGenerationRequest alloc] initWithFileAtURL:fileURL
size:iconSize
scale:scaleFactor
representationTypes:QLThumbnailGenerationRequestRepresentationTypeIcon];
request.iconMode = YES;
[[QLThumbnailGenerator sharedGenerator] generateBestRepresentationForRequest:request
completionHandler:^(QLThumbnailRepresentation * _Nullable thumbnail, NSError * _Nullable error) {
if (thumbnail != nil && error == nil)
{
NSImage * thumbnailImage = [thumbnail NSImage];
// ...
}
}];
However, for items on iCloud Drive (whether currently downloaded locally or only stored in the cloud), the same code always produces gray colors, while Finder shows everything correctly:
NSURLLabelNumberKey always returns 1 (gray) for items with color tags, and 0 for non-tagged.
Folder icons returned via QLThumbnailGenerator are gray, no emoji/symbol overlays.
Reading tag data from xattr gives values like “Green\1” (tag name matches, but numeric value is still "Gray").
Also, if I move a correctly-tagged local item into iCloud Drive, it immediately becomes gray in my app (Finder still shows the correct colors).
Question:
What is the supported way to retrieve Finder tag colors and the correct folder icon appearance (color + overlays) for items in iCloud Drive, so that the result matches Finder?
I am on macOS Tahoe 26.2/26.3, Xcode 26.2 (17C52).
If you need any additional details, please let me know.
Thanks!
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
iCloud & Data
Tags:
Files and Storage
QuickLook Thumbnailing
iCloud Drive
I am a novice developer, so please be kind. 😬
I am developing a simple macOS app backed with SwiftData and trying to set up iCloud sync so data syncs between two Macs running the app. I have added the iCloud capability, checked the CloudKit box, and selected an iCloud Container. Per suggestion of Paul Hudson, my model properties have either default values or are marked as optional, and the only relationship in my model is marked as optional.
@Model
final class Project {
// Stable identifier used for restoring selected project across launches.
var uuid: UUID?
var name: String = ""
var active: Bool = true
var created: Date = Foundation.Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 0)
var modified: Date = Foundation.Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 0)
// CloudKit requires to-many relationships to be optional in this schema.
@Relationship
var timeEntries: [TimeEntry]?
init(name: String, active: Bool = true, uuid: UUID? = UUID()) {
self.uuid = uuid
self.name = name
self.active = active
self.created = .now
self.modified = .now
self.timeEntries = []
}
@Model
final class TimeEntry {
// Core timing fields.
var start: Date = Foundation.Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 0)
var end: Date = Foundation.Date(timeIntervalSince1970: 0)
var codeRawValue: String?
var activitiesRawValue: String = ""
// Inverse relationship back to the owning project.
@Relationship(inverse: \Project.timeEntries)
var project: Project?
init(
start: Date = .now,
end: Date = .now.addingTimeInterval(60 * 60),
code: BillingCode? = nil,
activities: [ActivityType] = []
) {
self.start = start
self.end = end
self.codeRawValue = code?.rawValue
self.activitiesRawValue = Self.serializeActivities(activities)
}
I have set up the following in the AppDelegate for registering for remote notifications as well as some logging to console that the remote notification token was received and to be notified when when I am receiving remote notifications.
private final class TimeTrackerAppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ notification: Notification) {
print("📡 [Push] Registering for remote notifications")
NSApplication.shared.registerForRemoteNotifications()
}
func application(_ application: NSApplication, didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data) {
let tokenPreview = deviceToken.map { String(format: "%02x", $0) }.joined().prefix(16)
print("✅ [Push] Registered for remote notifications (token prefix: \(tokenPreview)...)")
}
func application(_ application: NSApplication, didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError error: Error) {
let nsError = error as NSError
print("❌ [Push] Failed to register for remote notifications: \(nsError.domain) (\(nsError.code)) \(nsError.localizedDescription)")
}
func application(_ application: NSApplication, didReceiveRemoteNotification userInfo: [String: Any]) {
print("📬 [Push] Received remote notification: \(userInfo)")
}
}
In testing, I run the same commit from Xcode on two different Macs logged into the same iCloud account.
My problem is that sync is not reliably working. Starting up the app on both Macs shows that the app successfully registered for remote notifications.
Sometimes, making an edit on Mac 1 is immediately reflected in Mac 2 UI along with didReceiveRemoteNotification message (all occurring while the Mac 2 app remains in foreground). Sometimes, the Mac 2 app needs to be backgrounded and re-foregrounded before the UI shows the updated data.
Sometimes, an edit on Mac 2 will show on Mac 1 only after re-foregrounded but not show any didReceiveRemoteNotification on the Mac 1 console.
Sometimes, an edit on Mac 2 will not show at all on Mac 1 even after re-foregrounding the app.
Sometimes, no edits sync between either Mac.
I had read about how a few years back, there was a bug in macOS where testing iCloud sync between Macs did not work while running from Xcode but would work in TestFlight. For me, running my app in TestFlight on both Macs has never been able to sync any edits between the Macs.
Any idea where I might be going wrong. It seems this should not be this hard and should not be failing so inconsistently. Wondering what I might be doing wrong here.
I have an iOS app (1Address) which allows users to share their address with family and friends using CloudKit Sharing.
Users share their address record (CKRecord) via a share link/url which when tapped allows the receiving user to accept the share and have a persistent view into the sharing user's address record (CKShare).
However, most users when they recieve a sharing link do not have the app installed yet, and so when a new receiving user taps the share link, it prompts them to download the app from the app store.
After the new user downloads the app from the app store and opens the app, my understanding is that the system (iOS) will/should then vend to my app the previously tapped cloudKitShareMetadata (or share url), however, this metadata is not being vended by the system. This forces the user to re-tap the share link and leads to some users thinking the app doesn't work or not completing the sharing / onboarding flow.
Is there a workaround or solve for this that doesn't require the user to tap the share link a second time?
In my scene delegate I am implementing:
func scene(_ scene: UIScene, willConnectTo session: UISceneSession, options connectionOptions: UIScene.ConnectionOptions) {...}
And also
func scene(_ scene: UIScene, continue userActivity: NSUserActivity) {...}
And also:
func windowScene(_ windowScene: UIWindowScene, userDidAcceptCloudKitShareWith cloudKitShareMetadata: CKShare.Metadata) {...}
And:
func scene(_ scene: UIScene, openURLContexts URLContexts: Set<UIOpenURLContext>) {...}
Unfortunately, none of these are called or passed metadata on the initial app run after install. Only after the user goes back and taps a link again can they accept the share.
This documentation: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/cloudkit/ckshare says that adding the CKSharingSupported key to your app's Info.plist file allows the system to launch your app when a user taps or clicks a share URL, but it does not clarify what should happen if your app is being installed for the first time.
This seems to imply that the system is holding onto the share metadata and/or url, but for some reason it is not being vended to the app on first run.
Open to any ideas here for how to fix and I also filed feedback: FB20934189.
I am using SwiftData with CloudKit to synchronize data across multiple devices, and I have encountered an issue: occasionally, abnormal sync behavior occurs between two devices (it does not happen 100% of the time—only some users have reported this problem). It seems as if synchronization between the two devices completely stops; no matter what operations are performed on one end, the other end shows no response.
After investigating, I suspect the issue might be caused by both devices simultaneously modifying the same field, which could lead to CloudKit's logic being unable to handle such conflicts and causing the sync to stall. Are there any methods to avoid or resolve this situation?
Of course, I’m not entirely sure if this is the root cause. Has anyone encountered a similar issue?