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Explore the networking protocols and technologies used by the device to connect to Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices, and cellular data services.

Networking Documentation

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CallKit and PushToTalk related changes in iOS 26
Starting in iOS 26, two notable changes have been made to CallKit, LiveCommunicationKit, and the PushToTalk framework: As a diagnostic aid, we're introducing new dialogs to warn apps of voip push related issue, for example when they fail to report a call or when when voip push delivery stops. The specific details of that behavior are still being determined and are likely to change over time, however, the critical point here is that these alerts are only intended to help developers debug and improve their app. Because of that, they're specifically tied to development and TestFlight signed builds, so the alert dialogs will not appear for customers running app store builds. The existing termination/crashes will still occur, but the new warning alerts will not appear. As PushToTalk developers have previously been warned, the last unrestricted PushKit entitlement ("com.apple.developer.pushkit.unrestricted-voip.ptt") has been disabled in the iOS 26 SDK. ALL apps that link against the iOS 26 SDK which receive a voip push through PushKit and which fail to report a call to CallKit will be now be terminated by the system, as the API contract has long specified. __ Kevin Elliott DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware
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Jun ’25
Setup SearchDomains with NETransparentProxyProvider
We have a macOS system extension with NETransparentProxyProvider which is able to intercept traffic and handle it. We also wanted to setup few search domains from our network extension. However, unlike PacketTunnelProvider, NEDNSSettings are completely ignored with NETransparentProxyProvider. So whats the best way to setup few DNS search domains when using NETransparentProxyProvider.
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10h
XPC Connection with Network Extension fails after upgrade
Hi Team, I have a Network Extension application and UI frontend for it. The UI frontend talks to the Network Extension using XPC, as provided by NEMachServiceName. On M2 machine, The application and XPC connection works fine on clean installation. But, when the application is upgraded, the XPC connection keeps failing. Upgrade steps: PreInstall script kills the running processes, both UI and Network Extension Let installation continue PostInstall script to launch the application after installation complete. Following code is successful to the point of resume from UI application NSXPCInterface *exportedInterface = [NSXPCInterface interfaceWithProtocol:@protocol(IPCUIObject)]; newConnection.exportedInterface = exportedInterface; newConnection.exportedObject = delegate; NSXPCInterface *remoteObjectInterface = [NSXPCInterface interfaceWithProtocol:@protocol(IPCExtObject)]; newConnection.remoteObjectInterface = remoteObjectInterface; self.currentConnection = newConnection; [newConnection resume]; But it fails to get the object id<IPCExtObject> providerProxy = [self.currentConnection remoteObjectProxyWithErrorHandler:^(NSError *registerError) { }]; Please note, this only fails for M2. For M1, this exact code is running fine. Additionally, if I uninstall the application by dropping it in Trash and then installing the newer version, then too, the application works fine.
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968
Dec ’25
Recording a Packet Trace
I want to track down which part of an app contacts a given domain listed in its App Privacy Report. Following the instructions given here I am able to capture a packet trace, but traffic to the domain in question is encrypted using QUIC. Is there a way to insert e.g. mitmproxy into the capture process in order to get hold of the SSLKEYLOGFILE so that I can decrypt the traffic?
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URLSession.dataTask(with: URL) error: Type of expression is ambiguous without a type annotation
I'm a long-time developer, but pretty new to Swift. I'm trying to get information from a web service (and found code online that I adjusted to build the function below). (Note: AAA_Result -- referenced towards the end -- is another class in my project) Trouble is, I'm getting the subject error on the call to session.dataTask. Any help/suggestions/doc pointers will be greatly appreciated!!! var result: Bool = false var cancellable: AnyCancellable? self.name = name let params = "json={\"\"}}" // removed json details let base_url = URL(string: "https://aaa.yyy.com?params=\(params)&format=json")! // removed URL specifics do { let task = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: base_url) { data, response, error in if let error = error { print("Error: \(error)") } guard let response = response as? HTTPURLResponse, (200...299).contains(response.statusCode) else { print("Error \(String(describing: response))") } do { let decoder = JSONDecoder() let ar = try decoder.decode(AAA_Result.self, from: response.value) // removed specific details... result = true } catch { print(error) } } task.resume() } catch { print(error) } return result }
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May ’25
Understanding Also-Ran Connections
Every now and again folks notice that Network framework seems to create an unexpected number of connections on the wire. This post explains why that happens and what you should do about it. If you have questions or comments, put them in a new thread here on the forums. Use the App & System Services > Networking topic area and the Network tag. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" Understanding Also-Ran Connections Network framework implements the Happy Eyeballs algorithm. That might create more on-the-wire connections than you expect. There are two common places where folks notice this: When looking at a packet trace When implementing a listener Imagine that you’ve implemented a TCP server using NWListener and you connect to it from a client using NWConnection. In many situations there are multiple network paths between the client and the server. For example, on a local network there’s always at least two paths: the link-local IPv6 path and either an infrastructure IPv4 path or the link-local IPv4 path. When you start your NWConnection, Network framework’s Happy Eyeballs algorithm might [1] start a TCP connection for each of these paths. It then races those connections. The one that connects first is the ‘winner’, and Network framework uses that connection for your traffic. Once it has a winner, the other connections, the also-ran connections, are redundant, and Network framework just closes them. You can observe this behaviour on the client side by looking in the system log. Many Network framework log entries (subsystem com.apple.network) contain a connection identifier. For example C8 is the eighth connection started by this process. Each connection may have child connections (C8.1, C8.2, …) and grandchild connections (C8.1.1, C8.1.2, …), and so on. You’ll see state transitions for these child connections occurring in parallel. For example, the following log entries show that C8 is racing the connection of two grandchild connections, C8.1.1 and C8.1.2: type: debug time: 12:22:26.825331+0100 process: TestAlsoRanConnections subsystem: com.apple.network category: connection message: nw_socket_connect [C8.1.1:1] Calling connectx(…) type: debug time: 12:22:26.964150+0100 process: TestAlsoRanConnections subsystem: com.apple.network category: connection message: nw_socket_connect [C8.1.2:1] Calling connectx(…) Note For more information about accessing the system log, see Your Friend the System Log. You also see this on the server side, but in this case each connection is visible to your code. When you connect from the client, Network framework calls your listener’s new connection handler with multiple connections. One of those is the winning connection and you’ll receive traffic on it. The others are the also-ran connections, and they close promptly. IMPORTANT Depending on network conditions there may be no also-ran connections. Or there may be lots of them. If you want to test the also-ran connection case, use Network Link Conditioner to add a bunch of delay to your packets. You don’t need to write special code to handle also-ran connections. From the perspective of your listener, these are simply connections that open and then immediately close. There’s no difference between an also-ran connection and, say, a connection from a client that immediately crashes. Or a connection generated by someone doing a port scan. Your server must be resilient to such things. However, the presence of these also-ran connections can be confusing, especially if you’re just getting started with Network framework, and hence this post. [1] This is “might” because the exact behaviour depends on network conditions. More on that below.
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Apr ’25
Bonjour Conformance Test - Multiple Instance in Single Device
We are currently working on a zero-configuration networking compliant device thru avahi-daemon. Our Device want to have multiple Instance name for different services. Example InstanceA._ipps._tcp.local. InstanceA._ipp._tcp.local. InstanceB._ipps._tcp.local. InstanceB._ipp._tcp.local. Will BCT confuse this as multiple device connected in the network and cause it to fail? Does Bonjour only allows only a Single Instance name with multiple services?
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Apr ’25
Video AirPlay from iOS to tvOS doesn't work with VPN on when enforceRoutes is enabled
Hey! We discovered an unexpected side-effect of enabling enforceRoutes in our iOS VPN application - video airplay from iOS to tvOS stopped working (Unable to Connect popup appears instead). Our flags combination is: includeAllNetworks = false enforceRoutes = true excludeLocalNetworks = true Interestingly, music content can be AirPlayed with the same conditions. Also, video AirPlay from iOS device to the macOS works flawlessly. Do you know if this is a known issue? Do you have any advice if we can fix this problem on our side, while keeping enforcRoutes flag enabled?
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5d
Issues Generating Bloom Filters for Apple NetworkExtension URL Filtering
Hi there, We have been trying to set up URL filtering for our app but have run into a wall with generating the bloom filter. Firstly, some context about our set up: OHTTP handlers Uses pre-warmed lambdas to expose the gateway and the configs endpoints using the javascript libary referenced here - https://developers.cloudflare.com/privacy-gateway/get-started/#resources Status = untested We have not yet got access to Apples relay servers PIR service We run the PIR service through AWS ECS behind an ALB The container clones the following repo https://github.com/apple/swift-homomorphic-encryption, outside of config changes, we do not have any custom functionality Status = working From the logs, everything seems to be working here because it is responding to queries when they are sent, and never blocking anything it shouldn’t Bloom filter generation We generate a bloom filter from the following url list: https://example.com http://example.com example.com Then we put the result into the url filtering example application from here - https://developer.apple.com/documentation/networkextension/filtering-traffic-by-url The info generated from the above URLs is: { "bits": 44, "hashes": 11, "seed": 2538058380, "content": "m+yLyZ4O" } Status = broken We think this is broken because we are getting requests to our PIR server for every single website we visit We would have expected to only receive requests to the PIR server when going to example.com because it’s in our block list It’s possible that behind the scenes Apple runs sporadically makes requests regardless of the bloom filter result, but that isn’t what we’d expect We are generating our bloom filter in the following way: We double hash the URL using fnv1a for the first, and murmurhash3 for the second hashTwice(value: any, seed?: any): any { return { first: Number(fnv1a(value, { size: 32 })), second: murmurhash3(value, seed), }; } We calculate the index positions from the following function/formula , as seen in https://github.com/ameshkov/swift-bloom/blob/master/Sources/BloomFilter/BloomFilter.swift#L96 doubleHashing(n: number, hashA: number, hashB: number, size: number): number { return Math.abs((hashA + n * hashB) % size); } Questions: What hashing algorithms are used and can you link an implementation that you know is compatible with Apple’s? How are the index positions calculated from the iteration number, the size, and the hash results? There was mention of a tool for generating a bloom filter that could be used for Apple’s URL filtering implementation, when can we expect the release of this tool?
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Jan ’26
Sharing: How I Built an IPv4/IPv6 Dual-Stack Network Diagnostic Tool for iOS
Hi everyone 👋 As a network engineer and indie iOS developer, I couldn’t find a lightweight mobile tool that fully supports IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack diagnostics — so I built NetToolbox -All-In-One Utility for engineers, DevOps, and developers. Here are its core features that solve real mobile networking pain points: One-Click Full Diagnostics: Integrates ping, traceroute, and multi-type DNS queries (A/AAAA/CNAME) — no need to switch between apps IPv4/IPv6 Dual-Stack Support: Seamlessly works in IPv6-only networks, with the ability to test connectivity differences between dual-stack environments LAN Device Scanning: Quickly identifies all devices on the same network segment and checks port availability Offline Functionality: Diagnostic logic is stored locally, enabling LAN troubleshooting without an internet connection Lightweight Design: 5MB install size, no storage bloat, and low power consumption during operation Dark Mode Support: Tailored for developers who work late at night During development, I leveraged Apple Intelligence alongside Claude Code and Gemini 3 to accelerate the process, optimize iOS native networking stack adaptation and local storage logic, and significantly boost development efficiency. I’d love to hear from the community: What must-have features are missing from mobile network diagnostic tools? Do you have experience optimizing iOS workflows with Apple Intelligence? 👉 You can try the app here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nettoolbox-all-in-one-utility/id6757392404 Feedback is highly appreciated — I’ll keep iterating to make it better! 🚀
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138
Jan ’26
iOS Resumable Uploads Troubles
I am referencing: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/pausing-and-resuming-uploads Specifically: You can’t resume all uploads. The server must support the latest resumable upload protocol draft from the HTTP Working Group at the IETF. Also, uploads that use a background configuration handle resumption automatically, so manual resuming is only needed for non-background uploads. I have control over both the app and the server, and can't seem to get it to work automatically with a background url session. In other words, making multiple requests to get the offset then upload, easy but I am trying to leverage this background configuration resume OS magic. So anyone know what spec version does the server/client need to implement? The docs reference version 3, however the standard is now at like 11. Of course, I am trying out 3. Does anyone know how exactly this resume is implemented in iOS, and what exactly it takes care of? I assumed that I can just POST to a generic end point, say /files, then the OS receives a 104 Location, and saves that. If the upload is interrupted, when the OS resumes the upload, it has enough information to figure out how to resume from the exact offset, either by making a HEAD request to get the offset, or handle a 409. I am assuming it does this, as if it doesn't, the 'uploads that use a background configuration handle resumption automatically' is useless, if it just restarts from 0. Note, of course making individual POST/HEAD/PATCH requests manually works, but at that point I'm not really leveraging any OS auto-magic, and am just consuming an API that could really implement any spec. This won't work in the background, as the OS seems to disallow random HTTP requests when it wakes the app for URLSession background resumes. As of right now, I have it 'partially' working, insofar as the app does receive the 104 didReceiveInformationalResponse url delegate call, however it seems to then hang; it stops sending bytes, seemingly when the 104 is received. However, the request does not complete. In other words, it doesn't seem to receive a client timeout or otherwise indicate the request has finished. Right now, I am starting a single request, POSTing to a /files end point, i.e. I am not getting the location first, then PATCHing to that, as if I do that, the OS 'automatic' resuming fails with a 409, i.e. it doesn't seem to make a HEAD request and/or use the 409 offset correction then continue with the PATCH. Any idea what could be going on?
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1d
Multipeer Connectivity remains in .connecting state and drops connections when Mobile Data is enabled
We are using Multipeer Connectivity (MCSession, MCNearbyServiceBrowser, MCNearbyServiceAdvertiser) for nearby peer discovery and communication. **Observed behaviour: ** When Wi-Fi is ON (Not connected to any network) and Mobile Data is also ON: Peer discovery (foundPeer) consistently succeeds Invitation is sent using invitePeer MCSession transitions to .connecting The session remains indefinitely in .connecting connected is never reached notConnected is also not reported When Mobile Data is turned OFF, the same flow reliably reaches .connected. Key details: Both devices have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled Browsing and advertising are active on both devices Application-level timeouts and session resets are implemented The Issue is reproducible across multiple devices with iOS 26 versions. Expectation / Question: We understand that Multipeer Connectivity does not use cellular data for peer discovery or transport. However, when Wi-Fi is available and peers are discovered successfully, we would like clarification on the following: Is it expected behavior that enabling Mobile Data can cause the invitation/connection phase to remain indefinitely in .connecting without transitioning to .notConnected? Are there recommended best practices to avoid stalled invitation or transport negotiation in this scenario? Is there a supported way to detect or recover from a stalled .connecting state beyond application-level timeouts and session resets? Any guidance on expected behavior or recommended handling would be appreciated.
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Jan ’26
About the Relay payload
ios構成プロファイルの制限のallowCloudPrivateRelayのプライベートリレーの制御とRelayペイロードの機能は関係がありますか? それとも別々の機能でしょうか? ↓ s there a relationship between the private relay control in the iOS configuration profile restriction allowCloudPrivateRelay and the functionality of the Relay payload? Or are they separate features?
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25
Apr ’25
Running headless app as root for handling VPN and launching microservices
Hello to all I have coded in swift a headless app, that launches 3 go microservices and itself. The app listens via unix domain sockets for commands from the microservices and executes different VPN related operations, using the NEVPNManager extension. Because there are certificates and VPN operations, the headless app and two Go microservices must run as root. The app and microservices run perfectly when I run in Xcode launching the swift app as root. However, I have been trying for some weeks already to modify the application so at startup it requests the password and runs as root or something similar, so all forked apps also run as root. I have not succeeded. I have tried many things, the last one was using SMApp but as the swift app is a headless app and not a CLI command app it can not be embedded. And CLI apps can not get the VPN entitlements. Can anybody please give me some pointers how can I launch the app so it requests the password and runs as root in background or what is the ideal framework here? thank you again.
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Dec ’25
DMG Distribution for macOS App with App Extension — Should I Use System Extension Instead?
Hi everyone, I’m currently developing a macOS app that is distributed via a DMG file on our website. The app includes an App Extension (appex) for Network Extension functionality. I’m wondering if distributing via DMG on the web requires the app extension to be implemented as a System Extension instead of an App Extension. Is it necessary to migrate to System Extension for web-based DMG distribution, or can I continue using App Extension as is? Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Aug ’25
Symbol not found: ___res_9_state
When running my app with Xcode16.4, it crashed with the error: dyld[1045]: Symbol not found: ___res_9_state Referenced from: <8B329554-5BEF-38D0-BFCD-1731FA6120CB> /private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/00C941BA-E397-4D0B-B280-E75583FF2890/xxx.app/xxx.debug.dylib Expected in: <7D74C679-8F55-3A01-9AA2-C205A4A19D3E> /usr/lib/libresolv.9.dylib The ___res_9_state related code in my app is: let state = __res_9_state() res_9_ninit(state) var servers = [res_9_sockaddr_union](repeating: res_9_sockaddr_union(), count: Int(MAXNS)) let found = Int(res_9_getservers(state, &servers, Int32(MAXNS))) res_9_nclose(state) if found > 0 { return Array(servers[0..<found]).filter() { $0.sin.sin_len > 0 } } else { return [] } Previously, __res_9_state() could run normally in Xcode 16.1 How to fix this problem?
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182
Jul ’25
How to detect the SIM card status?
Before iOS16, we can use https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coretelephony/ctcarrier But after iOS this is deprecated and has no replacement. There are some discussions on it, eg. https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/714876 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/770400 Now I asked AI, then it provided this solution, to check the serviceCurrentRadioAccessTechnology, so it this ok to check the SIM card status? var hasSIMCard = false let info = CTTelephonyNetworkInfo() if let rat = info.serviceCurrentRadioAccessTechnology, rat.values.contains(where: { !$0.isEmpty }) { hasSIMCard = true. // has RAT } BTW, I can see a lot of changes in the Core Telephony framework. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coretelephony 1.isSIMInserted https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coretelephony/ctsubscriber/issiminserted A Boolean property that indicates whether a SIM is present. iOS 18.0+ iPadOS 18.0+ This value property is true if the system finds a SIM matching the Info.plist carrier information (MCC / MNC / GID1 / GID2). Is this ok to check SIM insert status, this seems must preconfig some info in the info.plist. 2.iOS26 provide CTCellularPlanStatus https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coretelephony/ctcellularplanstatus Can I use this to check SIM status?
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Jun ’25
The network expansion process will become a zombie process and the network will be unusable.
Hi, I developed a network extension program on macOS. I tried to update the program by changing the version number. My update process was to first turn off network filtering via "NEFilterManager.sharedManager.enabled = NO", and then use "[OSSystemExtensionRequest activationRequestForExtension:bundleid queue:dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0)];" to let the system replace the old network extension program. However, sometimes the old network extension process will become a zombie process like pid=86621 in the figure. As long as the zombie process exists, the network cannot be used. After about 10 minutes, it will be cleared and the network will be available. Restarting Wi-Fi can also clear the zombie process immediately. Why is this? How to avoid this problem?
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112
Jun ’25
Network Service Order for IoT Ethernet device
I am making a USB attached IoT device that follows the Matter approach to connectivity (IP/mDNS/DHCP). I am having conflicts with it as it appears to MacOS as an Ethernet adapter and this is causing it to be assigned as a "default" route, interfering with routing when my Mac is connected to NAT based WiFi. I'd like to be able to hint to MacOS & iPadOS that this is not a routable private network, the subnet should be respected and a default route should not be assigned to it, otherwise the order of the device connection is used by the IP routing tables and I am concerned my non-routable private network will initialize before Wifi and block NAT based internet connectivity. How can I hint to MacOS/iPadOS "this is not a routable private network, this is not a NAT, do not assign me a default route beyond the subnet I have provided you."
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120
Apr ’25