As far as I understand, the main thread has a run loop. When an iOS app launches, the process must keep the run loop running to stay alive. Does that mean the main thread is the very first thread created when the process starts?

Regarding the Background Assets capability on iOS: In the install scenario, resources defined as the "install" type are incorporated into the App Store download progress. Do resources of the "update" type in the update scenario also get incorporated into the App Store download progress in the same way? If an exception occurs during the download of install-type resources and the download cannot proceed further, will the system no longer actively block users from launching the app and instead enable the launch button? Currently, if a user has enabled automatic updates on their device, after the app is updated and released on the App Store, will the Background Assets download start immediately once the automatic update completes? Or does Background Assets have its own built-in scheduling logic that prevents it from running concurrently with the automatic update?

Hi All, In continuation of this thread https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/804439 I want to perform data upload after getting it from the BLE device. As state restoration wake should not deal with data upload i though of using a processing task to perform the data upload. So the flow will be something like: Connect to device -> listen to notification -> go to background -> wake from notification -> handle data download from ble device -> register processing task for data upload -> hopefully get the data uploaded From reading about processing task i understand that the task execution is completely handled by the OS and depends on user behaviour and app usage. I even saw that if the user is not using the app for a while, the OS might not even perfoirm the task. So my quesiton is: does state restoration wakeup and perfroming data dowloads in the backgound considered app usage that will increase the likeluhood the task will get execution time? Can we rely on this for a scenario that the user opens the app for the first time, register, onboard for ble, connect to devie and then put it in the background for days or weeks and only relying on state restoration and processing tasks to do their thing? Sorry for the long read and appreciate your support! Shimon

Regarding App Update Synchronization During Workout Mode: My watchOS app has workout mode enabled. When I update the app from the App Store on my iPhone while a workout session is active on my Apple Watch, the update does not sync to the watch. Why does this happen, and when can I expect the watch app to be updated? Regarding Automatic App Launch After a Prolonged Shutdown: I would like my watchOS app to launch automatically on my Apple Watch after it has been powered off for an extended period and then turned back on. Is this functionality possible to implement? If not, please provide a definitive answer regarding this capability.

I’m reaching out regarding an issue we’ve been experiencing with BGProcessingTask since upgrading to Xcode 26.1.1. Issue Summary Our daily background processing task—scheduled shortly after end‑of‑day—has stopped triggering reliably at night. This behavior started occurring only after updating to Xcode 26.1.1. Prior to this update, the task consistently ran around midnight, executed for ~10–15 seconds, and successfully rescheduled itself for the next day. Expected Behavior BGProcessingTask should run at/near the scheduled earliestBeginDate, which we set to roughly 2 hours after end-of-day. The task should execute, complete, and then reschedule itself. Actual Behavior On devices running builds compiled with Xcode 26.1.1, the task does not trigger at all during the night. The same code worked reliably before the Xcode update. No system logs indicate rejection, expiration, or background task denial. Technical Details This is the identifier we use: private enum DayEndProcessorConst {    static let taskIdentifier = "com.company.sdkmanagement.daysummary.manager" } The task is registered as follows: When app launched BGTaskScheduler.shared.register(    forTaskWithIdentifier: DayEndProcessorConst.taskIdentifier,    using: nil ) { [weak self] task in    self?.handleDayEndTask(task) } And scheduled like this: let date = Calendar.current.endOfDay(for: Date()).addingTimeInterval(60 * 60 * 2) let request = BGProcessingTaskRequest(identifier: DayEndProcessorConst.taskIdentifier) request.requiresNetworkConnectivity = true request.requiresExternalPower = false request.earliestBeginDate = date try BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit(request) As per our logs, tasks scheduled successfully The handler wraps the work in an operation queue, begins a UI background task, and marks completion appropriately: task.setTaskCompleted(success: true) Could you please advise whether: There are known issues with BGProcessingTask scheduling or midnight execution in Xcode 26.1.1 or iOS versions associated with it? Any new entitlement, configuration, or scheduler behavior has changed in recent releases? Additional logging or diagnostics can help pinpoint why the scheduler never fires the task?

I am developing a remote support tool for macOS. While we have successfully implemented a Privileged Helper Tool and LaunchDaemon architecture that works within an active Aqua session, we have observed a total failure to capture the screen buffer or receive input at the macOS Login Window. Our observation of competitor software (AnyDesk, TeamViewer) shows they maintain graphical continuity through logout/restart. We are seeking the official architectural path to replicate this system-level access. Current Technical Implementation Architecture: A root-level LaunchDaemon manages the persistent network connection. A PrivilegedHelperTool (installed in /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/) is used for elevated tasks. Environment: Tested on macOS 14.x (Sonoma) and macOS 15.x (Sequoia) on Apple Silicon. Capture Methods: We have implemented ScreenCaptureKit (SCK) as the primary engine and CGDisplayCreateImage as a fallback. Binary Status: All components are signed with a Developer ID and have been successfully Notarized. Observed Behavior & Blockers The "Aqua" Success: Within a logged-in user session, our CGI correctly identifies Display IDs and initializes the capture stream. Remote control is fully functional. The "Pre-Login" Failure: When the Mac is at the Login Window (no user logged in), the following occurs: The Daemon remains active, but the screen capture buffer returns NULL or an empty frame. ScreenCaptureKit fails to initialize, citing a lack of graphical context. No TCC (Transparency, Consent, and Control) prompt can appear because no user session exists. The "Bootstrap" Observation: We have identified that the loginwindow process exists in a restricted Mach bootstrap namespace that our Daemon (running in the System domain) cannot natively bridge. Comparative Analysis (Competitor Benchmarking) We have analyzed established remote desktop solutions like AnyDesk and Jump Desktop to understand their success at the login screen. Our findings suggest: Dual-Context Execution: They appear to use a Global LaunchAgent with LimitLoadToSessionType = ["LoginWindow"]. This allows a child process to run as root inside the login window’s graphical domain. Specialized Entitlements: These apps have migrated to the com.apple.developer.persistent-content-capture entitlement. This restricted capability allows them to bypass the weekly/monthly TCC re-authorization prompts and function in unattended scenarios where a user cannot click "Allow." Questions Entitlement Requirement: Is the persistent-content-capture entitlement the only supported way for a third-party app to capture the LoginWindow buffer without manual user intervention? LaunchAgent Strategy: To gain a graphical context at the login screen, is it recommended to load a specialized agent into the loginwindow domain via launchctl bootstrap loginwindow ...? ScreenCaptureKit vs. Legacy: Does ScreenCaptureKit officially support the LoginWindow session, or does it require an active Aqua session to initialize? MDM Bypass: For Enterprise environments, can a Privacy Preferences Policy Control (PPPC) payload grant "Screen Recording" to a non-entitled Daemon specifically for the login window context?

This is a successor to: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/814231 I went into a slightly different direction. I generated more AI slop that use NSLock. Then I had the NSLock usage changed to Mutex usage. Now it crashes with: Task 13: EXC_BREAKPOINT (code=1, subcode=0x18d29326c) On one of the mutex closures. With an extended description: warning: TypeSystemSwiftTypeRef::operator(): had to engage SwiftASTContext fallback for type $s7Combine10PublishersO21LineBreakingPublisherE11SplitAtZeroV12Subscription33_D18F5AAE73662968F407B0A79FBD1F8DLLCy_x_qd__GD I put the class, a Subscription nested in its corresponding Publisher operator, in the given file Subscription.txt

Hi, I’m looking for clarification on what concurrency and consistency guarantees Apple provides when multiple targets (main app + Widget extensions) access shared storage. Specifically: 1. UserDefaults (App Group / suiteName:) • If multiple processes (app + multiple widget instances) read and write the same shared UserDefaults, what guarantees are provided? • Is access serialized internally to prevent corruption? • Are read–modify–write operations safe across processes, or can lost updates occur? 2. Core Data (shared SQLite store in App Group container) • Is it officially supported for multiple processes to open and write to the same Core Data SQLite store? • Are there recommended configurations (e.g. WAL mode) for safe multi-process access? • Is Apple’s recommendation to have a single writer process? 3. FileManager (shared container files) • If two processes write to the same file in an App Group container, what guarantees are provided by the system? • Is atomic replaceItemAt the recommended pattern for safe cross-process updates? Additionally: • Do multiple widget instances count as separate processes with respect to these guarantees? • Is there official guidance on best practices for shared persistence between app and widget extensions? I want to ensure I’m following the correct architecture and not relying on undefined behavior. Thanks.

I'm looking into a newer XPC API available starting with macOS 14. Although it's declared as a low-level API I can't figure it how to specify code signing requirement using XPCListener and XPCSession. How do I connect it with xpc_listener_set_peer_code_signing_requirement and xpc_connection_set_peer_code_signing_requirement which require xpc_listener_t and xpc_connection_t respectively? Foundation XPC is declared as a high-level API and provides easy ways to specify code signing requirements on both ends of xpc. I'm confused with all these XPC APIs and their future: Newer really high-level XPCListener and XPCSession API (in low-level framework???) Low-level xpc_listener_t & xpc_connection_t -like API. Is it being replaced by newer XPCListener and XPCSession? How is it related to High-level Foundation XPC? Are NSXPCListener and NSXPCConnection going to be deprecated and replaced by XPCListener and XPCSession??

My load average on a largely idle system is around 22, going up to 70 or so periodically; SSMenuAgent seems to be consuming lots of CPU (and, looking at spindump, it certainly seems busy), but... it's not happening on any other system whose screens I am observing. (Er, I know about load average limitations, the process is also consuming 70-98% CPU according to both top and Activity Monitor.) Since this machine (although idle) has our network extension, I'm trying to figure out if this is due to that, or of this is generally expected. Anyone?

I'm using Swift 6 and tasks to concurrently process multiple PDF files for rendering, and it's working well. But currently I'm manually limiting the number of simultaneous tasks to 2 out of fear that the system might run many tasks concurrently without having enough RAM to do the PDF processing. Testing on a variety of devices, I've tried increasing the task limit and haven't seen any crashes, but I'm quite concerned about the possibility. Any given device might be using a lot of RAM at any moment, and any given PDF might strain resources more than the average PDF. Is there a recommended technique for handling this kind of scenario? Should I not worry about it and just go ahead and start a high number of tasks, trusting that the system won't run too many concurrently and therefore won't run out of RAM?

Hi. I'm trying to learn macOS app development. i'm trying to run unix commands: func execute(_ command: String) throws -> String { let process = Process() let pipe = Pipe() process.executableURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: "/bin/bash") process.arguments = ["-c", command] process.standardOutput = pipe // process.standardError try process.run() process.waitUntilExit() guard let data = try pipe.fileHandleForReading.readToEnd() else { throw CommandError.readError } guard let output = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) else { throw CommandError.invalidData } process.waitUntilExit() guard process.terminationStatus == 0 else { throw CommandError.commandFailed(output) } return output } when try to run "pgrep" in sandbox mode ON, i get: sysmon request failed with error: sysmond service not found error. if i turn it off it works. i don't know what to do. anyone can help me out?

Hi, I’m using a Local Push Connectivity Extension and encountering an issue with DispatchSourceTimer. In my extension, I create a DispatchSourceTimer that is supposed to fire every 1 second. It works as expected at first. However, when the app is in the foreground and the device is locked, the timer eventually stops firing after 1–3 hours. The extension process is still alive, and no errors are thrown Has anyone experienced this behavior? Is this a known limitation for timers inside NEAppPushProvider, or is the extension being deprioritized silently by the system? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, I have a hard time getting my head wrapped around the possibilities of running a app or a task in a app in the background. I have a app where I utilize MusicKit to create a playlist in Apple Music, and add songs to the playlist. Now the songs added are picked from choices made by the user, and the total number of songs to add is 75, and that takes some time. And if the user switches to a different app or the phone is locked, the add songs logic stops, and then starts again as soon as the app is active again. What I am trying to achieve is of course for this to keep processing also when the app is not active, so basically to keep it running in the background. But this is where I struggle to understand how I can do that - The available choice seems to be BGTaskScheduler, but that just does not seem correct. From what I understand it just schedules a task, and it will be processed whenever the app or phone "feels like it" (again, my understanding, might be wrong), and that won't work in my scenario. I want the task to start when the user taps a button, and just keep running until it is finished, regardless of if the app is active or not. Any pointers, tips, advices out there on how I can achieve this?

I'm trying to schedule a background task that will run on an iPhone and I'm looking into creating a task request using BGProcessingTaskRequest and scheduled it using BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit(). Per earliestBeginDate documentation, this property can be used to specify the earliest time a background task will be launched by OS. All clear here. However, the question is: how is the value interpreted with respect to timezone ? Is the specified date in device timezone ? Is GMT ? Is something else ?

I have followed these steps as mentioned in this link :(https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/721737) My projects app bundle structure is like this : TWGUI.app TWGUI.app/Contents TWGUI.app/Contents/_CodeSignature TWGUI.app/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources TWGUI.app/Contents/MacOS TWGUI.app/Contents/MacOS/TWAgent TWGUI.app/Contents/MacOS/TWGUI TWGUI.app/Contents/Resources TWGUI.app/Contents/Library TWGUI.app/Contents/Library/LaunchAgents TWGUI.app/Contents/Library/LaunchAgents/com.example.TWGUI.agent.plist TWGUI.app/Contents/Info.plist TWGUI.app/Contents/PkgInfo TWGUI is my main GUI App , i which i want to embed TWAgent (a command line tool target) and register it using SMAppServices so that launchd can launch it. In TWGUI, code for registering to launchd using SMAppServices is structure as follow : import SwiftUI import ServiceManagement struct ContentView: View { let agent = SMAppService.agent(plistName: "com.example.TWGUI.agent.plist") var body: some View { VStack { Button("Register Agent") { RegisterAgent () } .padding() Button("Unregister Agent") { UnregisterAgent () } .padding() } } func RegisterAgent() { DispatchQueue.global(qos: .background).async { do { print("Registering Agent. Status: \(agent.status.rawValue)") try agent.register() print("Agent registered") } catch { print("Failed to register agent: \(error)") } } } func UnregisterAgent() { DispatchQueue.global(qos: .background).async { do { print("Unregistering Agent. Status: \(agent.status.rawValue)") try agent.unregister() print("Agent unregistered") } catch { print("Failed to unregister agent: \(error)") } } } } com.example.TWGUI.agent.plist : <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs$ <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>Label</key> <string>com.example.TWGUI.agent</string> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>Contents/MacOS/TWAgent</string> </array> <key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/> <key>KeepAlive</key> <true/> </dict> </plist> I have used ProgramArguements instead of using Program in above plist because i was getting this error when i was using Program earlier : Registering Agent. Status: 3 Failed to register agent: Error Domain=SMAppServiceErrorDomain Code=111 "Invalid or missing Program/ProgramArguments" UserInfo={NSLocalizedFailureReason=Invalid or missing Program/ProgramArguments} TWGUI apps Info.plist is : <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>BuildMachineOSBuild</key> <string>23C71</string> <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key> <string>en</string> <key>CFBundleExecutable</key> <string>TWGUI</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>com.example.TWAgent</string> <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key> <string>6.0</string> <key>CFBundleName</key> <string>TWGUI</string> <key>CFBundlePackageType</key> <string>APPL</string> <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key> <string>1.0</string> <key>CFBundleSupportedPlatforms</key> <array> <string>MacOSX</string> </array> <key>CFBundleVersion</key> <string>1</string> <key>DTCompiler</key> <string>com.apple.compilers.llvm.clang.1_0</string> <key>DTPlatformBuild</key> <string></string> <key>DTPlatformName</key> <string>macosx</string> <key>DTPlatformVersion</key> <string>14.2</string> <key>DTSDKBuild</key> <string>23C53</string> <key>DTSDKName</key> <string>macosx14.2</string> <key>DTXcode</key> <string>1510</string> <key>DTXcodeBuild</key> <string>15C65</string> <key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key> <string>14.2</string> </dict> </plist> TWAgent target has main.swift file which does this : import Foundation let startTime = CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() func logTimeSinceStart() { let elapsedTime = CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() - startTime NSLog("Time since program started: \(elapsedTime) seconds") } func startLoggingTime() { Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 1.0, repeats: true) { _ in logTimeSinceStart() } } // Start logging time startLoggingTime() // Keep the run loop running CFRunLoopRun() I followed these exact same steps in another project earlier and my agent was getting registered, although i lost that project due to some reasons. But now i am getting this error when i am registering or unregistering agent using SMAppServices from the code above : Registering Agent. Status: 3 Failed to register agent: Error Domain=SMAppServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted" UserInfo={NSLocalizedFailureReason=Operation not permitted} I tried diffrent fixes for like this : Moved app bundle to /applications folder Gave permission for full disc access to this app . Code sign again (both agent and TWGUI ... But nothing seems to work , getting same error. I tried to launch agent using : Launchctl load com.example.TWGUI.agent.plist and it worked , so there is no issue with my plist implementation. Can someone help me understand how can i solve this issue ? or if i am following right steps ? Can give steps need to follow to implement this and steps so that i can register and start my agent using SMAppServices? And i also tried the project give in apples official documentation : [https://developer.apple.com/documentation/servicemanagement/updating-your-app-package-installer-to-use-the-new-service-management-api) but got same error in this project as well .

Hi! Could you please point me to the official documentation or recommended approach for launching the host app from a Share Extension? The scenario is: The user is sharing some text to my app. I need launch App and show this text. At the moment, I'm using the following hack: let selector = NSSelectorFromString("sharedApplication") if let app = UIApplication.perform(selector)?.takeUnretainedValue() as? UIApplication, app.responds(to: #selector(UIApplication.open(_:options:completionHandler:))) { app.open(url, options: [:], completionHandler: nil) } This does work, but it's terrible. So, the question: What is the official way to open the host app from within a Share Extension? Thanks!

Hello, I am developing an application which is communicating with external device using BLE and L2CAP. I wonder what are the best practices of using Input & Output streams that are established with L2CAP connection when working with Swift 6 concurrency model. I've been trying to find some examples and hints for some time now but unfortunately there isn't much available. One useful thread I've found is: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/756281 but it does not offer much insight into using eg. actor model with streams. I wonder if something has changed in this regards? Also, are there any plans to migrate eg. CoreBluetooth stack to new swift 6 concurrency ?

I'm developing a medication scheduling app similar to Apple Health's Medications feature, and I'd like some input on my current approach to background tasks. In my app, when a user creates a medication, I generate ScheduledDose objects (with corresponding local notifications) for the next 2 weeks and save them to SwiftData. To ensure this 2-week window stays current, I've implemented a BGAppRefreshTask that runs daily to generate new doses as needed. My concern is whether BGAppRefreshTask is the appropriate mechanism for this purpose. Since I'm not making any network requests but rather generating and storing local data, I'm questioning if this is the right approach. I'm also wondering how Apple Health's Medications feature handles this kind of scheduling. Their app seems to maintain future doses regardless of app usage patterns. Has anyone implemented something similar or can suggest the best background execution API for this type of scenario? Thanks for any guidance you can provide.

Hi, I have some questions regarding the Background Assets Extension and DeviceCheck framework. Goal: Ensure that only users who have purchased the app can access the server's API without any user authentication using for example DeviceCheck framework and within a Background Assets Extension. My app relies on external assets, which I'm loading using the Background Assets Extension. I'm trying to determine if it's possible to obtain a challenge from the server and send a DeviceCheck assertion during this process within the Background Assets Extension. So far, I only receive session-wide authentication challenges—specifically NSURLAuthenticationMethodServerTrust in the Background Assets Extensio. I’ve tested with Basic Auth (NSURLAuthenticationMethodHTTPBasic) just for experimentation, but the delegate func backgroundDownload( _ download: BADownload, didReceive challenge: URLAuthenticationChallenge ) async -> (URLSession.AuthChallengeDisposition, URLCredential?) is never called with that authentication method. It seems task-specific challenges aren't coming through at all. Also, while the DCAppAttestService API appears to be available on macOS, DCAppAttestService.isSupported always returns false (in my testing), which suggests it's not actually supported on macOS. Can anyone confirm if that’s expected behavior?