Hi,
I've encountered a strange behavior in the DNS Proxy Provider extension. Our app implements both DNS Proxy Provider and Content Filter Providers extensions, configured via MDM.
When the app is uninstalled, the behavior of the providers differs:
For Content Filter Providers (both Filter Control and Filter Data Providers), the providers stop as expected with the stop reason:
/** @const NEProviderStopReasonProviderDisabled The provider was disabled. */
case providerDisabled = 5
However, for the DNS Proxy Provider, the provider remains in the "Running" state, even though there is no app available to match the provider's bundle ID in the uploaded configuration profile.
When the app is reinstalled:
The Content Filter Providers start as expected.
The DNS Proxy Provider stops with the stop reason:
/** @const NEProviderStopReasonAppUpdate The NEProvider is being updated */
@available(iOS 13.0, *)
case appUpdate = 16
At this point, the DNS Proxy Provider remains in an 'Invalid' state. Reinstalling the app a second time seems to resolve the issue, with both the DNS Proxy Provider and Content Filter Providers starting as expected.
This issue seems to occur only if some time has passed after the DNS Proxy Provider entered the 'Running' state. It appears as though the system retains a stale configuration for the DNS Proxy Provider, even after the app has been removed.
Steps to reproduce:
Install the app and configure both DNS Proxy Provider and Content Filter Providers using MDM.
Uninstall the app.
Content Filter Providers are stopped as expected (NEProviderStopReason.providerDisabled = 5).
DNS Proxy Provider remains in the 'Running' state.
Reinstall the app.
Content Filter Providers start as expected.
DNS Proxy Provider stops with NEProviderStopReason.appUpdate (16) and remains 'Invalid'.
Reinstall the app again.
DNS Proxy Provider now starts as expected.
This behavior raises concerns about how the system manages the lifecycle of DNS Proxy Provider, because DNS Proxy Provider is matched with provider bundle id in .mobileconfig file.
Has anyone else experienced this issue? Any suggestions on how to address or debug this behavior would be highly appreciated.
Thank you!
Networking
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We have an application which is written in Swift, which activates Transparent Proxy network extension.
Our Transparent Proxy module is a system extension, which is exposing an app proxy provider interface (We are using NETransparentProxyProvider class and in extension’s Info.plist we use com.apple.networkextension.app-proxy key.)
We are using JAMF MDM profile for installing our transparent proxy in customer environment. We are using VPN payload(https://developer.apple.com/documentation/devicemanagement/vpn) for this network system extension.
This payload does not have any field for order.
As per https://developer.apple.com/documentation/devicemanagement/vpn/transparentproxy-data.dictionary documentation there is another payload for TransparentProxy and we could create a Transparent Proxy profile using iMazingProfile Editor.
Noticed that, if we add the Order attribute to the VPN/TransparentProxy payload, while installing the extension, the save to preferences fails with "Error in saving TP configuration in updateOnDemandRule permission denied" error.
Can we use this Order field to ordering the installed Transparent Proxy extension in a machine?
Customer devices will likely have other Transparent Proxy network extensions as well. We want to allow the Customer to control the order in which each Transparent Proxy network extension receives the network traffic.
How can we set the order of the Transparent proxy extension that can be deployed using MDM profile with VPN/TransparentProxy payload?
Attached the TransparentProxy payload profile for the reference.
DGWebProxy_TransparentProxy_iMazing
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Networking
Tags:
Network Extension
System Extensions
Device Management
In our App, we have a network extension with a NEAppPushProvider subclass running. We run the following steps
Setup a dual-band wireless router per the following:
Broadcasting 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels
Same SSID names for both channels
Connected to the production network to the router
DHCP assigning addresses in the 10.1.x.x network
Connect the mobile device to the 5 GHz network (if needed, turn off the 2.4 GHz network temporarily; once the device connects to the 5 GHz network, the 2.4 GHz network can be turned back on).
Create a NEAppPushManager in the App, using the SSID from the above mentioned network and set it to the matchSSIDs property. Call saveToPreferences() on the push manager to save.
A. We have UI that shows the extension has been started and it has connected to the server successfully.
Walk out of the range of the 5 GHz channel of the router, but stay within range of the 2.4ghz channel.
Wait for the mobile device to connect to the 2.4 GHz channel.
Expected:
The extension would reconnect to the 2.4ghz network.
Observed:
The extension does not reconnect. Checking the logs for the extension we see that the following was called in the push provider subclass.
stop(with:completionHandler:) > PID: 808 | 🗒️🛑 Stopped with reason 3: "noNetworkAvailable"
The expectation is that start() on the NEAppPushProvider subclass would be called. Is this an incorrect expectation?
How does the NEAppPushProvider handle same network SSID roaming among various band frequencies? I looked at the documentation and did not find any settings targeting 2.4 or 5 ghz networks. Please advise on what to do.
Our product (rockhawk.ca) uses the Multipeer Connectivity framework for peer-to-peer communication between multiple iOS/iPadOS devices. My understanding is that MC framework communicates via three methods: 1) infrastructure wifi (i.e. multiple iOS/iPadOS devices are connected to the same wifi network), 2) peer-to-peer wifi, or 3) Bluetooth. In my experience, I don't believe I've seen MC use Bluetooth. With wifi turned off on the devices, and Bluetooth turned on, no connection is established. With wifi on and Bluetooth off, MC works and I presume either infrastructure wifi (if available) or peer-to-peer wifi are used.
I'm trying to overcome two issues:
Over time (since iOS 9.x), the radio transmit strength for MC over peer-to-peer wifi has decreased to the point that range is unacceptable for our use case. We need at least 150 feet range.
We would like to extend this support to watchOS and the MC framework is not available.
Regarding #1, I'd like to confirm that if infrastructure wifi is available, MC uses it. If infrastructure wifi is not available, MC uses peer-to-peer wifi. If this is true, then we can assure our customers that if infrastructure wifi is available at the venue, then with all devices connected to it, range will be adequate.
If infrastructure wifi is not available at the venue, perhaps a mobile wifi router (battery operated) could be set up, devices connected to it, then range would be adequate. We are about to test this. Reasonable?
Can we be assured that if infrastructure wifi is available, MC uses it?
Regarding #2, given we are targeting minimum watchOS 7.0, would the available networking APIs and frameworks be adequate to implement our own equivalent of the MC framework so our app on iOS/iPadOS and watchOS devices could communicate? How much work? Where would I start? I'm new to implementing networking but experienced in using the MC framework. I'm assuming that I would write the networking code to use infrastructure wifi to achieve acceptable range.
Many thanks!
Tim
Hello team,
I am developing a security app where I am denying certain flows/packets if the are communicating with known malicious endpoints. Therefore I want to make use of NetworkExtensions such as the new URLFilter or ContentFilter (NEURLFilterManager, NEFilterDataProvider, NEFilterControlProvider).
Does NEURLFilterManager require the user's device to be at a minimun of ios 26?
Does any of these APIs/Extensions require the device to be managed/supervised or can it be released to all consumers?
Thanks,
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Networking
On macOS Tahoe26.0, iOS 26.0 (23A5287g), Xcode 26.0 beta 3 (17A5276g)
1、Follow this tutorial Downloading asset packs hosted by Apple
When i download a background asset packs hosted by Apple, Xcode callback "Download failed: The helper received an invalid server response with the status code “400”." Before downloading, I uploaded the three aar files to the Apple server using the Transporter app. Three Manifest.json content is:
{"assetPackID":"bdassets2","downloadPolicy":{"onDemand":{}},"fileSelectors":[{"file":"1.jpg"},{"file":"2.pag"},{"file":"3.mp4"}],"platforms":["iOS"]}
and
{"assetPackID":"bdassets1","downloadPolicy":{"prefetch":{"installationEventTypes":["firstInstallation","subsequentUpdate"]}},"fileSelectors":[{"file":"1.jpg"},{"file":"2.pag"},{"file":"3.mp4"},{"directory":"a1"}],"platforms":["iOS"]}
and
{"assetPackID":"bdassets0","downloadPolicy":{"essential":{"installationEventTypes":["firstInstallation","subsequentUpdate"]}},"fileSelectors":[{"file":"1.jpg"},{"file":"2.pag"},{"file":"3.mp4"},{"directory":"a1"}],"platforms":["iOS"]}
The same error was reported when the three aar files were obtained. I obtained it using the following code:
do {
let assetPack = try await AssetPackManager.shared.assetPack(withID: "bdassets2")
try await AssetPackManager.shared.ensureLocalAvailability(of: assetPack)
} catch {
print("Download failed:", error)
}
2、Follow this tutorial Testing your asset packs locally
I use this command line to start the test server:xcrun ba-serve --host 172.17.9.62 bdassets2.aar, The content displayed on the terminal is:
Loading asset packs…
Loading the asset pack at “bdassets2.aar”…
Choose an identity in the panel to continue.
Listening on port 56061…
When running the project, Xcode reports an error:Download failed: Could not connect to the server.
I use iPhone directly visit this website: https://172.17.9.62:56061, on the page display "Hello, world!"
There are too few error messages in both of the above questions. I have no idea what the specific reasons are.I hope someone can offer some guidance.
Best Regards.
This is a major issue. After my iPhone 12 Pro was upgraded to iOS 26 beta 6, Apple's official Wi-Fi Aware Sample APP crashed immediately and couldn't be opened. It just force closes.
Has any developer encountered this problem?
how can I prevent handshake when certificate is user installed
for example if user is using Proxyman or Charles proxy and they install their own certificates
now system is trusting those certificates
I wanna prevent that, and exclude those certificates that are installed by user,
and accept the handshake if CA certificate is in a real valid certificate defined in OS
I know this can be done in android by setting something like
<network-security-config>
<base-config>
<trust-anchors>
<certificates src="system" />
</trust-anchors>
</base-config>
</network-security-config>
For a past few days, I have been exploring control Filter and data filter. I am unable to understand how control moves from various functions of data filter to control Filter.
One thing that I am unable to figure out is that when I pass verdict as .allow in dataFilter's handleNewFlow and mark .shouldReport as true, I get inBytes and outbytes in the flow report of handle() in controlFilter. But when I pass verdict as needRules and wait till the handle is called in controlFilter when the report.event == .flowClosed, I don't get inBytes and outBytes.
I am unable to understand this complete flow of network extension from the apple documentation.
Can someone provide me with some flow chart or some pictorial representation or detailed explanation of network extension for iOS?
Also is there some way to imitate the ..statisticsReportFrequency for iOS as it is not available for iOS?
Hi,
We have an issue (https://github.com/actions/runner-images/issues/10924) raised by a user requesting to add 'local network access' permission for macOS 15 and macOS 15-arm64 image runners. Apple introduced a new LNP policy with macOS Sequoia that is not controlled by TCC or MDM. Could you please guide us on how to add 'local network access' permission for macOS 15 and macOS 15-arm64 image runners?
Thanks.
Hello Everyone,
I’m working on a project that involves multicast communication between processes running on different devices within the same network. For all my Apple devices (macOS, iOS, etc.), I am using NWConnectionGroup, which listens on a multicast address "XX.XX.XX.XX" and a specific multicast port.
The issue occurs when a requestor (such as a non-Apple process) sends a multicast request, and the server, which is a process running on an Apple device using NWConnectionGroup (the responder), attempts to reply. The problem is that the response is sent from a different ephemeral port rather than the port on which the multicast request was received.
If the client is behind a firewall that blocks unsolicited traffic, the firewall only allows incoming packets on the same multicast port used for the initial request. Since the multicast response is sent from a different ephemeral port, the firewall blocks this response, preventing the requestor from receiving it.
Questions:
Is there a recommended approach within the NWConnectionGroup or Network.framework to ensure that responses to multicast requests are sent from the same port used for the request?
Are there any best practices for handling multicast responses in scenarios where the requestor is behind a restrictive firewall?
Any insights or suggestions on how to account for this behavior and ensure reliable multicast communication in such environments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Harshal
Hey everyone,
I’m developing an app for visionOS where I need to display the Apple Vision Pro’s current IP address. For this I’m using the following code, which works for iOS, macOS, and visionOS in the simulator. Only on a real Apple Vision Pro it’s unable to extract an IP. Could it be that visionOS currently doesn’t allow this? Have any of you had the same experience and found a workaround?
var address: String = "no ip"
var ifaddr: UnsafeMutablePointer<ifaddrs>? = nil
if getifaddrs(&ifaddr) == 0 {
var ptr = ifaddr
while ptr != nil {
defer { ptr = ptr?.pointee.ifa_next }
let interface = ptr?.pointee
let addrFamily = interface?.ifa_addr.pointee.sa_family
if addrFamily == UInt8(AF_INET) {
if let name: Optional<String> = String(cString: (interface?.ifa_name)!), name == "en0" {
var hostname = [CChar](repeating: 0, count: Int(NI_MAXHOST))
getnameinfo(interface?.ifa_addr, socklen_t((interface?.ifa_addr.pointee.sa_len)!), &hostname, socklen_t(hostname.count), nil, socklen_t(0), NI_NUMERICHOST)
address = String(cString: hostname)
}
}
}
freeifaddrs(ifaddr)
}
return address
}
Thanks in advance for any insights or tips!
Best Regards,
David
If the includeAllNetworks flag to true, we cannot update our app via Xcode, TestFlight or the AppStore. In the AppStore and TestFlight cases, it seems that the packet tunnel process is stopped before the new app is downloaded - once the packet tunnel process is stopped, it can’t be started again via Settings/VPN profiles, nor can it be started via the app.
Simulator: iPhone 16 pro (iOS 26)
Minimum Deployments: iOS 16.0+, not iOS 17.
Here is the demo:
import SwiftUI
import NetworkExtension
struct ContentView: View {
private var monitor = NWPathMonitor()
var body: some View {
VStack {
Text("Hello, world!")
}
.task {
let _ = URLSession.shared
}
}
}
Description:
We are investigating an issue where running a specific e-commerce iOS app inside the Xcode Simulator intermittently disrupts the Mac’s network connectivity.
When the app is launched in the Simulator, our NETransparentProxyProvider and NEFilterDataProvider extensions occasionally stop receiving traffic correctly, and shortly afterward the entire macOS DNS resolution fails. Once this happens, all apps on the Mac lose internet access until mac is restarted. Disabling extensions also fixing the issue.
This issue only appears when the app runs in the Xcode Simulator.
I would like to confirm:
Is it possible for traffic patterns or network behavior inside the Simulator to interfere with system-level Network Extension providers on macOS?
Are there known limitations or conflicts between the Simulator’s virtual networking interfaces and Network Extensions?
Any recommended debugging steps or best practices to isolate this behavior?
Any guidance, known issues, or suggestions would be appreciated.
We have an iPad application that utilizes Multipeer Connectivity to enable local communication between devices running a copy of our app. Until recently, we were able to test this functionality in the Xcode simulator without any issues. We could easily set up multiple simulators and have them all communicate with each other. However, recently, either due to an upgrade to Xcode or MacOS, this functionality ceased working in the simulator. Surprisingly, it still functions perfectly on physical devices.
If we reboot the development computer and launch the simulator immediately after the reboot (without building and sending from Xcode, but running the existing code on the device), the issue resolves. However, the moment we generate a new build and send it to the simulator from Xcode, the multipeer functionality stops working again in the simulator. The simulators won’t reconnect until a reboot of the physical Mac hardware hosting the simulator.
We’ve tried the usual troubleshooting steps, such as downgrading Xcode, deleting simulators and recreating them, cleaning the build folder, and deleting derived data, but unfortunately, none of these solutions have worked. The next step is to attempt to use a previous version of MacOS (15.3) and see if that helps, but I’d prefer to avoid this if possible.
Does anyone have any obvious suggestions or troubleshooting steps that might help us identify the cause of this issue?
I want to configure one aspect of my networking configuration (the QUIC keepalive interval). This only seems to be configurable via Network.framework’s nw_quic_set_keepalive_interval. Is there any way to apply this to a URLSession? Or do I need to implement the whole connection management myself using Network.framework?
I haven’t been able to get this to work at any level! I’m running into multiple issues, any light shed on any of these would be nice:
I can’t implement a bloom filter that produces the same output as can be found in the SimpleURLFilter sample project, after following the textual description of it that’s available in the documentation. No clue what my implementation is doing wrong, and because of the nature of hashing, there is no way to know. Specifically:
The web is full of implementations of FNV-1a and MurmurHash3, and they all produce different hashes for the same input. Can we get the proper hashes for some sample strings, so we know which is the “correct” one?
Similarly, different implementations use different encodings for the strings to hash. Which should we use here?
The formulas for numberOfBits and numberOfHashes give Doubles and assign them to Ints. It seems we should do this conversing by rounding them, is this correct?
Can we get a sample correct value for the combined hash, so we can verify our implementations against it?
Or ignoring all of the above, can we have the actual code instead of a textual description of it? 😓
I managed to get Settings to register my first attempt at this extension in beta 1. Now, in beta 2, any other project (including the sample code) will redirect to Settings, show the Allow/Deny message box, I tap Allow, and then nothing happens. This must be a bug, right?
Whenever I try to enable the only extension that Settings accepted (by setting its isEnabled to true), its status goes to .stopped and the error is, of course, .unknown. How do I debug this?
While the extension is .stopped, ALL URL LOADS are blocked on the device. Is this to be expected? (shouldFailClosed is set to false)
Is there any way to manually reload the bloom filter? My app ships blocklist updates with background push, so it would be wasteful to fetch the filter at a fixed interval. If so, can we opt out of the periodic fetch altogether?
I initially believed the API to be near useless because I didn’t know of its “fuzzy matching” capabilities, which I’ve discovered by accident in a forum post. It’d be nice if those were documented somewhere!
Thanks!!
Hello! I develop transparent proxy based application, and I'm receiving a lot of crash reports from macOS 15.5 for crash in __88-[NEExtensionAppProxyProviderContext setInitialFlowDivertControlSocket:extraValidation:]_block_invoke.90 when stopping.
Even very old versions of my software started crashing on macOS 15.5.
I checked my extension that it correctly calls setTunnelNetworkSettings:nil on proxy stop, but crash is still here.
Does anybody else have this problem? Do you know any workaround for it?
I've implemented a custom system extension VPN for macOS using Packet Tunnel Provider. The VPN is configured with on-demand, and a rule to always connect whenever there's traffic:
onDemandRules = [NEOnDemandRuleConnect()]
As expected, if the VPN isn't active, all traffic gets blocked until it is ready.
Not expected: In the following scenario, there is some 'traffic leak':
Use only WiFi (not wired cable)
Connect the VPN
Disable the WiFi and wait for the VPN to disconnect
Enable the WiFi
Some packets are routed outside the VPN, and aren't being blocked
Some moments after, all traffic will be blocked, and the VPN will start the 'connecting' process.
Is the above scenario a 'known' issue? Can it be a race condition in the OS, where some packets can be sent after the network is brought back before the VPN process starts? Is there any way to fix this problem?
P.S:
I'm not using flags such as 'capture all network'