Hi everyone, could you help us? We implemented a Flutter library that basically makes a call every x minutes if the app is in the background, but when I generate the version via TestFlight for testing, it doesn't work. Can you help us understand why? Below is a more detailed technical description. Apple Developer Technical Support Request Subject: BGTaskScheduler / Background Tasks Not Executing in TestFlight - Flutter App with workmanager Plugin Issue Summary Background tasks scheduled using BGTaskScheduler are not executing when the app is distributed via TestFlight. The same implementation works correctly when running the app locally via USB/Xcode debugging. We are developing a Flutter application that needs to perform periodic API calls when the app is in the background. We have followed all documentation and implemented the required configurations, but background tasks are not being executed in the TestFlight build. App Information Field Value App Version 3.1.15 (Build 311) iOS Minimum Deployment Target iOS 15.0 Framework Flutter Flutter SDK Version ^3.7.2 Technical Environment Flutter Dependencies (Background Task Related) Package Version Purpose workmanager ^0.9.0+3 Main background task scheduler (uses BGTaskScheduler on iOS 13+) flutter_background_service ^5.0.5 Background service management flutter_background_service_android ^6.2.4 Android-specific background service flutter_local_notifications ^19.4.2 Local notifications for background alerts timezone ^0.10.0 Timezone support for scheduling Other Relevant Flutter Dependencies Package Version firebase_core 4.0.0 firebase_messaging (via native Podfile) sfmc (Salesforce Marketing Cloud) ^9.0.0 geolocator ^14.0.0 permission_handler ^12.0.0+1 Info.plist Configuration We have added the following configurations to Info.plist: UIBackgroundModes <key>UIBackgroundModes</key> <array> <string>location</string> <string>remote-notification</string> <string>processing</string> </array> ### BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers ```xml <key>BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers</key> <array> <string>br.com.unidas.apprac.ios.workmanager.carrinho_api_task</string> <string>br.com.unidas.apprac.ios.workmanager</string> <string>be.tramckrijter.workmanager.BackgroundTask</string> </array> **Note:** We included multiple identifier formats as recommended by the `workmanager` Flutter plugin documentation: 1. `{bundleId}.ios.workmanager.{taskName}` - Custom task identifier 2. `{bundleId}.ios.workmanager` - Default workmanager identifier 3. `be.tramckrijter.workmanager.BackgroundTask` - Plugin's default identifier (as per plugin documentation) ## AppDelegate.swift Configuration We have configured the `AppDelegate.swift` with the following background processing setup: ```swift // In application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) // Configuration to enable background processing via WorkManager // The "processing" mode in UIBackgroundModes allows WorkManager to use BGTaskScheduler (iOS 13+) // This is required to execute scheduled tasks in background (e.g., API calls) // Note: User still needs to have Background App Refresh enabled in iOS settings if UIApplication.shared.backgroundRefreshStatus == .available { // Allows iOS system to schedule background tasks with minimum interval UIApplication.shared.setMinimumBackgroundFetchInterval(UIApplication.backgroundFetchIntervalMinimum) } ## WorkManager Implementation (Dart/Flutter) ### Initialization ```dart /// Initializes WorkManager static Future<void> initialize() async { await Workmanager().initialize(callbackDispatcher, isInDebugMode: false); print('WorkManagerService: WorkManager initialized'); } ### Task Registration /// Schedules API execution after a specific delay ## Observed Behavior ### Works (Debug/USB Connection) - When running the app via Xcode/USB debugging - Background tasks are scheduled and executed as expected - API calls are made successfully when the app is backgrounded ### Does NOT Work (TestFlight) - When the app is distributed via TestFlight - Background tasks appear to be scheduled (no errors in code) - Tasks are **never executed** when the app is in background - We have tested with: - Background App Refresh enabled in iOS Settings - App used frequently - Device connected to WiFi and charging - Waited for extended periods (hours) ## Possible heart points 1. **Are there any additional configurations required for `BGTaskScheduler` to work in TestFlight/Production builds that are not required for debug builds?** 2. **Is the identifier format correct?** We are using: `br.com.unidas.apprac.ios.workmanager.carrinho_api_task` - Should it match exactly with the task name registered in code? 3. **Are there any known issues with Flutter's `workmanager` plugin and iOS BGTaskScheduler in production environments?** 4. **Is there any way to verify through logs or system diagnostics if the background tasks are being rejected by the system?** 5. **Could there be any conflict between our other background modes (`location`, `remote-notification`) and `processing`?** 6. **Does the Salesforce Marketing Cloud SDK (SFMC) interfere with BGTaskScheduler operations?** ## Additional Context - We have verified that `Background App Refresh` is enabled for our app in iOS Settings - The app has proper entitlements for push notifications and location services - Firebase, SFMC (Salesforce Marketing Cloud), and other SDKs are properly configured - The issue is **only** present in TestFlight builds, not in debug/USB-connected builds ## References - [Apple Documentation - BGTaskScheduler](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/backgroundtasks/bgtaskscheduler) - [Apple Documentation - Choosing Background Strategies](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/backgroundtasks/choosing_background_strategies_for_your_app) Thank you

Desired Behavior I want the app to be able to handle multiple Push-to-Start notifications even when it is completely terminated. Each Live Activity should: Be successfully displayed upon receiving a Push-to-Start notification. Trigger background tasks to send its update token to the server, regardless of the time interval between notifications. Problem I am facing an issue with iOS Live Activities when using Push-to-Start notifications to trigger Live Activities in an app that has been completely terminated. Here’s the detailed scenario: When the app is completely terminated and I send the first Push-to-Start notification: The Live Activity is successfully displayed. didFinishLaunchingWithOptions` is triggered, and background tasks execute correctly, including sending the update token to the server. When I send consecutive Push-to-Start notifications in quick succession (e.g., within a few seconds or minutes): Both notifications successfully display their respective Live Activities. Background tasks are executed correctly for both notifications. However, when there is a longer interval (e.g., 10 minutes) between two Push-to-Start notifications: The first notification works perfectly—it displays the Live Activity, triggers didFinishLaunchingWithOptions, and executes background tasks. The second notification successfully displays the Live Activity but fails to execute any background tasks, such as sending the update token to the server. My HypothesisI suspect that iOS might impose a restriction where background runtime for Push-to-Start notifications can only be granted once within a certain time frame after the app has been terminated. Any insights into why this issue might be occurring or how to ensure consistent background task execution for multiple Push-to-Start notifications would be greatly appreciated!

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 -&gt; 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?

I've experimentally seen that the notifications(named:) API of NotificationCenter appears to buffer observed notifications internally. In local testing it appears to be limited to 8 messages. I've been unable to find any documentation of this fact, and the behavior seems like it could lead to software bugs if code is not expecting notifications to potentially be dropped. Is this behavior expected and documented somewhere? Here is a sample program demonstrating the behavioral difference between the Combine and AsyncSequence-based notification observations: @Test nonisolated func testNotificationRace() async throws { let testName = Notification.Name("TestNotification") let notificationCount = 100 var observedAsyncIDs = [Int]() var observedCombineIDs = [Int]() let subscribe = Task { @MainActor in print("setting up observer...") let token = NotificationCenter.default.publisher(for: testName) .sink { value in let id = value.userInfo?["id"] as! Int observedCombineIDs.append(id) print("🚜 observed note with id: \(id)") } defer { extendLifetime(token) } for await note in NotificationCenter.default.notifications(named: testName) { let id: Int = note.userInfo?["id"] as! Int print("🚰 observed note with id: \(id)") observedAsyncIDs.append(id) if id == notificationCount { break } } } let post = Task { @MainActor in for i in 1...notificationCount { NotificationCenter.default.post( name: testName, object: nil, userInfo: ["id": i] ) } } _ = await (post.value, subscribe.value) #expect(observedAsyncIDs.count == notificationCount) // 🛑 Expectation failed: (observedAsyncIDs.count → 8) == (notificationCount → 100) #expect(observedCombineIDs == Array(1...notificationCount)) print("done") }

SMAppService Error 108 "Unable to read plist" on macOS 15 Sequoia - Comprehensive Test Case Summary We have a fully notarized SMAppService implementation that consistently fails with Error 108 "Unable to read plist" on macOS 15 Sequoia, despite meeting all documented requirements. After systematic testing including AI-assisted analysis, we've eliminated all common causes and created a comprehensive test case. Error: SMAppServiceErrorDomain Code=108 "Unable to read plist: com.keypath.helperpoc.helper" 📋 Complete Repository: https://github.com/malpern/privileged_helper_help What We've Systematically Verified ✅ Perfect bundle structure: Helper at Contents/MacOS/, plist at Contents/Library/LaunchDaemons/ Correct SMAuthorizedClients: Embedded in helper binary via CREATE_INFOPLIST_SECTION_IN_BINARY=YES Aligned identifiers: Main app, helper, and plist all use consistent naming Production signing: Developer ID certificates with full Apple notarization and stapling BundleProgram paths: Tested both Contents/MacOS/helperpoc-helper and simplified helperpoc-helper Entitlements: Tested with and without com.apple.developer.service-management.managed-by-main-app What Makes This Different Systematic methodology: Not a "help me debug" post - we've done comprehensive testing Expert validation: AI analysis helped eliminate logical hypotheses Reproduction case: Minimal project that demonstrates the issue consistently Complete documentation: All testing steps, configurations, and results documented Use Case Context We're building a keyboard remapper that integrates with https://github.com/jtroo/kanata and needs privileged daemon registration for system-wide keyboard event interception. Key Questions Does anyone have a working SMAppService implementation on macOS 15 Sequoia? Are there undocumented macOS 15 requirements we're missing? Is Error 108 a known issue with specific workarounds? Our hypothesis: This appears to be a macOS 15 system-level issue rather than configuration error, since our implementation meets all documented Apple requirements but fails consistently. Has anyone encountered similar SMAppService issues on macOS 15, or can confirm a working implementation?

my app need tracking location all the time both foreground and background. Please suggest how to prevent the app from being terminated. or detect when app is terminated.

Hello 👋 Our team added com.apple.security.temporary-exception.apple-events: com.apple.Terminal recently to our Mac app to be able to tell the terminal to execute a specific command line automatically for the user when clicking a button but we've been rejected during review because of this entitlement so for now we've deleted it and deleted the associated feature. It concerns the following feature (see attachment). Context: Among other things the application enable to review pull request changes (remote) and we would like a button to automatically clone the pull request on disk when user click a button. We would like to use terminal for security reason as when cloning using git command we need ssh keys or other credential and there's no reason (rather than technical ones) that the user provide us such private information that is stored in the ~/.ssh. We prefer think the other way around and tell the user what to execute instead (no credentials involved or shared). We referred to: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/EntitlementKeyReference/Chapters/AppSandboxTemporaryExceptionEntitlements.html I admit it's unclear for me if this will imply a 100% rejection or if these entitlements are deprecated. Is "com.apple.security.temporary-exception.apple-events: com.apple.Terminal" an entitlement that is reserved for special Apple partners ? Is it an entitlement that we should demonstrate usage first ? Or should we completely remove the feature if we distribute through the App Store ? Is Apple advice for other APIs to develop such features (execute command line for the user) when distributing through the App Store ? As said we've disabled the feature for now. Thank you in advance for those who will take time to answer this,

I've discovered that a system network extension can communicate with a LaunchDaemon (loaded using SMAppService) over XPC, provided that the XPC service name begins with the team ID. If I move the launchd daemon plist to Contents/Library/LaunchAgents and swap the SMAppService.daemon calls to SMAppService.agent calls, and remove the .privileged option to NSXPCConnection, the system extension receives "Couldn't communicate with a helper application" as an error when trying to reach the LaunchAgent advertised service. Is this limitation by design? I imagine it is, but wanted to check before I spent any more time on it.

I'm developing a safety-critical monitoring app that needs to fetch data from government APIs every 30 minutes and trigger emergency audio alerts for threshold violations. The app must work reliably in background since users depend on it for safety alerts even while sleeping. Main Challenge: iOS background limitations seem to prevent consistent 30-minute intervals. Standard BGTaskScheduler and timers get suspended after a few minutes in background. Question: What's the most reliable approach to ensure consistent 30-minute background monitoring for a safety-critical app where missed alerts could have serious consequences? Are there special entitlements or frameworks for emergency/safety applications? The app needs to function like an alarm clock - working reliably even when backgrounded with emergency audio override capabilities.

I'm developing a macOS application that tracks the duration of a user's session using a timer, which is displayed both in the main window and in an menu bar extra view. I have a couple of questions regarding the timer's behavior: What happens to the timer if the user closes the application's window (causing the app to become inactive) but does not fully quit it? Does the timer continue to run, pause, or behave in some other way? Will the app nap feature stop the timer when app is in-active state? When the application is inactive and the system is either in sleep mode or locked, does the timer’s tolerance get affected? In other words, will the timer fire with any additional delay compared to its scheduled time under these conditions?

Hello, We're seeing some strange crashes and noticed the following. It's unclear if related or not. The contract for xpc_main, which internally calls dispatch_main, is This function never returns. and they are appropriately peppered with __attribute__((__noreturn__)). Documentation states: This function “parks” the main thread and waits for blocks to be submitted to the main queue. However, internally, dispatch_main calls pthread_exit. pthread_exit's documentation states that: After a thread has terminated, the result of access to local (auto) variables of the thread is undefined. Thus, references to local variables of the exiting thread should not be used for the pthread_exit() value_ptr parameter value. I'd say the two contracts of This function never returns. and thread exiting with its storage released are diametrically opposed and can create nuanced issues. Consider the following code: struct asd { int a; }; struct asd* ptr; void fff(void* ctx) { while(true) { printf("%d\n", ptr->a); ptr->a = (ptr->a + 1); usleep(100000); } } int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) { struct asd zxc; zxc.a = 1; ptr = &zxc; dispatch_async_f(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), NULL, fff); dispatch_main(); return 0; } This is a gross over-simplification of the code we have, but in the same "spirit". We have a C++ object that is created on the stack and exposes one of its members as a global pointer, with the assumption that it would never release. What I understand from This function never returns is that the calling thread remains dormant and its stack remains alive. What I understand from pthread_exit is that the thread is killed (this is verified with a debugger attached) and its stack storage is released. Another thing that is throwing me off is that no sanitizer that is provided by clang/Xcode catches this issue. I don't see any special handling of the internal pthread_t in libdispatch to keep the stack storage alive. Our code is more complex, but can be solved by allocating the initial object on the heap, rather than on the stack. But still I would like to understand if this is the expected behavior. Perhaps my preconception of __attribute__((__noreturn__)) is wrong, and accessing stack variables post call to a __attribute__((__noreturn__)) function is UB? Thanks

I'm developing a macOS application that tracks the duration of a user's session using a timer, which is displayed both in the main window and in an menu bar extra view. I have a couple of questions regarding the timer's behavior: What happens to the timer if the user closes the application's window (causing the app to become inactive) but does not fully quit it? Does the timer continue to run, pause, or behave in some other way? Will the app nap feature stop the timer when app is in-active state?

Every time macOS goes to sleep the processes get suspended which is expected. But during the sleep period, all processes keep coming back and they all get a small execution window where they make some n/w requests. Regardless of what power settings i have. It also does not matter whether my app is a daemon or not Is there any way that i can disable this so that when system is in sleep, it stays in suspended, no intermittent execution window? I have tried disabling Wake for network access setting but processes still keep getting intermittent execution window. Is there any way that i can prevent my app from coming back while in sleep. I don't want my app to get execution window, perform some executions and then get suspended not knowing when it will get execution window again?

The application is placed into the idle state. Subsequently, the device enters a sleep state. While the device is in sleep, App start background task within the application successfully receives its expirationHandler callback. App received the expiration callback and App called the end BGtask OS did not released the Assertion. Resulting in App getting terminated by the OS for exceeding the BG task Apple Feedback- FB19192371

Hello, aspiring programmer here. I am developing a StepCounter APP, which keeps track of how many steps I have taken and sends to an MQTT server. I am trying to make this happen even while the app is not in focus, but so far I have not been able to get this working. First tried with silent background music, which seemed pretty inconsistent and inpractical, since I usually play youtube videoes while walking, making the app stop with its silent audio. Then tried GPS, which didnt really do anything (could be implementation problem). Has anyone made background processing work for their apps?

Hello, aspiring programmer here. I am developing a StepCounter APP, which keeps track of how many steps I have taken and sends to an MQTT server. I am trying to make this happen even while the app is not in focus, but so far I have not been able to get this working. First tried with silent background music, which seemed pretty inconsistent and inpractical, since I usually play youtube videoes while walking, making the app stop with its silent audio. Then tried GPS, which didnt really do anything (could be implementation problem). Has anyone made background processing work for their apps?

Recently, after updating the Developer app to the latest version, my iPad has been unable to open this app as it crashes immediately upon launch. Prior to the update, the app functioned normally. My device is an 11-inch iPad Pro from 2021, running iPadOS 17.3. I have tried troubleshooting steps such as reinstalling the app and restarting the device, but these actions have not resolved the issue. However, I need to use this specific version of the system, iPadOS 17.3, for software testing purposes and cannot upgrade the system. Other apps on my device work normally without any issues. Is there a solution to this problem? I have attempted to contact the developer support team in China, but they were also unable to provide a resolution. This issue is reproducible 100% of the time on my iPad.

Hi! I've been developing iOS and macOS apps for many years, but now I am looking to dive into smth i have never touched before, namely privileged helpers, and i am struggling hard trying to find my footing. Here’s my use case: I have a CLI tool that requires elevated privileges. I want to create a menu bar app that can interact with this tool, but I’m struggling to find solid documentation or examples of how to accomplish this using SMAppService. I might just be missing something obvious. If anyone could point me toward relevant documentation, examples, articles, tutorials, or even a WWDC session that covers running privileged helpers with SMAppService, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

Testing Environment: iOS Version: 26.0 Beta 7 Xcode Version: 17.0 Beta 6 Device: iPhone 16 Pro Description: We are implementing the new BGContinuedProcessingTask API and are using the wildcard identifier notation as described in the official documentation. Our Info.plist is correctly configured with a permitted identifier pattern, such as com.our-bundle.export.*. We then register a single launch handler for this exact wildcard pattern. We are performing this registration within a UIViewController, which is a supported pattern as BGContinuedProcessingTask is explicitly exempt from the "register before applicationDidFinishLaunching" requirement, according to the BGTaskScheduler.h header file. The register method correctly returns true, indicating the registration was successful. However, when we then try to submit a task with a unique identifier that matches this pattern (e.g., com.our-bundle.export.UUID), the BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit() call throws an NSInternalInconsistencyException and terminates the app. The error reason is: 'No launch handler registered for task with identifier com.our-bundle.export.UUID'. This indicates that the system is not correctly matching the specific, unique identifier from the submit call to the registered wildcard pattern handler. This behavior contradicts the official documentation. Steps to Reproduce: Create a new Xcode project. In Signing & Capabilities, add "Background Modes" (with "Background processing" checked) and "Background GPU Access". Add a permitted identifier (e.g., "com.company.test.*") to BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers in Info.plist. In a UIViewController's viewDidLoad, register a handler for the wildcard pattern. Check that the register method returns true. Immediately after, try to submit a BGContinuedProcessingTaskRequest with a unique identifier that matches the pattern. Expected Results: The submit call should succeed without crashing, and the task should be scheduled. Actual Results: The app crashes immediately upon calling submit(). The console shows an uncaught NSInternalInconsistencyException with the reason: 'No launch handler registered for task with identifier com.company.test.UUID'. Workaround: The issue can be bypassed if we register a new handler for each unique identifier immediately before submitting a request with that same unique identifier. This strongly suggests the bug is in the system's wildcard pattern-matching logic.