I’m developing an iOS idle game (guild management). To detect manual device time changes that would break progression, I need a trusted “current real-world time” reference. I’m considering querying Apple’s NTP host time.apple.com, but I couldn’t find any official guidance about whether third-party apps may use time.apple.com directly (acceptable use, rate limits, whether it’s discouraged, etc.). Apple Developer Support couldn’t provide info and suggested asking on the forums. Questions: 1. Is it permitted for a third-party iOS app to query time.apple.com via NTP/SNTP (Yes/No or conditional)? 2. If permitted, are there any published or recommended constraints (rate limits, caching, prohibited patterns, commercial app considerations)? 3. If not permitted / not recommended, what is the recommended alternative approach (run our own time service, use public NTP pool, or any Apple-recommended mechanism)? 4. If there is any official document / policy covering this, could you point me to it? For context: I do not need sub-second accuracy and I do not intend high-frequency polling. If implemented at all, it would be very low frequency (e.g., first launch + once per 24h) with caching and graceful fallback on failure. My main goal is policy clarity rather than implementation details.

My application needs local network access. When it is started for the first time, the user gets a prompt to enable local network access (as expected). The application is then shown as enabled in Privacy & Security / Local Network and local network access is working. If macOS is then shutdown and restarted, local network access is blocked for the application even though it is still shown as enabled in Privacy & Security / Local Network. Local network access can be restored either by toggling permission off and on in Privacy & Security / Local Network or by disabling and enabling Wi-Fi. This behaviour is consistent on Sequoia 15.1. It happens sometimes on 15.0 and 15.0.1 but not every time. Is my application doing something wrong or is this a Sequoia issue? If it is a Sequoia issue, is there some change I can make to my application to work around it?

In our iOS application, we need to list available WiFi networks so that users can select one for device configuration. Here's the workflow: Initially, the hardware device acts as a WiFi Access Point (AP). The app should scan for nearby WiFi networks to detect the device's AP. The app connects temporarily to this AP and sends the selected WiFi credentials to the device. The device then connects to the selected WiFi network and stops broadcasting its AP. Is this flow achievable on iOS? We understand that Apple restricts access to WiFi scanning APIs — are there any supported methods (e.g., using NEHotspotHelper) or entitlements (such as MFi) that could enable this?

I have a network extension that hosts a NEFilterDataProvider & NETransparentProxyProvider. One of the use case that this caters to is : Proxy some flows (depending on originating app) while Content filter is also filtering flows based on business logic. The issue I am running into happens when FilterDataProvider sees a flow & responds with filterDataVerdict(withFilterInbound: false, peekInboundBytes: 0, filterOutbound: true, peekOutboundBytes:1024 to handleNewFlow(_ flow: NEFilterFlow) [wants to peek more bytes on outbound connection before making a decision] TransparentProxyProvider sees the flow & responds with NO to handleNewFlow(_ flow: NEAppProxyFlow) as it is not interested in in proxying that flow. When this occurs, we see connection being dropped by kernel. I wanted to know if this is expected behavior. Logs when this occurs: 2026-02-06 14:57:09.725854-0600 0x17c918f Default 0x0 569 0 com.test.networkextension: (NetworkExtension) [com.apple.networkextension:] [Extension com.test.network]: provider rejected new flow TCP headless_shell[{length = 20, bytes = 0xe69023e655b6065e1a2f94fa508807fa43f6ac8a}] remote: 100.72.0.3:443 interface utun9 2026-02-06 14:57:09.725874-0600 0x17ca166 Debug 0x0 569 0 com.test.networkextension: (NetworkExtension) [com.apple.networkextension:] New flow verdict for D89B5B5D-793C-4940-D955-37BE33F18005: drop = NO remediate = NO needRules = NO shouldReport = YES pause = NO urlAppendString = NO filterInbound = NO peekInboundBytes = 0 filterOutbound = YES peekOutboundBytes = 1024 statisticsReportFrequency = low 2026-02-06 14:57:09.726009-0600 0x17ca24a Default 0x0 569 0 com.test.networkextension: (libnetworkextension.dylib) [com.apple.networkextension:] (410011084): Closing reads (sending SHUT_WR), closed by plugin (flow error: 0) 2026-02-06 14:57:09.726028-0600 0x17ca24a Default 0x0 569 0 com.test.networkextension: (libnetworkextension.dylib) [com.apple.networkextension:] (410011084): Closing writes, sending SHUT_RD 2026-02-06 14:57:09.726040-0600 0x17ca24a Debug 0x0 569 0 com.test.networkextension: (libnetworkextension.dylib) [com.apple.networkextension:] (410011084): Dropping the director 2026-02-06 14:57:09.726047-0600 0x17ca24a Default 0x0 569 0 com.test.networkextension: (libnetworkextension.dylib) [com.apple.networkextension:] (410011084): Destroying, client tx 0, client rx 0, kernel rx 0, kernel tx 0 I wanted to know how neagent is handling this when for a flow, filterDataProvider wants to look at the traffic while transparentProxy is not interested in handling that flow

I have a custom VPN app that uses NETunnelProviderManager to install a VPN Profile if one is not already installed. On previous iOS versions this would open the VPN Settings and ask for either the PIN, FaceID or TouchID and install the profile. With iOS 26 beta5 it opens the VPN Settings and stops. Is this a bug in iOS 26? Have there been changes to NETunnelProviderManager for iOS 26 that I'm not aware of? FYI we do the samething on macOS 26 beta5 and that works as expected.

Greetings, I would like to understand this URLCache behavior for two different requests to the same end point but with a different header value. Here is a code with comment explaining the behavior. // Create a request to for a url. let url = URL(string: "https://<my url>?f=json")! var request = URLRequest(url: url) // Set custom header with a value. request.setValue("myvalue", forHTTPHeaderField: "CustomField") // Send request to get the response. let (data, response) = try await URLSession.shared.data(for: request) print("data: \(String(describing: String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)))") print("response: \(response)") // Create second request to the same url but with different value of custom header field. var request2 = URLRequest(url: url) request2.setValue("newvalue", forHTTPHeaderField: "CustomField") // Check the URL cache for second request and it returns the response // of the first request even though the second request has different header value. let cachedResponse = URLCache.shared.cachedResponse(for: request2) print("cachedResponse: \(cachedResponse?.response)") Is this a bug in URLCache that request headers are not matched while returning the response? Is this an expected behavior? If yes, why?

Eager to see the Wi-Fi Aware communication between iPhone (iOS 26) and an Android device, I tried iOS 26 beta on my iPhone16. and tried below code snippet from provided example at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/wifiaware/building-peer-to-peer-apps. Idea is to first verify discovery of Android WiFiAware service on iOS. extension WAPublishableService { public static var simulationService: WAPublishableService { allServices[simulationServiceName]! } } extension WASubscribableService { public static var simulationService: WASubscribableService { allServices[simulationServiceName]! } } struct ContentView: View { @State private var showingDevicePicker = false @State private var pairedDevices: [WAPairedDevice] = [] // To hold discovered/paired devices var body: some View { VStack { Button("Discover Devices") { showingDevicePicker = true // Trigger the device picker presentation } .sheet(isPresented: $showingDevicePicker) { DevicePicker(.wifiAware(.connecting(to: .selected([]), from: .simulationService))) { endpoint in print("Paired Endpoint: \(endpoint)") } label: { Image(systemName: "plus") Text("Add Device") } fallback: { Image(systemName: "xmark.circle") Text("Unavailable") } } List(pairedDevices) { device in Text(device.name ?? "Unknown Device") } } } } With suggested entitlement of WiFiAware and info.plist of service info. Then I had Android device with WIFiAware service publishing service (service name set '_sat-simulation._udp') from this app https://github.com/anagramrice/NAN. But above iOS app is unable to find the service published from android device. Am I missing something? Note: the above Android-NAN app seems to be working fine between Android to Another Android.

Hi all, I have a working macOS (Intel) system extension app that currently uses only a Content Filter (NEFilterDataProvider). I need to capture/log HTTP and HTTPS traffic in plain text, and I understand NETransparentProxyProvider is the right extension type for that. For HTTPS I will need TLS inspection / a MITM proxy — I’m new to that and unsure how complex it will be. For DNS data (in plain text), can I use the same extension, or do I need a separate extension type such as NEPacketTunnelProvider, NEFilterPacketProvider, or NEDNSProxyProvider? Current architecture: Two Xcode targets: MainApp and a SystemExtension target. The SystemExtension target contains multiple network extension types. MainApp ↔ SystemExtension communicate via a bidirectional NSXPC connection. I can already enable two extensions (Content Filter and TransparentProxy). With the NETransparentProxy, I still need to implement HTTPS capture. Questions I’d appreciate help with: Can NETransparentProxy capture the DNS fields I need (dns_hostname, dns_query_type, dns_response_code, dns_answer_number, etc.), or do I need an additional extension type to capture DNS in plain text? If a separate extension is required, is it possible or problematic to include that extension type (Packet Tunnel / DNS Proxy / etc.) in the same SystemExtension Xcode target as the TransparentProxy? Any recommended resources or guidance on TLS inspection / MITM proxy setup for capturing HTTPS logs? There are multiple DNS transport types — am I correct that capturing DNS over UDP (port 53) is not necessarily sufficient? Which DNS types should I plan to handle? I’ve read that TransparentProxy and other extension types (e.g., Packet Tunnel) cannot coexist in the same Xcode target. Is that true? Best approach for delivering logs from multiple extensions to the main app (is it feasible)? Or what’s the best way to capture logs so an external/independent process (or C/C++ daemon) can consume them? Required data to capture (not limited to): All HTTP/HTTPS (request, body, URL, response, etc.) DNS fields: dns_hostname, dns_query_type, dns_response_code, dns_answer_number, and other DNS data — all in plain text. I’ve read various resources but remain unclear which extension(s) to use and whether multiple extension types can be combined in one Xcode target. Please ask if you need more details. Thank you.

I've had a Unreal Engine project that uses libwebsocket to make a websocket connection with SSL to a server. Recently I made a build using Unreal Engine 5.4.4 on MacOS Sequoia 15.5 and XCode 16.4 and for some reason the websocket connection now fails because it can't get the local issuer certificate. It fails to access the root certificate store on my device (Even though, running the project in the Unreal Editor works fine, it's only when making a packaged build with XCode that it breaks) I am not sure why this is suddenly happening now. If I run it in the Unreal editor on my macOS it works fine and connects. But when I make a packaged build which uses XCode to build, it can't get the local issuer certificate. I tried different code signing options, such as sign to run locally or just using sign automatically with a valid team, but I'm not sure if code signing is the cause of this issue or not. This app is only for development and not meant to be published, so that's why I had been using sign to run locally, and that used to work fine but not anymore. Any guidance would be appreciated, also any information on what may have changed that now causes this certificate issue to happen. I know Apple made changes and has made notarizing MacOS apps mandatory, but I'm not sure if that also means a non-notarized app will now no longer have access to the root certificate store of a device, in my research I haven't found anything about that specifically, but I'm wondering if any Apple engineers might know something about this that hasn't been put out publicly.

Greetings.I have an app today that uses multipeer connectivity extensively. Currently, when the user switches away from the app, MPC disconnects the session(s) - this is by design apparently (per other feedback). I'd like to hear if anyone has experimented with iOS9 multitasking / multipeer and whether MPC sessions can stay alive?Thanks

Hi, My app uses the NetworkExtension framework to connect to an access point. For some reason, my app occasionally fails to find and/or connect to my AP (which I know is online and beaconing on a given frequency). This roughly happens 1/10 times. I am using an iPhone 17, running iOS 26.0.1. I am connecting to a WPA2-Personal network. In the iPhone system logs, I see the following: Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: Dequeuing command type: "Scan" pending commands: 0 Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: __WiFiDeviceCopyPreparedScanResults: network records count: 0 Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: WiFi infra associated, NAN DISABLED, , DFS state Off, IR INACTIVE, llwLink ACTIVE, RTM-DP 0, allowing scans Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: isScanDisallowedByAwdl[1148] : InfraScanAllowed 1 (RTModeScan 0 NonSteering 0 assistDisc 0 HTMode 0 RTModeNeeded 0 Immin 0 ScanType 1 Flags 0 ScanOn2GOnly 0 DevAllows2G 1) Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: IO80211PeerManager::setScanningState:5756:_scanningState:0x2(oldState 0) on:1, source:ScanManagerFamily, err:0 Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: setScanningState:: Scan request from ScanManagerFamily. Time since last scan(1.732 s) Number of channels(0), 2.4 only(no), isDFSScan 0, airplaying 0, scanningState 0x2 Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: IO80211PeerManager::setScanningState:5756:_scanningState:0x2(oldState 0) on:1, source:ScanManagerFamily, err:0 Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: Controller Scan Started, scan state 0 -> 2 Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: IO80211PeerManager::setScanningState:5756:_scanningState:0x0(oldState 2) on:0, source:ScanError, err:3766617154 Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: setScanningState[23946]:: Scan complete for source(8)ScanError. Time(0.000 s), airplaying 0, scanningState 0x0 oldState 0x2 rtModeActive 0 (ProxSetup 0 curSchedState 3) Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: IO80211PeerManager::setScanningState:5756:_scanningState:0x0(oldState 2) on:0, source:ScanError, err:3766617154 Oct 10 10:34:10 kernel()[0] <Notice>: wlan0:com.apple.p2p: Controller Scan Done, scan state 2 -> 0 Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(IO80211)[54] <Notice>: Apple80211IOCTLSetWrapper:6536 @[35563.366221] ifname['en0'] IOUC type 10/'APPLE80211_IOC_SCAN_REQ', len[5528] return -528350142/0xe0820442 Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid[54] <Notice>: [WiFiPolicy] {SCAN-} Completed Apple80211ScanAsync on en0 (0xe0820442) with 0 networks Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Error>: __WiFiDeviceCreateFilteredScanResults: null scanResults Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: __WiFiDeviceCreateFilteredScanResults: rssiThresh 0, doTrimming 0, scanResultsCount: 0, trimmedScanResultsCount: 0, filteredScanResultsCount: 0, nullNetworksCount: 0 Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: __WiFiDeviceManagerDispatchUserForcedAssociationCallback: result 1 Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Error>: __WiFiDeviceManagerForcedAssociationCallback: failed to association error 1 Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: WiFiLocalizationGetLocalizedString: lang='en_GB' key='WIFI_JOIN_NETWORK_FAILURE_TITLE' value='Unable to join the network \M-b\M^@\M^\%@\M-b\M^@\M^]' Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: WiFiLocalizationGetLocalizedString: lang='en_GB' key='WIFI_FAILURE_OK' value='OK' Oct 10 10:34:10 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: __WiFiDeviceManagerUserForcedAssociationScanCallback: scan results were empty It looks like there is a scan error, and I see the error: failed to association error 1. I have also seen the iOS device find the SSID but fail to associate (associated error 2): Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: __WiFiMetricsManagerCopyLinkChangeNetworkParams: updating AccessPointInfo: { DeviceNameElement = testssid; ManufacturerElement = " "; ModelName = " "; ModelNumber = " "; } Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: __WiFiMetricsManagerCopyLinkChangeNetworkParams: minSupportDataRate 6, maxSupportDataRate 54 Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Error>: Disassociated. Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Error>: __WiFiMetricsManagerUpdateDBAndSubmitAssociationFailure: Failed to append deauthSourceOUI to CA event Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Error>: __WiFiMetricsManagerUpdateDBAndSubmitAssociationFailure: Failed to append bssidOUI to CA event ..... <log omitted> ..... <log omitted> Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(CoreWiFi)[54] <Notice>: [corewifi] END REQ [GET SSID] took 0.005530542s (pid=260 proc=mediaplaybackd bundleID=com.apple.mediaplaybackd codesignID=com.apple.mediaplaybackd service=com.apple.private.corewifi-xpc qos=21 intf=(null) uuid=D67EF err=-528342013 reply=(null) Oct 8 12:25:52 SpringBoard(SpringBoard)[244] <Notice>: Presenting a CFUserNotification with reply port: 259427 on behalf of: wifid.54 Oct 8 12:25:52 SpringBoard(SpringBoard)[244] <Notice>: Received request to activate alertItem: <SBUserNotificationAlert: 0xc20a49b80; title: Unable to join the network \M-b\M^@\M^\\134^Htestssid\134^?\M-b\M^@\M^]; source: wifid; pid: 54> Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: __WiFiDeviceManagerUserForcedAssociationCallback: failed forced association Oct 8 12:25:52 SpringBoard(SpringBoard)[244] <Notice>: Activation - Presenting <SBUserNotificationAlert: 0xc20a49b80; title: Unable to join the network \M-b\M^@\M^\\134^Htestssid\134^?\M-b\M^@\M^]; source: wifid; pid: 54> with presenter: <SBUnlockedAlertItemPresenter: 0xc1d9f6530> Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Notice>: __WiFiDeviceManagerDispatchUserForcedAssociationCallback: result 2 Oct 8 12:25:52 SpringBoard(SpringBoard)[244] <Notice>: Activation - Presenter:<SBUnlockedAlertItemPresenter: 0xc1d9f6530> will present presentation: <SBAlertItemPresentation: 0xc1cd40820; alertItem: <SBUserNotificationAlert: 0xc20a49b80; presented: NO>; presenter: <SBUnlockedAlertItemPresenter: 0xc1d9f6530>> Oct 8 12:25:52 wifid(WiFiPolicy)[54] <Error>: __WiFiDeviceManagerForcedAssociationCallback: failed to association error 2 Anyone able to help with this?

Howdy, I've been developing a packet tunnel extension meant to run on iOS and MacOS. For development I'm using xcodegen + xcodebuild to assemble a bunch of swift and rust code together. I'm moving from direct TUN device management on Mac to shipping a Network Extension (appex). With that move I noticed that on some mac laptops NE fails to start completely, whilst on others everything works fine. I'm using CODE_SIGN_STYLE: Automatic, Apple IDs are within the same team, all devices are registered as dev devices. Signing dev certificates, managed by xcode. Some suspicious logs: (NetworkExtension) [com.apple.networkextension:] Signature check failed: code failed to satisfy specified code requirement(s) ... (NetworkExtension) [com.apple.networkextension:] Provider is not signed with a Developer ID certificate What could be the issue? Where those inconsistencies across devices might come from?

Hello team, I am trying to find out a way to block urls in the chrome browser if it is found in local blocked list cache. I found URL Filter Network very much suitable for my requirement. But I see at multiple places that this solution is only for Enterprise level or MDM or supervised device. So can I run this for normal user ? as my targeting audience would be bank users. One more thing how can I test this in development environment if we need supervised devices and do we need special entitlement ? When trying to run sample project in the simulator then getting below error

Hello eveybody,Currently I'm working on an app which connects to a device. During testing I encounter an internal error of NEHotspotConfigurationErrorDomain. See the log snippet:Domain=NEHotspotConfigurationErrorDomain Code=8 "internal error." UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=internal error.}This error appears randomly. In one day I encountered it three times. The only solution I can think of is catching this error somehow and then telling the user to restart the device.After this error appears, the wifi functionality of iOS in all third party apps seems to be broken. Only restarting helps as far as I know. Also there seems to be nothing we as app developers can do about it. Therefor I wonder if there is some way to prevent this error somehow? The only solution I can think of is catching this error somehow and then telling the user to restart the device.Also since there is not much information about this error on the web, it would be really nice if someone can clarify whats going on with this error.Regards.

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'

I've created an application, applied for the multicast permissioning, it was granted to my bundleID and therefore my application. I've since come out with new versions of the same app, but now multicast entitlement is no longer provisioned. What must I check to identify where the problem exists? I can provide any details needed to troubleshoot.

Hello, is there a way to get MCC/MNC carrier codes on iOS? I'm also wondering if there's a private API. I want to obtain network information while I am abroad to determine the country of residence.

Our app has a network extension (as I've mentioned lots 😄). We do an upgrade by downloading the new package, stopping & removing all of our components except for the network extension, and then installing the new package, which then loads a LaunchAgent causing the containing app to run. (The only difference between a new install and upgrade is the old extension is left running, but not having anything to tell it what to do, just logs and continues.) On some (but not all) upgrades... nothing ends up able to communicate via XPC with the Network Extension. My simplest cli program to talk to it gets Could not create proxy: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4099 "The connection to service named blah was invalidated: failed at lookup with error 3 - No such process." UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=The connection to service named bla was invalidated: failed at lookup with error 3 - No such process.} Could not communicate with blah Restarting the extension by doing a kill -9 doesn't fix it; neither does restarting the control daemon. The only solution we've come across so far is rebooting. I filed FB11086599 about this, but has anyone thoughts about this?

I'm using a Mac Studio in a homelab context and use Homebrew to manage the installed services. The services include things that access the local network, for example Prometheus which monitors some other servers, a reverse proxy which fronts other web services on the network, and a DNS server which can use another as upstream. Local Network Access permissions make it impossible to reliably perform unattended updates of services because an updated binary requires a GUI login to grant local network permissions (again). I use brew services to manage the services as launchd agents, i.e. they run in a non-root GUI context. I know that I can also use sudo brew services which instead installs the services as launchd daemons, but running services as root has negative security implication and generally doesn't look like a good idea to me. If only there was a way to disable local network access checks altogether…

System Information in macOS from 26.0 to 26.2 RC no longer provides Wi-Fi SSIDs; instead, it displays "< redacted> " for every SSID on my two MacBooks. This issue has been fixed in macOS 26.1 beta and macOS 26.2 beta, but it returns in the RC and the Final Release versions. Is it an expected behaviour or a bug in the Release Candidate? MacBook Air 2025: MacBook Pro 2021: