I have a question regarding /etc/pf.conf. If I use this rule, rdr pass on bridge100 inet proto tcp from 192.168.2.104 to any port {80, 443, 8883} -> 127.0.0.1 port 8080 all other traffic on bridge100 will not function properly, even the traffic that is not destined for 192.168.2.104. Additionally, the hotspot generated through bridge100 will also become unavailable. Even if I comment out this rule and run sudo pfctl -e -f /etc/pf.conf, the problem still persists. The situation will only return to normal when I restart my Mac. my macos:15.3.2 my /etc/pf.conf # scrub-anchor "com.apple/*" nat-anchor "com.apple/*" rdr-anchor "com.apple/*" rdr pass on bridge100 inet proto tcp from 192.168.2.104 to any port {80, 443, 8883} -> 127.0.0.1 port 8080 dummynet-anchor "com.apple/*" anchor "com.apple/*" load anchor "com.apple" from "/etc/pf.anchors/com.apple"

Hi~ I implemented network filtering on iOS using NEFilterControlProvider and NEFilterDataProvider. However, I found that their usage is restricted when distributing through the App Store. Does ADEP-based distribution allow the use of NEFilterControlProvider and NEFilterDataProvider? In TN3134, it states that NEPacketTunnelProvider requires MDM. Should I assume that NEFilterControlProvider and NEFilterDataProvider also require MDM in the same way? Thanks

While updating our test devices to iOS 26, we noticed that the connection between devices are flaky. Often when connecting to a Peer from a device running iOS 26 we can observe the invite coming through and when accepting said invite, both ends going to .connecting state and a while later going back to .notConnected within the peer(_ peerID: MCPeerID, didChange state: MCSessionState) function. This happens regularly and retrying the invitation process several times usually resolves it. Do anyone have any information or guidance on how to resolve this issue?

Hi there, We are facing some issues regarding TLS connectivity: Starting with iOS 26, the operating system refuses to open TLS sockets to local devices with self-signed certificates over Wi-Fi. In this situation, connection is no longer possible, even if the device is detected on the network with Bonjour. We have not found a workaround for this problem. We've tryied those solutions without success: Added the 'NSAppTransportSecurity' key to the info.plist file, testing all its items, such as "NSAllowsLocalNetworking", "NSExceptionDomains", etc. Various code changes to use properties such as "sec_protocol_options_set_local_identity" and "sec_protocol_options_set_tls_server_name" to no avail. Brutally import the certificate files into the project and load them via, for example, "Bundle.main.url(forResource: "nice_INTERFACE_server_cert", withExtension: "crt")", using methods such as sec_trust_copy_ref and SecCertificateCopyData. Download the .pem or .crt files to the iPhone, install them (now visible under "VPN & Device Management"), and then flag them as trusted by going to "Settings -> General -> Info -> Trust". certificates" The most critical part seems to be the line sec_protocol_options_set_verify_block(tlsOptions.securityProtocolOptions, { $2(true) }, queue) whose purpose is to bypass certificate checks and validate all of them (as apps already do). However, on iOS26, if I set a breakpoint on leg$2(true),` it never gets there, while on iOS 18, it does. I'll leave as example the part of the code that was tested the most below. Currently, on iOS26, the handler systematically falls back to .cancelled: func startConnection(host: String, port: UInt16) { self.queue = DispatchQueue(label: "socketQueue") let tlsOptions = NWProtocolTLS.Options() sec_protocol_options_set_verify_block(tlsOptions.securityProtocolOptions, { $2(true) }, queue) let parameters = NWParameters(tls: tlsOptions) self.nwConnection = NWConnection(host: .init(host), port: .init(rawValue: port)!, using: parameters) self.nwConnection.stateUpdateHandler = { [weak self] state in switch state { case .setup: break case .waiting(let error): self?.connectionDidFail(error: error) case .preparing: break case .ready: self?.didConnectSubject.onNext(Void()) case .failed(let error): self?.connectionDidFail(error: error) case .cancelled: self?.didDisconnectSubject.onNext(nil) @unknown default: break } } self.setupReceive() self.nwConnection.start(queue: queue) } These are the prints made during the procedure. The ones with the dot are from the app, while the ones without are warnings/info from Xcode: 🔵 INFO WifiNetworkManager.connect():52 - Try to connect onto the interface access point with ssid NiceProView4A9151_AP 🔵 INFO WifiNetworkManager.connect():68 - Connected to NiceProView4A9151_AP tcp_output [C13:2] flags=[R.] seq=215593821, ack=430284980, win=4096 state=CLOSED rcv_nxt=430284980, snd_una=215593821 nw_endpoint_flow_failed_with_error [C13 192.168.0.1:443 in_progress channel-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), viable, interface: en0[802.11], dns, uses wifi, LQM: unknown)] already failing, returning nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal_block_invoke [C13] Client called nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal_block_invoke [C13] Client called nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_connected_local_endpoint_block_invoke [C13] Client called nw_connection_copy_connected_local_endpoint on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_connected_remote_endpoint_block_invoke [C13] Client called nw_connection_copy_connected_remote_endpoint on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal_block_invoke [C14] Client called nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal_block_invoke [C14] Client called nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_connected_local_endpoint_block_invoke [C14] Client called nw_connection_copy_connected_local_endpoint on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_connected_remote_endpoint_block_invoke [C14] Client called nw_connection_copy_connected_remote_endpoint on unconnected nw_connection [C14 192.168.0.1:443 tcp, tls, attribution: developer] is already cancelled, ignoring cancel [C14 192.168.0.1:443 tcp, tls, attribution: developer] is already cancelled, ignoring cancel nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal_block_invoke [C15] Client called nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal_block_invoke [C15] Client called nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_connected_local_endpoint_block_invoke [C15] Client called nw_connection_copy_connected_local_endpoint on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_connected_remote_endpoint_block_invoke [C15] Client called nw_connection_copy_connected_remote_endpoint on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal_block_invoke [C16] Client called nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal_block_invoke [C16] Client called nw_connection_copy_protocol_metadata_internal on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_connected_local_endpoint_block_invoke [C16] Client called nw_connection_copy_connected_local_endpoint on unconnected nw_connection nw_connection_copy_connected_remote_endpoint_block_invoke [C16] Client called nw_connection_copy_connected_remote_endpoint on unconnected nw_connection [C16 192.168.0.1:443 tcp, tls, attribution: developer] is already cancelled, ignoring cancel [C16 192.168.0.1:443 tcp, tls, attribution: developer] is already cancelled, ignoring cancel 🔴 ERROR InterfaceDisconnectedViewModel.connect():51 - Sequence timeout.

Hello, Since the release of iOS 26.0, we are seeing DNS traffic being blocked from within our NEPacketTunnelExtension on some devices. We have not isolated exact reproduction steps, but DNS resolves successfully for a period of time after enabling "iCloud Private Relay" (varying from 1-day to 2-weeks), until it then fails as MDNSResponder then returns: mDNSResponder [Q37046] DetermineUnicastQuerySuppression: Query suppressed for <mask.hash: 'REDACTED'> Addr (blocked by policy) DNS resolution continues to fail for all domains with the above until the device is rebooted. The Packet Tunnel intentionally does not have a DNS server set and this occurs for traffic from the Extension yet off-tunnel, which needs resolution from the system DNS server (and this configuration works perfectly for a period of time before being "blocked by policy"). The following do not resolve the issue once DNS queries are being "blocked by policy" on affected devices: disconnecting then reconnecting the vpn; toggling airplane mode for 10+ seconds; switching connection between WiFi & cellular data; disabling iCloud Private Relay. We have currently only seen this on unmanaged devices running iOS 26.0 or 26.1 beta and with iCloud Private Relay enabled. We did not see this issue on iOS 16,17 nor 18. We also have not yet seen this when iCloud Private Relay is disabled nor on iOS 26.0.1, however we cannot confirm whether they too are also affected. Is there a known a bug with iOS 26.0 & 26.1 Beta 1 that could cause this? How can we prevent DNS requests from NEPacketTunnelExtension being sporadically "blocked by policy" until the device is rebooted? Many thanks in advance.

I have a question regarding /etc/pf.conf. If I use this rule, rdr pass on bridge100 inet proto tcp from 192.168.2.104 to any port {80, 443, 8883} -> 127.0.0.1 port 8080 all other traffic on bridge100 will not function properly, even the traffic that is not destined for 192.168.2.104. Additionally, the hotspot generated through bridge100 will also become unavailable. Even if I comment out this rule and run sudo pfctl -e -f /etc/pf.conf, the problem still persists. The situation will only return to normal when I restart my Mac. my macos:15.3.2 my /etc/pf.conf # scrub-anchor "com.apple/*" nat-anchor "com.apple/*" rdr-anchor "com.apple/*" rdr pass on bridge100 inet proto tcp from 192.168.2.104 to any port {80, 443, 8883} -> 127.0.0.1 port 8080 dummynet-anchor "com.apple/*" anchor "com.apple/*" load anchor "com.apple" from "/etc/pf.anchors/com.apple"

Hello, I am in a very similar situation as described in the thread: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/655183 Context: I am working on an app that receives data from a hardware device through its Wifi network, and the hardware is not connected to the internet. Now, I would need to call some API while still connected to hardware so I would need to use the cellular data. As mentioned on the thread, I can achieve this via Network framework, using the requiredInterfaceType property. But Is there any other way I can achieve this? I can also do some suggestion on the hardware if that's helpful. Thank you!

Hello, we are developing hardware that needs to connect to an iPhone via Wi-Fi to send requests to a server. On Android, we have managed to create a programmatic local hotspot within the app to facilitate connection and improve the user experience. On iOS, however, Personal Hotspot must be manually enabled from the system settings, and the user must manually enter the SSID and password, which significantly degrades the UX. My questions are: Is there a workaround, unofficial method, or private API to generate a local hotspot from an app on iOS, similar to what can be done on Android? Is there an alternative within the MFi program or through specific frameworks to facilitate a quick and automatic connection between the hardware and the iPhone without relying on the manual Personal Hotspot? Are there any best practices for improving the local Wi-Fi connection experience between an accessory and an iPhone in the absence of hotspot controls? I would appreciate any guidance, experience, or resources that would help me better understand the feasible options in iOS for scenarios where fast and direct communication between hardware and mobile devices via Wi-Fi is required.

We have a setup where the system uses proxy settings configured via a PAC file. We are investigating how NWConnection behaves inside a Network Extension (NETransparentProxyProvider) with a transparent proxy configuration based on this PAC file. Scenario: The browser makes a connection which the PAC file resolves as "DIRECT" (bypassing the proxy) Our Network Extension intercepts this traffic for analysis The extension creates a new connection using NWConnection to the original remote address. The issue: despite the PAC file’s "DIRECT" decision, NWConnection still respects the system proxy settings and routes the connection through the proxy. Our questions: Is it correct that NWConnection always uses the system proxy if configured ? Does setting preferNoProxies = true guarantee bypassing the system proxy? Additionally: Whitelisting IPs in the Network Extension to avoid interception is not a viable solution because IPs may correspond to multiple services, and the extension only sees IP addresses, not domains (e.g., we want to skip scanning meet.google.com traffic but still scan other Google services on the same IP range). Are there any recommended approaches or best practices to ensure that connections initiated from a Network Extension can truly bypass the proxy (for example, for specific IP ranges or domains)?

Question: What is the standard, most reliable way to manage temporary files associated with a URLSessionDownloadTask that has been terminated abnormally due to a network error or other issues? Details Hello, I'm currently developing a feature to download multiple files concurrently on iOS using URLSessionDownloadTask, and I have a question regarding the lifecycle of the temporary files created during this process. As I understand it, URLSessionDownloadTask stores incoming data in a temporary file within the tmp directory, typically with a name like CFNetworkDownload_*.tmp. In my testing, temporary files are managed correctly in the normal scenario. For instance, when I call the cancel() method on an active downloadTask and then release all references to it, the corresponding temporary file is automatically cleaned up from the tmp directory shortly after. However, the problem occurs when a download is interrupted abnormally due to external factors, such as a lost network connection. In this situation, the urlSession(_:task:didCompleteWithError:) delegate method is called, but the associated temporary file is not deleted and remains in the tmp directory. I've observed a particularly interesting behavior related to this. Immediately after the error occurs, if I check my app's storage usage in the iOS Settings app, the data size appears to have decreased momentarily. However, the tmp file has not actually been deleted, and after a short while, the storage usage is recalculated to include the size of this orphaned temporary file. Since my app does not support resuming interrupted downloads, these leftover files become orphaned and unnecessarily consume storage. Therefore, I want to ensure they are all reliably deleted. With this context, I'd like to ask the community: What is the standard, most reliable way to manage temporary files associated with a URLSessionDownloadTask that has been terminated abnormally due to a network error or other issues? I am wondering if there is an official guide or a framework-level API to handle these orphaned files. I would appreciate any advice from those with experience in this area. Thank you.

We have a Java application built for macOS. On the first launch, the application prompts the user to allow local network access. We've correctly added the NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription key to the Info.plist, and the provided description appears in the system prompt. After the user grants permission, the application can successfully connect to a local server using its hostname. However, the issue arises after the system is rebooted. When the application is launched again, macOS does not prompt for local network access a second time—which is expected, as the permission was already granted. Despite this, the application is unable to connect to the local server. It appears the previously granted permission is being ignored after a reboot. A temporary workaround is to manually toggle the Local Network permission off and back on via System Settings > Privacy & Security, which restores connectivity—until the next reboot. This behavior is highly disruptive, both for us and for a significant number of our users. We can reproduce this on multiple systems... The issues started from macOS Sequoia 15.0 By opening the application bundle using "Show Package Contents," we can launch the application via "JavaAppLauncher" without any issues. Once started, the application is able to connect to our server over the local network. This seems to bypass the granted permissions? "JavaAppLauncher" is also been used in our Info.plist file

Hello everyone, I'm trying to figure out how to transmit a UIImage (png or tiff) securely to an application running in my desktop browser (Mac or PC). The desktop application and iOS app would potentially be running on the same local network (iOS hotspot or something) or have no internet connection at all. I'm trying to securely send over an image that the running desktop app could ingest. I was thinking something like a local server securely accepting image data from an iPhone. Any suggestions ideas or where to look for more info would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your help.

I'm looking for help with a network extension filtering issue. Specifically, we have a subclass of NEFilterDataProvider that is used to filter flows based upon a set of rules, including source IP and destination IP. We've run into an issue where the source IP is frequently 0.0.0.0 (or the IPv6 equivalent) on outgoing flows. This has made it so rules based upon source IP don't work. This is also an issue as we report these connections, but we're lacking critical data. We were able to work around the issue somewhat by keeping a list of flows that we allow that we periodically check to see if the source IP is available, and then report after it becomes available. We also considered doing a "peekBytes" to allow a bit of data to flow and then recheck the flow, but we don't want to allow data leakage on connections that should be blocked because of the source IP. Is there a way to force the operating system or network extension frameworks to determine the source IP for an outbound flow without allowing any bytes to flow to the network? STEPS TO REPRODUCE Create a network filtering extension for filtering flows using NEFilterDataProvider See that when handleNewFlow: is called, the outgoing flow lacks the source IP (is 0.0.0.0) in most cases There is this post that is discussing a similar question, though for a slightly different reason. I imagine the answer to this and the other post will be related, at least as far as NEFilterDataProvider:handleNewFlow not having source IP is considered. Thanks!

Hello, I am writing a NetworkExtension VPN using custom protocol and our client would like to able to use 5G network slice on the VPN, is this possible at all? From Apple's documentation, I found the following statement: If both network slicing and VPN are configured for an app or device, the VPN connection takes precedence over the network slice, rendering the network slice unused. Is it possible to assign a network slice on a NetworkExtension-based VPN and let the VPN traffic uses the assign network slice? Many thanks

I was having a look through the documentation for NEPacketTunnelProvider, and wanted to know if it's possible for startTunnel(..) and stopTunnel(..) to run simultaneously, and thus require synchronization between resources they deal with? For example, if the VPN is toggled rapidly from system settings, could the setup that occurs in my startTunnel() definition (class instantiation and setTunnelNetworkSettings(value)) potentially occur after the tear-down logic (resource cleanup, setTunnelNetworkSettings(nil)), leaving the system in a state where the VPN is deactivated, but the configuration is in place?

Hi everyone, I'm developing a visionOS app that allows users to download large video files (similar to a movie download experience, with each file being around 10 GB). I've successfully implemented the core video download functionality using URLSession, and everything works as expected while the app is active. Now, I’m looking to support background downloading. Specifically, I want users to be able to start a download and then leave the app (e.g., switch apps or return to the home screen) while the download continues in the background. Additionally, I’d like to confirm a specific scenario: If the user starts a download, then removes the headset (keeping the device turned on and connected to power), will the download continue in the background? Or does visionOS suspend the app or downloads in this case? I’m considering using a background URLSessionConfiguration (as done in iOS/macOS) to enable this behavior, but I’m not sure if it behaves the same way on visionOS or if there are special limitations or best practices when handling large downloads on this platform. Any insights or official guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I created a self signed CA and use it to generate/sign a client cert using openssl. Then I use the self signed client cert to do TLS client authentication with my server (which also uses the self signed CA). The issue I have is when I validate the self signed CA, by calling SecTrustEvaluateAsyncWithError, it always complains this error “'DigiCert Global Root G3' certificate is not trusted". However that CA (DigiCert Global Root G3) is not my self signed CA (my CA is 'MQTTSampleCA' and I attached a dump of the my CA cert in the PR in the end of this post), so I'm confused why the API keeps complaining that CA. After some researching, I see that is a well known CA so I download its cert from https://www.digicert.com/kb/digicert-root-certificates.htm, install and trust it on my iOS device, but that doesn't help and I still get the same error. I provide all the repro steps in this PR: https://github.com/liumiaojq/EmCuTeeTee/pull/1, including how I generate the certs and the source codes of a test app that I used to do cert validation. I appreciate if anyone can share insights how to resolve this error.

I'm developing an iOS application in Swift that performs API calls using URLSession.shared. The requests work correctly when the app is in the foreground. However, when the app transitions to the background (for example, when the user switches to another app), the ongoing API calls are either paused or do not complete as expected. What I’ve tried: Using URLSession.shared.dataTask(with:) to initiate the API requests Observing application lifecycle events like applicationDidEnterBackground, but haven't found a reliable solution to allow requests to complete when backgrounded Goal: I want certain API requests to continue running or be allowed to complete even if the app enters the background. Question: What is the correct approach to allow API calls to continue running or complete when the app moves to the background? Should I be using a background URLSessionConfiguration instead of URLSession.shared? If so, how should it be properly configured and used in this scenario?

At WWDC 25, Dr. Swetank mentioned, “DeviceDiscoveryUI is for making connections between apps and from an app to another device. It supports pairing with both Apple and third-party devices.” I find the pairing process in DeviceDiscoveryUI via Wi-Fi Aware intriguing. I have two questions: Can we pair devices via Bluetooth first and then establish a Wi-Fi Aware connection? If I use DeviceDiscoveryUI, how should I write an Android program to correspond with it and achieve iPhone-Android pairing? The app is an official Apple app: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/wifiaware/building-peer-to-peer-apps.

Android phones supporting Wi-Fi Aware 4.0 should be able to connect with iPhones (iOS 26). For testing, we selected two Samsung S25 devices, which support Wi-Fi Aware 4.0. Issues we are facing Android as Publisher, iOS as Subscriber, iOS cannot discover the service. Log shows: Discovery: Dropping event, 02:14:60:76:a6:0f missing DCEA attribute. iOS as Publisher, Android as Subscriber.Android can discover the service.However, the PIN code is not displayed on iOS. From the packet capture, the publish packet does not contain the DCEA field. However, Android-to-Android devices can still pair normally, and the subsequent PASN packets include the DCEA field. It seems that the Wi-Fi Alliance only requires the DCEA to be present in the PASN packets. iOS cannot discover Android devices or complete pairing — is this caused by the DCEA field, or by other reasons?