Processes & Concurrency

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Discover how the operating system manages multiple applications and processes simultaneously, ensuring smooth multitasking performance.

Concurrency Documentation

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How to capture stderr from a macOS GUI app (UIKit/AppKit) when launched via open or Finder?
For a macOS GUI application (with a UIKit or AppKit entry point), I want to reliably capture diagnostic logs sent to stderr — especially useful when the app is launched from a terminal script or runs in the background, and traditional GUI elements (like alert dialogs) may not be viable. This is to log startup failures or even success messages for later inspection. However, when the app is launched via open MyApp.app, stderr redirection like open MyApp.app 2> log.txt does not capture any output — the file is created, but remains empty. The only way I can capture stderr reliably is by bypassing the bundle and directly launching the binary inside with ./MyApp.app/Contents/MacOS/MyApp 2> ~/log.txt This logs as expected, but is not the user-friendly or typical way to launch apps on macOS. Double-clicking the app in Finder also does not show any stderr output. Is there any recommended or supported way to redirect or access stderr output when launching a .app bundle via open, or any best practice for logging critical failures from a GUI app when terminal output isn't visible?
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224
Jun ’25
Questions about using App Extension communication with host apps on iOS 26 (Xcode 26)
Hello, I have a few questions regarding the documentation here: Can this method described in the article be built with Xcode 26 and run on iOS 26? Or is it restricted to run only on iOS 26, since AppExtensionPoint appears to be available starting from iOS 26? Does this approach allow two apps under the same Team ID to communicate with each other? Does this approach also allow two apps under different Team IDs to communicate with each other? Is it mandatory to implement EXAppExtensionBrowserViewController and obtain user consent before using this method to exchange information? In our implementation, we followed the documentation. Inside EXAppExtensionBrowserViewController, we were able to see the Generic Extension from another app and enabled the permission. However, we still get the following error: Failed to connect: Error Domain=NABUExtensionConnector Code=1 "No matching extension found" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=No matching extension found} Could someone clarify whether this is expected behavior, or if we are missing an additional configuration step? Thanks in advance!
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355
Oct ’25
Recursively walk a directory using File Coordination
What’s the recommended way to recursively walk through a directory tree using File Coordination? From what I understand, coordinating a read of a directory only performs a “shallow” lock; this would mean that I’d need to implement the recursive walk myself rather than use FileManager.enumerator(at:includingPropertiesForKeys:options:errorHandler:) plus a single NSFileCoordinator.coordinate(with:queue:byAccessor:) call. I’m trying to extract information from all files of a particular type, so I think using NSFileCoordinator.ReadingOptions.immediatelyAvailableMetadataOnly on each file before acquiring a full read lock on it (if it’s the right file type) would make sense. Am I on the right track?
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150
Oct ’25
BGProcessingTaskRequest executing even after force-quit from App Switcher
Hello, I have a question regarding the behavior of BGProcessingTaskRequest when the app is force-quit by the user via the App Switcher. Based on common understanding and various discussions — including the following Apple Developer Forum threads: Waking up an iOS app after app is … | Apple Developer Forums Will BGAppRefreshTaskRequest will … | Apple Developer Forums Background fetch after app is forc… | Apple Developer Forums …it is widely understood that iOS prevents background execution (such as background fetch, push notifications, or BGTaskScheduler) after a user force-quits an app via the App Switcher. However, in my app, I have observed that a scheduled BGProcessingTaskRequest still executes even after the app has been explicitly terminated via App Switcher. The task is scheduled using submit(_:error:), and it is clearly running some time after the app has been closed by the user. That said, the task does run, but it appears to operate under tighter constraints — for example, it may be allowed to run for a shorter duration, and network requests appear to be more restricted compared to when the app is not force-quit. My questions are: Are there any documented or undocumented exceptions that allow this kind of behavior after force-quit? Could this be a bug or a behavior change in recent iOS versions? (I am observing this on iOS 18.3, 18.4, and 18.5) Any insights, experiences, or clarifications from Apple engineers or fellow developers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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223
Oct ’25
SMAppService
Hello, https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/802443 https://developer.apple.com/documentation/servicemanagement/updating-helper-executables-from-earlier-versions-of-macos https://developer.apple.com/documentation/ServiceManagement/updating-your-app-package-installer-to-use-the-new-service-management-api#Run-the-sample-launch-agent Read these. Earlier we had a setup with SMJobBless, now we have migrated to SMAppService. Everything is working fine, the new API seems easier to manage, but we are having issues with updating the daemon. I was wondering, what is the right process for updating a daemon from app side? What we are doing so far: App asks daemon for version If version is lower than expected: daemon.unregister(), wait a second and daemon.register() again. The why? We have noticed that unregistering/registering multiple times, of same daemon, can cause the daemon to stop working as expected. The daemon toggle in Mac Settings -> Login Items & Extensions can be on or off, but the app can still pickup daemon running, but no daemon running in Activity monitor. Registration/unregistration can start failing and nothing helps to resolve this, only reseting with sfltool resetbtm and a restart seems to does the job. This is usually noticeable for test users, testing same daemon version with different app builds. In production app, we also increase the bundle version of daemon in plist, in test apps we - don't. I haven't found any sources of how the update of pre-bundled app daemon should work. Initial idea is register/unregister, but from what I have observed, this seems to mess up after multiple registrations. I have a theory, that sending the daemon a command to kill itself after app update, would load the latest daemon. Also, I haven't observed for daemon, with different build versions to update automatically. What is the right way to update a daemon with SMAppService setup? Thank you in advance.
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303
Nov ’25
MacOS Application as a daemon or in non-interaction mode
We are building a 'server' application that can either run as a daemon or can run in background without showing any GUI. Basically, the end user can either configure this to run as a daemon so that it can be tied to the user's session or will launch the process which user will start and quit as needed. I wanted to understand what is the recommended mechanism for such an application from Apple - Should this application be built as a macOS Bundle ? Apple documentation also says that we should not daemonize the process by calling fork. Hence if we create a unix-style executable, will I not need to fork to make it run in a detached state when I launch the executable via double-click ? [Reference Link] Is it fine to have an application on macOS which is a bundle but does not show any UI when launched by double click on the app-icon or via 'open'? While we have been able to achieve this by using NSApplicationMain and not showing the UI, was wondering if using CFRunLoop is best for this case as it is a non-gui application. If we can get the right documentation link or recommendations on how we should build such an application which can run in a non-gui mode and also in a daemonized manner, it will help us. Should the application be always built as a macos bundle or should it be a unix-style executable to support both the cases - by the same application/product and how should we look at the distribution of such applications.
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625
Mar ’25
XPC activity doesn’t fire while main app is closed
Hi, I have a sandboxed app with a bundled sandboxed XPC service. When it’s launched, the XPC service registers a repeating XPC activity with the system. The activity’s handler block does get called regularly like I’d expect, but it stops being called once the main app terminates. What’s the recommended way to fix this issue? Could I have a bundled XPC service double as a launch agent, or would that cause other problems?
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190
May ’25
Incorrect behaviour of task_info() syscall after an unrelated dlclose() call
For some reason, after invoking an unrelated dlclose() call to unload any .dylib that had previously been loaded via dlopen(..., RTLD_NOW), the subsequent call to task_info(mach_task_self(), TASK_DYLD_INFO, ...) syscall returns unexpected structure in dyld_uuid_info image_infos->uuidArray, that, while it seems to represent an array of struct dyld_uuid_info elements, there is only 1 such element (dyld_all_image_infos *infos->uuidArrayCount == 1) and the app crashes when trying to access dyld_uuid_info image->imageLoadAddress->magic, as image->imageLoadAddress doesn't seem to represent a valid struct mach_header structure address (although it looks like a normal pointer within the process address space. What does it point to?). This reproduces on macOS 15.4.1 (24E263) Could you please confirm that this is a bug in the specified OS build, or point to incorrect usage of the task_info() API? Attaching the C++ file that reproduces the issue to this email message It needs to be built on macOS 15.4.1 (24E263) via Xcode or just a command line clang++ compiler. It may crash or return garbage, depending on memory layout, but on this macOS build it doesn’t return a correct feedfacf magic number for the struct mach_header structure. Thank you Feedback Assistant reference: FB18431345 //On `macOS 15.4.1 (24E263)` create a C++ application (for example, in Xcode), with the following contents. Note, that this application should crash on this macOS build. It will not crash, however, if you either: //1. Comment out `dlclose()` call //2. Change the order of the `performDlOpenDlClose()` and `performTaskInfoSyscall()` functions calls (first performTaskInfoSyscall() then performDlOpenDlClose()). #include <iostream> #include <dlfcn.h> #include <mach/mach.h> #include <mach-o/dyld_images.h> #include <mach-o/loader.h> void performDlOpenDlClose() { printf("dlopen/dlclose function\n"); printf("Note: please adjust the path below to any real dylib on your system, if the path below doesn't exist!\n"); std::string path = "/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/lib/libswiftDemangle.dylib"; printf("Dylib to open: %s\n", path.c_str()); void* handle = ::dlopen(path.c_str(), RTLD_NOW); if(handle) { ::dlclose(handle); } else { printf("Error: %s\n", dlerror()); } } void performTaskInfoSyscall() { printf("Making a task_info() syscall\n"); printf("\033[34mSource File: %s\033[0m\n", __FILE__); task_t task = mach_task_self(); struct task_dyld_info dyld_info; mach_msg_type_number_t size = TASK_DYLD_INFO_COUNT; kern_return_t kr = task_info(task, TASK_DYLD_INFO, (task_info_t)&dyld_info, &size); if (kr != KERN_SUCCESS) { fprintf(stderr, "task_info failed: %s\n", mach_error_string(kr)); } const struct dyld_all_image_infos* infos = (const struct dyld_all_image_infos*)dyld_info.all_image_info_addr; printf("version: %d, infos->infoArrayCount: %d\n", infos->version, infos->infoArrayCount); for(uint32_t i=0; i<infos->infoArrayCount; i++) { dyld_image_info image = infos->infoArray[i]; const struct mach_header* header = image.imageLoadAddress; printf("%d ", i); printf("%p ", (void*)image.imageLoadAddress); printf("(%x) ", header->magic); printf("%s\n", image.imageFilePath); fflush(stdout); } printf("\n\n"); printf("infos->uuidArrayCount: %lu\n", infos->uuidArrayCount); for(uint32_t i=0; i<infos->uuidArrayCount; i++) { dyld_uuid_info image = infos->uuidArray[i]; const struct mach_header* header = image.imageLoadAddress; printf("%d ", i); printf("%p ", (void*)image.imageLoadAddress); printf("(%x)\n", header->magic); fflush(stdout); } printf("task_info() syscall result processing is completed\n\n"); } int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) { performDlOpenDlClose(); performTaskInfoSyscall(); return 0; }
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163
Jun ’25
Using raise in GCD can cause timing issues with the signal mechanism.
when we use raise in GCD, the signal handler is executed asynchronously, whereas in pthread, it is executed synchronously as expected. example: #include <Foundation/Foundation.h> #include <pthread/pthread.h> static void HandleSignal(int sigNum, siginfo_t* signalInfo, void* userContext) { printf("handle signal %d\n", sigNum); printf("begin sleep\n"); sleep(3); printf("end sleep\n"); } void InstallSignal(void) { static const int g_fatalSignals[] = { SIGABRT, SIGBUS, SIGFPE, SIGILL, SIGPIPE, SIGSEGV, SIGSYS, SIGTRAP, }; int fatalSignalsCount = sizeof(g_fatalSignals) / sizeof(int); struct sigaction action = {{0}}; action.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO | SA_ONSTACK; #if defined(__LP64__) action.sa_flags |= SA_64REGSET; #endif sigemptyset(&action.sa_mask); action.sa_sigaction = &HandleSignal; struct sigaction pre_sa; for(int i = 0; i < fatalSignalsCount; i++) { int sigResult = sigaction(g_fatalSignals[i], &action, &pre_sa); } } void* RaiseAbort(void *userdata) { raise(SIGABRT); printf("signal handler has finished\n"); return NULL; } int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) { InstallSignal(); dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(0, 0), ^{ raise(SIGABRT); // abort(); // abort() is ok RaiseAbort(nullptr); }); // pthread is ok // pthread_t tid; // int ret = pthread_create(&tid, NULL, RaiseAbort, NULL); // if (ret != 0) { // fprintf(stderr, "create thread failed\n"); // return EXIT_FAILURE; // } [[NSRunLoop mainRunLoop] run]; return 0; } console log: signal handler has finished handle signal 6 begin sleep end sleep
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256
Sep ’25
BGContinuedProcessingTask does not work on the official release of iOS 26
The following code worked as expected on iOS 26 RC, but it no longer works on the official release of iOS 26. Is there something I need to change in order to make it work on the official version? Registration BGTaskScheduler.shared.register( forTaskWithIdentifier: taskIdentifier, using: nil ) { task in ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // This closure is not called on the official release of iOS 26 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// let task = task as! BGContinuedProcessingTask var shouldContinue = true task.expirationHandler = { shouldContinue = false } task.progress.totalUnitCount = 100 task.progress.completedUnitCount = 0 while shouldContinue { sleep(1) task.progress.completedUnitCount += 1 task.updateTitle("\(task.progress.completedUnitCount) / \(task.progress.totalUnitCount)", subtitle: "any subtitle") if task.progress.completedUnitCount == task.progress.totalUnitCount { break } } let completed = task.progress.completedUnitCount >= task.progress.totalUnitCount if completed { task.updateTitle("Completed", subtitle: "") } task.setTaskCompleted(success: completed) } Request let request = BGContinuedProcessingTaskRequest( identifier: taskIdentifier, title: "any title", subtitle: "any subtitle", ) request.strategy = .queue try BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit(request) Sample project code: https://github.com/HikaruSato/ExampleBackgroundProcess
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274
Sep ’25
Crash on DispatchQueue.main.sync from isolated thread
I'm troubleshooting a crash I do not understand. I have a queue called DataQueue which never has anything dispatched to it - it's the sample buffer delegate of an AVCaptureVideoDataOutput. It can call DispatchQueue.main.sync to do some work on the main thread. It works fine no matter what we test, but has some crashes in the field that I need to fix. Here's it crashing: AppleCameraDataDelegate.dataQueue 0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x7bdc __ulock_wait + 8 1 libdispatch.dylib 0x4a80 _dlock_wait + 52 2 libdispatch.dylib 0x486c _dispatch_thread_event_wait_slow$VARIANT$mp + 52 3 libdispatch.dylib 0x113d8 __DISPATCH_WAIT_FOR_QUEUE__ + 332 4 libdispatch.dylib 0x10ff0 _dispatch_sync_f_slow + 140 The main thread isn't doing something I asked it to, but appears to be busy: Thread 0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x71a4 __psynch_cvwait + 8 1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x7fd8 _pthread_cond_wait$VARIANT$mp + 1232 2 grpc 0x2cb670 gpr_cv_wait + 131 (sync.cc:131) 3 grpc 0x119688 grpc_core::Executor::ThreadMain(void*) + 225 (executor.cc:225) 4 grpc 0x2e023c grpc_core::(anonymous namespace)::ThreadInternalsPosix::ThreadInternalsPosix(char const*, void (*)(void*), void*, bool*, grpc_core::Thread::Options const&)::'lambda'(void*)::__invoke(void*) + 146 (thd.cc:146) 5 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x482c _pthread_start + 104 6 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0xcd8 thread_start + 8 Can anyone help me understand why this is a crash?
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232
Sep ’25
App Terminated with 0x8BADF00D: Main Thread Blocked During Back-to-Back Messaging
Hello, I'm experiencing an issue with my app where it's being terminated by the system with a watchdog violation during back-to-back messaging operations. I've analyzed the crash logs but would appreciate additional insights on optimizing my approach. I'd appreciate any insights on how to resolve this problem. Crash Details: Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGKILL) Termination Reason: FRONTBOARD with code 0x8BADF00D Error: "scene-update watchdog transgression: app exhausted real time allowance of 10.00 seconds" Reproduction Steps: User A initiates back-to-back messages to other User User A's UI becomes unresponsive and eventually the app crashes. Stack Trace Analysis: The crash occurs on the main thread, which appears to be blocked waiting for a condition in the keyboard handling system. The thread is stuck in [UIKeyboardTaskQueue _lockWhenReadyForMainThread] and related methods, suggesting an issue with keyboard-related operations during the messaging process. Crash Tag Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGKILL) Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000 Termination Reason: FRONTBOARD 2343432205 <RBSTerminateContext| domain:10 code:0x8BADF00D explanation:scene-update watchdog transgression: app<com.msikodiak.eptt(AD934F8A-DF57-4B75-BE73-8CF1A9A8F856)>:301 exhausted real (wall clock) time allowance of 10.00 seconds ProcessVisibility: Foreground ProcessState: Running WatchdogEvent: scene-update WatchdogVisibility: Background WatchdogCPUStatistics: ( "Elapsed total CPU time (seconds): 6.390 (user 3.640, system 2.750), 11% CPU", "Elapsed application CPU time (seconds): 0.020, 0% CPU" ) ThermalInfo: ( "Thermal Level: 0", "Thermal State: nominal" ) reportType:CrashLog maxTerminationResistance:Interactive> Triggered by Thread: 0 Thread 0 name: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread Thread 0 Crashed: 0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x1e773d438 __psynch_cvwait + 8 1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x2210bc328 _pthread_cond_wait + 1028 2 Foundation 0x1957d8a64 -[NSCondition waitUntilDate:] + 132 3 Foundation 0x1957d8888 -[NSConditionLock lockWhenCondition:beforeDate:] + 80 4 UIKitCore 0x1998f1238 -[UIKeyboardTaskQueue _lockWhenReadyForMainThread] + 456 5 UIKitCore 0x19a3d775c __59-[UIKeyboardImpl updateAutocorrectPrompt:executionContext:]_block_invoke_9 + 28 6 UIKitCore 0x19986b084 -[UIKeyboardTaskQueue lockWhenReadyForMainThread] + 168 7 UIKitCore 0x19a3f2994 -[UIKeyboardTaskQueue waitUntilTaskIsFinished:] + 148 8 UIKitCore 0x19a3f2ac4 -[UIKeyboardTaskQueue performSingleTask:breadcrumb:] + 132 9 UIKitCore 0x199e2f7e4 -[_UIKeyboardStateManager updateForChangedSelection] + 144 10 UIKitCore 0x199e24200 -[_UIKeyboardStateManager invalidateTextEntryContextForTextInput:] + 92 11 WebKit 0x1ad52fa54 WebKit::PageClientImpl::didProgrammaticallyClearFocusedElement(WebCore::ElementContext&&) + 40 12 WebKit 0x1ad55adcc WebKit::WebPageProxy::didProgrammaticallyClearFocusedElement(WebCore::ElementContext&&) + 136 13 WebKit 0x1acec74e8 WebKit::WebPageProxy::didReceiveMessage(IPC::Connection&, IPC::Decoder&) + 18604 14 WebKit 0x1acd21184 IPC::MessageReceiverMap::dispatchMessage(IPC::Connection&, IPC::Decoder&) + 236 15 WebKit 0x1ace449b8 WebKit::WebProcessProxy::dispatchMessage(IPC::Connection&, IPC::Decoder&) + 40 16 WebKit 0x1ace44228 WebKit::WebProcessProxy::didReceiveMessage(IPC::Connection&, IPC::Decoder&) + 1764 17 WebKit 0x1acd1e904 IPC::Connection::dispatchMessage(WTF::UniqueRef<IPC::Decoder>) + 268 18 WebKit 0x1acd1e478 IPC::Connection::dispatchIncomingMessages() + 576 19 JavaScriptCore 0x1ae386b8c WTF::RunLoop::performWork() + 524 20 JavaScriptCore 0x1ae386960 WTF::RunLoop::performWork(void*) + 36 21 CoreFoundation 0x196badce4 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_A_SOURCE0_PERFORM_FUNCTION__ + 28 22 CoreFoundation 0x196badc78 __CFRunLoopDoSource0 + 172 23 CoreFoundation 0x196bac9fc __CFRunLoopDoSources0 + 232 24 CoreFoundation 0x196babc3c __CFRunLoopRun + 840 25 CoreFoundation 0x196bd0700 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 572 26 GraphicsServices 0x1e3711190 GSEventRunModal + 168 27 UIKitCore 0x1997ee240 -[UIApplication _run] + 816 28 UIKitCore 0x1997ec470 UIApplicationMain + 336 29 Telstra PTT 0x1004d30c8 main + 56 30 dyld 0x1bd5d3ad8 start + 5964
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1
359
Oct ’25
XCode 26.0.1/iOS 26 unable to mark class as ObservableObject
Started a new X-Code Project after updating to 26.0.1 and realized that I get an error when trying to mark a class as ObservableObject => "Class XYZ does not conform to Protocol 'ObservableObject'. Strange behaviour, because at old projects the code is working even though the build options are the same and other settings like iOS version in Target are the same. There must be something chaged under the hood of XCode? I have to import Combine now, before I could write my class, e.g. CoreData Datamanager: ObservableObject only using CoreData.
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605
Oct ’25
Does Mac Catalyst support Background Processing?
I have an app for macOS that is built using Mac Catalyst. I need to perform some background processing. I'm using BGProcessingTaskRequest to schedule the request. I have also integrated CKSyncEngine so I need that to be able to perform its normal background processing. On iOS, when the user leaves the app, I can see a log message that the request was scheduled and a bit later I see log messages coming from the actual background task code. On macOS I ran the app from Xcode. I then quit the app (Cmd-q). I can see the log message that the request was scheduled. But the actual task is never run. In my test, I ran my app on a MacBook Pro running macOS 26.0. When I quit the app, I checked the log file in the app sandbox and saw the message that the task was scheduled. About 20 minutes later I closed the lid on the MacBook Pro for the night. I did not power down, it just went to sleep. Roughly 10 hours later I opened the lid on the MacBook Pro, logged in, and checked the log file. It had not been updated since quitting the app. I should also mention that the laptop was not plugged in at all during this period. My question is, does a Mac Catalyst app support background processing after the user quits the app? If so, how is it enabled? The documentation for BGProcessingTaskRequest and BGProcessingTask show they are supported under Mac Catalyst, but I couldn't find any documentation in the Background Tasks section that mentioned anything specific to setup for Mac Catalyst. Running the Settings app and going to General -> Login Items & Extension, I do not see my app under the App Background Activity section. Does it need to be listed there? If so, what steps are needed to get it there? If this is all documented somewhere, I'd appreciate a link since I was not able to find anything specific to making this work under Mac Catalyst.
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242
Nov ’25
app background launch unexpectedly
Our app will launch automatically in the background,Doubt is the result of background fetch ,so we cancel the background modes setting of the background fetch,but we still can see the performFetchWithCompletionHandler method called when app launch in the background。Background launch will cause some bugs in our app. We don't want the app to start in the background. We hope to get help
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829
Dec ’25
Background Audio Recording
I have an app that uses background audio recording. From what others say, I have enabled the audio background mode to keep the audio session active, and this worked. But when submitting the app to the app store, the app was rejected because the audio background mode is only supposed to be used for audio playback. How do I create this background mode while following Apple's guidelines?
4
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272
Jan ’26
Can we create a bundled non-interactive macOS application which uses CFRunLoop only(instead of using NSApplicationMain to run NSRunLoop)?
I am developing a macOS non-interactive macOS application which does not show any ui. i want to block main thread and do all the work on worker thread . Once done with work in worker thread, want to unblock main thread by exiting event loop to terminate application. Because i dont want to show any UI or use any Foundation/Cocoa functionality, i am thinking of using CFRunLoop to block main thread from exiting until i finish my work in worker thread. When i tried this in a project, I am able to finish work in worker thread after block main thread using CFRunLoop. I also want this application to be a bundled application, which can be launched by double clicking on application bundle . But when i tried it in my xcode project by launching it using double clicking on application bundle, application keeps on toggling/bouncing in the dock menu with a status "Not responding". Although i am able to complete my work in worker thread. import Foundation let runLoop = CFRunLoopGetCurrent() func workerTask() { DispatchQueue.global().async { print("do its work") sleep(5) // do some work print("calling exit event loop") CFRunLoopStop(runLoop) print ("unblocking main thread") } } workerTask () // blocking main thread print ("blocked main thread") CFRunLoopRun() print ("exit") Why i am getting this application bouncing in doc menu behavior ? I tried by using NSApplicationMain instead of CFRunLoop in my project, in that case i didnt get this behavior . Does NSApplicationMain does some extra work before starting NSRunLoop which i am not doing while using CFRunLoop, which is showing this toggling/Bouncing application icon in Dock menu ? or Is this bouncing app icon issue is related to run loop i am using which is CFRunLoop ? Note : If i dont use a bundled application and use a commandline application then i am able to do all steps in worker thread and exit main thread as i wanted after finishing my work . But i need to do all this in application which can be launched using double clicking (bundled applcation). If not by using CFRunLoop, then how can i achive this ? - Create a application which shows no UI and do all work in worker thread while main thread is blocked. Once work is done unblock main thread and exit. And user should be able to launch application using double click the application icon.
3
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455
Mar ’25
SMAppService - How does this work?
I'm a developer using Lazarus Pascal, so converting ObjC and Swift comes with its challenges. I'm trying to figure how to properly use SMAppService to add my application as a login item for the App Store. I have learned that the old method (&lt; macOS 13) uses a helper tool, included in the app bundle, which calls the now deprecated SMLoginItemSetEnabled. Now this is already quite a pain to deal with if you're not using XCode, not to mention converting the headers being rather complicated when you're not experienced with doing this. The "new" method (as of macOS 13) is using SMAppService. Can anyone explain how to use this? The documentation (for me anyway) is a not very clear about that and neither are examples that can be found all over the Internet. My main question is: Can I now use the SMAppService functions to add/remove a login item straight in my application, or is a helper tool still required?
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196
Mar ’25
Launch daemon running but XPC is down
Hello, I have a question about a edge case scenario. Before that some info on my project- I have a launchdaemon that carries out some business logic, it also has XPC listener (built using C APIs). Question- Can there be a situation when the daemon is up and running but the XPC listener is down(due to some error or crash)? If yes then do I need to handle it in my code or launchd will handle it? when the daemon is stopped or shut down, how do I stop the XPC listener? After getting listener object from xpc_connection_create_mach_service should I just call xpc_connection_cancel followed by a call to xpc_release? Thanks! K
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256
Apr ’25
Memory visibility issue regards to shared data with Dispatch Queue
I’m working with apple dispatch queue in C with the following design: multiple dispatch queues enqueue tasks into a shared context, and a dedicated dispatch queue (let’s call it dispatch queue A) processes these tasks. However, it seems this design has a memory visibility issue. Here’s a simplified version of my setup: I have a shared_context struct that holds: task_lis: a list that stores tasks to be prioritized and run — this list is only modified/processed by dispatch queue A (a serially dispatch queue), so I don't lock around it. cross_thread_tasks: a list that other queues push tasks into, protected by a lock. Other dispatch queues call a function schedule_task that locks and appends a new task to cross_thread_tasks call dispatch_after_f() to schedule a process_task() on dispatch queue A process_task() that processes the task_list and is repeatedly scheduled on dispatch queue A : Swaps cross_thread_tasks into a local list (with locking). Pushes the tasks into task_list. Runs tasks from task_list. Reschedules itself via dispatch_after_f(). Problem: Sometimes the tasks pushed from other threads don’t seem to show up in task_list when process_task() runs. The task_list appears to be missing them, as if the cross-thread tasks aren’t visible. However, if the process_task() is dispatched from the same thread the tasks originate, everything works fine. It seems to be a memory visibility or synchronization issue. Since I only lock around cross_thread_tasks, could it be that changes to task_list (even though modified on dispatch queue A only) are not being properly synchronized or visible across threads? My questions What’s the best practice to ensure shared context is consistently visible across threads when using dispatch queues? Is it mandatory to lock around all tasks? I would love to minimize/avoid lock if possible. Any guidance, debugging tips, or architectural suggestions would be appreciated! =============================== And here is pseudocode of my setup if it helps: struct shared_data { struct linked_list* task_list; } struct shared_context { struct shared_data *data; struct linked_list* cross_thread_tasks; struct thread_mutex* lock; // lock is used to protect cross_thread_tasks } static void s_process_task(void* shared_context){ struct linked_list* local_tasks; // lock and swap the cross_thread_tasks into a local linked list lock(shared_context->lock) swap(shared_context->cross_thread_tasks, local_tasks) unlock(shared_context->lock) // I didnt use lock to protect `shared_context->data` as they are only touched within dispatch queue A in this function. for (task : local_tasks) { linked_list_push(shared_context->data->task_list) } // If the `process_task()` block is dispatched from `schedule_task()` where the task is created, the `shared_context` will be able to access the task properly otherwise not. for (task : shared_context->data->task_list) { run_task_if_timestamp_is_now(task) } timestamp = get_next_timestamp(shared_context->data->task_list) dispatch_after_f(timestamp, dispatch_queueA, shared_context, process_task); } // On dispatch queue B static void schedule_task(struct task* task, void* shared_context) { lock(shared_context->lock) push(shared_context->cross_thread_tasks, task) unlock(shared_context->lock) timestamp = get_timestamp(task) // we only dispatch the task if the timestamp < 1 second. We did this to avoid the dispatch queue schedule the task too far ahead and prevent the shutdown process. Therefore, not all task will be dispatched from the thread it created. if(timestamp < 1 second) dispatch_after_f(timestamp, dispatch_queueA, shared_context, process_task); }
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May ’25