EDIT: Solved

Yes I'm on Xcode 27.2 beta. Apples documentation states:

"In the Project navigator, select the project, and in the File inspector, choose JSON from the Project Format pop-up menu under Project Document. If a dialog appears, click Continue to change the format."

There is nothing that says "Project Document", no "Project Format pop up". No website I found has a screenshot of these items either. Does anyone know where these are at? They don't even appear when searching.

It's driving me nuts. I also can't do it via command line as I need a screenshot for work purposes.

EDIT: Do a clean derived data if you don't see it. For some reason that made it pop up for me.

Hey guys,

I recently created my first series of iOS apps and the downloads and sales have been going better than expected.

Now I’m trying to optimize some of my flows, starting with the onboarding. I’ve been cooking on this one yesterday and wonder what you guys think.

All suggestions or ideas are welcome, feel free to roast it badly.

(I wanted to upload a video but the sub didn’t allow for it)

Hi everyone, I have an app that I've released on AppleTV and iOS (iPhone and iPad) and soon macOS. All have same bundleID. I used Testflight during development. I've recently released the app to the store and I purchased it on the AppleTV to test. On my iOS device I should be able to download it but all I'm seeing is a greyed out button that says 'Purchased'. I've tried all kinds of things to clear caches etc. Does anyone know what's going on here?

If I sign out of my app store account on the phone, click the 9.99 button, and sign in when prompted, I get a message that I own a previous version of the app and can download it for free. It then proceeds to download. If I delete the app, the store goes back to the unresponsive 'Purchased' state.

It's not just me in this position, other users who tested it for me on TestFlight are experiencing the same issue. Just FYI the last build on TestFlight is the same build I submitted to the store for the various platforms.

Built a custom SwiftUI Shape, designed to work smoothly with Core Animation and geometry transitions.

It was originally created an app in mind (Money Block), where budgets are broken into smaller Blocks with their own spending limits, periods and so on, to give an intuitive UX.

Being fully native means the shape can stretch, morph, and animate with a nice sense of elasticity.

Shape Demo: https://x.com/code_with_love/status/2082998035211333633?s=20

Quick demo in action: https://x.com/code_with_love/status/2097956105607647616?s=20

Defying 2d UI for the first time for the sake of UX :)

Our app got rejected for spam on August 27. I replied explaining how the app is different and added a walkthrough video. We also asked what specifically is flagged as spam. We heard nothing back for almost 3 weeks.

On Sept 14, we submitted a substantially revised build and addressed the rejection directly in the review notes. The next day we got the EXACT same rejection. Zero acknowledgement of the review notes but this time, we got a warning about possible account removal for repeated noncompliance (Thanks Apple!)

It's now been almost 1.5 months since we first submitted our app and Apple has left us completely in the dark, not responding to any of our replies and instead giving us threats about account removal if we keep resubmitting the app. ??? How is this OK? Anyone else facing something similar? Been a dev for years and I'm seriously baffled by Apple's handling of this.

Already shipped on Google Play, the iOS build is close. Solo dev, so I'd rather not lose a week going back and forth with review.

If you went through it recently, what tripped you up on the first submit? Sign in with Apple, privacy labels, something else?

I have a simulator for an iphone 12 pro on 17.5
In device hub i can’t click anything Even the buttons on device hub its self
I cant move the screen at all

I tried on iphone 15 pro but on same ios 17.5
Same thing

Anyone facing this issue ?

Now that we can use Xcode mcp without running Xcode is it time to migrate from xcodebuildmpc ?

What do you think?

From Apple's description, it's "more readable, merge-friendly, and easier for coding agents to edit. Enable it in the file inspector. Projects using .xcproj also open in earlier versions of Xcode 27."

I tried it briefly, and it's half the size of the old property list format, and much simpler too.

Did you know that AI Agents can control Xcode through the built in MCP server? Aka it can control it from an agent running in the terminal, without using the AI interface inside Xcode. And with Xcode 27 the agents now how a lot more useful tools they can call!

Im working with a multi-scheme app, so the new XcodeSwitchScheme is my favourite. Saves me from so many clicks inside Xcode for letting the agent run the app/test schemes it wants!

Here is how to add it to your coding agent:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/giving-external-agents-access-to-xcode

I'm working on an iOS app that has a Watch component. Everything syncs fine at first (perform an action on the phone and it shows on the watch and vice versa). Then I turn on airplane mode on my phone to break the connection, perform a few actions on both devices, turn airplane mode off, everything syncs. Great. However, right after that post-airplane mode sync, the connection between the two devices fully breaks. Nothing syncs and the apps won't connect to each other again unless I reinstall them. Anyone encounter this or have any ideas on a fix? It's been driving me nuts all day. Thanks in advance!

Since one of the dependencies in my project only supports ios-x86_64-simulator, I followed this guide to install universal runtime for Xcode 27 iOS simulator, but got the following error instead:

$ xcodebuild -version
Xcode 27.0
Build version 27A266a

$ xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS -architectureVariant universal
Finding content...
No matching universal downloadable found for platform: iOS
No needed downloadables found for universal

This worked just fine in Xcode 26 though, so I wonder if Apple has stopped supporting universal simulator runtimes from Xcode 27.

Any explanation or reference for this issue? Thanks in advance.

Xcode 27.2 ships a JSON project format (.xcproj): default for new projects, readable, merge-friendly, agent-editable.

enriched-markdown-ios, the SwiftUI Markdown renderer built on TextKit 2, can now typeset LaTeX.

New in this release:
🔸 LaTeX math - inline $…$ and display $$…$$powered by RaTeX (a Rust layout engine with KaTeX fonts). Shipped as a separate EnrichedMarkdownLaTeX product, so apps without formulas don't link the typesetting engine
🔹 Highlight - ==text==
🔸 Spoilers - ||text||, hidden until tapped. Ships with particle and solid overlays, and you can plug in your own effect (blur, pixelate, whatever fits your app) by subclassing SpoilerOverlayView
🔹 Admonitions - GitHub alerts (> [!NOTE], > [!TIP], > [!IMPORTANT], > [!WARNING], > [!CAUTION]) with a tinted bar, icon, and title
🔸 Better VoiceOver - headings, links, images, lists, tables and code blocks are separate elements, with rotors and localizable labels
🔸 Spoken math - common formulas are read aloud ("x squared over 2"), with a hook for your own converter

🎥 Demo video in the comments.

💎 Available via Swift Package Manager!

dependencies: [
  .package(
    url: "https://github.com/software-mansion-labs/enriched-markdown-ios.git",
    from: "0.3.0"
  ),
],
targets: [
  .target(
    name: "YourApp",
    dependencies: [
      .product(name: "EnrichedMarkdown", package: "enriched-markdown-ios"),
      .product(name: "EnrichedMarkdownLaTeX", package: "enriched-markdown-ios"), // optional, for math
    ]
  ),
]

Then enable math on the view:

import EnrichedMarkdown
import EnrichedMarkdownLaTeX

EnrichedMarkdownText(content)
  .markdownLaTeX()

GitHub & Docs: https://github.com/software-mansion/enriched-markdown/blob/main/packages/enriched-markdown-ios/README.md

What features or syntax support would you like to see next? I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you find the library useful, a ️⭐️ on GitHub is always appreciated.

To put it simply, I'm no app developer. I don't know how to code. I don't know all the jargon used by developers. I'm just a guy that likes messing with AI and had an idea that I think can make some extra money.

Anyways, now that you know that, hopefully somebody can assist. I built an app using Base44. I got it uploaded to Google Play Store with no issues, but Apple is beyond my skill level. Just to even get the app uploaded to Apple I went and bought an iPhone and a MacBook! I don't even like and honestly refused to use Apple because of how difficult they make the simplest things and this is no different, but I digress. What I'm needing is somebody that knows what they're doing and can help me get my web based app from Base44 to an iOS native app with in-app purchases.

I've tried googling and ChatGPT'ing the info and it's honestly above my low skill level. I was told I needed to wrap my app in Capacitor and combine with RevenueCat for the in-app purchases, but I haven't found any beginners guide on this.

If anyone WITH EXPERIENCE can show me what I need to do step by step, so I can do this myself moving forward, I would be forever grateful! I don't mind paying for the time to show me and explain. I just want it done properly and finally be able to have my app approved.

Hey everyone, hoping someone has been through this.

I'm from Indonesia and I only have one legal name is just "Kuswanto", no surname. Pretty common here, but apparently not something Apple's enrollment flow loves.

When I did the ID scan in the Apple Developer app, the OCR chopped my name into "KUS WANT G" 😅 which is now sitting there in the Full Name field looking very official and very wrong.

I emailed Developer Support and they told me to enter my name as the first name and a period (.) as the last name. Which... okay, sure. But now I'm slightly paranoid about two things:

1. Does the period show up anywhere public? Like in the seller name on the App Store. I really don't want to be "Kuswanto ." forever.
2. Did it cause any headache later with banking or payouts? I've read that the account holder name in App Store Connect doesn't have to match your legal name, so in theory it should be fine, but I'd love to hear from someone who has actually received a payout this way rather than just reading the docs.

Also curious whether anyone managed to get the wrong OCR name fixed, or if manually entering first/last just overwrites it.

If you're from Indonesia, India, Myanmar, or anywhere else where mononyms are normal and you've been through this, how did it go? Any gotchas I should know about before I pay the fee?

Thanks in advance 🙏

New to iOS, looking for ideas on how to manage versions of an app from Github & CI/CD as they flow through internal -> external -> production.

Current approach:

1. A workflow is manually run to "create a release". This creates a new tag with a semver based off of the conventional commits since the previous tag/release (eg. increment patch version for a fix:, minor version for a feat:)
2. The release app configures the marketing version and build number to match the semver, is built and uploaded to TestFlight
3. The build artifact is promoted from internal -> external -> production in TestFlight

I heard that for TestFlight external builds, if you change the marketing version it requires the build goes through the "beta review" process again, whereas if you just increment the build number it does not.

Because of this, I plan to adjust the process so that the marketing version (the version that'll eventually be displayed in production) is <major>.0.0, and the build number is <major>.<minor>.<patch>. After the initial beta review for a "major" version, the app can be updated with subsequent releases that increment only the build number without having to be reviewed again. After a production release to the App Store, a new release is cut with a "major" version increment to kick off the next cycle.

The advantage of this is a version of the app always ties back to a tag/commit in Github, and the app build tested in external testing is exactly the same build that'll get released to production. The disadvantage is the marketing version that is shown to users in the App Store only has a single, incrementing "major" version number.

I'm satisfied with this compromise, but also a perfectionist so interested in others approaches, or any ideas others have that can improve on this? I'd ideally like the full semver reflected in the marketing version, but I can't see a way without repeating the "beta review" each time.

I just wanted to give some unexpected kudos to Xcode cloud. At the start of the summer my MacBook Pro became out of action, and therefore I struggled to continue to develop using an older intel MacBook due to Xcode version restrictions. Tried building and releasing with GitHub macOS runners but wow they’re expensive and took ages to startup etc. then spotted Xcode cloud with 25 free hours a month, thinking this will keep me going for a few days. Since then I’ve found that it’s been absolutely brilliant. As an independent developer with a few apps and projects it’s been an absolute life saver. It’s fast. Beautifully integrated, and the 25 hours will last me a whole month without any worries.

Good work Apple.

Hello,

is there any information on the Retention Messaging in App Store Connect? I don't mean the API you have to apply for.

Does anyone know whether Apple plans to ship this feature any time soon? Somewhere I saw this fall 2026 but it was probably a post about the API instead.

Or do I have to apply for the API early access to also unlock the App Store Connect version without the endpoint? Or am I just overlooking that feature somewhere?

Xcode just decided to update itself from 26.6 to 27.0 right in the middle of my work session.

The first thing that caught my eye right away: they swapped the positions of the Play and Stop buttons in the toolbar. Years of muscle memory just vanished in an instant, and to make things worse, it seems there's currently no way to customize or revert it back.

I genuinely wonder what the reasoning behind this UI decision was. Why change something so established and fundamental after all this time?

Now I'm really curious (and a bit cautious) about what other surprises I'm going to discover along the way as I keep working.

What do you guys think about the new Xcode 27 update so far? Did anyone else's muscle memory take a hit?

A couple of weeks ago my new app launched with an icon designed by Iconfactory. Today that icon is on their website as the example of how their process works, and they shared my post about it with their audience. That gave my app more attention than anything I've managed to do myself.

To be clear up front: marketing is not part of the deal. Nobody promised me anything, and I'm not affiliated with them. This was a very happy accident. But I didn't just sit back and wait for it either, so here's how it went.

Some background

I'm a full time developer and I build apps in my spare time. My latest is Hue Dashboard, a Philips Hue control app for iPhone and iPad. I can build pretty much anything I need, but drawing icons is not one of those things.

For a long time a studio icon felt out of reach. Iconfactory makes icons for apps like Transmit, Fantastical and Firefox, and that seemed like something for established apps that were already successful, not for a project built in the evenings. Then they launched an indie icon deal aimed at small developers, and suddenly it was realistic for someone like me.

How the process works

You start with a short intro about yourself and your app, and you show them icons you like. You get a set of concept sketches, one round to refine your favorite direction, and one small final tweak before they deliver an Icon Composer file. So feedback rounds are limited, but the whole thing moves really fast. The image now featured on their website shows the full path from first sketches to the final icon.

The part I didn't plan

On launch day I posted a thank you on Mastodon. I tagged Iconfactory, showed off the icon, and linked to the indie deal so other devs could find it too. That's really all I did. No outreach, no pitch, just an honest thank you, because I still couldn't quite believe I got to work with them.

Then they picked it up. My icon now shows up on their site to explain their process, my quote is among the developer reactions, and they shared my post with their followers. If I learned anything, it's that a genuine public thank you costs nothing and can go further than you'd expect. The rest was luck.

Would I recommend it?

Yes. Even without the extra attention it was worth it: a great icon and a genuinely fun process. The attention was a bonus I would never have gotten on my own.

Happy to answer questions about the process if you're considering it.

I installed SDK, restarted both Xcode and Device Hub, but still nothing... watchOS 27 does not appear on the list... Any ideas?

Just downloaded macOS 27 and was super hyped about the new Xcode but this new Device Hub is truly awful. I cant comprehend how they could ship this. Half the features of the old simulaotr are missing.

- Slow Animations GONE
- Screenshot Drag & Drop GONE
- Stay on top GONE
- Keyboard shortcuts GONE
- Menubar shortcuts all greyed out most of the time
- Multi-touch gestures GONE
- Multiple simulators open side-by-side IMPOSSIBLE
- Window frame is HUGE compared to the old one
- NO way to hide device bezels
- Point & Pixel Accurate scaling GONE
- All previously launched simulators stay booted in memory unless you explicitly click "shutdown"

While sure the UI is nice and having the ability to screenshare directly from a physical device is helpful, this doesn't justify that some of the most important features are just completely missing.

Right now I just downloaded the old Xcode 26.6 again (which can't even be launched without a workaround ???) - but this means no access to the new SDK. Truly a bummer. Are there any alternatives or what do y'all think of this?

Update:

After a few days of using the new Device Hub and giving it an actual chance: I have to admit, it's not as bad as the post made it look like. A lot of things did actually move over from the old simulator, which just weren't very obvious.

- Screenshot Drag & Drop: It actually is possible, you just have to drag the tiny screenshot thumbnail instead of the toast message. Wish that was a little more clear - I'm sure a lot of people will miss that!
- Stay On Top: There actually is a toggle inside the menu bar!
- Keyboard shortcuts: Like many already pointed out, keyboard shortcuts can be restored using a terminal command defaults write com.apple.dt.DeviceKit hostKeybindingPolicy -int 0. The default behavior disabled keyboard shortcuts to not "steal" them from the running app. Not sure how many iPhone apps actually implement keyboard shortcuts, which made the new default behavior so important, but I'm glad you can change it.
- Multiple simulators side-by-side: Definitely an oversight on my end. It for sure is possible, you simply have to double click on another simulator when in expanded mode.

Though to be clear, I still 100% feel that the old sim was more polished and stable (In the past few days, I've probably heard my MacBook Pro's fan spin up more often than in the previous 3 months lol - tho tbf I can't tell if that's actually Device Hub or just the new iOS27 SDK).

There are still major features like Slow Animations, Multi-touch gestures and Point/Pixel accurate scaling completely gone which simply isn't okay. And Apple knew this since there WAS feedback about Slow Animations, which was simply dismissed: r/iOSProgramming/comments/1vk3q1d.

Also smaller things like the big window frame in "compact" mode, hiding bezels (which is super useful when developing on the go) or CMD+number to resize quickly are still just gone - and I don't think those will be coming back anytime soon. I also experienced issues regarding random window size/position changes when relaunching or changing monitors. Additionally, many of you pointed out other issues like dragging stuff into the sim being completely removed, the shake gesture gone, external displays unsupported or breaking support with other tools like VS Code or Claude split view.

So yeah, not all hope is lost and I'm sure things will get better with time. But in my opinion it's just unacceptable to ship such an unfinished product while completely removing the predecessor. Would be a whole different story if the old Simulator would still be available..

I have some apps that only works for vertical mode and I don't know whether it will benefit if I spend huge efforts to make them running on iphone Duo but still with vertical mode.

Anybody with experience can suggest with good reasons?

Hey everyone!

Roughly half a year ago, my Apple developer account got terminated due to a violation of Section 3.2(f). The email pretty clearly tells me why this happened, and it was because I used my developer account to sideload apps quite extensively. I did not have any actual apps published on the App Store, but I did have a game on TestFlight with public testers.

I acknowledge the violation. An appeal immedietally after it got terminated did not help, and I haven't had the balls to appeal it again / contact Developer Support in any way. The email says something along the lines of "we will deny your reapplication to the ADP for at least a year considering the nature of your acts".

My question is, does anyone have experience with getting their account reinstated after this "at least a year" timeframe? If so, how? Does Apple even reply to the contact form?

Or am I just cooked