I'm trying to use NSTokenField for the first time. So my custom 'representedObject' for a token has additional model data tied to it (not just the editing/display string). I noticed when I edit an existing token, type text, and hit the enter key I get the following delegate callback: - (nullable id)tokenField:(NSTokenField *)tokenField representedObjectForEditingString:(NSString *)editingString; This same delegate method is called when I type a brand new token. Is there a way to distinguish if I'm editing a token vs. creating a new one? My expectation is to be able to do something like this (made up enhancement): - (nullable id)tokenField:(NSTokenField *)tokenField representedObjectForEditingString:(NSString *)editingString atIndex:(NSUInteger)existingTokenIndex { if (existingTokenIndex == NSNotFound) { // Token is new, create a new instance MyTokenObject *newToken = //create and configure. return newToken; } else { // This would update the editing string but wouldn't discard existing data held by the token. MyTokenObject *tokenObj = [self existingTokenAtIndex:existingTokenIndex]; tokenObj.editingString = editingString; return tokenObj; } }

It appears that on all recent versions of macOS when adding a new InputSource in /Library/Input Methods (or modifying an existing one there) the user needs to logoff and log back in in order for Keyboard/Input Sources in System Settings and Input Menu in menu bar to pick up the changes. Is there a way to avoid this? That is, some notification to send or API to call to tell both of these "hey, things might have changed on disk, please re-read the info, and update the UI". 🙂

I’m working on a storyboard-based AppKit application that uses an NSWindowController containing an NSSplitViewController with multiple child view controllers. The hierarchy is roughly: NSWindowController └── NSSplitViewController ├── NSViewController ├── NSViewController └── NSViewController I am trying to provide dependencies during storyboard instantiation using either @IBSegueAction or instantiateInitialController(creator:), rather than configuring everything after initialisation. What I attempted I added custom initialisers to my view controllers so I can pass dependencies at creation time: class SplitViewController: NSSplitViewController { let dependency: Dependency init?(coder: NSCoder, dependency: Dependency) { self.dependency = dependency super.init(coder: coder) } required init?(coder: NSCoder) { print("init(coder:) was called") fatalError("init(coder:) is not supported") } } I then attempted to intercept storyboard instantiation using @IBSegueAction, trying it in both the window controller and the split view controller: @IBSegueAction func makeSplitViewController(_ coder: NSCoder) -> NSSplitViewController? { SplitViewController(coder: coder, dependency: dependency) } I also tried attaching the segue action at different points in the storyboard, but the behaviour did not change. Observed behaviour Regardless of where I place the segue action, AppKit still appears to call: required init?(coder: NSCoder) This means my custom initialiser is never used for the split view controller or its children. Background reference I found this older known issue in the Xcode 11 release notes: “A Segue Action on a relationship segue between a NSWindowController and a View Controller is currently not supported and ignored. (48252727)” This suggests that, at least historically, AppKit relationship segues ignored segue actions entirely. Has this limitation since been fixed in modern Xcode/macOS SDK releases, or are relationship segues involving NSWindowController still incompatible with @IBSegueAction? More generally, what is the intended way to provide dependencies to an NSSplitViewController and its child view controllers in a storyboard-based AppKit application? I am also unclear whether instantiateInitialController(creator:) participates in the creation of container hierarchies like split view controllers, or only top-level controllers.

I’m seeing a macOS 26 AppKit issue with a sidebar + full-size content window + titlebar accessory setup. The main problem is that an NSTitlebarAccessoryViewController can visually cover the first item in the sidebar when System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Reduce Transparency is enabled. In my app this made the first sidebar/menu item look blacked out/covered by the titlebar/accessory area. While investigating possible workarounds, I also compared NSTitlebarAccessoryViewController with NSSplitViewItemAccessoryViewController and found two related issues that make the split-view accessory hard to use as a replacement. I could not attach the full sample project directly, so I included the two relevant Swift files below. The screenshots were taken from the same minimal AppKit repro with Reduce Transparency enabled. Repro setup The sample project shows: a fixed-width sidebar one content pane using NSTitlebarAccessoryViewController one content pane using NSSplitViewItemAccessoryViewController both accessories use the same custom view both custom views request the same intrinsic height each accessory displays its requested and actual height main.swift AppDelegate.swift Issue 1: titlebar accessory can cover sidebar content With Reduce Transparency enabled, the titlebar/accessory area can visually cover content at the top of the sidebar. This is the original issue I’m trying to solve. Expected: the sidebar content should not be covered by the titlebar accessory/material. Actual: the top sidebar item can appear blacked out/covered. In the first attached screenshot, "First sidebar row" is hidden/covered while "Second row" and the following rows are still visible. Issue 2: split-view accessory does not get the same hard separator As a possible workaround, I tried using NSSplitViewItemAccessoryViewController instead of NSTitlebarAccessoryViewController. Both controllers are configured with: if #available(macOS 26.1, *) { accessory.preferredScrollEdgeEffectStyle = .hard } The titlebar accessory shows the expected hard boundary/separator behavior, but the split-view item accessory does not appear to get the same hard edge treatment. The second attached screenshot shows the workaround comparison between the titlebar accessory and the split-view accessory. Expected: preferredScrollEdgeEffectStyle = .hard should produce a comparable hard separator for the split-view accessory. Actual: the split-view accessory still looks visually different and does not show the same hard boundary. Issue 3: split-view accessory is inset differently The NSSplitViewItemAccessoryViewController also appears to be laid out with spacing/insets around it. In the repro, the accessory custom view has a faint red background. Both accessory views request and receive the same height: requested 36 pt, actual 36.0 pt So the mismatch does not seem to be caused by the accessory view’s own intrinsic height. Instead, the split-view accessory appears to be hosted inside an inset container, with spacing around it, while the titlebar accessory is flush with the titlebar/content edge. Expected: if both accessories host the same view with the same intrinsic height, their effective placement should be comparable, or there should be a documented way to remove/control the split accessory insets. Actual: the split-view accessory is visually inset on multiple sides, making it unsuitable as a drop-in workaround for the titlebar accessory issue. The second attached screenshot also shows this: the split-view accessory has the same requested and actual height as the titlebar accessory, but it is still visually inset and does not align the same way. Question Is this expected behavior on macOS 26, especially with Reduce Transparency enabled? If so, what is the recommended AppKit approach for placing a filter/search accessory below the toolbar/titlebar without covering sidebar content, while still getting a hard separator and predictable layout?

Is anyone else getting new warning about menu items with submenus when running on Tahoe? I'm getting big performance problems using my menu as well as seeing these messages and I'm wondering if there's a connection. My app is faceless with a NSStatusItem with an NSMenu. Specifically it's my own subclass of NSMenu where I have a lot of code to manage the menu's dynamic behavior. This code is directly in the menu subclass instead of in a controller because the app I forked had it this way, a little wacky but I don't see it being a problem. A nib defines the contents of the menu, and it's instantiated manually with code like: var nibObjects: NSArray? = [] guard let nib = NSNib(nibNamed: "AppMenu", bundle: nil) else { ... } guard nib.instantiate(withOwner: owner, topLevelObjects: &nibObjects) else { ... } guard let menu = nibObjects?.compactMap({ $0 as? Self }).first else { ... } Within that nib.instantiate call I see a warning logged that seems new to Tahoe, before the menu's awakeFromNib is called, that says (edited): Internal inconsistency in menus - menu <NSMenu: 0x6000034e5340> believes it has <My_StatusItem_App.AppMenu: 0x7f9570c1a440> as a supermenu, but the supermenu does not seem to have any item with that submenu My_StatusItem_App.AppMenu: 0x7f9570c1a440 is my menu belonging to the NSStatusItem, NSMenu: 0x6000034e5340 is the submenu of one of its menu items. At a breakpoint in the NSMenu subclass's awakeFromNib I print self and see clear evidence of the warning's incorrectness. Below is a snippet of the console including the full warning, only edited for clarity and brevity. It shows on line 32 menu item with placeholder title "prototype batch item" that indeed has that submenu. Internal inconsistency in menus - menu <NSMenu: 0x6000034e5340> Title: Supermenu: 0x7f9570c1a440 (My StatusItem App), autoenable: YES Previous menu: 0x0 (None) Next menu: 0x0 (None) Items: ( "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010e4fa0 Do The Thing Again, ke mask='<none>'>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010e5040 Customize\U2026, ke mask='<none>'>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010e50e0, ke mask='<none>'>" ) believes it has <My_StatusItem_App.AppMenu: 0x7f9570c1a440> Title: My StatusItem App Supermenu: 0x0 (None), autoenable: YES Previous menu: 0x0 (None) Next menu: 0x0 (None) Items: ( ) as a supermenu, but the supermenu does not seem to have any item with that submenu (lldb) po self <My_StatusItem_App.AppMenu: 0x7f9570c1a440> Title: My StatusItem App Supermenu: 0x0 (None), autoenable: YES Previous menu: 0x0 (None) Next menu: 0x0 (None) Items: ( "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010fd7c0 About My StatusItem App\U2026, ke mask='<none>', action: showAbout:, action image: info.circle>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010fd860 Show Onboarding Window\U2026, ke mask='Shift', action: showIntro:>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010fd900 Update Available\U2026, ke mask='<none>', action: installUpdate:, standard image: icloud.and.arrow.down, hidden>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010e46e0, ke mask='<none>'>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010e4780 Start The Thing, ke mask='<none>', action: startTheThing:>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010e4dc0 \U2318-\U232b key detector item, ke mask='<none>', view: <My_StatusItem_App.KeyDetectorView: 0x7f9570c1a010>>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010e4e60, ke mask='<none>'>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010e4f00 saved batches heading item, ke mask='<none>', view: <NSView: 0x7f9570b4be10>, hidden>", "<My_StatusItem_App.BatchMenuItem: 0x6000016e02c0 prototype batch item, ke mask='<none>', action: replaySavedBatch:, submenu: 0x6000034e5340 ()>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010f7d40, ke mask='<none>'>", "<My_StatusItem_App.ClipMenuItem: 0x7f956ef14fd0 prototype copy clip item, ke mask='<none>', action: copyClip:>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010fa620 Settings\U2026, ke='Command-,', action: showSettings:>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010fa6c0, ke mask='<none>'>", "<NSMenuItem: 0x6000010fa760 Quit My StatusItem App, ke='Command-Q', action: quit:>" ) Is this seemingly incorrect inconsistency message harmless? Am I only grasping at straws to think it has some connection to the performance issues with this menu?

I have a chat app with a floating composer pill (NSGlassEffectView) pinned to the bottom of my content area. Messages scroll behind it. The pill looks fine but content behind it is completely clear. Fully legible text showing through, no frosting at all. Mail, Messages, Notes all have this frosted look where content behind a floating bar is blurred enough that you can't read it. That's what I'm going for. My scroll view has wantsLayer = true. I tried hasVerticalScroller = true + scrollerStyle = .overlay based on a tip I saw in another thread. No change. Is NSGlassEffectView supposed to blur what's behind it, or is the frosting in Apple's apps coming from the scroll edge effect? If it's the scroll edge effect, is there any way to trigger it for a custom floating view at the bottom of a scroll view? I can't find any AppKit API for this. I also spent time trying this in SwiftUI using .glassEffect() on macOS. Same result, the material renders nearly clear with no way to control the frosting level via any public API. If I'm missing something obvious I'd love to know. I've been stuck on this one for a while. Thanks for any advice! I've attached photos of my input bar (clearly transparent) and Apple Messages, which has a style that I see all over iOS and Mac OS 26.

The following code only ever causes shouldDrawInsertionPoint to be printed (no drawInsertionPoint), but even if that method returns false, the blinking insertion point is still drawn. On the other hand, with TextKit 1 it works as expected. Is there a way to hide the default insertion point in TextKit 2? My app draws its own. I've filed FB13684251. class TextView: NSTextView { override var shouldDrawInsertionPoint: Bool { print("shouldDrawInsertionPoint") return false } override func drawInsertionPoint(in rect: NSRect, color: NSColor, turnedOn flag: Bool) { print("drawInsertionPoint", flag) } } ``

I probably should know the answer to this but I don't, so I'll ask. When I enable state restoration and have like three windows open, and I quit the app (via Quit menu, not 'Stop In Xcode') the following happens: -NSApplication calls _closeForTermination on all the windows and this causes state restoration to fail to restore these open windows on next app launch. This behavior is not aligned with the behavior of apps like Mail. If I have two "Viewer Windows" open in Mail and I quit the app, when I relaunch the two viewer windows are restored. I can of course track this and write data to restore for these auto closed window myself but shouldn't there be an easy way to opt in to this behavior?

So after binding to NSBrowser selectionIndexPaths: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/CocoaBindingsRef/BindingsText/NSBrowser.html this causes NSBrowser to do some weird stuff that seems completely unrelated to this particular binding. It starts calling NSBrowserCell methods on my cells but my cell is not a NSBrowserCell. My cell is actually a subclass of NSTextFieldCell. But NSBrowser starts sending setIsLeaf: (which I don't implement). In any case if I implement the -setLeaf: that solves that unrecognized selector, but now my cells don't draw titles. Not sure why binding to selectionIndexPaths causes this behavior? The cell stuff seems unrelated to this particular binding. I am of course using the newer but still pretty old item based APIs... do these bindings only support using NSMatrix? I do set the binding after calling -setCellClass: but makes no difference. I also just tried overriding -setSelectionIndexPaths: but NSBrowser does not use the setter.

I am using NSSearchField for a non-incremental search UI. The field is configured as follows: let searchField = NSSearchField() searchField.sendsSearchStringImmediately = false searchField.sendsWholeSearchString = true searchField.target = target searchField.action = #selector(submit(_:)) My expectation is that the action is sent only when the user explicitly commits the search, such as by pressing Return or clicking the search button. I understand that clicking the cancel button inside the NSSearchField clears the text and sends the action with an empty string. That behavior is documented and makes sense. However, I am also seeing the action sent when the user edits the text normally and deletes the last character, causing the search field’s stringValue to become empty. In other words, while the user is just editing the field with the Delete key, the action is sent even though the user did not press Return or explicitly commit the search. Is this expected behavior for NSSearchField, or is it a bug? If it is expected, is there a recommended public API to distinguish these cases? User pressed Return with a non-empty string User clicked the search/cancel button User simply edited the text and the string became empty I would like to keep using NSSearchField’s built-in recent searches behavior, so intercepting Return with control(_:textView:doCommandBy:) is not ideal. If this is not expected behavior, I will file Feedback with a sample project. Environment: macOS 26.5 (25F71) Xcode 26.5 (17F42)

After updating to Sonoma, the following is logged in the Xcode console when an editable text field becomes key. This doesn't occur on any text field, but it seems to happen when the text field is within an NSPopover or an NSSavePanel. ViewBridge to RemoteViewService Terminated: Error Domain=com.apple.ViewBridge Code=18 "(null)" UserInfo={com.apple.ViewBridge.error.hint=this process disconnected remote view controller -- benign unless unexpected, com.apple.ViewBridge.error.description=NSViewBridgeErrorCanceled} What does this mean?

I using SwiftUI to wrap a NSTextView to support rich text editing. I created a subclass ImageAttachment and provided my own viewProvider and attachmentView. The insertion of the image works fine, but when I typing in the same paragraph of the image, the image will flicker during typing and pause. after typing it sometimes just display nothing, but after refresh or click other places, the image shows. The interesting part is if I typing in other paragraph, the image attachment displays well. I don't think the flicker should happen while typing in the same paragraph of the attachment, but not sure if there is a way to enforce the layout stable for the paragraph?

I'm building a document viewer on macOS Tahoe with a 3-column NSSplitViewController (sidebar | detail | inspector), trying to replicate how Preview displays PDFs with the page centered in the visible gap between the panels, with content bleeding under them when panning or zooming. I'm using the approach from Build an AppKit app with the new design (WWDC25): detailItem.automaticallyAdjustsSafeAreaInsets = true safeAreaInsets reports the correct values (e.g. left: 208, right: 240), and the frame does extend under both panels. But PDFView with autoScales = true anchors the page to the left edge of the window instead of centering it in the visible gap between the sidebar and inspector. I can get the page to center correctly by constraining PDFView to view.safeAreaLayoutGuide, but then content no longer extends under the panels when panning or zooming, which defeats the whole purpose. What's the correct way to center PDFView content within the visible gap while keeping the frame full-width so content bleeds under the panels? I've attached pictures of how Preview does it.

Hi, I've been trying to resolve an issue that my users are facing for about one year, but I haven't been able to so far. That's why I'm turning to you all for some ideas. Some of my users have noticed that my app suddenly exits. It runs in the background as a menu bar app, so when they go to use it, they realize it's no longer running. I've checked Crashlytics and asked users to check their Console app for crash reports, but there are none. The conclusion so far is that it's not a crash, but a silent termination. I haven't experienced this on my own machine, which makes it incredibly difficult to debug or identify the cause. Recently, I thought I'd pinned down the problem. My app was declaring: <key>NSSupportsSuddenTermination</key> <true/> Based on the documentation, this is intended to quickly terminate the app during logout or system shutdown, but I read it can also be triggered when the system needs resources. It seemed like the perfect root cause. However, even after turning it off, one of my users is still experiencing the problem. I'm officially running out of ideas. Does anyone have suggestions on what else I should check? My app currently declares: <key>LSUIElement</key> <true/> <key>NSSupportsAutomaticTermination</key> <false/> <key>NSSupportsSuddenTermination</key> <false/>

Hi, I’m pretty new to AppKit and I’m trying to make an NSTextField inside an NSTableView both: Editable Multi-line / wrapping Right now, wrapping works fine until I set: tf.isEditable = true Then the text becomes a single line. How do I make it editable while still wrapping correctly? import AppKit final class ViewController: NSViewController, NSTableViewDataSource, NSTableViewDelegate { let tableView = NSTableView() let text = String(repeating: "A", count: 500) override func viewDidLoad() { super.viewDidLoad() view = tableView tableView.addTableColumn(NSTableColumn()) tableView.usesAutomaticRowHeights = true tableView.dataSource = self tableView.delegate = self } func numberOfRows(in tableView: NSTableView) -> Int { 1 } func tableView(_ tableView: NSTableView, viewFor tableColumn: NSTableColumn?, row: Int) -> NSView? { let cell = NSTableCellView() let tf = NSTextField(wrappingLabelWithString: text) tf.lineBreakMode = .byCharWrapping if let tableColumn { tf.preferredMaxLayoutWidth = tableColumn.width } tf.isEditable = true // comment this out and wrapping works cell.addSubview(tf) tf.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false NSLayoutConstraint.activate([ tf.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.leadingAnchor), tf.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.trailingAnchor), tf.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.topAnchor), tf.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.bottomAnchor), ]) return cell } }

So in NSCollectionView I left click the background and start dragging to make the 'selection box' (is that what we call it?) I have a mouse with separate left and right click buttons (i.e., not an Apple Magic Mouse). Now if I accidentally hit the right click while I'm still dragging the selection box..... the right click context menu shows up in the middle of mouse dragging and the selection box freezes on screen. Besides the visual disruption this sometimes results in weird behavior. Sometimes mouse clicks stop responding for awhile in the window and I gotta click around a bunch of times until I guess the run loop "unclogs." I'm able to reproduce in Finder Icon view so it isn't just me. Steps to Reproduce: A mouse with separate buttons for left and right click. Open Finder window in icon view. Left click the background and start dragging to make the gray selection box. While dragging the mouse as you are selecting click right-click in the middle of the drag. The selection box freezes on screen. Expected Behavior: -Right click event and left mouse drag event normally shouldn't overlap. If left mouse is being dragged the right click event should be blocked. Let me know if this is Feedback worthy.

Is it possible to remove the ugly sidebar and inspector chrome with AppKit? I don't care if it's a hack or a swizzle or something, but I need to get rid of this. I want to convert this: Into this (photoshopped): Thanks for your help!

My application overrides AppDelegate.menuWillOpen(). During startup of the application (in AppDelegate.applicationDidFinishLaunching) I attempt to install a privileged helper tool using SMAppService. On detecting that the tool needs to be allowed/installed I open the Login Items & Extensions settings and then display a modal dialog, advising the user to authorise the privileged helper. Then the application crashes with a message in the crash file Application Specific Information: BUG IN CLIENT OF LIBDISPATCH: trying to lock recursively Maybe I could avoid this by removing the menuWillOpen() override so am looking for a workaround. i.e. is it possible to install the override function programmatically later during initialisation, rather then declaring it in an extension. I have attached the crash log. ChronyControl-2026-04-29-111332.crash

I have been playing around with AppKit programming and I have a sample document based app with a scroll view and rulers. When The scrollbars are not overlay style (which is usually true for me because I have "show scroll bars always" set in preferences) and the rulers are on The clip view seems to extend throughout the scroll view and the document can be seen through the scroll bars. However if I turn the rulers off, then the clip view seems to not include the scroll bars, and so the document is not visible through the scroll bars, having been clipped to the rectangle that lies inside the scroll bars. Additionally in this case, the small area in the lower right hand corner of the screen between the two scroll bars is white, even though all of my views have a light gray background. If the scroll bar style is overlay, then everything seems to work as expected: the clip view always includes the scroll bars. Is this a bug related to legacy style scrollbars or (more likely) have I just screwed something up? I should add that the window and the entire view hierarchy have been built programmatically. It is not in the xib.

We are currently testing our application under macOS 26 in Liquid Glass mode and noticed an issue with NSSegmentedCell. Our app makes extensive use of NSCell-based drawing. Since macOS 26, when running in Liquid Glass mode, NSSegmentedCell does not render at the expected location. The control itself appears visually correct, but it is clearly drawn offset from the rect it is supposed to occupy. In compatibility mode, everything renders exactly as expected (same code, same layout). To illustrate the issue, here are two screenshots of the same view: Liquid Glass mode 👉 (screenshot 1 – segmented control visibly shifted) Compatibility mode 👉 (screenshot 2 – correct rendering) The regression is obvious when switching between the two modes. This behavior has been present since the first macOS 26 release and is still reproducible with Xcode 26.2 (17C52). I have already filed a report via Feedback Assistant (FB reference available if useful), but I’m posting here to see whether others are experiencing the same issue or have found a workaround. Thanks.