[iOS] Notification Service Extension Not Working in TestFlight Release Build

[oouali]

Description

I am experiencing an issue with the notification service extension in my app. The extension works perfectly when building and running the app locally in development mode. However, when I build the app for release and upload it to TestFlight, the notification service extension does not function properly. The following error appears in the device logs when attempting to use the extension:

"No service extension record found for app"

This issue only occurs in the TestFlight build, not in the local development build.

In the main app's .csproj file, I have added the following:

<ProjectReference Include="path-to-notification-service-extension.csproj">
    <IsAppExtension>true</IsAppExtension>
    <IsWatchApp>false</IsWatchApp>
</ProjectReference>

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a File > New .NET MAUI App with a Notification Service Extension.
2. Build the app locally and verify that the notification service extension works as expected.
3. Build the app for release and upload it to TestFlight.
4. Test the notification service extension in the TestFlight version of the app.
5. Check the device logs for the error: "No service extension record found for app".

Link to public reproduction project repository

No response

Version with bug

8.0.20 SR4

Is this a regression from previous behavior?

Not sure, did not test other versions

Last version that worked well

Unknown/Other

Affected platforms

iOS

Affected platform versions

No response

Did you find any workaround?

No response

Relevant log output

No response

[github-actions]

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[mattleibow]

@rolfbjarne thoughts?

[mattleibow]

Those steps to create a " .NET MAUI App with a Notification Service Extension"

Where is this from? Is this a template or is it you own composition? Are you able to attach a sample project where this happens to make sure it is configured correctly?

With "Build the app for release" can you share your exact command line args or build steps that you do to make sure things are not going wrong. Maybe attach a binlog of this for the iOS team to investigate.

[rolfbjarne]

@oouali can you also share the .ipa you uploaded to TestFlight with us?

[oouali]

Those steps to create a " .NET MAUI App with a Notification Service Extension"

Where is this from? Is this a template or is it you own composition? Are you able to attach a sample project where this happens to make sure it is configured correctly?

I've used the following methods:

https://vladislavantonyuk.github.io/articles/Extend-.NET-MAUI-application-with-iOS-Extensions/

and generating it using:

https://www.nuget.org/packages/VladislavAntonyuk.DotNetTemplates

and again both methods worked locally but as soon as i deployed it to testflight it didn't.

With "Build the app for release" can you share your exact command line args or build steps that you do to make sure things are not going wrong. Maybe attach a binlog of this for the iOS team to investigate.

dotnet publish -f net8.0-ios -c Release -p:ApplicationDisplayVersion=1.0.0 -p:ApplicationVersion=4 -p:ArchiveOnBuild=true -p:CodesignKey="iPhone Distribution" -p:CodesignProvision="Automatic" -p:PublishProfile=dev

And when building it locally i just use the "play" button found in rider.

[oouali]

I've observed an issue when building the project with the following configuration in the main app's .csproj file:

<ProjectReference Include="path-to-notification-service-extension.csproj">
    <IsAppExtension>true</IsAppExtension>
    <IsWatchApp>false</IsWatchApp>
</ProjectReference>

In this case, the notification service extension project is neither built nor visible in the list of dependencies. However, when I modify the project reference as follows:

<ProjectReference Include="path-to-notification-service-extension.csproj" />

The notification service extension project does get built and is listed among the dependencies.

I'm not sure if this discrepancy is related to my current issue, as the first example does work when building the project locally.

[oouali]

Hi @mattleibow,

I wanted to check if you've had a chance to review the message above. I would greatly appreciate any feedback or insights you might have when you get a moment.

[LucaDuttoTD]

+1 here

I have the exact same issue as @oouali , we followed the same steps for creating a Notification Service Extension using https://www.nuget.org/packages/VladislavAntonyuk.DotNetTemplates and the referencing the extension project has the same dependency problem.

Any luck anyone?
I think an official document on how to create and deploy an iOS Extension would be greatly appreciated...

I've observed an issue when building the project with the following configuration in the main app's .csproj file:

<ProjectReference Include="path-to-notification-service-extension.csproj">
    <IsAppExtension>true</IsAppExtension>
    <IsWatchApp>false</IsWatchApp>
</ProjectReference>

In this case, the notification service extension project is neither built nor visible in the list of dependencies. However, when I modify the project reference as follows:

<ProjectReference Include="path-to-notification-service-extension.csproj" />

The notification service extension project does get built and is listed among the dependencies.

I'm not sure if this discrepancy is related to my current issue, as the first example does work when building the project locally.

[rolfbjarne]

I've observed an issue when building the project with the following configuration in the main app's .csproj file:

<ProjectReference Include="path-to-notification-service-extension.csproj">
    <IsAppExtension>true</IsAppExtension>
    <IsWatchApp>false</IsWatchApp>
</ProjectReference>

In this case, the notification service extension project is neither built nor visible in the list of dependencies.

You won't need the "IsWatchApp" property, but you'll need the "IsAppExtension" property, otherwise the build won't recognize the extension project as an extension project (it'll be like a library reference, which is something very different).

However, when I modify the project reference as follows:

<ProjectReference Include="path-to-notification-service-extension.csproj" />

The notification service extension project does get built and is listed among the dependencies.

I'm not sure if this discrepancy is related to my current issue, as the first example does work when building the project locally.

Can you get an MSBuild binlog for a build that works and one that doesn't?

[winstonpang]

Is there any updates on this @rolfbjarne ?

We have a .NET 8.0 iOS app, and everytime you add true with the ProjectReference. The build process no longer recognises the project reference at all, you have to remove the IsAppExtension tag in order for the ProjectRefrence to be valid.

We have tried this in VS 2022 17.12.2 with .NET 9 as well. We have also tried this in Jetbrains Rider.

We have been trying to add app intent's into our app, but without this IsAppExtension being fixed we can't do it at all.

[rolfbjarne]

Is there any updates on this @rolfbjarne ?

We have a .NET 8.0 iOS app, and everytime you add true with the ProjectReference. The build process no longer recognises the project reference at all, you have to remove the IsAppExtension tag in order for the ProjectRefrence to be valid.

We have tried this in VS 2022 17.12.2 with .NET 9 as well. We have also tried this in Jetbrains Rider.

We have been trying to add app intent's into our app, but without this IsAppExtension being fixed we can't do it at all.

I followed up here: xamarin/xamarin-macios#21717

[johannperez]

This post, question and answer, was very useful. Thanks.

Still, is there any official documentation/samples on how to do iOS Extensions at all?