Summary of Notable iOS App Development Changes (2026/11/13): New Age Rating Declaration Items, Siri AI Developer Preview, and More
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When developing iOS apps, you need to keep an eye not only on Apple's beta releases but also on specification changes to the SDKs and tools you use, from a maintenance perspective. Because several developments overlapped this time, including the Siri AI Developer Preview, iOS 27.3 beta, and the end of new submissions for On-Demand Resources, I decided to summarize the topics that caught my attention.
Apple
Siri AI Developer Preview released
On November 3, 2026, the Developer Preview of Siri AI started in the 27.3 beta of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS, and any app can now integrate with Siri AI through App Intents. Submissions to the App Store are planned to be accepted from spring, and iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS in the EU, as well as users under 13, are not covered.
The Known Issues for iOS 27.3 beta list a problem where, even for an AppEntity that has authenticationPolicy set to require unlocking, Siri AI may sometimes display it without asking for the device to be unlocked.
Xcode 27.3 beta / iOS 27.3 beta released
On November 3, 2026, Xcode 27.3 beta (27C5020n) and iOS & iPadOS 27.3 beta (24C5037i) were released. From the same day, apps built with the 27.3 beta SDK can be distributed to internal and external testing in TestFlight.
- GitHub Copilot can now be used in the Coding Assistant
- UI tests can now be written with Swift Testing and
XCUIAutomation - The new
XCUIHingeclass lets you set the hinge angle of iPhone Duo from UI tests - You can now install
.appand.ipafiles by dropping them onto Device Hub - Multiseat subscriptions have been added to StoreKit. The settings in App Store Connect can be checked with
supportsMultiSeatPurchaseofProductandAdvancedCommerceProduct
Changes to consider addressing in app maintenance
From the release notes of Xcode 27.3 beta and iOS & iPadOS 27.3 beta, I picked out the items that may affect existing apps and build environments. The two items for NEURLFilter and Live Caller ID Lookup apply only to apps that use these features.
- The release notes were updated after publication, adding that Xcode will also be distributed in the
.aea(Apple Encrypted Archive) format and that 27.3 will be the last release in the.xipformat. If you install Xcode from the command line in CI or similar environments, you will need to switch to extracting it witharchiveutil extractXcodeAEA - For NEURLFilter, the Network Extension for URL filtering, the service URL and the Privacy Pass issuer URL must now be declared statically in
NSPIRConfigurationin the main app's Info.plist, and passing them only at runtime is now deprecated. Support for user tiers has also ended - For Live Caller ID Lookup, which queries a server for caller information on incoming calls, and for the PIR (Private Information Retrieval) configuration of NEURLFilter, a shard count that is not a power of two is now rejected. For NEURLFilter, the maximum shard count has also been set to 65,536
- When an app built with the iOS 26 SDK ran on iOS 27,
ScrollEdgeEffectStyle.softon top ofsafeAreaBar(edge:)was rendered fully transparent. From iOS 27.3, the iOS 27 soft edge effect is applied to these apps as well, so apps still on the iOS 26 SDK will look different on 27.3. For the changes when building with the iOS 27 SDK, I verified them in "I verified and fixed the safeAreaBar effect changing to something equivalent to hard in iOS 27"
End of new submissions for On-Demand Resources
On-Demand Resources (ODR) is a mechanism where some of an app's resources are hosted on the App Store and downloaded when they become necessary.
The App Store Connect release notes of November 12, 2026 announced that, starting in early 2027, uploads containing ODR will no longer be accepted for new apps and for existing apps that have not used ODR so far. Background Assets is recommended as the migration target. Apps that already use ODR are not covered this time, but if you are going to introduce deferred resource downloading from now on, it would be safest to design it with Background Assets.
New declaration items added to age ratings
Starting November 16, 2026, two items, "Shared Location" and "Dating and Relationships," are added to the age rating questions in App Store Connect. You will need to declare them when submitting an update or when changing your answers to the questions, and the deadline for all apps is January 12, 2027.
- Shared Location covers features that share actual location information with other people or groups
- Dating and Relationships covers features that enable meeting or building relationships with real people or virtual companions, involving sexual or romantic content
Apps that fall under Dating and Relationships will be rated 18+ at a minimum. In Brazil, Shared Location is classified as A16 and Dating and Relationships as A18, so apps with a location sharing feature may see their age rating in Brazil go up.
I feel that AI can now continue chats while remembering long conversations, and the number of apps offering chats with virtual companions has been increasing.
In Japan, matching apps with real people have long been prohibited for use by those under 18 under the Act on Regulation of Soliciting Children by Using Internet Dating Sites. With this change, in the App Store age ratings too, matching apps and virtual companions involving sexual or romantic content fall under the same "Dating and Relationships," and both become 18+.
Xcode 27.2 released
Xcode 27.2 (27B52) was released on October 29, 2026, and from the next day, the 30th, apps built with the 27.2 SDK could be uploaded to the App Store and TestFlight. On the security side, two vulnerabilities in CoreDevice and Instruments were fixed.
Security updates (iOS 27.2.1, iOS 26.7.3, iOS 18.7.12)
On November 9, 2026, security updates for each OS were published.
| Update | Number of CVEs fixed |
|---|---|
| iOS & iPadOS 27.2.1 | 9 |
| iOS & iPadOS 26.7.3 | 8 |
| iOS & iPadOS 18.7.12 | 6 |
In addition, macOS Golden Gate 27.2.1, Tahoe 26.7.3, Sequoia 15.8.3, watchOS 27.2.1 and 26.6.1, and visionOS 27.2.1 were also released. tvOS remains at 27.2.
The fixes center on Bluetooth and AirPlay pairing, including an issue where an attacker within Bluetooth range could bypass the limit on pairing code attempts. In iOS 27.2.1 and 26.7.3, an issue where a remote attacker could join an iMessage group chat and receive messages was also fixed. There is no mention of it being exploited, but it would be good to update early, including test devices.
Developer resources for touch-enabled Macs released
On October 28, 2026, developer videos and articles for touch-enabled MacBook Pro were published. Group Labs are also scheduled for November 18 and 19 (Pacific Time). For game developers, there is a Technote (TN3216) summarizing how to support touch input in macOS games.
Subscription retention messaging
Starting November 4, 2026, it became possible to display retention messages conveying the value of a subscription in the cancellation flow of auto-renewable subscriptions. They can include text, images, and special offers, and you configure the target subscribers and the offer display interval in App Store Connect. With the Retention Messaging API, you can show different messages to each subscriber, but using the API requires an application. In App Store Connect API 4.6, released at the same time, endpoints for creating retention messages and offers were added. Also, in this version the INSTALLS report type of the Sales and Trends reports is deprecated, and from November 4, 2026, no new reports are generated and only past ones can be downloaded.
Commission reduction for the Taiwan storefront
Following discussions with Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission, from October 31, 2026, the standard commission rate for in-app purchases and paid apps on the Taiwan storefront of the iOS and iPadOS App Store was reduced from 30% to 26%. The reduction applies even if you do not agree to the new terms. Note that the Apple Developer Program License Agreement has also been revised, and you agree to it by signing in to your account.
App Store Connect updates
The App Store Connect release notes had the following other updates.
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| November 4 | App Store Connect app 3.3.1 was released, adding support for iPhone Duo |
| November 3 | App preview and screenshot specifications for iPad mini (A20 Pro) were added |
Hello Developer November 2026
Europe's first Apple Developer Center will open in Berlin on December 8. The submission period for Swift Student Challenge 2027 (February 8–28, Pacific Time) was also announced, and starting this time, submissions for work targeting any Apple platform are accepted. A new help article explaining how App Review works has also been published.
Summary
For this round of topics, it looks like I'll start with the age rating declarations. Apps that plan an update within the year will need to answer the two new items in that submission as well. Shared Location may apply if there is any feature that shares location information with other people, so the scope may be broader than expected. I want to check it beforehand so as not to panic right before submission.
For the build environment, pay attention to the announced end of .xip distribution. Scripts that extract Xcode in CI will, if left unaddressed, fail to extract in the version after 27.3. Replacing the extraction command with archiveutil should be enough, so it seems good to fix it when the official release of 27.3 comes out.
Since Siri AI submissions are accepted from spring, I don't think there's any need to rush. However, for apps that have already implemented App Intents, I think it's worth trying once on a 27.3 beta device to see how the existing intents appear from Siri AI, because of the known issue around unlocking mentioned earlier.
Information surrounding iOS app development changes quickly, so I plan to write another article when notable changes have accumulated.
Job opening: Classmethod is hiring iOS engineers
The Starbucks Digital Technology department is looking for engineers who can develop iOS apps. We look forward to applications from people who will work with us, sharing all sorts of things about new Xcode and iOS features in the misc-ios channel!
We are also hiring iOS/Android engineers in other areas. Let's talk about mobile app development together!