Tag: Validation

Apple publishes fourth round of beta versions for iOS/iPadOS 16.6, macOS 13.5 Ventura, watchOS 9.6 and tvOS 16.6.

No corresponding Xcode beta is published, and no details on contents of these beta versions too.

It is expected that iOS 16.6 will bring key validation for iMessage to highlight new devices added to account.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

• iOS & iPadOS 16.6 Beta 4 Release Notes
• macOS Ventura 13.5 Beta 4 Release Notes
• watchOS 9.6 Beta 4 Release Notes
• tvOS 16.6 Beta 4 Release Notes

Apple notifies developers on upcoming changes in purchase receipt signing certificate. Developers who use custom receipt validation should update their software accordingly.

If your app validates App Store receipts on device, make sure your app will support the SHA-256 version of this certificate. New apps and app updates that don’t support the SHA-256 version of this certificate will no longer be accepted by the App Store starting August 14, 2023.

Apple Developer

Apple also notifies developers that they should migrate to Xcode 14 or notarytool utility by November 1, 2023. Submissions from Xcode 13 and altool utilities will be no longer accepted then.

Important dates:

• June 20, 2023. Receipts in the sandbox environment will be signed with the SHA‑256 version of this certificate for devices running a minimum of iOS 16.6, iPadOS 16.6, tvOS 16.6, watchOS 9.6, or macOS Ventura 13.5.
• August 14, 2023. Receipts in new apps and app updates submitted to the App Store, as well as all apps in sandbox, will be signed with the SHA‑256 intermediate certificate.
• November 1, 2023. Notarization requests will be only accepted by Xcode 14 and newer or notarytool.

Apple Developer:

• Upcoming changes to the App Store receipt signing intermediate certificate
• Handling App Store receipt signing certificate change
• Apple notary service update

While RevenueCat provides SDK for using its service, some of its components could be used by apps which do not use the service.

Receipt validation API will allow to parse receipt file and gather all necessary information to get list of approved purchases and also verify overall validity of the receipt.

GitHub: purchases-ios

Reference: Introducing ReceiptParser for Apple Platforms

Recent certificate update still caused recent issues with receipt validation for developers. Old certificate expired February 7, 2023. And some apps still got receipts signed by expired certificate.

This caused in-app purchase validation issues. Issue is now resolved.

Reference: New WWDR Intermediate Certificate and Receipt Verification

It's almost 2023. This good reads list come a little early, so you'll have time to celebrate New Year :)

• ChatGPT makes another appearance in our good reads – Static vs Dynamic Frameworks on iOS — a discussion with ChatGPT by Trevor Elkins and Max Topolsky;
  
  
• Improving your publication automation scripts – Authorizing App Store Connect API requests by Natascha Fadeeva;
  
  
• Majid Jabrayilov shares his review of 2022 – iOS development trends in review;
  
  
• Enum explained in-depth with code examples in Swift by Antoine van der Lee covers multiple enum use cases in Swift;
  
  
• RevenueCat shares upcoming updates for App Store receipt validation – App Store receipt signing certificate changes in 2023;
  
  
• Another great hint on accessibility in SwiftUI by Natalia Panferova – Image accessibility labels from Localizable.strings files;
  
  
• And an interesting article on macOS Gatekeeper – Gatekeeper’s Achilles heel: Unearthing a macOS vulnerability by Jonathan Bar Or.

We'd like to finish this issue with our Holiday Special podcast episode.

Happy New Year!

Apple updates WWDR signing certificate for App Store receipt validation on January 18, 2023. Existing certificate will expire on February 7, 2023.

If apps or backend uses specific validation techniques that use specific certificates, this code needs to be updated.

Apple: Apple PKI

Apple Developer: Upcoming changes to the App Store receipt signing certificate