Critical Messages Allow messages to

Question

Created May ’25

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I am creating an app that uses critical messages, I have been granted this entitlement and I am adding the certificate and in the info.plist. In the app I request authorization to send messages to specific numbers. When I try the app in production from Xcode this works fine and I can send the critical messages. However, when I am using the app in the test flight the authorization does not seem to be remembered on the background. Moreover, I go to security/privacy settings and I grant permission to the selected number (I see that it only shows one number even when I have to granted, its like it removes the previous one) however when I exit the setting page the permission is reset (and therefore denied), I think this is a bug. Can you look into that. Both this removing granted permission (HIGH PRIORITY, this message can only be sent in the background, therefore the user can not grant it and why the maximum telephone number to be granted to send messages is reset also to a single one LOWER PRIORITY).

Thanks

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Answer 1

Engineer OP

Apple

May ’25

I am afraid you might be confusing two different features.

The entitlement you have been granted would be for Critical Alert Notifications and you probably used Request a Critical Alert Notifications Entitlement form to get it granted.

But the feature you are talking about sounds like Critical Messaging as described at Sending SMS messages from an app which uses a self assigned entitlement.

So, first you need to make sure you are using the correct entitlement. And you need to make sure you are using the correct entitlement in both Debug and Release builds for your app.

As you say things work fine when built from Xcode but not in TestFlight indicates that there are issues in your Release builds - either in configuration or your actual code.

You can read Testing a release build to understand the pitfalls you might encounter between two kinds of builds that you may not be seeing in the Debug versions.

It is also important to make sure that you are not mixing and matching logic for these two different features you might be conflating.

Argun Tekant /  DTS Engineer / Core Technologies

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Answer 2

pverges OP

3w

No, I am not confusing anything. There is a bug in sending critical messages. I select a contact number to send critical messages, I request the permissions, I give them (with logs I can see that they are approved) and when the app is on the background and has to send the critical message then it requests again the permissions to send to that specific number. This should not happen, if I want something to happen in the background and the user not be involved with it that should sent the critical message directly since it was approved before, but we it tries to do it in the background the permissions changes to unknown. THIS IS A BUG

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