Live Activity fails to start with "unsupportedTarget" error on iOS 18 beta

Question

Created 1w

Replies 2

Boosts 0

Participants 3

Hi all, I’m developing a timer app with Live Activity support. On iOS 18.5 (iPhone 14 Pro Max), I cannot get Live Activity to start. When I call Activity.request(...) in my main app, it throws an unsupportedTarget error, and nothing appears on the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island.

What I’ve done:

Widget Extension Info.plist:

  <key>NSExtension</key>
  <dict>
      <key>NSExtensionPointIdentifier</key>
      <string>com.apple.widgetkit-extension</string>
  </dict>
  <key>NSSupportsLiveActivities</key>
  <true/>
  <key>NSSupportsLiveActivitiesFrequentUpdates</key>
  <true/>

Live Activity UI:

Implemented with ActivityConfiguration(for: xxx_Clock_liveactivitiesAttributes.self) and Dynamic Island support.

App Group:

Both main app and extension use the same App Group, and it’s enabled in Apple Developer Center and Xcode.

Tested on:

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 18.5 (official release) Xcode [your version] (I have not tested on iOS 17.x, so I am not sure if this issue is specific to iOS 18.5.)

What I’ve tried:

Cleaned build folder, deleted Derived Data, uninstalled and reinstalled app.
Rebooted device.
Double-checked all Info.plist and entitlements settings.
Tried creating a new Widget Extension from scratch.

Problem:

Activity.request always throws unsupportedTarget.
No Live Activity appears on Lock Screen or Dynamic Island.
No other errors or crashes.

Questions:

Has anyone encountered this issue on iOS 18.5?
Are there any new requirements or changes for Live Activity in iOS 18.5?
Any suggestions or workarounds to make Live Activity work?
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Boost

Answer 1

Engineer OP

Apple

1w

While this is another matter from the issue you are encountering with Live Activities, for your specific use case, I would recommend to watch the WWDC Session Wake up to the AlarmKit API.

Perhaps it will solve your problem in another way , so you don't have to struggle with your own Live Activities.

Argun Tekant /  DTS Engineer / Core Technologies

0

Answer 2

lionelng OP

3d

Hi, the live activity function should look something like:

func startLiveActivity() {
        let attributes = TimerAttributes(/*…*/)
        let contentState = TimerAttributes.ContentState(/*…*/)
       
        Task { @MainActor in
            do {
                let activity = try Activity<TimerAttributes>.request(
                    attributes: attributes,
                    content: ActivityContent(state: contentState, staleDate: staleDate),
                    pushType: nil
                )
                self.activity = activity
            } catch {
                print("Failed to start Live Activity: \(error)")
            }
        }
    }

My TimerAttributes - this is your attributes for Live Activity, defined as:

struct TimerAttributes: ActivityAttributes {
    public struct ContentState: Codable, Hashable {
        /* content state variables */
    }
    
    /* other variables here */
}

so when ever you call your start, you have to call your Live Activity start function. I place it in a Live Activity Manager.

0