Enable local network access during iOS UI test in iOS14

I have also tried adding these entries to the Info.plist of my app target to see if that makes a difference, but it doesn't.

Does anyone know how to enable local network access during an iOS UI test in iOS14?

Can you tell me what code you wrote in your test that triggered the prompt? And just to
be sure: the prompt will be triggered by the test app, not the actual app under test, right?

• Sending the URLSession.dataTask() from the app brings the local network privacy prompt. If approved, the request is send and the approval is cached so it doesn't appear next time. All works fine - as expected.

• Sending the URLSession.dataTask() from the UITest runner's XCTestCase does not bring the local network privacy prompt. The request never reaches the local server and URLSession.dataTask() results with the Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1009 "The internet connection appears to be offline." as reported by Ejnar.

• Permission prompt is displayed;

• After allowing local network access, requests pass successfully;

• Works on simulator;

• Works on real device;

• Permission prompt is displayed;

• After allowing local network access, requests pass successfully;

• Works on simulator;

• Works on real device;

• Permission prompt is not displayed;

• Even after allowing local network access (manually from Settings), requests fail;

• Works on simulator;

• Fails on real device;

I've tested now with Xcode 12.5 beta 3 and it seems that the issue has been fixed! 🥳

Great news. I did also try invoking a datagram message over the local network from the context of an XCTestCase today in Xcode 13 Beta on iOS 14.5 and I did receive the prompt here as well and did see the message received on the listening side.

Matt Eaton
DTS Engineering, CoreOS
meaton3@apple.com

Today I did some testing on iOS 14.8 and iOS 15.2 trying to enable the Local Network Privacy Prompt in my UI XCTestCase and here is what I found:

I setup a test case in the main app like so:

class ViewController: UIViewController {
    
    @IBOutlet weak var testButton: UIButton!
    
    var networkSessionManager: NetworkSessionManager?

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        networkSessionManager = NetworkSessionManager()
        networkSessionManager?.delegate = self
        testButton.accessibilityIdentifier = "myButton"
    }

    @IBAction func testRequest() {
        instruction.text = "Sending Network Request"
        // Hits redirect
        networkSessionManager?.dataTask(with: "http://192.168.***.***:8000")
    }
}

protocol NetworkManagerDelegate: AnyObject {
    func networkSessionManager(networkSession: NetworkSessionManager, response: String, error: Error?)
    
}


class NetworkSessionManager: NSObject {
    
    private var urlSession: URLSession?
    private var config: URLSessionConfiguration = URLSessionConfiguration.default
    weak var delegate: NetworkManagerDelegate?
    
    override init() {
        super.init()
        
        config.waitsForConnectivity = true
        urlSession = URLSession(configuration: config, delegate: self, delegateQueue: .main)
    }
    
    func dataTask(with url: String) {
        guard let url = URL(string: url),
            let unwrappedURLSession = urlSession else { return }
        
        var urlRequest = URLRequest(url: url)
        urlRequest.httpMethod = "GET"
        let task = unwrappedURLSession.dataTask(with: urlRequest, completionHandler: { (data, response, error) in
            
            ...
        })
        task.resume()
    }
    
}

extension NetworkSessionManager: URLSessionDelegate {
    func urlSession(_ session: URLSession, taskIsWaitingForConnectivity task: URLSessionTask) {
        ...
    }
}

Then in the XCTestCase I set it up like so:

import XCTest
@testable import URLSessionExample

class URLSessionExampleUITests: XCTestCase {

    var networkSessionManager: NetworkSessionManager?
    let expectation = XCTestExpectation(description: "Download from local network home page")
    
    override func setUpWithError() throws {

        // In UI tests it is usually best to stop immediately when a failure occurs.
        continueAfterFailure = false

        networkSessionManager = NetworkSessionManager()
        networkSessionManager?.delegate = self
    }

    override func tearDownWithError() throws {
        // Put teardown code here. This method is called after the invocation of each test method in the class.
    }

    func testExample() throws {
        // UI tests must launch the application that they test.
        let app = XCUIApplication()
        app.launch()

        let button = app.buttons["myButton"]
        button.tap()
        
        wait(for: [expectation], timeout: 10.0)
    }

    func testLaunchPerformance() throws {
        if #available(macOS 10.15, iOS 13.0, tvOS 13.0, *) {
            // This measures how long it takes to launch your application.
            measure(metrics: [XCTApplicationLaunchMetric()]) {
                XCUIApplication().launch()
            }
        }
    }
}

extension URLSessionExampleUITests: NetworkManagerDelegate {

    func networkSessionManager(networkSession: NetworkSessionManager, response: String, error: Error?) {
        XCTAssertNotNil(response, "No data was downloaded.")  
        // Fulfill the expectation to indicate that the background task has finished successfully.
        expectation.fulfill()
    }

}

Now, on Xcode 12.5 with iOS 14.8 I was able to run testExample() and have the Local Network Privacy Prompt show up. On Xcode 13.1 with iOS 15.2 I did not see the Local Network Privacy Prompt. I am still doing some digging to see what is the correct path here, but I've had a few folks ask about the test I ran from this example, so I wanted to post it here.

Matt Eaton
DTS Engineering, CoreOS
meaton3@apple.com

The first time I read this I thought the problem was solved but after rereading and it seems the problem isn't fixed. Is that correct, I am trying to do a similar task right now and haven't had any luck. https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/725734

The solution I've found in the Xcode 15.3 working with iOS 17.4.1 made me SICK! I couldn't find any doc about it, but I'm sure it works. You have to bring your xctrunner app to front, this way OS asks for local network permission in UI test target.

Try this in your UI test target without need to specify NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription and bonjour services, etc.

func testXCTRunnerToAskForLocalNetworkPermission() {
        // without bringing xctrunner to front, permission alert won't be shown.
        let app = XCUIApplication(bundleIdentifier: "{YOUR_APP_BUNDLE_ID}UITests.xctrunner")
        app.activate()

        connectToLocalNetwork()

        waitFor(aSecond: 1)

        let springBoard = XCUIApplication(bundleIdentifier: "com.apple.springboard")
        // Allows local network permission.
        let button = springBoard.alerts.firstMatch.buttons["Allow"]
        if button.exists {
            button.tap()
            // local network is allowed in current running ui test.
            connectToLocalNetwork() // try to connect, as it's allowed now.
        }

        // Keep XCUITest running forever, though sometimes it stops automatically
        wait(for: [expectation(description: "keep running")], timeout: .infinity)
    }

waiter helper function:

    func waitFor(aSecond seconds: TimeInterval) {
        let expectation = expectation(description: "waiting for \(seconds)")
        let timer = Timer(timeInterval: seconds, repeats: false) { _ in
            expectation.fulfill()
        }
        wait(for: [expectation], timeout: seconds)
    }

local network function:

    func connectToLocalNetwork() {
        URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: URLRequest(url: URL(string: "http://192.168.2.101:5055")!)) { data, response, error in
            if let data {
                print("Data: \(String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) ?? "")")
            }
        }.resume()
    }

Up-thread, ncreated posted a bug number, FB8983382. I just checked on the status of that bug and it was reported as fixed years ago. However, I suspect it was fixed in general but not fixed for the specific case of local network privacy. So…

If you’re having problems with local network privacy in your test suite with modern versions of Xcode (so, Xcode 15 or later, iOS 17 or later), please do file a bug about that. Make sure you reference FB8983382 and explain that whatever fix was applied there isn’t solving your problem.

Please post your bug number, just for the record.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

This works in Xcode 16 now.