CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosciphone-privateapi
Eric McNeill
Eric McNeill

Reputation: 1814

Copying missing headers on iOS

OSX has functionality not available in the iOS SDK, and occasionally I'll find an answer like this one: no route.h on the iPhone SDK, that says "just copy the header file from the Simulator (or OSX) SDK and it'll work fine."

That seems suspect to me on multiple levels, including App Store approval, but then I read something like this from an Apple employee who says "if you're using sys/route.h declarations on iOS for an App Store app, please get in touch with me...", which sounds like tacit approval (or a ruse to catch misbehavior :)

Anyone know where the official line really is, and whether something like this is at all safe to do in production code? I'm particularly interested in lower-level BSD functions and whatnot for portability, as opposed to undocumented Objective-C methods.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 338

Answers (2)

Nate
Nate

Reputation: 31045

I would not regard that comment on the Apple forums as tacit approval. It sounds like they're just trying to decide if some additional BSD APIs should be added for use in iOS apps.

In general, if there isn't an iOS header available for a function, then it's considered a Private API (for example, something under https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/). The official policy on Private APIs is that they're not to be used in apps distributed through the App Store.

Now, you can certainly use them for personal/hobby apps, or apps that you deploy in-house (Enterprise Distribution).

If the APIs you're talking about are APIs that are publically documented for OS X, and you can get them to work for iOS by copying headers, then they're probably part of the Darwin source base. It's very likely that they'll continue to function in future versions of iOS, although that's not guaranteed. Of course, nothing is guaranteed (really), as public APIs get deprecated, too.

Then, there's the issue that not all review checks are automated (I don't work for Apple, but can deduce this from things I've seen get through review). It isn't that unusual for apps to be approved with Private API usage, although if they get popular, Apple frequently pulls those apps from the store within a couple weeks. The review process isn't perfect.

So, my answer is that if you're submitting to the app store, don't expect copying in headers to work.

P.S. If you can tell us specifically which BSD function you're referring to, we might be able to give you a better answer.

P.P.S. The answer you link to about Route.h is from Grant Paul, who writes quite a bit of non-App Store software.

Additional useful information on Private APIs and the App Store

Upvotes: 3

David Hoerl
David Hoerl

Reputation: 41642

Apple never knows what header files you use - the danger of course is the definition from the copied file is close to, but not exactly, what iOS uses. If this file is important, or a few select files, post a question on Apple's internal forums and you will surely get an answer to such a question. Failing that, burn a DTS incident (you get two a year, I almost never use mine).

Upvotes: 1

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