Is there still a Mac OS API to request a font be auto-activated?

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Created Oct ’21

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I'm investigating some font/typography issues in a creative application. I am hoping for some information from Apple developers who know how font activation works in Core Text, and how/whether auto-activation is still supported.

I'm running on Big Sur in an Obj-C Cocoa app. In applicationDidFinishLaunching the app calls

CTFontManagerSetAutoActivationSetting(NULL, kCTFontManagerAutoActivationEnabled);

After this, what is the correct API to request auto-activation of a font that may not be active but could be activated, e.g. by a third-party font manager?

I have tried using CTFontCreateWithNameAndOptions. For options, I see there is an CTFontOption value kCTFontOptionsPreventAutoActivation - I assume that as long as I don't set this option, the call will attempt auto-activation.

However, I don't see any auto-activation resulting, either from the third-party font manager or the OS. Instead CTFontCreateWithNameAndOptions always returns a substitute font (Helvetica).

The font I am attempting to auto-activate is an OTF. It is stored in a third-party font manager, and I also have copies of it on the desktop. I have also tried having it present / disabled in FontBook, which also does not auto-activate it in this case. I've also cleaned font caches after making changes.

How is the kCTFontManagerAutoActivationEnabled supposed to work in Big Sur? Is there a different Core Text call used to auto-activate a font, or is this behavior no longer supported?

Thanks!

Answered by ccorbell in 690760022

I think I answered my question by searching for "macos sandbox entitlement font auto-activation" online... I came across a troubleshooting article on limitations of Suitcase auto-activation, which won't work for Sandboxed apps (including Pages etc.), which unfortunately this forum won't let me post a link to for some reason. (Can't post the search link either, gah).

So it would seem that auto-activation for sandboxed apps is unsupported. I will file a feedback request to ask for an entitlement for this feature, it's an important use case for designers that have large collections of fonts and Sandboxed apps shouldn't be denied the ability to leverage it. A global font auto-activation entitlement would make sense for apps that use typography in significant ways.

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Answer 1

ccorbell OP

Oct ’21

Oh I also tried CTFontManagerSetAutoActivationSetting(kCTFontManagerBundleIdentifier, kCTFontManagerAutoActivationEnabled); which is supposed to set "global auto-activation", but no difference in behavior.

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Answer 2

ccorbell OP

Oct ’21

Also a follow-up: could there be an entitlement needed for auto-activation to work from a Sandboxed app?

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Answer 3

ccorbell OP

Oct ’21

Accepted Answer

I think I answered my question by searching for "macos sandbox entitlement font auto-activation" online... I came across a troubleshooting article on limitations of Suitcase auto-activation, which won't work for Sandboxed apps (including Pages etc.), which unfortunately this forum won't let me post a link to for some reason. (Can't post the search link either, gah).

So it would seem that auto-activation for sandboxed apps is unsupported. I will file a feedback request to ask for an entitlement for this feature, it's an important use case for designers that have large collections of fonts and Sandboxed apps shouldn't be denied the ability to leverage it. A global font auto-activation entitlement would make sense for apps that use typography in significant ways.

2