Problems submitting an App Clip with size above 15mb (for digital invocations)

We're trying to submit an App Clip with around 17mb, aiming to fit in the new size limit for digital invocations.

The mention for the rules can be found in this article.. The relevant part is:

If you make your App Clip available on devices running iOS 16.4 and later, your App Clip can be up to 50 MB in size if it meets the following conditions:

  • The App Clip only supports digital invocations — for example, from your website or Spotlight search — and not from physical invocations but like App Clip Codes, QR codes, or NFC tags

  • People use your App Clip in situations where a reliable internet connection is likely, for example, at home

  • Your App Clip doesn’t support iOS versions prior to iOS 16.4

We have updated our App Clip target to have a minimum supported version to iOS 16.4 but when we push it to TestFlight we get an error like below:

We identified one or more issues with a recent delivery for your app, (...) Please correct the following issues, then upload again. ITMS-90865: Thinned app clip size is too large - The main bundle of the (...) App Clip is 17 MB, which exceeds the maximum allowable size of 15 MB after app thinning. Please ensure the main bundle of any App Clip variant is less than 15 MB. For details, view: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/app_clips/creating_an_app_clip_with_xcode.

We haven't found any way to specifically specify the App Clip to exclusively support digital invocations. The parent app still has a minimum supported version of iOS 15.0.

What are we missing?

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oliveira_gyg
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It appears there might be some confusion or potential issues related to App Clip size and support for digital invocations. To address these issues and ensure your App Clip meets Apple's requirements, consider the following steps:

  1. Check Deployment Target Settings:

    • Ensure that the App Clip target has the correct deployment target set to iOS 16.4 or later.
    • Make sure your App Clip target doesn't have any dependencies or frameworks that have a minimum deployment target below iOS 16.4.

  2. Reduce App Clip Size:

    • Examine the contents of your App Clip and try to reduce its size by removing any unnecessary resources, assets, or code.
    • Review asset compression settings for images and media to minimize their size.
    • Use asset catalogs to manage and optimize your image assets.
    • If your App Clip contains third-party libraries or frameworks, ensure that they are stripped of unnecessary architectures and resources.

  3. Verify Asset Slicing:

    • Confirm that asset slicing is enabled for your App Clip target. Asset slicing is a part of app thinning, and it should help reduce the size of the App Clip when it's downloaded on-demand.

  4. Digital Invocation Support:

    • Although you mentioned you haven't found a way to specify digital invocation support, you can emphasize in your App Clip's App Store Connect description and submission notes that it is designed for digital invocation only, as specified in Apple's guidelines. Make it clear that it won't be invoked via physical means like App Clip Codes, QR codes, or NFC tags.

  5. Double-Check App Clip Configuration in Xcode:

    • Ensure that you haven't accidentally included any unnecessary assets or resources in the App Clip target.
    • Check the build settings, especially any Copy Bundle Resources phases, to ensure that you are only including assets and resources that are essential for the App Clip's functionality.

  6. Review Apple's Documentation:

    • Go through Apple's official documentation on creating App Clips in Xcode to make sure you are following best practices and guidelines: Creating an App Clip with Xcode.

  7. Test on Device:

    • Before submitting to TestFlight, test your App Clip on a physical device to ensure that it functions as expected and that it's correctly sized.

  8. Contact Apple Support:

    • If you've followed all the steps above and are still encountering issues, consider reaching out to Apple Developer Support or using the Apple Developer Forums for further assistance. They may be able to provide specific guidance based on your app's details.

It's essential to ensure that your App Clip is well-optimized, follows Apple's guidelines, and is configured correctly in Xcode to meet the size requirements for digital invocations on iOS 16.4 and later.

Posted by
WeagleWeagle
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  • Make sure your App Clip target doesn't have any dependencies or frameworks that have a minimum deployment target below iOS 16.4.

    I guess this invalidates reusing dependencies with an app that has a lower minimum deployment target, right?

    —
    oliveira_gyg

  • We are running into the same issue when trying to submit an AppClip over the 15mb limit to test flight. Increasing the minimum version to iOS 17 works without issue, however setting the minimum version to 16.4, 16.5 or 16.6 all result in the error regarding the size being too large.

    Has anyone successfully submitted an AppClip over the 15mb limit, targeting iOS 16.4? Perhaps support for app clips over 15mb is not available on anything lower than iOS 17 still?

    —
    matt_pretia

  • @matt_pretia I got official confirmation from Apple that documentation is wrong. iOS 17 is the minimum version to access the 50mb limit size.

    —
    oliveira_gyg
Add a Comment

Replies

It appears there might be some confusion or potential issues related to App Clip size and support for digital invocations. To address these issues and ensure your App Clip meets Apple's requirements, consider the following steps:

  1. Check Deployment Target Settings:

    • Ensure that the App Clip target has the correct deployment target set to iOS 16.4 or later.
    • Make sure your App Clip target doesn't have any dependencies or frameworks that have a minimum deployment target below iOS 16.4.

  2. Reduce App Clip Size:

    • Examine the contents of your App Clip and try to reduce its size by removing any unnecessary resources, assets, or code.
    • Review asset compression settings for images and media to minimize their size.
    • Use asset catalogs to manage and optimize your image assets.
    • If your App Clip contains third-party libraries or frameworks, ensure that they are stripped of unnecessary architectures and resources.

  3. Verify Asset Slicing:

    • Confirm that asset slicing is enabled for your App Clip target. Asset slicing is a part of app thinning, and it should help reduce the size of the App Clip when it's downloaded on-demand.

  4. Digital Invocation Support:

    • Although you mentioned you haven't found a way to specify digital invocation support, you can emphasize in your App Clip's App Store Connect description and submission notes that it is designed for digital invocation only, as specified in Apple's guidelines. Make it clear that it won't be invoked via physical means like App Clip Codes, QR codes, or NFC tags.

  5. Double-Check App Clip Configuration in Xcode:

    • Ensure that you haven't accidentally included any unnecessary assets or resources in the App Clip target.
    • Check the build settings, especially any Copy Bundle Resources phases, to ensure that you are only including assets and resources that are essential for the App Clip's functionality.

  6. Review Apple's Documentation:

    • Go through Apple's official documentation on creating App Clips in Xcode to make sure you are following best practices and guidelines: Creating an App Clip with Xcode.

  7. Test on Device:

    • Before submitting to TestFlight, test your App Clip on a physical device to ensure that it functions as expected and that it's correctly sized.

  8. Contact Apple Support:

    • If you've followed all the steps above and are still encountering issues, consider reaching out to Apple Developer Support or using the Apple Developer Forums for further assistance. They may be able to provide specific guidance based on your app's details.

It's essential to ensure that your App Clip is well-optimized, follows Apple's guidelines, and is configured correctly in Xcode to meet the size requirements for digital invocations on iOS 16.4 and later.

Posted by
WeagleWeagle
Up vote reply of WeagleWeagle Down vote reply of WeagleWeagle
Post marked as solved
  • Make sure your App Clip target doesn't have any dependencies or frameworks that have a minimum deployment target below iOS 16.4.

    I guess this invalidates reusing dependencies with an app that has a lower minimum deployment target, right?

    —
    oliveira_gyg

  • We are running into the same issue when trying to submit an AppClip over the 15mb limit to test flight. Increasing the minimum version to iOS 17 works without issue, however setting the minimum version to 16.4, 16.5 or 16.6 all result in the error regarding the size being too large.

    Has anyone successfully submitted an AppClip over the 15mb limit, targeting iOS 16.4? Perhaps support for app clips over 15mb is not available on anything lower than iOS 17 still?

    —
    matt_pretia

  • @matt_pretia I got official confirmation from Apple that documentation is wrong. iOS 17 is the minimum version to access the 50mb limit size.

    —
    oliveira_gyg
Add a Comment

I got official feedback from Apple: documentation is wrong, the minimum deployment target needs to be iOS 17, not iOS 16.4.

Posted by
oliveira_gyg
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