FinderSync extensions gone in macOS settings

On macOS Sequoia, the settings to enable FIFinderSync seem to have gone. I have already figured out that Extensions are no longer in the Privacy & Security section, but they are now at General › Login Items & Extensions. Here there is a Finder section, but that is just for the Finder-Extensions, not the Finder-Sync-Extensions. Those previously did not have their own section and were hidden away in the Added Extensions section that apparently no longer exists. I expect that it has been forgotten when migrating.

Where are the settings for this – have they been forgotten?

Answered by DTS Engineer in 812519022

All of this is to try and explain why the fact that the fix was not included in 15.1 or 15.2 (24C5057p) does not mean the bug isn't being addressed.

Following up on this, the FinderSync UI should be visible in current (released today) beta, macOS 15.2 beta 2 (24C5073e). Please take a look and, if there are any issue, please file a bug and post the bug number here.

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Kevin Elliott
DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware

SO, there have been a lot of different issued raised and I've got limit time to reply on this, so I'm going to focus on the details that I think can be most useful.

macOS 15.1 was officially released one or two days ago

As you might imagine, the process of managing releases is extremely complicated, but the basic "pattern" is that which bug fixes will be included in a given release heavily depends on the particular focus of that release, how much time is left in it's test cycle, and how risky the fix is considered. Those factors mean that it's common that a fix cannot be included in a given release because any new fix is considered to risk late in the beat cycle.

Note that a similar pattern also happens when a build is early in the seed/release process so, for example, I would expect additional bug fixed to be included in macOS 15.2 (24C5057p). Related to that point, significant testing occurs between the time a given build is created and when it's released as a seed build. It's not unusual for a fix that will be included in the "next" seed release to have already been integrated well before the "current" seed is actually released.

All of this is to try and explain why the fact that the fix was not included in 15.1 or 15.2 (24C5057p) does not mean the bug isn't being addressed.

Yeah I don't understand why they have to speak to us in riddles.

In terms of the App Review rejection, there are a few things I want to clarify:

So now, according to the Apple Store Connect reviewer, the Finder Sync extensions settings missing from System Settings in Sequoia is a bug in MY application!

In general, App Review's testing is user oriented. That is, they're using your app as a typical user would and reporting any problem they find. There role isn't really to determine why a particular failure occurred, it's to report any problem they find.

@Kevin, I understand that your "role is primarily about communicating with us, not bring information "back" to Apple. While you can and do work very closely with your engineering teams, that's not your primary role

While I hope you don't find yourself dealing with this sort of situation again, for future reference, the best thing you can do for an App Review issue like is appeal that rejection and, as part of that rejection, provide as much information as possible back to the reviewer, particularly conversation like this thread and the names of any Apple employees who might have been involved (in this case, "me"). Apple takes privacy very seriously and that extends to information about developers, the bugs they file, and the apps they work on. It's much easier for App Review to contact me about a review issue with a particular app than it is for me to try and track down an app that's been rejected based on bug report information. I was able eventually able to track down your submission and made sure the relevant teams understand exactly what's going on.

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Kevin Elliott
DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware

@DTS Engineer Kevin, thanks a lot for eventually tracking down the submission, your intervention apparently helped to get the application approved only a few hours after I got notified about this message. I was absent during the weekend and didn't get to thank you earlier.

I didn't really wanted to bother you with that, I assume you're hands are full even without me whining.I was only wondering if there is/was any way to contact the review team, while the application status is "In Review".

Once again, a huge thanks for getting the approval so quickly!!!

All of this is to try and explain why the fact that the fix was not included in 15.1 or 15.2 (24C5057p) does not mean the bug isn't being addressed.

Following up on this, the FinderSync UI should be visible in current (released today) beta, macOS 15.2 beta 2 (24C5073e). Please take a look and, if there are any issue, please file a bug and post the bug number here.

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Kevin Elliott
DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware

Thanks a lot Kevin and all the team. Can confirm the option is there in the beta and works properly and even the FIFinderSyncController.showExtensionManagementInterface() brings the expected panel again.

@DTS Engineer Kevin, I've just installed 24C5073e and I can confirm both Finder Sync and File Provider extensions show in now joined subsection titled "File Providers". I like the new title, the previous one (in old System Preferences application) was "Finder Extensions", which was a bit confusing, since there was (and still is) a separate "Finder" subsection.

[FIFinderSyncController showExtensionManagementInterface] also works, showing the correct sheet in the System Settings window.

Thanks a lot for pushing this and for right satisfactory resolution! 👍🏻

I can confirm both Finder Sync and File Provider extensions show in now joined subsection titled "File Providers".

Good. I couldn't easily test this yesterday so my post was based on build numbers, not direct testing. That always makes me a little bit nervous...

Thanks a lot for pushing this and for right satisfactory resolution!

You're very welcome but most of the credit should go to the engineering team. They've always treated it as a serious issue that needed to be fixed as quickly as possible. They immediately scheduled it to be included in 15.2 and only missed being included in beta 1 because of the exact build we chose to release.

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Kevin Elliott
DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware

FinderSync extensions gone in macOS settings
 
 
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