Local Network privacy blocking my app when it shouldn't

I have read the other most relevant posts on this topic here and here. However, the situations described in these posts are different. My app is just a regular Mach-O bundle with a single executable that is launched by the user from the Finder. I've read the Local Network Privacy FAQ and TN3179 carefully and these also doesn't cover the problem described below, which is being reported to me by several of my users.

The problem is that some days after giving Local Network permission to my app, without having changed anything, local network connections will spontaneously start failing with EHOSTUNREACH, indicating that it is being blocked by macOS. This typically happens after a Mac reboot. Toggling off/on the Local Network permission for my app will get it working again, until the next time it fails.

My users who are reporting this have stated that they are running macOS Sonoma 15.2, with only a single version/copy of my app installed.

I've tried, and failed, to reproduce this in a VM with a clean 15.2 system, but maybe this is due to the relatively short duration of my testing (days rather than weeks).

I know there isn't much to go on here, and it may be tempting to put this down to misreporting. After all, the vast majority of my users aren't reporting this, and I can't reproduce it. But, I have received enough similar reports at this point that it's starting to feel like a macOS bug.

Is anyone else seeing this? If there is anything that anyone can suggest - either modifications in my app, or anything that my users can do on their side - this would be very much appreciated!

Many thanks, Ben

I’ve certainly seen lots of reports of weird local network privacy issues. This is especially true on the Mac, which presents many more complex scenarios than iOS and has the disadvantage of being so new. However, the symptoms you’ve described don’t match any of the things that I’m tracking.

If you’re working with a user who’s seeing this regularly, my advice is that you encourage them to grab a sysdiagnose log immediately after seeing the problem. They can then either file a bug about this themselves, or pass the log to you so that you can file a bug.

Share and Enjoy

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

Local Network privacy blocking my app when it shouldn't
 
 
Q