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Articles index Jeff Johnson (My apps, PayPal.Me, Mastodon)

Apple randomly closes bug reports unless you "verify" the bug remains
unfixed

March 25 2026

Why do I file bug reports with Apple Feedback Assistant? I plead
insanity. Or perhaps addiction. I seesaw between phases of abstinence
and falling off the wagon. I've even tried organizing a public
boycott of Feedback Assistant, with a list of demands to improve the
experience for users, but the boycott never caught on with other
developers. Regardless, an incentive still exists to file bug
reports, because Apple actually fixes some of my bugs. My main
complaint about the bug reporting process is not the unfixed bugs but
rather the disrespect for bug reports and the people who file them.
Apple intentionally wastes our time with no regrets, as if our time
had no value, as if we had some kind of duty to serve Apple.

In March 2023, I filed FB12088655 "Privacy: Network filter extension
TCP connection and IP address leak." I mentioned this bug report at
the time in a blog post, which included the same steps to reproduce
and example Xcode project that I provided to Apple. In the three
years since I filed the bug report, I received no response whatsoever
from Apple... until a couple of weeks ago, when Apple asked me to
"verify" the issue with macOS 26.4 beta 4 and update my bug report.

I install the WWDC betas every year in June but don't run OS betas
after September when the major OS updates are released. I don't have
enough time or indeed enough Apple devices to be an unpaid tester
year round. Thus, verifying issues in betas is a hassle for me. I've
been burned by such requests in the past, asked by Apple to verify
issues in betas that were not fixed, so I asked Apple directly
whether beta 4 fixed the bug: they should already know, since they
have my steps to reproduce! However, their response was evasive,
never directly answering my question. Moreover, they threatened to
close my bug report and assume the bug is fixed if I didn't verify
within two weeks! Again, this is after Apple silently sat on my bug
report for three years.

Although I didn't install the beta myself, I spoke to the developers
of Little Snitch, who do run the macOS betas, and they kindly
informed me that in their testing, they could still reproduce my
issue with macOS 26.4 beta 4. It was no surprise, then, that when I
updated to macOS 26.4, released to the public yesterday by Apple, I
could still reproduce the bug with my instructions and example
project. It appears that Apple knowingly sent me on a wild goose
chase, demanding that I "verify" a bug they did nothing to fix,
perhaps praying that the bug had magically disappeared on its own,
with no effort from Apple.

By the way, a few weeks ago I published a blog post about another
bug, FB22057274 "Pinned tabs: slow-loading target="_blank" links
appear in the wrong tab," which is also 100% reproducible but
nonetheless was marked by Apple with the resolution "Investigation
complete - Unable to diagnose with current information." On March 9,
I updated the bug report, asking what additional information Apple
needs from me--they never asked for more information--but I've yet to
receive a response.

I can only assume that some bozos in Apple leadership incentivize
underlings to close bug reports, no matter whether the bugs are
fixed. Out of sight, out of mind. Apple's internal metrics probably
tell them that they have no software quality problem, because the
number of open bug reports is kept lower artificially.

Ironically, the iPadOS 26.4 betas introduced a Safari crashing bug
that I reported a month ago, but Apple failed to fix the bug before
the public release. What's the purpose of betas? As far as I can
tell, the purpose is just to annoy people who file bugs, without
doing anything useful.

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