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collections/_posts/2024/2024-02-12-keyboards-disappear-in-ios-17.md

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+---
+title:  Custom Keyboard Extensions Can Disappear in iOS 17
+date:   2024-02-12 08:00:00 +0100
+tags:   general bug-ios
+
+image:  /assets/headers/icon.png
+
+feedback: FB13611131
+---
+
+People have started reporting that their custom keyboard extensions have disappeared in iOS 17. This article discusses some concerning findings after investigating this problem.
+
+![KeyboardKit logo]({{page.image}})
+
+Some KeyboardKit users have also reported this problem. When it happens, the keyboard no longer shows up in System Settings or the keyboard switcher.
+
+While investigating the problem, some devices that previously have enabled the keyboard still show it as enabled in the main app, while it doesn't show up anywhere else.
+
+
+## Bundle ID
+
+The problem only seems to affect a small number of apps, and all we have investigated so far have had a bundle identifier that didn't start with `com.`
+
+To investigate this further, we created a suite of test apps where the only difference was the bundle identifier, then added a custom keyboard extension to each app.
+
+After some extensive testing in multiple test apps, this was the result:
+
+- Bundle ID starts with `com.` - the keyboard shows up.
+- Bundle ID starts with `eu.` - the keyboard shows up.
+- Bundle ID starts with `se.` - the keyboard doesn't show up.
+- Bundle ID starts with `de.` - the keyboard shows up.
+- Bundle ID starts with `da.` - the keyboard shows up.
+- Bundle ID starts with `dk.` - the keyboard shows up.
+
+The `com.` prefix is by far the most common bundle ID prefix, while `eu.` is quite common within the European Union. The problem had been much more severe if it affected these IDs.
+
+The `se.` prefix is however common in Swedish apps, where `se` is the Swedish top domain. As such, some Swedish companies use this prefix in their bundle ID.
+
+We could reproduce the problem by creating many test apps with the `se.` bundle ID prefix, and see that the keyboard didn't show up for any of these apps. 
+
+If we adjusted the bundle ID of the app and keyboard to start with `com.` instead of `se.`, it worked.
+
+
+## Locale?
+
+Since `se` is both the Swedish top domain, as well as the Swedish locale identifier's region code, we first suspected that the problem could be locale-related.
+
+We therefore tried changing the prefix from `se` to `de` (German) as well as `da` and `dk` (Denmark), but the keyboard worked perfectly for all these cases.
+
+
+## Conclusion
+
+The problem seems to be related to the bundle ID, but the only case we have found so far is if the bundle ID starts with `se.`.
+
+We have reported this problem to the Feedback Assistant. Please let us know if you also experience this problem, so that we can provide Apple with more information.
+
+Since this is a critical bug for any apps it affects, we hope to find a way to solve or work around this problem. When we do, we'll share it here.
+
+If you want to refer to the feedback in the Apple Feedback Assistant, please use the ID `{{page.feedback}}`.