What was new in networking

At WWDC 2024, Apple introduced several new features and updates related to networking:

1. Private Wi-Fi Controls: Apple has introduced private Wi-Fi controls for MAC address rotation on iOS and macOS. This feature helps protect user privacy by rotating the MAC address, which is a unique identifier for hardware used to route network packets. This prevents the MAC address from being used to track users across different networks (What’s new in privacy).

2. Local Network Access Control: macOS Sequoia now includes controls over local network access. When an app attempts to access data from the local network, a prompt is shown to the user. Developers must ensure that their apps request access in a contextual moment and provide a clear, descriptive usage string in their info plist. This helps build trust by explaining how the app will use the data collected from the local network (What’s new in privacy).

3. Network Storage Management: A new disk management configuration allows IT admins to manage external and network storage. They can choose whether to allow or disallow external or network storage altogether or limit mounting to read-only volumes (What’s new in device management).

4. Network Slicing and Per-App VPN: iOS and iPadOS 18 support multiple private cellular network payloads, enabling configuration for up to five private 5G or LTE networks. If network slicing and per-app VPN are both configured for an app, all traffic from the managed app will be routed to the 5G network slice while still providing the benefits of using a VPN (What’s new in device management).

Relevant Sessions

• What’s new in privacy
• What’s new in device management

These updates enhance user privacy and provide more control over network access and storage management.