Dual booting (triple in my case - 14/15/26) is not a viable option for Xcode development and testing of an app because different versions of macOS support different versions of Xcode. While Xcode 26.0.1 currently runs on macOS 26 and macOS 15.6, it certainly can't be run on macOS 14 and I can easily see a time in the near future where some version of Xcode 26.x requires macOS 26. Dual/triple booting does sound like a way to at least be able to run Test Flight so I can at least do my own verification of functionality before pushing the test build to beta testers. In my specific case, my app is not a game. It's a productivity app. My primary testing concern is ensuring the UI works correctly under different versions of macOS (and iOS for that matter). Being able to do this with VMs would make things SO much easier. One copy of Xcode on the host. One copy of the source code on the host. One build on the host. Then run that one binary (stored on the host) in the different VMs. It would be just like testing iOS apps in different iOS simulators. That's all I want from macOS VMs. Just enough to verify the UI looks and works correctly, just like I do with the iOS version. When I'm satisfied, then I send it off to the beta testers. If macOS 26/Xcode 26 could solve the provisioning issue such that a built app could be run in VMs running macOS 14 and 15 then so many developers would be far more productive. I understand that testing in a VM has limits, just as there are limits in testing an iOS app in iOS simulators. But so much can be tested within those limits. We just need to have the ability do so.

Now that macOS 26 GM is out, and even 26.1 beta is out, where does this all stand? More specifically, does anyone know if using macOS 26 as the host, can we create a macOS 15 VM guest all while allowing us to build and test our apps on both macOS 26 and 15? I still have macOS 15.6 on my only Mac. My app supports macOS 14-26 (well, will support macOS 26 when I can actually test with it). But I have no way to test it in any of the VMs since my app needs a working provisioning profile. Even in a macOS 15 guest on my macOS 15 host, I can't even log into TestFlight to test my app. Will updating to a macOS 26 host allow the macOS 15 guest to at least use TestFlight to download the app for testing? In other words, is there any viable way for a solo developer with one Mac to develop and test a macOS app that runs on more than one version of macOS?

Thanks. I got so focused on getting this added to the context menu I forgot about the “Paste and Match Style” item appearing in the Edit menu bar. Of course that only helps with the iPadOS 26 and Mac Catalyst versions of the app. For iPhones and for iPads on iPadOS before 26, my only option is to use the context menu. I guess I’ll stick with my buildMenuWithBuilder: approach.

@philmctim FYI - Xcode 26.0 runs on macOS 15.6. No need to install macOS 26 just to use Xcode 26. At least for now. Though if you want to use the AI stuff in Xcode 26 you apparently do need macOS 26.

See the following post for the answer: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/788843 Be sure to read through to the last answer.

This issue still exists with the release version of iPadOS 26.0 (23A341). FB20199167 FB19771313

This is still an issue with iOS 26. Tested on an iPad running iPadOS 26.0 (23A341). FB20199308 FB17888632

I don’t have access to another computer. Xcode downloads and installs the aar file. There must be a way to trick Xcode into thinking it downloaded the file itself and then completing the installation. I would think it’s just a matter of putting the aar file in the right directory.

Thank you. Setting preferredPlacement to fixed was the missing piece. I already had allowsHiding set to false and I’m not using any tab groups. The Edit button no longer appears in the sidebar. But I have discovered an iOS 26 (and iOS 18) bug in the process. I need to file a bug report but here’s the issue. I present the tab bar controller as a modal view controller on an iPad. If I resize the app window from full screen to a size that is horizontally compact while the tab bar controller is in view, the tab bar controller of course changes from showing a sidebar to showing an old style tab bar on the bottom with a More tab. Selecting the More tab now shows an Edit button. But only in this case. If the tab bar controller is presented after the app window is made horizontally compact, then the More tab does not show the Edit button.

Xcode 26 adds a new option (I think it’s new, I don’t have Xcode 16 anymore to check) that lets you indicate that a tab is pinned automatically which is exactly what the OP is looking for. But sadly Xcode 26 has a rotten regression that was fixed in an early beta and broken again in a later beta - as you open more tabs, the tab widths (all of them) get smaller and smaller so you can’t tell what file is in each. Horrible change. I do recall that in Xcode 16, a tab automatically becomes pinned if the file is edited, or at least that was an option I had been using. That could explain the behavior the OP is seeing. Tabs get replaced if the tab had an unedited file in it. A new tab would be opened if the current tab had an edited file in it.

I didn’t notice when it was added but iOS 26 RC now has UIView cornerConfiguration and related properties.

Sadly none of these issues are resolved in iPadOS 26 RC. I’m really disappointed in how Apple has ignored such glaring issues for 3 months despite bug reports being filed with trivial demonstration apps provided. I’m going to be embarrassed to release my app update with iOS 26 support (these aren’t the only long unfixed iOS 26 bugs affecting my app). Please Apple, take more pride than this.

The “tapping the x in the search field cancels the search” issue has been in iPadOS 26 since beta 1. iPadOS 26 now emulates how Mac Catalyst apps have behaved for years. The issue doesn’t apply to iOS 26 since that shows a separate Cancel button. You can use FB17888632 as a demonstration of the issue. That is another search related issue I filed against iOS 26 beta 1 that still isn’t fixed in iPadOS 26 beta 9. It’s impacting my app and it also easily demonstrates the issue with the search getting cancelled when tapping the x icon to clear the search.

You may want to reconsider removing the standard iOS settings menu. It gives the user easy access to your app’s privacy and notification settings along with a few others. In my own app I have my own in-app settings screens. I simply added another menu item to the app menu so the user can either choose to go to the app’s page in the iOS Settings app or open my own in-app settings screen.

Submit version 1.15.2 to the App Store using the code for version 1.15 (or fix the bug in 1.15.1). Treat it like any other app update. There‘s no way to simply remove 1.15.1 from the App Store. If it’s a critical issue, request an expedited review when you submit the update. If granted then the app will be reviewed more quickly.