Does using Dropbox API require "com.apple.security.network.server" entitlement on Mac?

[zulfishah]

I have been using the Dropbox Objective-C SDK in my Mac app for a while. Today, Apple rejected an update stating that my app uses the "com.apple.security.network.server" entitlement. I removed this entitlement but in my testing it seems like the Dropbox APIs doesn't work without it.  Is that correct? Does anyone have experience with this App Review rejection? Is there a work-around? I didn't see this specified anywhere in the Dropbox SDK documentation.

The console errors I get when fetching a file from Dropbox look like this:

2018-11-20 16:19:16.722083-0800 Contacts Journal CRM[54262:1447435] dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect()-> No of tries: 3
2018-11-20 16:19:17.726372-0800 Contacts Journal CRM[54262:1447435] dnssd_clientstub ConnectToServer: connect() failed path:/var/run/mDNSResponder Socket:35 Err:-1 Errno:1 Operation not permitted
2018-11-20 16:19:17.726996-0800 Contacts Journal CRM[54262:1447435] [] nw_resolver_create_dns_service_locked [C4] DNSServiceCreateDelegateConnection failed: ServiceNotRunning(-65563)
2018-11-20 16:19:17.727454-0800 Contacts Journal CRM[54262:1447435] TIC TCP Conn Failed [4:0x60000374bf00]: 10:-72000 Err(-65563)
2018-11-20 16:19:17.727984-0800 Contacts Journal CRM[54262:1446720] Task <6FA90FC9-4C1B-4103-955C-68617195BE21>.<4> HTTP load failed (error code: -1003 [10:-72000])
2018-11-20 16:19:17.728097-0800 Contacts Journal CRM[54262:1446720] Task <6FA90FC9-4C1B-4103-955C-68617195BE21>.<4> finished with error - code: -1003

[DBX_Robert · Accepted solution]

According to the Apple documentation, this "com.apple.security.network.server" entitlement is required to make outbound network connections.  This is required in order for the Dropbox SDK to connect to Dropbox servers and would explain why your integration does not work with the entitlement removed.

[zulfishah]

Thanks. In turning off the "com.apple.security.network.server" entitlement, I also turned off the "com.apple.security.network.client" entitlement by mistake, which is what's required by the Dropbox SDK to work correctly. So removing the "server" entitlement got past App Review.