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I am currently testing the Apple News JSON format using XCode / News Preview / Simulator and randomly running into a new error that was not occurring prior to today.

I am attempting to load the article.json file into the News Preview app (it's been working up until today). The article.json file gets successfully loaded with no errors in the console but the Simulator is claiming that the channel is not available for me. Here is what the error message on the Simulator reads:

Channel Unavailable

This channel isn't currently available in your region.

The News Preview and Simulator were working just fine until today. I have tried re-installing XCode and News Preview (and Simulator because I re-installed XCode) but the problem persists. Other colleagues of mine are now experiencing the same problem.

I tried also clearing all the content in the Simulator and tried wiping the device clean and also tried going to the "Debug" menu in Simulator and setting the Location specifically there, as well, without any success.

Is there a way to fix this or is there a way to know if there was a recent developer push to the Simulator code base?

Just to add a bit more detail, I am attempting to load the official Apple News article preview files, not my own article.json files (I tried loading my own json files, as well).

Any help is appreciated.

Moose
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    Please file a radar with the output of `xcrun simctl diagnose` and attach the files you're trying to use if possible, then reply with the radar #. – russbishop Feb 19 '18 at 18:05
  • im getting the following error at this point when running that command: `xcrun: error: unable to find utility "simctl", not a developer tool or in PATH` – Moose Feb 21 '18 at 15:40
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    That is very strange because `simctl` has shipped with Xcode for several major releases. Is Xcode selected? Check `xcode-select -p`, is it the Xcode you expected? – russbishop Feb 21 '18 at 17:34
  • @russbishop, it seems that this might be relevant: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/254380/macos-sierra-invalid-active-developer-path – Moose Feb 26 '18 at 17:27

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Hey I also just had this issue and have been troubleshooting since yesterday. Not sure what is causing it, but it only happens for my on devices simulators from iPhone 7 and newer.

Try running the preview on iPhone 6 or an older-gen iPad, etc... that's working for me.

Stephen Kistner
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  • The funny thing is that even after I got it working on my 2011 Macbook Pro, I bought a brand new Macbook Pro today and when I try to load articles on any of the simulators, the simulator tells me that the "link or story is invalid". I even put in the Publisher ID. I think this is related to Xcode or some sort of License Agreement with Xcode command line tools or something to that effect. I'll update again once I figure out how to fix it. – Moose Mar 12 '18 at 20:00
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The solution on only one of my machines was to enter the Publisher ID into the News Preview application, which is the first thing that is asked when launching the News Preview app. After entering the Publisher ID, everything seemed to return to normal - for all of my colleagues and I.

See my comment above about my new macbook and the new problem it is having.

Moose
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