Unable to parse manifest.json. ionic v3 --livereload ios device - ios

Question

Running my ionic app on ios device with --livereload enabled. I get the following error when closing the app and restarting it:
Unable to parse manifest.json. Ensure the file is valid JSON ionic-pro.module.min.js
This is my current environment:
cli packages: (/usr/local/lib/node_modules)
#ionic/cli-utils : 1.19.1
ionic (Ionic CLI) : 3.19.1
global packages:
cordova (Cordova CLI) : 7.1.0
local packages:
#ionic/app-scripts : 3.1.8
Cordova Platforms : ios 4.5.4
Ionic Framework : ionic-angular 3.9.2
System:
ios-deploy : 1.9.2
ios-sim : 6.1.2
Node : v8.9.3
npm : 5.6.0
OS : macOS High Sierra
Xcode : Xcode 9.2 Build version 9C40b
Environment Variables:
ANDROID_HOME : not set
Misc:
backend : pro
Config.xml
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<widget id="com.iecis.sp.portal" version="0.5.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/widgets" xmlns:cdv="http://cordova.apache.org/ns/1.0">
<name>My App</name>
<description>An Ionic App</description>
<author email="ionic#ionic.io" href="https://ionicframework.com">Ionic Team</author>
<content original-src="index.html" src="http://192.168.2.94:8100" />
<access origin="*" />
<allow-intent href="http://*/*" />
<allow-intent href="https://*/*" />
<allow-intent href="tel:*" />
<allow-intent href="sms:*" />
<allow-intent href="mailto:*" />
<allow-intent href="geo:*" />
<hook src="hooks/after_build/010_copy_browser_to_docs.js" type="after_build" />
<allow-navigation href="http://*/*" />
<allow-navigation href="file://*/*" />
<allow-navigation href="*" />
<preference name="android-minSdkVersion" value="16" />
<preference name="SplashMaintainAspectRatio" value="true" />
<preference name="AutoHideSplashScreen" value="true" />
<preference name="FadeSplashScreen" value="false" />
<preference name="FadeSplashScreenDuration" value="500" />
<preference name="SplashShowOnlyFirstTime" value="false" />
<preference name="SplashScreenDelay" value="3000" />
<preference name="SplashScreen" value="screen" />
<platform name="android">
<icon density="ldpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-ldpi-icon.png" />
<icon density="mdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-mdpi-icon.png" />
<icon density="hdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-hdpi-icon.png" />
<icon density="xhdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-xhdpi-icon.png" />
<icon density="xxhdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-xxhdpi-icon.png" />
<icon density="xxxhdpi" src="resources/android/icon/drawable-xxxhdpi-icon.png" />
<splash density="land-ldpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-ldpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="land-mdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-mdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="land-hdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-hdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="land-xhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-xhdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="land-xxhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-xxhdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="land-xxxhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-land-xxxhdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="port-ldpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-ldpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="port-mdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-mdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="port-hdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-hdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="port-xhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-xhdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="port-xxhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-xxhdpi-screen.png" />
<splash density="port-xxxhdpi" src="resources/android/splash/drawable-port-xxxhdpi-screen.png" />
</platform>
<platform name="ios">
<icon height="57" src="resources/ios/icon/icon.png" width="57" />
<icon height="114" src="resources/ios/icon/icon#2x.png" width="114" />
<icon height="40" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-40.png" width="40" />
<icon height="80" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-40#2x.png" width="80" />
<icon height="120" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-40#3x.png" width="120" />
<icon height="50" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-50.png" width="50" />
<icon height="100" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-50#2x.png" width="100" />
<icon height="60" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-60.png" width="60" />
<icon height="120" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-60#2x.png" width="120" />
<icon height="180" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-60#3x.png" width="180" />
<icon height="72" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-72.png" width="72" />
<icon height="144" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-72#2x.png" width="144" />
<icon height="76" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-76.png" width="76" />
<icon height="152" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-76#2x.png" width="152" />
<icon height="167" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-83.5#2x.png" width="167" />
<icon height="29" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-small.png" width="29" />
<icon height="58" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-small#2x.png" width="58" />
<icon height="87" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-small#3x.png" width="87" />
<icon height="1024" src="resources/ios/icon/icon-1024.png" width="1024" />
<splash height="1136" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-568h#2x~iphone.png" width="640" />
<splash height="1334" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-667h.png" width="750" />
<splash height="2208" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-736h.png" width="1242" />
<splash height="1242" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Landscape-736h.png" width="2208" />
<splash height="1536" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Landscape#2x~ipad.png" width="2048" />
<splash height="2048" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Landscape#~ipadpro.png" width="2732" />
<splash height="768" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Landscape~ipad.png" width="1024" />
<splash height="2048" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Portrait#2x~ipad.png" width="1536" />
<splash height="2732" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Portrait#~ipadpro.png" width="2048" />
<splash height="1024" src="resources/ios/splash/Default-Portrait~ipad.png" width="768" />
<splash height="960" src="resources/ios/splash/Default#2x~iphone.png" width="640" />
<splash height="480" src="resources/ios/splash/Default~iphone.png" width="320" />
<splash height="2732" src="resources/ios/splash/Default#2x~universal~anyany.png" width="2732" />
</platform>
<allow-navigation href="http://192.168.2.94:8101" />
<allow-navigation href="http://192.168.2.94:8100" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-device" spec="^2.0.1" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-file" spec="^6.0.1" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-googlemaps" spec="^2.1.1">
<variable name="API_KEY_FOR_ANDROID" value="<android_api_key>" />
<variable name="API_KEY_FOR_IOS" value="<ios_api_key>" />
<variable name="LOCATION_WHEN_IN_USE_DESCRIPTION" value="Show your location on the map" />
<variable name="LOCATION_ALWAYS_USAGE_DESCRIPTION" value="Trace your location on the map" />
</plugin>
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-inappbrowser" spec="^2.0.1" />
<plugin name="com-sarriaroman-photoviewer" spec="^1.1.11" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-splashscreen" spec="^5.0.1" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-statusbar" spec="^2.4.1" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-whitelist" spec="^1.3.3" />
<plugin name="ionic-plugin-keyboard" spec="^2.2.1" />
<plugin name="onesignal-cordova-plugin" spec="^2.2.5" />
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-ionic" spec="^3.0.0">
<variable name="APP_ID" value="<app_id>" />
<variable name="CHANNEL_NAME" value="Master" />
<variable name="UPDATE_API" value="https://api.ionicjs.com" />
<variable name="UPDATE_METHOD" value="background" />
<variable name="MAX_STORE" value="2" />
</plugin>
<plugin name="cordova-plugin-background-mode" spec="^0.7.2" />
</widget>
Ionic Cordova Plugins:
com-sarriaroman-photoviewer 1.1.11 "PhotoViewer"
com.googlemaps.ios 2.5.0 "Google Maps SDK for iOS"
cordova-plugin-add-swift-support 1.7.1 "AddSwiftSupport"
cordova-plugin-background-mode 0.7.2 "BackgroundMode"
cordova-plugin-device 2.0.1 "Device"
cordova-plugin-file 6.0.1 "File"
cordova-plugin-googlemaps 2.1.1 "cordova-plugin-googlemaps"
cordova-plugin-inappbrowser 2.0.1 "InAppBrowser"
cordova-plugin-ionic 3.0.0 "IonicCordova"
cordova-plugin-splashscreen 5.0.1 "Splashscreen"
cordova-plugin-statusbar 2.4.1 "StatusBar"
cordova-plugin-whitelist 1.3.3 "Whitelist"
ionic-plugin-keyboard 2.2.1 "Keyboard"
onesignal-cordova-plugin 2.2.5 "OneSignal Push Notifications"
Two questions:
Why am I getting this error?
Where do I start debugging?
Any help/advice/nudge would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need more information.
UPDATE:
manifest.json
{
"name": "Ionic",
"short_name": "Ionic",
"start_url": "index.html",
"display": "standalone",
"icons": [{
"src": "assets/imgs/logo.png",
"sizes": "512x512",
"type": "image/png"
}],
"background_color": "#4e8ef7",
"theme_color": "#4e8ef7"
}

Answer 1

i have fixed the issue.
install the plugin:
ionic cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-ionic-webview --save
and update the config.xml:
<allow-navigation href="http://localhost:8080/*"/>
<feature name="CDVWKWebViewEngine">
<param name="ios-package" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
</feature>
<preference name="CordovaWebViewEngine" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
you can follow this guide from ionic docs:

Answer 2

What fixed this error for me was to remove and re-add the ios platform, with:
ionic cordova platform remove ios
ionic cordova platform add ios

Answer 3

Things to try
on your index.html
could also be that the file is malformed, save it again in UTF8 encoding, put it through JSON validator.
Did you actually replace the APP_ID with your app id.
in node_modules/#ionic/pro/dist/ionic-pro.module.js
change
var path = 'manifest.json';
to
var path = './manifest.json';