Dependencies from subproject cause dyld: Library not loaded error - ios

Question

Specs:
Xcode 8.2,
CocoaPods 1.1.1,
OSX 10.12.2
I split my project in 2 projects. One contains my providers (does api calls, database access, etc), the other the UI.
The UI project depends on the providers project. My configuration is working with the simulator but not with the device.
On device, I get:
dyld: Library not loaded: #rpath/Alamofire.framework/Alamofire
Referenced from:
/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/EAD65532-DD02-4DA6-9877-7937F9D69F26/xxxxx.app/Frameworks/Providers.framework/Providers
Reason: image not found
This is my podfile:
use_frameworks!
workspace 'xxxxx.xcworkspace'
project 'xxxxx.xcodeproj'
project 'Providers/Providers.xcodeproj'
def shared
pod 'QorumLogs'
pod 'Reachability', '~> 3.2'
pod 'RealmSwift'
end
target 'Providers' do
project 'Providers/Providers.xcodeproj'
pod 'Alamofire', '~> 4.0'
pod 'Valet'
pod 'Starscream'
pod 'ChameleonFramework/Swift', :git => 'https://github.com/ViccAlexander/Chameleon.git'
shared
end
target 'xxxxx' do
project 'xxxxx.xcodeproj'
platform :ios, '8.0'
pod 'SwiftValidator', :git => 'https://github.com/i-schuetz/SwiftValidator.git', :branch => 'remove_delegate_callback'
pod 'SwiftCharts', :git => 'https://github.com/i-schuetz/SwiftCharts.git'
pod 'Google/SignIn'
pod 'SwipeView', '~> 1.3.2'
pod 'CMPopTipView', '~> 2.0'
pod 'KLCPopup', '~> 1.0'
pod 'ChameleonFramework/Swift', :git => 'https://github.com/ViccAlexander/Chameleon.git'
pod 'HockeySDK'
shared
end
I also added the binary of Providers to my UI target under "Embedded binaries"
It seems the UI project can't load the dependencies of Providers project. Don't know if this makes sense, but I also tried nesting the configuration of my UI project in Providers, in the podfile, and add inherit! :search_paths to it but it also didn't help.
It works only when I use the same dependencies in both projects.
Ideas?
Edit
I also get this warning when executing pod install, don't know if it's related:
[!] The Podfile contains framework targets, for which the Podfile does
not contain host targets (targets which embed the framework). If this
project is for doing framework development, you can ignore this
message. Otherwise, add a target to the Podfile that embeds these
frameworks to make this message go away (e.g. a test target).

Answer 1

While updating a Swift 2.2 project using the AlamoFire third party framework I ran into several issues just like yours including the dreaded dyld: Library not loaded ...... image not found.
After spending several hours reading about different explanations for the problem,trying to figure it out myself, and implementing many of the suggested fixes, I reached an impasse. Some of the solutions worked on simulator and not iPhone which gave me (false) encouragement to keep trying to fix the problem.
I eventually reached the conclusion that starting with a clean slate may be a better strategy. I had already shown that a new Swift 3 project could use AlamoFire 4.0 and other third party frameworks such as ReactiveSwift (via cocoapds) without a problem. I think this may be a general strategy that avoids the difficulty of tracking down build, build phase, or file location problems.
So here it is. It's very simple. Create a NEW project. Install the AlamoFire and all the other frameworks using cocoapods and test it to make sure it works. At this point delete files you will be replacing such as ViewController.swift and the Main.Storyboard, then drag over all the files from your old project. I converted to swift 3 before I did this to make things even easier. I rebuilt the project and it worked first time! Even the storyboard links were preserved like magic. 1h of work (if that) instead of several! I hope this works for you too!