I am working on a project with SwiftUI and it originally started with creating a new project as an "App" (Xcode, clicked on file, new, project, click on "App") but was then later asked to put it into a pod as a framework. I did it successfully (Xcode, clicked on file, new project, click on "Framework"), however I am unsure what the differences are and I'm unsure why I would want to do that. To me they look very similar, except that I'm unable to launch my project as a framework in the simulator. Luckily SwiftUI offers the canvas preview window however it is a bit finicky when it comes to certain button interactions, which is why I am wanting to use the simulator.
Two places of confusion:
What is the difference between an app and a framework project?
Why is it more advantageous to have my project as a framework?
An App is a standalone application that can be launched and run. For example, all of the apps that you have on your phone are just that -- apps. You tap on them and they launch and run, presenting a user interface, accepting input, etc.
A framework is something else entirely. It's a collection of code that is bundled together into a package that is used by another framework or by an app. Some frameworks are provided by the system -- for example, SwiftUI is a framework that it sounds like you're using in your app. Other frameworks are provided by 3rd parties. For example, you can find many frameworks via CocoaPods or the Swift Package Manager -- Alamofire is a common example. Also, you can make your own frameworks and use them in your own code as a form of organization and separation of responsibilities.
Why is it more advantageous to have my project as a framework?
It is not -- they are two almost completely different concepts (besides both ultimately being collections of code and resources). If you intend to build an app that is launch-able on someone's device, your only choice is to make an app. If you intend to make a collection of reusable code for use in your or someone else's app, than you would make a framework.
Excellent answer (and upvoted) by #jnpdx. Let me give you a physical example:
(1) Create a project in Xcode that is a framework. Call it "MyAppKit". Inside it create, well, basically anything - a View, UIView, or more likely a function that will be shared by several views. (Let's go with that.)
public func setLoginName(_ login:String) -> String {
return ""Hello, " + login + "!";
}
Pretty simple. Call it, pass in something, and it returns a string saying hello. Please note the public piece. It matters. (And there's much more there. This is a simple example.)
(2) Now we get to your app or apps. Let's say you have two apps that need to use this (again, very simple) code. One is SwiftUI, one is UIKit. (It doesn't matter except for syntax.) Sine my forte is UIKit I'll use that. (And it can be several dozen apps too.)
import MyAppKit
let myLoginMessage = setLoginName("World").
Pretty much, it's "Hello, World!'
Again, this is really a nonsensical example. But it should get you started on what the difference in Xcode is between a Framework project and an App project is.
I have a swift iOS application that uses different secp256k1 pods as well as Array, Data and other extensions.
If I build the module on its own and test everything works.
The moment I bring the module/pod into my project the tests fail.
Is there a good way to find out if the module/pod is calling the wrong Data extension? How can I tell? Is there a hierarchy I can look at?
I don't really have code as I'm not sure where the issue is and the project is very big.
So for an example, if I had a Data extension in my project, and a Data extension in a pod, which Data extension is used and how can I verify?
Thank You
EDIT:
It seems to be an issue with secp256k1, UnsafeMutablePointer and my getPointer() function.
In the module/pod its retiring a different pointer than in the application.
Any Ideas?
I have been working on my first iOS/Swift application for the past month or so, and have created all of my class declaration files (i.e. my .Swift files) in my main project folder. I would really like to use live views in my app, because as of right now I cannot build/run the app at all due to errors I don't know how to fix (I'll be posting about those later today in hope of finding someone who can help me fix them).
What would be the best way to go about converting all of my views into embedded frameworks so that I could use the Live Views feature of Xcode ? I am running Xcode 7 and wrote my app in Swift 2.0
Thanks
You apparently don't need to use frameworks for that anymore. At least it works just fine in Xcode 7 for me - for classes that are part of the main project. Just mark your class as #IBDesignable.
But in order to show the preview, your code needs to be able compile, so you will need to resolve your issues first.
Actually, I am working on one app and started with the objective-c. Now i have started working on swift with the same app for the further development and it will work with both the class (objc and swift).
Now I have doubt that it will accept by apple store or not.
Please help me.
This is fine, Apple provides the mechanisms for interacting with both and will not drop support for Objective-C for quite sometime. Many large organisations still have the majority of their code written in Obj-C (including Apple) so they need to give people time to transition, they aren't going to switch over immediately to a relatively immature language.
You can use Swift and Objective-c together. There is no issue in it. You need to create a bridging header file.
Please read this
Swift and Objective-C in the Same Project
Currently we're using premake5 to generate our project files, as we develop multi-platform. Obviously we don't need premake to know anything about the extension (as it's iOS8 exclusive feature) but we're facing a problem: Every time we regenerate the main app project file (which happens sometimes) we're forced to manually add all the files and configure the extension, which is dull and error-prone.
Is there a way to add the app extension (a Today Widget) to a separate project? Pbxproj files aren't version control friendly as its contents seem to be shuffled every time you save. So, saving a patch file with all the changes needed doesn't seem like an alternative.
I know this is a broad question about a convenience issue, maybe seasoned Xcode devs know some trickery (or maybe it's just something obvious we're missing here).
Thanks all in advance.