Viro: Xcode Simulator build

[VitaliiK91]

Hi!
I would like to use viro in the project I am working on. I am able to build and run project on actual iPhone, however running project in simulator does not seems possible due to different CPU architecture and no symbols included. I am aware that Viro does not support simulator, but my question is:
Is there a way I can dynamically disable Viro when building for simulator, so I can keep working on and testing other features of my app?
So far I've tried to do conditional import:

#if !TARGET_OS_SIMULATOR
#import <ViroReact/VRTBundleURLProvider.h>
#endif

But in that case I get a different error:

ld: framework not found ViroKit
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)

Thank you,
Vitalii

[manbod]

Hi @VitaliiK91 ,
Is your project a hybrid app (Native iOS + Viro React) or React Native + Viro React app? In the case it is React Native + Viro React, the easiest way I can think of (Not fully knowing how your app structure is, so may be completely wrong) is to do this check in your AppDelegate where the RCTRootView is initialized, as you would do in a regular iOS app; and then pass this info to the react root-view as initialProperties. Something on the lines of

BOOL isSimulatorTarget = NO;
#if TARGET_OS_SIMULATOR
  isSimulatorTarget = YES;
#endif

And then passing this as initial property where RCTRootView is initialized, as follows:

RCTRootView *rootView = [[RCTRootView alloc] initWithBundleURL:jsCodeLocation
                                                      moduleName:@"YourApp"
                                               initialProperties:@{@"isSimulatorTarget": @(isSimulatorTarget)}
                                                   launchOptions:launchOptions];

And then in the react-native code, rely on value of this.props.isSimulatorTarget to conditionally render Viro components based on whether the app is running on simulator or a device. There are multiple ways to do conditional rendering, but an easy solution we have relied in some of our projects - is to write a conditional rendering module:

export default function renderIf(condition, content) {
    if (condition) {
        return content;
    } else {
        return null;
    }
}

And then using the above module to selectively render Viro components -

{renderIf(!this.props.isSimulatorTarget,
            <View style={localStyles.viroContainer}>
              <ViroARSceneNavigator
                {...this.state.sharedProps}
                initialScene={{scene: InitialARScene}} 
                ... />
            </View>
         )}

Hope this helps! Let us know if you have more questions.

Thanks,

[manbod]

And additionally for the ld: framework not found ViroKit error you could try opening up the Build Phases for your app Target and toggling the Required option for libViroReact.a to Optional.

Hope this does the trick for you. Good luck!

[VitaliiK91]

@manbod Thanks for reply. It is React Native project.
I don't have issues identifying device is simulator in JS code, however my issue is I can not build and run project. In AppDelegate.m when I

#import <ViroReact/VRTBundleURLProvider.h>

I get build error saying that required symbols are not included.
When I tried to:

#if !TARGET_OS_SIMULATOR
#import <ViroReact/VRTBundleURLProvider.h>
#endif

I got the error:

fatal error: lipo: -remove's specified would result in an empty fat file

I tried to change the Build Phase -> Link Binary to optional but still get the error.
Any suggestions?
Thanks

[achuvm]

Hi @VitaliiK91,

This might be an issue with your CocoaPods version, see this issue with the same error:

https://github.com/Instabug/Instabug-iOS/issues/208

Thanks,

[VitaliiK91]

@achuvm Hi, thanks for the reply. Seems it was the issue with cocoapods. After upgrading to version 1.4.0 issue is gone. Thanks

[achuvm]

@VitaliiK91,

Good to hear! So can you confirm that you got it working with the iOS Simulator?

Thanks!

[VitaliiK91]

@achuvm Yes I confirm, was able to run in simulator.

#if !(TARGET_IPHONE_SIMULATOR)
#import <ViroReact/VRTBundleURLProvider.h>
#endif

is how I imported library to be able to build and run on simulator