Getting started

Installation

go install github.com/tonyv2576/go-ios

Dependencies

• Golang 1.18+ or later
• MACOS Sequoia 10.11 or later
• ios-deploy
  • If using Homebrew do: brew install ios-deploy
• PlistBuddy
  • Should come pre-installed on your Mac.

Usage

Building your project:

go-ios build -bundle=com.example ./cmd

Creates a module.app folder with "module" being the name of your go module.

---

Building with an editable Info.plist:

go-ios build -bundle=com.example -unsigned ./cmd

Re-encodes your Info.plist in xml1 format. This, however, invalidates your apps signature and you won't be able to install it to your device without codesigning it.

---

Building with an external plist/xml file:

go-ios build -bundle=com.example -append=example.xml ./cmd

<!-- example.xml -->
<dict>
    <key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
    <string>Need camera access to record video</string>
</dict>

Appends additional keys to your Info.plist. The resulting file will be encoded in binary (even when using the -unsigned flag) and the app signature will still be invalidated.

---

Codesigning your app:

go-ios sign -profile=myprofile.mobileprovision

go-ios sign -profile=myprofile.mobileprovision -cert=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To codesign your app, you'll have to provide a mobileprovision file yourself (which requires an apple developer membership)

---

If your device has multiple certificates installed, you'll have to provide the hash well which you can find by doing:

security find-identity -v -p codesigning

# 1) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Apple Development: Team Name (TEAM)"
# 2) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Apple Development: Team Name (TEAM)"
#   2 valid identities found

---

Installing the app to your device:

go-ios install

Installs directly onto your device. Plugging your device into your mac will speed up this step greatly. Note: If the app is already installed and does not match the current build's signature, you must uninstall the old version before deploying. Read the note #4 for more details

---

View available commands:

go-ios export -help
go-ios build -help
go-ios sign -help

The export command just builds, signs, and installs all at once. Unsigned builds are created automatically when the -profile flag is used. You can use the -no-install flag if you want don't want it to automatically install to your connected device.

Notes

1. There is a flag to build for an ios simulator but it's unstable and doesn't work with cgo.
2. You MAY be able to sign your app with a mobileprovision provided by xcode but the app will only stay on your device for up to 7 days. Afterwards, it'll become unavailable and require a rebuild. I'm not sure how often xcode rotates the provisioning profiles but it may require you to uninstall the app before it can be deployed again. I haven't tested this though so take that with a grain of salt.
3. This tool was intended to be used with gioui and uses gomobile under the hood so you MUST import gomobile into your main file or it will not compile.
   • This means some libraries (like fyne.io) will not work because they already import gomobile somewhere internally and importing it twice results in linker errors.
4. When deploying, if your app is already installed (if there's an with the same bundle identifier), and the signature does not match the build you're deploying, apple won't treat it as an upgrade and the app must be uninstalled first. This includes:
   1. Signing your app with a different provisioning profile or certificate.
      • For example, the gomobile build command embeds its own provisioning profile provided by xcode. If you decide to use go-ios and codesign with your own profile, apple won't replace/upgrade the build because the application identifiers don't match.
   2. Switching to an unsigned build or vice versa.
      • This is because gomobile is used internally which automatically signs the build. (read above)
   3. Building your app on a different device.
5. I have not looked much into signing certificates and do not know if changing certificates requires a rebuild.

TLDR

---

To keep it simple, I recommend using the SAME mobile provisioning profile and signing certificate for each build. If you have installed your app BEFORE using go-ios, you must uninstall it or your app won't deploy.