how to build ios framework to support i386 and armv7

Question

I need to build dynamic library as framework. I have building settings as follows:

ARCHS: armv7 armv7s arm64 i386 x86_64
ONLY_ACTIVE_ARCH: NO
VALID_ARCHS:  arm64 armv7 armv7s x86_64 i386

I built target for ios device, and used lipo -info to check the architectures, the result is :

Architectures in the fat file: dyl are: armv7s armv7 arm64 

So, does xcode can not build for both i386 and arm?

Answer 1

You need to select iOS simulator and build a framework for i386 arch. Then you can use lipo -create command to merge the two framework into one.

Answer 2

There is a way of doing it without exiting the Xcode. First you need to identify the latest iOS versions (64 bits) do not support i386 architecture. So if you still need i386 compatible framework, you have to build your project by selecting an old iOS version. I tried with iOS 10.

Next thing that you have to do is, add all the architectures that you need under Valid Architectures filed in the Build Settings .

Then, add a Run Script with your lipo commands to create the FAT file. (Following script I've taken from the Internet sometime back & credit goes to those who wrote that)

#!/bin/sh

UNIVERSAL_OUTPUTFOLDER=${BUILD_DIR}/${CONFIGURATION}-universal

# make sure the output directory exists
mkdir -p "${UNIVERSAL_OUTPUTFOLDER}"

# Step 1. Build Device and Simulator versions
xcodebuild -target "${PROJECT_NAME}" ONLY_ACTIVE_ARCH=NO -configuration ${CONFIGURATION} -sdk iphoneos  BUILD_DIR="${BUILD_DIR}" BUILD_ROOT="${BUILD_ROOT}" clean build
xcodebuild -target "${PROJECT_NAME}" -configuration ${CONFIGURATION} -sdk iphonesimulator ONLY_ACTIVE_ARCH=NO BUILD_DIR="${BUILD_DIR}" BUILD_ROOT="${BUILD_ROOT}" clean build

# Step 2. Copy the framework structure (from iphoneos build) to the universal folder
cp -R "${BUILD_DIR}/${CONFIGURATION}-iphoneos/${PROJECT_NAME}.framework" "${UNIVERSAL_OUTPUTFOLDER}/"

# Step 3. Copy Swift modules from iphonesimulator build (if it exists) to the copied framework directory
SIMULATOR_SWIFT_MODULES_DIR="${BUILD_DIR}/${CONFIGURATION}-iphonesimulator/${PROJECT_NAME}.framework/Modules/${PROJECT_NAME}.swiftmodule/."
if [ -d "${SIMULATOR_SWIFT_MODULES_DIR}" ]; then
cp -R "${SIMULATOR_SWIFT_MODULES_DIR}" "${UNIVERSAL_OUTPUTFOLDER}/${PROJECT_NAME}.framework/Modules/${PROJECT_NAME}.swiftmodule"
fi

# Step 4. Create universal binary file using lipo and place the combined executable in the copied framework directory
lipo -create -output "${UNIVERSAL_OUTPUTFOLDER}/${PROJECT_NAME}.framework/${PROJECT_NAME}" "${BUILD_DIR}/${CONFIGURATION}-iphonesimulator/${PROJECT_NAME}.framework/${PROJECT_NAME}" "${BUILD_DIR}/${CONFIGURATION}-iphoneos/${PROJECT_NAME}.framework/${PROJECT_NAME}"

# Step 5. Convenience step to copy the framework to the project's directory
cp -R "${UNIVERSAL_OUTPUTFOLDER}/${PROJECT_NAME}.framework" "${PROJECT_DIR}"

# Step 6. Convenience step to open the project's directory in Finder
open "${PROJECT_DIR}"

Finally what you have to do is, build the framework by selecting Generic iOS Device option.

Then to verify, run the lipo -info command