Resources for Creating Custom Instruments with Xcode 10

June 11th, 2018

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At WWDC 2018 Apple unveiled improved support for creating custom instruments for Instruments. The following list contains helpful resources from Apple on how to create custom instruments: The Creating Custom Instruments WWDC video is the best guide currently available for creating custom instruments. The Measuring Performance Using Logging WWDC video shows how to use logging […]


Xcode 9.3: Core Animation Instrument Deprecated

April 25th, 2018

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Apple deprecated the Core Animation instrument in Xcode 9.3. If you’re looking for the debug options the Core Animation instrument had, use Xcode’s view debugger. Choose Debug > View Debugging > Rendering to access the debug options.


Xcode 9: Locating dSYM Files in Instruments

December 11th, 2017

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Xcode 9 changed the way you locate a dSYM file if you’re seeing memory addresses instead of function names in the call tree view. Now you choose File > Symbols to locate the dSYM file. Select the app you’re profiling on the left side of the sheet. Click the Locate button to find the dSYM […]


Xcode 9: Activity Monitor Instrument Changes

November 27th, 2017

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In Xcode 9 Apple removed the recording configuration options for the Activity Monitor instrument. The replacement is summaries for the system CPU usage, system memory usage, system disk activity, and system network activity. You can access these summaries from the jump bar.


Xcode 8.3: Instruments Display Settings Moved

April 18th, 2017

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Prior to Xcode 8.3 the configuration section of the Instruments trace document window had an area for display settings, as you can see in the following image: Starting with Xcode 8.3 the display settings area has been removed from the configuration section. You can access settings you configure before starting a trace by choosing File […]


Instruments: Call Tree View Is Your Friend

January 23rd, 2017

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On Stack Overflow I see the same question constantly from people who use Instruments. Instruments uncovers a problem with their app. The app could have memory leaks. It could use a lot of memory. The people asking the questions want to know how to find the area of their code that is causing the problem. […]


Xcode 8: Automation Instrument Removed

November 14th, 2016

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Apple removed the Automation instrument from Instruments in Xcode 8. Use Xcode’s user interface testing to test your iOS app’s user interface.


Time Profiler Instrument

February 17th, 2016

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In this article I cover the Time Profiler instrument and how to find slow spots in your code with it. I’m using the version of Instruments that ships with Xcode 7. If you are using an earlier version of Xcode, some things may look different and some features may be unavailable. If you are new […]


Allocations Instrument: Generations

February 16th, 2016

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I couldn’t cover everything about Instruments in my Getting Started with Instruments article. Having gotten the basics out of the way, I can now write shorter, more focused articles on Instruments. This is the first of those articles, showing how to measure heap memory growth using the Allocations instrument. Measuring Heap Memory Growth Measuring heap […]


Instruments: Locating dSYM Files

February 15th, 2016

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A dSYM file contains your project’s debugging symbols. If you profile your project in Instruments and see memory addresses instead of function names in the call tree view, the problem may be Instruments not finding your project’s dSYM file. Choose Instrument > Call Tree Data Mining > Locate dSYM to find a dSYM file. An […]