Xcode 9.3: Core Animation Instrument Deprecated

April 25th, 2018

Filed under: Instruments, Xcode | Be the first to comment!

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.


Going Back to a Previous Git Commit in Xcode

March 12th, 2018

Filed under: Version Control, Xcode | Be the first to comment!

Something that can happen to you when using version control is you commit a change to the version control repository, realize you made a mistake, and want to go back to an earlier commit. How do you do this in Xcode? Xcode provides no direct way to go back to an earlier commit. What you […]


Xcode 9: Adding Your Project to GitHub

February 21st, 2018

Filed under: Version Control, Xcode | Be the first to comment!

Before Xcode 9, setting up your project to work on GitHub involved a lot of work. You had to login to GitHub, create a repository, go back to your Mac, launch the Terminal application, navigate to your project directory, and run multiple git commands. Xcode 9 makes working with GitHub much easier. You can add […]


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 9: Undefined Behavior Sanitizer

October 5th, 2017

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Xcode 9 adds the Undefined Behavior Sanitizer. Undefined Behavior Sanitizer detects undefined behavior in your code, specializing in checking unsafe constructs in C, C++, and Objective-C code. Undefined Behavior Sanitizer is turned off initially. You must enable it in your scheme. Select the Run step in the scheme and click the Diagnostics button at the […]


Xcode 9: Main Thread Checker

October 2nd, 2017

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Xcode 9 adds Main Thread Checker, a tool that detects when you make AppKit, UIKit, and WebKit calls on a background thread. Main Thread Checker should be enabled automatically when debugging, but you can check your scheme by selecting the Run step and clicking the Diagnostics button at the top of the scheme editor. Make […]


Xcode 9: Ignore Files

September 25th, 2017

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Xcode 9’s Source Control preferences let you specify files to ignore so the version control system won’t track them.


Xcode 9: New Build System

September 21st, 2017

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Xcode 9 provides a preview of a new build system that has been built from scratch in Swift. The new build system is supposed to be faster and more reliable. To use the new build system in one of your projects, you must enable the new build system for that project. Choose File > Project […]


Xcode 9: Cocoa Xib File Projects Return

September 19th, 2017

Filed under: Cocoa, Mac Development, Xcode | Be the first to comment!

Xcode 8.3 removed the Use Storyboards checkbox for new Cocoa application projects. The checkbox has returned in Xcode 9 so you can choose whether to use storyboards or xib files for your project’s user interface.