iOS Simulator Build Fails with Xcode Linker Error: 'Framework Flutter not found'

I'm experiencing an iOS simulator build failure for my Flutter app with the following errors:

VBNETCopied
Error (Xcode): Framework 'Flutter' not found
Error (Xcode): Linker command failed with exit code 1

I have attempted several troubleshooting steps:

• Recreated the ios/ folder and cleared derived data
• Ran flutter clean and reinstalled CocoaPods (pod deintegrate and pod install)
• Verified AppDelegate and framework paths in Xcode
• Set the deployment target to 14.0 in the Podfile

Despite these efforts, the issue persists. Below is my AppDelegate configuration:

SWIFTCopied
import Flutter
import UIKit

@main
@objc class AppDelegate: FlutterAppDelegate {
  override func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?
  ) -> Bool {
    GeneratedPluginRegistrant.register(with: self)
    return super.application(application, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: launchOptions)
  }
}

and my podfile:

RUBYCopied
platform :ios, '14.0'

# CocoaPods analytics sends network stats synchronously affecting flutter build latency.
ENV['COCOAPODS_DISABLE_STATS'] = 'true'

project 'Runner', {
  'Debug' => :debug,
  'Profile' => :release,
  'Release' => :release,
}

def flutter_root
  generated_xcode_build_settings_path = File.expand_path(File.join('..', 'Flutter', 'Generated.xcconfig'), __FILE__)
  unless File.exist?(generated_xcode_build_settings_path)
    raise "#{generated_xcode_build_settings_path} must exist. If you're running pod install manually, make sure flutter pub get is executed first"
  end

  File.foreach(generated_xcode_build_settings_path) do |line|
    matches = line.match(/FLUTTER_ROOT\=(.*)/)
    return matches[1].strip if matches
  end
  raise "FLUTTER_ROOT not found in #{generated_xcode_build_settings_path}. Try deleting Generated.xcconfig, then run flutter pub get"
end

require File.expand_path(File.join('packages', 'flutter_tools', 'bin', 'podhelper'), flutter_root)

flutter_ios_podfile_setup

target 'Runner' do
  use_frameworks!
  use_modular_headers!
  flutter_install_all_ios_pods File.dirname(File.realpath(__FILE__))

  target 'RunnerTests' do
    inherit! :search_paths
  end
end

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    flutter_additional_ios_build_settings(target)
    target.build_configurations.each do |config|
      xcconfig_path = config.base_configuration_reference.real_path
      xcconfig = File.read(xcconfig_path)
      xcconfig_mod = xcconfig.gsub(/DT_TOOLCHAIN_DIR/, "TOOLCHAIN_DIR")
    end
  end
end

When running:

BASHCopied
[  +69 ms] Failed to build iOS app
[  +14 ms] Error (Xcode): Framework 'Flutter' not found
[   +2 ms] Error (Xcode): Linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
[   +3 ms] Could not build the application for the simulator.
[        ] Error launching application on iPhone 16 Pro Max.
[   +3 ms] "flutter run" took 173,509ms.
[  +56 ms]

I have also performed the following additional steps:

BASHCopied
flutter clean
rm -rf ios/Pods
rm -rf ios/.symlinks
rm -rf ios/Flutter/Flutter.framework
sudo gem install cocoapods
pod repo update
cd ios
pod install
flutter upgrade
flutter pub get
cd ios
pod deintegrate
pod install
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData
flutter clean
flutter pub get
cd ios
pod install
cd ..
flutter run

Flutter version details:

• Channel: stable, version 3.27.3
• SDK path: /Users/rao/Flutter/flutter
• Xcode: 16.2
• CocoaPods: 1.16.2
• macOS: 15.2 24C101 darwin-arm64

Any guidance to resolve this linker error and properly link the Flutter framework would be greatly appreciated.