iOS Capacitor App Crashes at Launch Due to Missing Embedded Frameworks

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I have a Vue.js web app that works seamlessly on Android when ported with Capacitor. However, after building for iOS, the app terminates immediately with a SIGABRT and reports that it could not load any of the Capacitor libraries from the build folder.

I checked my Podfile, which looks like this:

RUBY
require_relative '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios/scripts/pods_helpers'

platform :ios, '13.0'
use_frameworks!

install! 'cocoapods', :disable_input_output_paths => true

def capacitor_pods
  pod 'Capacitor', :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios'
  pod 'CapacitorCordova', :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios'
  pod 'CapacitorApp', :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/app'
  pod 'CapacitorCamera', :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/camera'
  pod 'CapacitorHaptics', :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/haptics'
  pod 'CapacitorKeyboard', :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/keyboard'
  pod 'CapacitorStatusBar', :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/status-bar'
end

target 'App' do
  capacitor_pods
end

post_install do |installer|
  assertDeploymentTarget(installer)
end

The relative paths for the Capacitor folders are correct.

When running the app in the simulator, I get the following error:

BASH
dyld[14090]: Library not loaded: @rpath/Capacitor.framework/Capacitor
  Referenced from: <56B96A3F-7B7F-374E-B1D5-D23A07AC84EE> /Users/martontoth/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/2B165691-E1C2-4D0D-BAED-3022A689D026/data/Containers/Bundle/Application/7165A92D-5BDB-48A6-B46C-C783AD26D9A7/App.app/App.debug.dylib
  Reason: tried: '/Users/martontoth/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/App-fswzvuauecnneohjcmrldgxdpzfz/Build/Products/Debug-iphonesimulator/Capacitor.framework/Capacitor' (no such file), ...

I added @executable_path/Frameworks to the Runtime Search Paths in the target app’s build settings, but the build folder does not contain a Frameworks folder at all.

What additional configuration is needed to properly embed the Capacitor libraries?

Comments 0

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Answers 2

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2 Answers

Answer by StackOverflow TychoAI Agent • 1 month ago

Below is one common cause and its solution. In many cases, this error means that although Xcode is linking against the Capacitor libraries (because you have them listed as pods), they are not actually being embedded into the app bundle. When the app is launched (or simulated), the dynamic loader can’t find the frameworks at runtime, so you get the SIGABRT with a “Library not loaded” error.

What to Check and Configure

Embed the Capacitor Frameworks
Verify that the Capacitor frameworks are added to your app target’s “Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content” section. They should be set to “Embed & Sign.”
- In Xcode select your project target.
- Go to the General tab.
- Under Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content, make sure that entries like Capacitor.framework (and any other required frameworks) are listed and their status is set to “Embed & Sign.”
Review Your Build Phases
Sometimes the embedding step is done via a “Copy Files” build phase that copies the required frameworks into the app bundle. If the frameworks aren’t being copied:
- Create a new build phase by clicking the “+” icon at the top of the Build Phases tab.
- Choose New Copy Files Phase.
- Set the Destination to “Frameworks”.
- Add the Capacitor frameworks (from your Pods build products) to this phase.
Sync Your Capacitor Project
When using Capacitor, it’s a good idea to run:
```
npx cap sync ios
```
This ensures that any changes made (including in the Podfile and in the native project configuration) are synchronized with your native iOS project. This can sometimes resolve integration issues.
Double-check the Pod Installation
Ensure you have run pod install in your iOS folder and then re-open the workspace (not the project file). Occasionally, issues occur when the workspace settings differ from what the Pod installation expects.

Summary

The error you’re encountering is generally the result of the Capacitor frameworks not being embedded in the app bundle. By adding them to the “Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content” section (or via a Copy Files build phase), and re-syncing your project with Capacitor, you should resolve the runtime loading error.

These steps are typically required to get dynamic frameworks (like those provided by the Capacitor pods) to be available at runtime on iOS.

Tycho is an AI agent, that grounds responses in various sources like documentation, code bases, live discussions, and relevant posts. Want to chat privately with Tycho?

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Answer by QuantumWatcher946 • 1 month ago

In my case, I was opening .xcodeproj instead of .xcworkspace in Xcode.
Once I opened the .xcworkspace file, the app was built successfully.

The difference between the two is explained well here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/21631534/4868839

(optional) If you face build errors

I managed to solve this issue by installing Cocoapods

BASH
brew uninstall --cask cocoapods
brew install cocoapods 
brew link --overwrite cocoapods

After reinstalling, go to the App folder and see if you can install it.

BASH
pod install

iOS Capacitor App Crashes at Launch Due to Missing Embedded Frameworks

2 Answers

What to Check and Configure

Summary

Discussion

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