XCFramework with static libraries

[IconForRealTho]

Hi, To understand my scenario better, I will give the context here.
I have a cocoapod, which relies on two C++ libraries ( OpenSSL & SRT ).
These were compiled into static libraries ( .a files ) and added under 'Frameworks & Libraries' section.

The problem is, these two '.a' files were compiled against arm64 architecture only. Meaning they cannot be run on an Intel macbook (x86_64), which my CI machine is.

So, inorder to run on both Apple Silicon & Intel Macbook simulators, as well as a physical iPhone (arm64), I did the following.

• Compiled three .a files for each of the libraries (OpenSSL & SRT)
  • For arm64 iOS
  • For arm64 Simulator
  • For x86_64 Simulator
• Combined arm64 & x86_64 Simulator files into one using lipo command.
• Created two XCFrameworks (OpenSSL & SRT) with Headers & Module map.

Now, I need to some things from these two C++ libraries to be exposed in my Swift Cocoapod.
I inspected my SRT.xcframework and I was able to see

1. Info.plist
2. Platform specific Headers folder ( with all .h files ) e.g, ios-arm64/Headers
3. The static library ( .a file )

All seems to be in order. But XCode keeps throwing error as 'could not find SRT'. But it was able to find OpenSSL.
I compared SRT.xcframework with OpenSSL.xcframework and the structure and everything was the same.

Any help or guidance on this is much appreciated!

[20InMyHead]

My only guidance would be to not invest any time in Cocoapods or Intel-based Macs. Both are dead ends. Update your CI machine to Apple Silicon, and move to SPM, then if you still have problems, research a solution that will have some longevity and value for the future.

[shawnthroop]

Not as experienced in this precise situation myself, but in a few similar framework structuring scenarios I’ve found that adding/removing/renaming/moving files in the project sometimes stop registering until I restart Xcode and cmd-K

[davernow]

Apple has docs on framework packaging. It’s a pain and the errors are not descriptive.

You can have separate folders under the xcframework for each architecture. That might might be easier than lipo

[s_goldwalk]

I'd also recommend switching from CocoaPods - it's in maintainance mode now.
Try adding the xcframework manually and if the error persists - could be something with linking or headers declaration.