LaunchDarkly SDK for iOS

LaunchDarkly overview

LaunchDarkly is a feature management platform that serves over 100 billion feature flags daily to help teams build better software, faster. Get started using LaunchDarkly today!

Supported iOS versions

This version of the LaunchDarkly SDK has been tested with iOS 12 and across mobile, desktop, watch, and tv devices.

Getting started

LaunchDarkly supports multiple methods for installing the library in a project. Once installed, head over to the SDK documentation for complete instructions on getting started with using the SDK.

Installation with CocoaPods

CocoaPods is a dependency manager for Objective-C and Swift, which automates and simplifies the process of using 3rd-party libraries like LaunchDarkly in your projects. You can install it with the following command:

$ gem install cocoapods

1. To integrate LaunchDarkly into your Xcode project using CocoaPods, specify it in your Podfile:

use_frameworks!
target 'YourTargetName' do
  pod 'LaunchDarkly', '4.4.1'
end

2. Then, run the following command from the project directory that contains the podfile:

$ pod install

3. Import the LaunchDarkly client into your project:

Objective-C

@import LaunchDarkly;

Swift

import LaunchDarkly

Installation with Carthage

Carthage is a decentralized dependency manager that builds your dependencies and provides you with binary frameworks.

You can install Carthage with Homebrew using the following command:

$ brew update
$ brew install carthage

To integrate LaunchDarkly into your Xcode project using Carthage, specify it in your Cartfile:

github "launchdarkly/ios-client-sdk" "4.4.1"

Run carthage update to build the framework. Optionally, specify the --platform to build only the frameworks that support your platform(s). Drag the built Darkly.framework from your platform's Carthage/Build folder into your Xcode project under Embedded Binaries. For non-iOS frameworks the framework includes the platform, e.g. Darkly_tvOS.framework Follow the instructions at Getting Started to finish the setup. Your app may not build until you add the run script phase to copy-frameworks to your target(s).

Installation without a package manager

1. On the root folder of the project, git clone the following two repositiories.

• git clone https://github.com/launchdarkly/ios-client-sdk
• git clone https://github.com/launchdarkly/ios-eventsource

Remove CocoaPods

2. Go to the ios-eventsource folder.

• If CocoaPods is installed on your system, do the following:
  • run pod deintegrate.
  • Open LDEventSource.workspace.
  • Delete Pods.xcodeproj in the Project Navigator.
  • Close LDEventSource.workspace.
  • Delete Podfile and Podfile.lock from the ios-eventsource folder.
• If CocoaPods is not installed on your system, do the following:
  • Delete DarklyEventSource.podspec, Podfile, Podfile.lock and the entire Pods folder.
  • Open LDEventSource.xcodeproj.
  • Delete the Pods group in the Project Navigator.
  • Open the Frameworks group in the Project Navigator.
  • Remove any Pods frameworks or static libraries from the group.
  • Select DarklyEventSource in the Project Navigator.
  • Select DarklyEventSource-iOS in the Targets pane.
  • Select the General tab.
  • Remove any Pods framework from Linked Frameworks and Libraries.
  • Repeat for each target, including DarklyEventSourceTests.
  • Select the Build Phases tab.
  • Remove [CP] Check Pods Manifest.lock.
  • Repeat for each target.
  • Close LDEventSource.xcodeproj.

3. Go to the ios-client-sdk folder.

• If CocoaPods is installed on your system, do the following:
  • run pod deintegrate.
  • Open LaunchDarkly.workspace.
  • Delete Pods.xcodeproj in the Project Navigator.
  • Close LaunchDarkly.workspace.
  • Delete Podfile and Podfile.lock from the ios-client-sdk folder.
• If CocoaPods is not installed, do the following:
  • Delete LaunchDarkly.podspec, Podfile, Podfile.lock and the entire Pods folder.
  • Open LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj.
  • Delete the Pods group in the Project Navigator.
  • Open the Frameworks group in the Project Navigator.
  • Remove any Pods frameworks or static libraries from the group.
  • Select LaunchDarkly in the Project Navigator.
  • Select LaunchDarkly_iOS in the Targets pane.
  • Select the General tab.
  • Remove any Pods framework from Linked Frameworks and Libraries.
  • Repeat for each target.
  • Select the Build Phases tab.
  • Remove [CP] Check Pods Manifest.lock.
  • Repeat for each target, including LaunchDarklyTests.
  • Still in Build Phases tab,remove the Run Script build phase, and repeat for each target as well.

Remove Carthage

4. Go to the ios-client-sdk.
5. Remove Cartfile, Cartfile.resolved, and the entire Carthage folder.
6. Open LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj if needed.
7. Remove CarthageFrameworks in the Project Navigator.
8. Open Frameworks in the Project Navigator.
9. Remove all DarklyEventSource.framework references.
10. Close LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj.

Install LaunchDarkly using frameworks

NOTE: If you want to install LaunchDarkly without using frameworks see Install LaunchDarkly without frameworks below. 11. Create a Frameworks folder at the root of your project. 12. For each supported platform, create a sub-folder with the platform title inside of Frameworks. 13. Build DarklyEventSource.framework

• Open LDEventsource.xcodeproj.
• Select the scheme for your app's platform.
• Select the target device.
• Build.
• Open Products in the Project Navigator.
• Ctrl-Click the DarklyEventSource.framework file just built.
• Select Show in Finder.
• Copy the DarklyEventSource.framework into the Frameworks sub-folder for the platform.
• Repeat for each supported platform.
• Close LDEventsource.xcodeproj.

14. Build LaunchDarkly.framework

• Open LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj.
• Select LaunchDarkly project in the Project Navigator.
• Select the target for your app's platform.
• Select the General tab.
• From the Frameworks folder created previously, drag the DarklyEventSource.framework for the matching platform into Linked Frameworks and Libraries.
• Open the Build Settings tab.
• Open Framework Search Paths.
• Add the path to the Frameworks sub-folder for the selected platform.
• Build.
• Open Products in the Project Navigator.
• Ctrl-Click the LaunchDarkly.framework file just built. For non-iOS platforms be sure to select the framework containing the platform name.
• Select Show in Finder.
• Copy the LaunchDarkly.framework or LaunchDarkly_<platform> into the Frameworks sub-folder for the platform.
• Repeat for each supported platform.
• Close LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj.

15. Add the frameworks to your project

• Open your project.
• Select your project in the Project Navigator.
• Select the target for your app's platform.
• Select the General tab.
• From the Frameworks folder created at step 11, drag the DarklyEventSource.framework and LaunchDarkly.framework or LaunchDarkly_<platform>.framework for the matching platform into Linked Frameworks and Libraries.
• Remove the frameworks just added from Linked Frameworks and Libraries. The frameworks should remain visible in the Frameworks group in the Project Navigator.
• Add the frameworks to the Embedded Binaries.
• Repeat for each target that uses LaunchDarkly.
• Close your project.

16. Go to Final setup instructions below.

Install LaunchDarkly without frameworks

17. Open your app's .xcodeproj or .xcworkspace in XCode, whichever you normally use.
18. Add 2 sub-projects to your project for LaunchDarkly and DarklyEventSource. These should be added hierarchically, with your project as the outermost project, LaunchDarkly nested inside your project, and DarklyEventSource nested inside of LaunchDarkly. Before you begin, make sure Xcode does not have LaunchDarkly or DarklyEventSource open in any window.

• Ctrl-click your project in the Project Navigator.
• Select Add Files to "<yourProjectName>"....
• Navigate to the ios-client-sdk folder.
• Select LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj. Make sure it is the project file, not the workspace file. You should now see LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj nested inside your project.
• Ctrl-click LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj in the Project Navigator.
• Select Add Files to "LaunchDarkly.xcodeproj"....
• Navigate to the ios-eventsource folder.
• Select LDEventSource.xcodeproj. Make sure it is the project file, not the workspace file. You should now see LDEventSource.xcodeproj nested inside the Darkly project.

19. Add LaunchDarkly to your project.

• Select your project in the Project Navigator
• Select your target in the Targets pane.
• Select the Build Phases tab.
• Open Target Dependencies.
• Add the platform specific LaunchDarkly_<platform> from the LaunchDarkly project.
• Repeat for each target that uses LaunchDarkly.

20. Add DarklyEventSource to the LaunchDarkly project.

• Select the LaunchDarkly project in the Project Navigator
• Select your platform's target in the Targets pane.
• Select the Build Phases tab.
• Open Target Dependencies.
• Add the platform specific DarklyEventSource_<platform> from the DarklyEventSource project.
• Repeat for each platform target that uses LaunchDarkly.

21. Go to Final setup instructions below.

Final setup instructions

22. Import the SDK into your code:

• Add @import LaunchDarkly; (Objective-c) or import LaunchDarkly (Swift) to the source file that references LD classes. For non-iOS platforms, include the platform name, e.g. import LaunchDarkly_watchOS

23. In Build Settings for each target, set ALWAYS_EMBED_SWIFT_STANDARD_LIBRARIES to Yes.
24. Delete derived data for your project, if necessary.
25. Build your app for each target. If it fails, you may have skipped one of the steps above. Verify you have chosen the appropriate platform in each step.
26. Run your app. If the app crashes, it is likely that either the incorrect platform was installed, or the LaunchDarkly or DarklyEventSource dependencies were incorrectly added, or that you may have to set ALWAYS_EMBED_SWIFT_STANDARD_LIBRARIES to Yes.

Learn more

Check out our documentation for in-depth instructions on configuring and using LaunchDarkly. You can also head straight to the complete reference guide for this SDK.

Testing

We run integration tests for all our SDKs using a centralized test harness. This approach gives us the ability to test for consistency across SDKs, as well as test networking behavior in a long-running application. These tests cover each method in the SDK, and verify that event sending, flag evaluation, stream reconnection, and other aspects of the SDK all behave correctly.

Contributing

We encourage pull requests and other contributions from the community. Check out our contributing guidelines for instructions on how to contribute to this SDK.

About LaunchDarkly

• LaunchDarkly is a continuous delivery platform that provides feature flags as a service and allows developers to iterate quickly and safely. We allow you to easily flag your features and manage them from the LaunchDarkly dashboard. With LaunchDarkly, you can:
  • Roll out a new feature to a subset of your users (like a group of users who opt-in to a beta tester group), gathering feedback and bug reports from real-world use cases.
  • Gradually roll out a feature to an increasing percentage of users, and track the effect that the feature has on key metrics (for instance, how likely is a user to complete a purchase if they have feature A versus feature B?).
  • Turn off a feature that you realize is causing performance problems in production, without needing to re-deploy, or even restart the application with a changed configuration file.
  • Grant access to certain features based on user attributes, like payment plan (eg: users on the ‘gold’ plan get access to more features than users in the ‘silver’ plan). Disable parts of your application to facilitate maintenance, without taking everything offline.
• LaunchDarkly provides feature flag SDKs for a wide variety of languages and technologies. Check out our documentation for a complete list.
• Explore LaunchDarkly
  • launchdarkly.com for more information
  • docs.launchdarkly.com for our documentation and SDK reference guides
  • apidocs.launchdarkly.com for our API documentation
  • blog.launchdarkly.com for the latest product updates
  • Feature Flagging Guide for best practices and strategies