How to 'Build & Run' on multiple destinations at once in Xcode?

Question

How can one run a project on multiple destinations (say, iPhone, iPad and iSimulator) at once?

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There are 2 related questions:

1. Xcode 4 - One Click Build to Multiple Devices?
2. Run on simulator and phone with one click

The 1ˢᵗ question (supposedly) has an answer, but I can't figure out how exactly should you use the Aggregate target (if this is the right direction at all), and apparently neither could Josh Kahane, the OP; the "answer" still somehow got/remained accepted.

The 2ⁿᵈ question was closed down as a "duplicate", as if the 1ˢᵗ one provided a (workable) answer.

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Added a bounty: (how) can one use Aggregate target for simultaneous, multiple Build & Run? Perhaps one can achieve simultaneous, multiple Build & Run via some .sh script using xcodebuild? Any other possible solution?

Answer 1

UPDATE: Apple removed support for this type of plugin as of Xcode 8. AppleScript is probably your best bet.

I ran into the same issue, so I wrote an Xcode plugin to help out with this. I found it to be more robust and easier to invoke than the AppleScript options.

The plugin is called KPRunEverywhereXcodePlugin and is available via Alcatraz or on GitHub: https://github.com/kitschpatrol/KPRunEverywhereXcodePlugin

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

It's actually simpler than I thought. This AppleScript puts some pain out of Xcode:

tell application "Xcode"
    activate
end tell

tell application "System Events"
    tell application process "Xcode"
        click menu item "1st iDevice Name" of menu 1 of menu item "Destination" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1
        click menu item "Run" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1
        delay 5
        click menu item "2nd iDevice Name" of menu 1 of menu item "Destination" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1
        click menu item "Run" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1
        delay 5
        click menu item "iPhone 6.1 Simulator" of menu 1 of menu item "Destination" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1            
        click menu item "Run" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1
    end tell
end tell

1. Save the above AppleScript as an .app. (Customize delays to your machine.)
2. Create a new Service in Automator: choose Launch Application and select the .app from previous step.
3. Save Service from previous step and give it a keyboard shortcut. Tip: avoid shortcuts with ^, since it will bring up this dialog:

Granted, this isn't strictly a simultaneous 'Build & Run', but it sure beats manually trifling between destinations.

Answer 3

Here is a script that will build and run on all connected iOS devices. To use:

1. Open "Automator".
2. Create a new "Quick Action".
3. Select "no input" for "Workflow receives".
4. Select Xcode for the application.
5. Add a "Run JavaScript" action and paste the script.
6. Save as "Run on All", you can now access this from the Xcode -> Services menu from Xcode.

Javscript:

function run(input, parameters)
{
    var xcode = Application("Xcode");
    var ws = xcode.activeWorkspaceDocument();
    var genericDest = null;
    var devices = [];
    ws.runDestinations().forEach(function(runDest)
    {
        if (runDest.platform() != "iphoneos")
            return;
        if (runDest.device().generic())
        {
            genericDest = runDest;
        }
        else
        {
            devices.push(runDest);
        }
    });
    devices.forEach(function(device)
    {
        ws.activeRunDestination = device;
        var buildResult = ws.run();
        while (true)
        {
            if (buildResult.completed())
                break;
            if (buildResult.buildLog() && buildResult.buildLog().endsWith("Build succeeded\n"))
                break;
            delay(1);
        }
        delay(1);
    });
}

Answer 4

It would indeed be nice to have multiple uploads at once with Xcode. However as I understand it, aggregate only allows you to compile multiple targets, not run them.

Given the second part of you question (after the edit) I can point you to another way to do it. You won't have xcode attached (but gdb in console mode) and you should be able to make it simultaneous on several device, although this was not the primary goal. This particular solution doesn't work with simulator, but there are other methods for those.

launching iOS App from Mac OS X console

Answer 5

Here's a script that will run all of the devices currently available in your Product -> Destination menu. NB: it relies on the following conditions:

1. Devices are selected from the Product -> Destination menu (could change in future versions of Xcode)
2. The menu item before your devices is named "My Mac 64-bit" (could change in future versions of Xcode)

3. The menu item after your devices is named "iOS Simulator" (guess when that might change?)

   tell application "Xcode"
       activate
   end tell
   
   tell application "System Events"
       tell process "Xcode"
           set deviceMenu to menu 1 of menu item "Destination" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1
           set allUIElements to entire contents of deviceMenu
           set startAfterName to "My Mac 64–bit"
           set stopName to "iOS Simulator"
           set started to false
           repeat with anElement in allUIElements
               try
                   set menuName to name of anElement
                   if menuName is equal to stopName then
                       set started to false
                       exit repeat
                   else if menuName is equal to startAfterName then
                       set started to true
                   else if started then
                       click menu item menuName of menu 1 of menu item "Destination" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1
                       click menu item "Run" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Product" of menu bar 1
                       delay 5
                   end if
               end try
           end repeat
       end tell
   end tell