Mobile Setup
At a high level we will be using the Ionic CLIs cordova command to build test and release versions of the iOS and Android app. For example:
> ionic cordova build android --prod --release
You can use this command to create builds for development testing or production, to run the app locally on a connected phone or to run on either the Android or iOS emulator.
The following instructions are for MacOS M1.
Node
Make sure you have a recent version of node installed. I'm using 16. You can use
nvm to manage Node versions:
https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm
Cordova
Make sure Cordova is installed:
npm install -g cordova cordova-res native-run
Android
Here is the official guide:
https://ionicframework.com/docs/developing/android
We need a few things for Android, on M1 via Cordova:
- Java8: this is an issue as Oracle haven't made any M1-compatible releases for 8
- Gradle:
- Maven:
Build Tools
My understanding is that you have to install Gradle, Ant and Maven separately to Android Studio.
brew install gradle ant maven
Now add to the ~/.zshrc:
export GRADLE_HOME=/opt/homebrew/opt/gradle
export ANT_HOME=/opt/homebrew/opt/ant
export MAVEN_HOME=/opt/homebrew/opt/maven
Java8
You can get a version via Azul (a separate company to Oracle). See this guide:
https://dev.to/shane/configure-m1-mac-to-use-jdk8-with-maven-4b4g
Download Java8 here:
https://www.azul.com/downloads/?version=java-8-lts&os=macos&architecture=arm-64-bit&package=jdk#download-openjdk
You need then add the Java Home to your ~/.bashrc:
export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-8.jdk/Contents/Home/jre
Android Studio
Install the arm64 version of Android Studio here:
https://developer.android.com/studio#downloads
Add the following to your ~/.bashrc, updating your home directory:
# Android SDK
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=/Users/timmyomahony/Library/Android/sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/emulator
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/tools/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/platform-tools
Run:
source ~/.bashrc
Android SDK Platform
We need the Android SDK Platform 28 installed. Go to Preferences > Appearance and Behaviour > System Settings > Android SDK and select Android 9.0 (API level 28) and download
Android Emulator
First you need to download an Android image. On the same dialog as above, click
"Show Package Details" and select Google APIs ARM 64 v8a System Image.
Hit Apply to download the system image.
Device Manager
On the "Welcome to Android Studio" screen, hit the "More Actions" and "Virtual Device Manager".
Create a new device:
- Choose Pixel 5
- Choose "Pie" (this is the image downloaded previously)
Cordova Platform
You should be able to add Android as a platform now:
ionic cordova platform add android
Check Requirements
You can check the requirements for Ionic now:
ionic cordova requirements
It should look like:
Requirements check results for android:
Java JDK: installed 1.8.0
Android SDK: installed true
Android target: installed android-30,android-28
Gradle: installed /opt/homebrew/Cellar/gradle/7.4.2/bin/gradle
Run via Emulator
You should be able to test on the emulator now.
First make sure the emulator is running (i.e. manually start it in Android Studio) then run:
ionic cordova emulate android
Troubleshooting
- Make sure you have the right environment variables set
- Make sure nothing is listening on port 5555 or it will appear as a device
Apple
On an M1 machine, I haven't been able to the app to run on a simulator, I've only been able to run it on a connected iPhone. See below for more details.
In general, the approach here is to build within XCode (as opposed to building via the Cordova CLI).
CocoaPods
Install CocoaPods:
sudo gem install cocoapods
You might need rvm installed to get a newer version of Ruby than the MacOS
system version.
Cordova Platform
You should be able to add iOS as a platform now:
ionic cordova platform add ios
Configure Xcode
Open Xcode, Preferences > Locations and make sure "Command Line Tools" is set
to the installed version of Xcode
Run via iPhone
Connect iPhone via USB and open platforms/ios/FindHello.xcworkspace (not FindHello.xcodeproj) in Xcode.
Click the project in the sidebar and hit "Signing & Capabilities". Sign in and make sure the right team is selected.
Select the iPhone and build to it.
Attempting to Run via Simulator
If you try build for a simulator on an M1, you get a build error in XCode, something like:
in /Users/timmyomahony/Repositories/find-hello-app/platforms/ios/Pods/FirebaseAnalytics/Frameworks/FIRAnalyticsConnector.framework/FIRAnalyticsConnector(FIRAnalyticsConnector_e321ed8e3db06efc9803f6c008e67a34.o), building for iOS Simulator, but linking in object file built for iOS, file '/Users/timmyomahony/Repositories/find-hello-app/platforms/ios/Pods/FirebaseAnalytics/Frameworks/FIRAnalyticsConnector.framework/FIRAnalyticsConnector' for architecture arm64
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/63607158/xcode-building-for-ios-simulator-but-linking-in-an-object-file-built-for-ios-f
The fix in the above link may work, but it causes a huge number of additional errors that I can't fix.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65287834/tons-of-errors-due-to-set-arm64-in-excluded-architectures-in-ios-14-2-simulators