Can we deploy on iOS using Network instead of the cable like XCode does?

[mbruel]

Hi,
Is it normal that QtCreator sees my iPhone disconnected although it is connected through the network in XCode?
I can build in Qt but not deploy. If I open the generated xcodeproj in XCode, I've no issue to deploy (using the Network).
Is there a trick to make it work directly in QtCreator?

(I'm running MacOS in a VM, I had to use USB Network Gate in order to connect the iPhone. Now that the phone is paired, I can just connect from XCode using Wifi. That's convenient as USB Network Gate isn't free and the demo expires after 14 days.)

[SGaist]

Hi,

I might be wrong here but I don't think Qt Creator currently knows how to handle an iPhone through a network connection.

[hskoglund]

Hi, re. deployment of your mobile app thru WiFi (not cable) from Qt Creator: it's not working but I think it's an upcoming feature.

But there are 3rd party apps out there that can help push your app bundle to your iphone across WiFi, I use one called ios-deploy

You should be able to install it using homebrew inside your VM:
brew install ios-deploy

To deploy, first check that the iPhone is up and running on your network:

ios-deploy -c
[....] Waiting up to 5 seconds for iOS device to be connected
[....] Found a02328a4bc16005421432a3071eb5bcacd25a6a23a (D211AP, iPhone 8 Plus, iphoneos, arm64) a.k.a. 'HenrysPhone' connected through WIFI.

Then navigate to your build folder and deploy to the phone, example:

cd /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos

ios-deploy --bundle untitled.app
[....] Waiting for iOS device to be connected
[....] Using a02328a4bc16005421432a3071eb5bcacd25a6a23a  (D211AP, iPhone 8 Plus, iphoneos, arm64) a.k.a. 'HenrysPhone'.
------ Install phase ------
[  0%] Found a02328a4bc16005421432a3071eb5bcacd25a6a23a  (D211AP, iPhone 8 Plus, iphoneos, arm64) a.k.a. 'HenrysPhone' connected through WIFI, beginning install
[  5%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/META-INF/ to device
[  6%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/META-INF/com.apple.ZipMetadata.plist to device
[  8%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/_CodeSignature/ to device
[ 10%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/_CodeSignature/CodeResources to device
[ 11%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/Default-568h@2x.png to device
[ 13%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/LaunchScreen.storyboardc/ to device
[ 15%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/LaunchScreen.storyboardc/01J-lp-oVM-view-Ze5-6b-2t3.nib to device
[ 17%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/LaunchScreen.storyboardc/UIViewController-01J-lp-oVM.nib to device
[ 18%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/LaunchScreen.storyboardc/Info.plist to device
[ 20%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/untitled to device
[ 44%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/embedded.mobileprovision to device
[ 46%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/Info.plist to device
[ 48%] Copying /Users/henry/Projects/build-untitled-Qt_5_15_0_for_iOS-Release/Release-iphoneos/untitled.app/PkgInfo to device
[ 52%] CreatingStagingDirectory
[ 57%] ExtractingPackage
[ 60%] InspectingPackage
[ 60%] TakingInstallLock
[ 65%] PreflightingApplication
[ 65%] InstallingEmbeddedProfile
[ 70%] VerifyingApplication
[ 75%] CreatingContainer
[ 80%] InstallingApplication
[ 85%] PostflightingApplication
[ 90%] SandboxingApplication
[ 95%] GeneratingApplicationMap
[100%] Installed package untitled.app

It should be possible to add that command ios-deploy --bundle untitled.app as a custom deployment step in Qt Creator, but I haven't tested it yet, also I am not using the debugger (instead just depending on qDebug())