Xcode server and continuous integration for iOS

April 30, 2015

Upon setting up Xcode server on Yosemite 10.10 I ran into a couple of curious issues that were causing frustration and didn't seem well documented. This won't be well documented but at least here are a couple of hints should things go wrong...

First up was git. As is usually the case I stated with a local repository and only later decided to use Xcode Server. Once I enabled Xcode Server it seemed to work. But upon adding the remote git repo I ran into strange errors. It repeatedly said the repo already existed on the server but also said there was no functioning remote repo. I'd chosen to connect to the repo via ssh:// and it turns out there was a conflicting entry in my known hosts file. With that entry removed all proceeded as planned. Moral of this story is if you have issues connecting to git from Xcode be sure to try it from the command line and see if there are any errors that aren't being surfaced.

The next issue was after the first run all the simulator builds failed. The error was something like this: Read more about Xcode server and continuous integration for iOS

My iOS 9 wishlist

March 1, 2015

A few minutes ago I realized my iOS 9 wish list has grown to 3 items.

f.lux functionality built-in to the operating system. It makes my computers so very nice to use.
PGP key support in mail and the OS. S/Mime is great but support isn't everywhere and it would be nice to have both
Notification sets. Being able to group a set of notification preferences. Do not disturb is handy but it's the nuclear option. Sometimes, or everyday, I would like to have different "work-day" and "off-hours" notification settings. As a bonus for my colleagues this would man my phone could buzz a lot less while we are on conference calls.

Short iOS 5 wish list

June 5, 2011

Tomorrow is the day for the much anticipated keynote for Apple's World Wide Developer conference. Unlike past keynotes this one has a hint of an agenda that has been published by Apple.

I've seen a number of good write-ups with some hopes for iOS 5 and what folks are hoping for. My hopes are a bit simpler than most of these. I have two things that would make a world of difference for iOS 5.

Item number one is cloud-sync. It's time we move past the Palm OS technology of the 1990's and move into the age of the internet and start being able to meaningfully sync iOS devices wirelessly.

Item number two is to add the ability for Safari and other apps to access photos for upload. Until apps can universally and easily access photos and upload them to websites the photo capture and storage facilities of iOS are little more than toys. It's time some equity comes to the iPad and make it possible to do as much for photos as one can do with Garage Band.