How to force XCode 14.3 to install on Monterey

In one of the biggest developer-hostile moves I've ever seen from Apple, mid-release-cycle, on a minor version update only, Apple have:

  • Not allowed XCode 14.2 to work with iOS 16.4, so if you want to debug on a 16.4 device you're screwed
  • Forced XCode 14.3 to insist on Ventura, so if you want to use Monterey you're screwed
  • Apple continue to have no support for Music on simulator, so if you want to debug on sim you've always been screwed.

To give an example of why I don't want to ruin my machine with Ventura: I do a lot of web stuff, and that uses GIFs amongst other image types. If I QuickLook a GIF on Ventura 13.3, QuickLook will crash. That's the quality level of Ventura. It's not fit for purpose as a daily driver for the dev work I do.

Hopefully, there's plist hackery or similar that can make XCode 14.3 launch anyway? Pretty sure there's nothing in a minor version bump that needs the entire OS to be updated.

So, is it possible? After all the other abuses for longevity of support (or lack thereof), lack of Apple Music APIs on macOS / Catalyst / simulator, number of bugs in it and so-on, this is just about the tipping point where - for the first time since 2008 - I drop my developer sub entirely, write off a huge number of hours of my life trying to make a music app work as total wasted time on a junk API on a crumbling OS offered by a borderline psychotic company, and run screaming from this clusterfuck into the stable API arms of Spotify & Android/Kotlin, never to return.

"Frustrated" doesn't even come close.

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Posted by
adh1003
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  • I feel your pain. I'm experiencing the same crap. This is completely unacceptable. Have you figured this out.

    —
    AppleDevMN
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Download Xcode 14.3: Locate the Xcode 14.3 installer (XIP file) through the Apple Developer downloads portal (https://developer.apple.com/download/more/) or a third-party website. Keep in mind that downloading from unofficial sources might pose security risks.

Extract the XIP file: Double-click the Xcode_14.3.xip file to extract its contents. This process may take a few minutes. Once completed, you'll have an Xcode.app file.

Move Xcode to the Applications folder: Drag the Xcode.app file to your Applications folder.

Bypass macOS Gatekeeper: Since Xcode 14.3 is not designed for macOS Monterey, Gatekeeper may prevent it from launching. To bypass this, open the Terminal app and run the following command:

Copy code sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Xcode.app

You'll need to enter your administrator password to proceed.

Launch Xcode: You can now try launching Xcode 14.3 from the Applications folder or using Spotlight. Keep in mind that running an older version of Xcode on a newer macOS version may result in unstable behavior, compatibility issues, or limited functionality.

Posted by
bhuwanarora0
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  • I've tried your steps, but I still view the advertise that it needs to be MacOS 13.0 or later Is it necesary to prior delete the previous version of Xcode?? If yes, how will I get it again that version in case I can't run the newest ?

    Thanks a lot

    —
    LeoGarCru

  • MacOS 12.6.1 not work.

    —
    brucelol
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I've tried what @bhuwanarora0 explains in my MacBook Air 2017, but It doesn't work for me... so I've ended up using OpenCore to force MacOS Ventura to be compatible with my MacBook. It works perfectly... is smooth, and now I can use my iPhone 11 instead of the simulator of Xcode (Which, by the way, freezes the system in Monterey)... I'm happy with the results and recommend to everyone to upgrade to Ventura via OpenCore if your equipment isn't supported natively.

Posted by
LeoGarCru
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This should work: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/55596733/is-it-possible-to-install-xcode-10-2-on-high-sierra-10-13-6?noredirect=1&lq=1

Posted by
cichy_de
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I found a not-so-perfect solution. It turned out that you can actually ignore Info.plist hacking. You can directly run it inside a Terminal window.

I just downloaded Xcode_14.3.1_Release_Candidate.xip yesterday and I can get it running using the following commands:

cd ~/Application/Xcode.app/Contents/MacOS
./Xcode

It works without any problem. Building/debugging works fine.

But there is some gotchas:

  1. The icon of course is shown as "No" sign.
  2. When there is no project open, and you switch to other apps, you have no way to switch it back because macOS won't list it when you press CMD+TAB, but it is in Activity Monitor.

So comes a question. Does anyone know how bring Xcode app window back?

Posted by
imneo
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  • Okay, I found out the answer myself. Just a piece of AppleScript with 2 lines:

    log "Activating Xcode app..." activate application "Xcode"
    —
    imneo

  • Hello, I am very interested. Can you give more details on this Apple script ?

    —
    rbart

  • can you send me the script?

    —
    lurizzi

Any one found any way to make xcode 14.3.x work on work Monterey?

Posted by
sheikhhassanmajeed
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Will the steps in the first response cause my current version of Xcode to stop working? If so, how can I get the old version back?

Posted by
richoncode
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I'm on Monterey 12.6.8 and I was able to open up Xcode 14.3 by having it in my application folder, then go in to the application and run this file in terminal: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/MacOS/Xcode

I was able to build and test things on my iPhone running 16.5.1

Happy I managed without having to update to Ventura!

Posted by
saxmand
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  • Thanks a lot @saxmand . Your solution worked like charm. I am on Monterey 12.6.8 and I have Xcode 14.2 running now. I believe it should work for Xcode 15.x also. Regards

    —
    Fujour

  • It works!! thx!

    —
    StevannusLake

  • @Fujour have you tried it for xcode 15.x ? does it work ?

    —
    Junaidghani
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