iPad attempting to import Journaling Suggestions

I am using #canImport(JournalingSuggestions), but something is going wrong and my app is attempting to import the framework on iPad, and crashing on launch. How can I ensure that it's properly filtered out from everything except iPhone?

import SwiftUI
#if canImport(JournalingSuggestions)
import JournalingSuggestions
#endif

struct JournalingSuggestionsView: View {
    var body: some View {
        #if canImport(JournalingSuggestions)
            JournalingSuggestionsPicker {
                Text("Open Journaling Suggestions")
            } onCompletion: { suggestion in
                print(suggestion)
            }
        #else
            Text("Journaling suggestions not available on this platform.")
        #endif
    }
}

Error:

dyld[8689]: Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/JournalingSuggestions.framework/JournalingSuggestions
  Referenced from: <A656E6BC-4883-3245-BE71-3F84C2F41119> /private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/C6C11F57-AFAA-442A-B726-7AADDDB50D79/Catalog.app/Catalog
  Reason: tried: '/System/Library/Frameworks/JournalingSuggestions.framework/JournalingSuggestions' (no such file), '/private/preboot/Cryptexes/OS/System/Library/Frameworks/JournalingSuggestions.framework/JournalingSuggestions' (no such file), '/System/Library/Frameworks/JournalingSuggestions.framework/JournalingSuggestions' (no such file, not in dyld cache)

System info: Xcode 15.2 iPadOS 17.3.1

Up vote post of aenewton Down vote post of aenewton
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Posted by
aenewton
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Apple Recommended

As an update to @eskimo 's response,

There's a few cases here:

  • Case #1: Building for the simulator.
  • Case #2: Building for a real device, but running on a device where the framework isn't present (eg: iPad, Mac)
  • Case #3: Building for an iOS version before iOS 17.2 where the framework isn't available

For case #1: use #if canImport(JournalingSuggestions) like this:

#if canImport(JournalingSuggestions)
    import JournalingSuggestions
#endif

Then, in your code where you use JournalingSuggestionsPicker, check if you can import it first. This way, if you're not building for a real device, the framework will not be imported.

For case #2: Since you're building for a real device, the framework can be imported. Since it's not an iPhone, your app will crash when run. Protect against this by first checking if you can import UIKit, then setting isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable to be true if you're on an iPhone. If you're on Mac, where UIKit can't be imported, isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable will be false anyways. For example:

#if canImport(UIKit)
import UIKit
let isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable = UIDevice.current.userInterfaceIdiom == .phone
#else
let isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable = false
#endif

In your code, where you use JournalingSuggestionsPicker, first check if you can import it with the info in case #1 above, then check if isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable is true.

For case #3: To handle the older iOS case, you need if #available(iOS 17.2, *)

Altogether, it looks like this in code:

#if canImport(JournalingSuggestions)
    if isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable {
        if #available(iOS 17.2, *) {
            JournalingSuggestionsPicker {
                Text("Choose a suggestion")
            } onCompletion: { suggestion in
                print("suggestion:", suggestion)
            }
        } else {
            Text("Requires iOS 17.2.")
        }
    } else {
        Text("Dynamically not available on this platform.")
    }
#else
    Text("Statically not available on this platform.")
#endif
}

Important - iPad weak linking

To ensure your app can run on iPad without crashing, you must weak link to the framework. The normal way to do this is via the Status column in the Link Binary With Libraries build phase. That doesn’t work here because the framework isn’t available on the iOS Simulator platform, so the simulator build fails, as @bryan1anderson pointed out. The workaround is to pass in -Xlinker -weak_framework -Xlinker JournalingSuggestions via the Other Linker Flags build setting.

Posted by
sha921
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Replies

You need to weak link to the framework. To do this:

  1. In your app’s target editor, switch to the General tab and add the Journaling Suggestions framework to the Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content list.

  2. Switch to the Build Phases tab and, in the Link Binary with Libraries phase, switch the Status popup to Optional.

This shouldn’t be this painful, and we have a bug on file about that (r. 121326851).

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

Posted by
eskimo
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  • Thank you! This fixed the crash. My last issue is that because JournalingSuggestions is technically importable on both platforms, I still need to differentiate iPhone vs iPad to hide UI. Is the recommended approach for that still to use the idiom enum from UIDevice? (I'm revisiting Apple platform development after a significant break so shaking off the rust).

    Also, would it be helpful to add these details to a new radar or would that just be unnecessary duplication?

    —
    aenewton
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(I had some weird UI issue in the forums when adding this before, so I might be duplicating this reply).

Thank you, Quinn! That fixed my crash. Lastly, I will still need to somehow differentiate between iPhone and iPad to hide UI. Is the UIDevice idiom still the recommended approach for that? (I'm shaking off the rust after several years of not developing for Apple platforms).

Also, would it be helpful to add any of these details to new radar or would that be unnecessarily duplicating the one you posted?

Appreciate your help.

Posted by
aenewton
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This did not fix it for me. I did all of this. Now I can't even build on simulator.

Posted by
bryan1anderson
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As an update to @eskimo 's response,

There's a few cases here:

  • Case #1: Building for the simulator.
  • Case #2: Building for a real device, but running on a device where the framework isn't present (eg: iPad, Mac)
  • Case #3: Building for an iOS version before iOS 17.2 where the framework isn't available

For case #1: use #if canImport(JournalingSuggestions) like this:

#if canImport(JournalingSuggestions)
    import JournalingSuggestions
#endif

Then, in your code where you use JournalingSuggestionsPicker, check if you can import it first. This way, if you're not building for a real device, the framework will not be imported.

For case #2: Since you're building for a real device, the framework can be imported. Since it's not an iPhone, your app will crash when run. Protect against this by first checking if you can import UIKit, then setting isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable to be true if you're on an iPhone. If you're on Mac, where UIKit can't be imported, isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable will be false anyways. For example:

#if canImport(UIKit)
import UIKit
let isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable = UIDevice.current.userInterfaceIdiom == .phone
#else
let isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable = false
#endif

In your code, where you use JournalingSuggestionsPicker, first check if you can import it with the info in case #1 above, then check if isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable is true.

For case #3: To handle the older iOS case, you need if #available(iOS 17.2, *)

Altogether, it looks like this in code:

#if canImport(JournalingSuggestions)
    if isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable {
        if #available(iOS 17.2, *) {
            JournalingSuggestionsPicker {
                Text("Choose a suggestion")
            } onCompletion: { suggestion in
                print("suggestion:", suggestion)
            }
        } else {
            Text("Requires iOS 17.2.")
        }
    } else {
        Text("Dynamically not available on this platform.")
    }
#else
    Text("Statically not available on this platform.")
#endif
}

Important - iPad weak linking

To ensure your app can run on iPad without crashing, you must weak link to the framework. The normal way to do this is via the Status column in the Link Binary With Libraries build phase. That doesn’t work here because the framework isn’t available on the iOS Simulator platform, so the simulator build fails, as @bryan1anderson pointed out. The workaround is to pass in -Xlinker -weak_framework -Xlinker JournalingSuggestions via the Other Linker Flags build setting.

Posted by
sha921
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This did not fix it @sha921 @eskimo

Posted by
bryan1anderson
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#if canImport(JournalingSuggestions) just does not work. The code inside of it always runs. It doesn't matter if I mark the framework as optional in build phases. I doesn't matter if I provide the manual linker flag.

Anything inside #if canImport(JournalingSuggestions) still executes on iPads.

This is BEYOND problematic because it doesn't MATTER if I use the device idiom to check if it's on an iPad or a phone. Because SwiftUI runs that code no matter what. The binary will always crash because #if canImport(JournalingSuggestions) does not block execution.

And besides, the linker flags solution DID NOT fix the simulator issue. Same exact issue. This is a massive problem.

Posted by
bryan1anderson
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#if canImport(JournalingSuggestions)

                                if true == false {
                                    //OBVIOUSLY this case will never "run" but SwiftUI still checks it, and therefore crashes the app
                                    //THIS STILL CAUSES A CRASH ON IPAD, if I want it to run i need to comment out.
                                    JournalingSuggestionsPicker {
                                                   Text("Choose a suggestion")
                                               } onCompletion: { suggestion in
                                                   print("suggestion:", suggestion)
                                               }
                                } else {
                                    //Only getting here if I comment out JournalingSuggestions code cause CRASH
                                    Text("Would see this on iPad if I used the device idiom check instead of true == false")
                                }
#else
        Text("Only see this on simulator, when I don't link weakly, otherwise i cannot build to simulator no matter what")
#endif
Posted by
bryan1anderson
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This did not fix it

You have to conditionalise the Other Linker Flags build setting based on whether you’re building for the simulator or not. Here’s what that looks like in Xcode:

#if canImport(JournalingSuggestions) just does not work.

You need all three checks here:

  • #if canImport(JournalingSuggestions)

  • if isJournalingSuggestionsAvailable

  • if #available(iOS 17.2, *)

Try using the code that sha921 posted.

This is a massive problem.

You’ll get no argument from me on that front! As I mentioned earlier, we have a bug on file requesting improvements in this space (r. 121326851).

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

Posted by
eskimo
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same with me, all provided solutions do not work

Posted by
aleksandr_kulaga
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