Apple Dev Recipes

Field notes on Apple toolchains — Xcode Cloud, code signing, on-device testing. Written from real shipping pain, not docs paraphrasing.

• Xcode Cloud Xcode Cloud for React Native: ship IPAs to Firebase without the signing trap A verified pipeline for shipping a React Native IPA from Xcode Cloud to Firebase App Distribution — and the one manual exportArchive mistake that breaks every build. 9 min read
• Xcode Cloud Xcode Cloud testing for React Native: build a UITest target from scratch A React Native project ships with no native test target. Here is a verified path: build the UITest target from the command line with the xcodeproj gem, pass a smoke test locally, add a Test action in Xcode Cloud. Plus the three build settings the gem forgets and Xcode sets automatically. 8 min read
• GitLab CI GitLab CI for React Native iOS: a match + gym + Firebase pipeline A verified GitLab CI pipeline that ships a React Native IPA to Firebase App Distribution — four stages, fastlane match signing, gym build, and the five real-world traps (cert quota burn, signing disabled, codegen artifacts, pod sync, bundler path) that each cost an hour. 10 min read
• Architecture React Native iOS build architecture: why run Xcode Cloud + GitLab CI in parallel A field-tested iOS release architecture for solo founders and small teams: Xcode Cloud and GitLab CI as parallel branch-routed pipelines, both shipping to Firebase App Distribution, with Lark notifications. Cloud builds, zero local Mac, automated signing, one-tap tester install. 6 min read