How to debug your iOS extension

This is Part 5 of our tutorial on how to have your AIR app be shown in the iOS 8 Share Menu.

The source code for this tutorial, complete with build scripts, is available here.

Time

5-7 minutes

Wait, have you done this first?

To do this part of the tutorial you will need an iOS Extension created in Xcode. If you don’t have one, the previous parts of this tutorial will show you how to create it (the meat is in Part 2):

Part 1: What are iOS Extensions?
Part 2: How to list an AIR app in the iOS Share Menu
Part 3: How to launch your AIR app from the iOS 8 Share Menu
Part 4: Sharing files between an AIR app and an iOS Extension

Alternatively, you can download the source code for the tutorial here.

Step 1: Got a native app?

Remember how in Part 2 of this tutorial you first had to create a native app project in Xcode, in order to be able to add an iOS Extension target?

I found it helpful to first test things out with that app, before replicating functionality in my AIR app. You can run the app on your iOS device directly from Xcode: make sure your device is selected in the top-right and then click the Play button:

You can also set up your Xcode project to run your AIR app, instead of the fake native app. We show you how to do that in the iOS Native Extensions Debugging Guide companion to our eBook Easy Native Extensions.

Step 2: Attach the debugger to your extension process

You may not need to run the app first before you can debug your extension, but keep it in mind, in case the next option is disabled in the Debug menu.

Back in Xcode select Debug > Attach to Process > By Process Identifier (PID) or Name…

In the dialog that appears put your iOS Extension name as the Process Name:

When you click Attach, you will see this message at the very top bar of Xcode: it’s waiting for your iOS extension to start:

If you are debugging a Share Extension such as the one we created in the previous parts of this tutorial, you can start it by selecting to share a photo with your app on your iOS device: