Install ObjectBox Swift

ObjectBox is a NoSQL Swift database uniquely optimized for high-performance on smartphones. Learn how to set up ObjectBox Swift and persist objects in your iOS or macOS application.

Having problems installing ObjectBox using this guide? Please, let us know where we lost you. Thanks for your help!

ObjectBox Swift is available as a:

• CocoaPods pod

• Swift Package

Alternatively, a manual setup in Xcode is possible.

CocoaPods

If you are new to CocoaPods, check out their website for an introduction and installation instructions.

To add the ObjectBox Swift dependency, add the following line to your Podfile:

pod 'ObjectBox'

Then install the pod and run the ObjectBox setup script:

pod install --repo-update
Pods/ObjectBox/setup.rb

The setup.rb script will configure your Xcode project to run ObjectBox generator on every build by adding a build phase (called [OBX] Update Sourcery Generated Files) for every target with an executable.

Disable the User Script Sandboxing option to run the ObjectBox generator in recent Xcode versions:

Search for "sandbox" in your projects build settings and set User Script Sandboxing to No.

The ObjectBox code generator needs to run in the project directory and will generate files there. If this is executed in a sandbox, the build phase will fail.

Then, open your Xcode workspace (.xcworkspace) instead of the Xcode project (.xcodeproj).

Now, you are all set to define your first ObjectBox entities! To continue check the Getting Started guide or the example project.

Troubleshoot setup issues

If installing the pod or configuring the project failed, try to update the xcodeproj and cocoapods gem:

gem update xcodeproj && gem update cocoapods && pod repo update

On Apple Silicon (M1), ensure you have the latest gems for CocoaPods:

gem update ffi ethon

Update to a new version

After a new version of ObjectBox Swift is released, update the ObjectBox pod and run the setup script again:

pod repo update
pod update ObjectBox
Pods/ObjectBox/setup.rb

Swift Package

The Swift Package is currently in preview, we welcome your feedback!

Instructions depend on whether you want to set up an Xcode project or a Swift Package Manager manifest.

Set up an Xcode project

In Xcode, add a package dependency and search for the package URL:

https://github.com/objectbox/objectbox-swift-spm

For the Dependency Rule, we recommend to use "Up to Next Major Version" and version 4.3.0-beta.2. To find the latest version to use view the tags of the objectbox-swift-spm repository.

Finally, when asked, add the ObjectBox.xcframework to your app target. Or to use ObjectBox Sync (requires access to the Sync feature), add the ObjectBox-Sync.xcframework instead.

Now, you are all set to define your first ObjectBox entities. To continue check the Getting Started guide or the example project.

Set up a Swift Package Manager manifest

In your Swift.package file, add the ObjectBox Swift Package repository to the dependencies block:

.package(url: "https://github.com/objectbox/objectbox-swift-spm.git", from: "4.3.0-beta.2"),

Add the ObjectBox.xcframework to the dependencies of the desired target in targets:

.product(name: "ObjectBox.xcframework", package: "objectbox-swift-spm")

Or to use ObjectBox Sync (requires access to the Sync feature), add the ObjectBox-Sync.xcframework instead:

.product(name: "ObjectBox-Sync.xcframework", package: "objectbox-swift-spm")

Your Swift.package file should then contain sections similar to this:

dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/objectbox/objectbox-swift-spm.git", from: "<version>"),
],
targets: [
  .executableTarget(
    name: "YourApp",
    dependencies: [
        .product(name: "ObjectBox.xcframework", package: "objectbox-swift-spm")
    ],
]

Now, you are all set to define your first ObjectBox entities! To continue check the Getting Started guide or the example project.

Recommended Xcode project settings

Disable Bitcode

Some versions of ObjectBox do not include Bitcode and thus you may need to adjust "Build Settings" in Xcode accordingly. In that tab, ensure "All" is active and search for "bitcode". You will find the "Enable Bitcode" setting which you set to "No".

Otherwise, for some build targets, you will get a build error like this: '.../ObjectBox.framework/ObjectBox' does not contain bitcode. You must rebuild it with bitcode enabled (Xcode setting ENABLE_BITCODE), obtain an updated library from the vendor, or disable bitcode for this target.